Go Back To The Oubliette

This is a huge step backwards. All the hope and optimism earned by Audioslave’s self-titled debut has been lost here in their second album Out of Exile. The outstanding pedigree of this band should yield a greater sophomore effort, but rather than expand on the fresh songwriting of the first album this output is a straight rehash of their previous work. It’s all mediocre hard rock with little excitement to be found. “The Last Remaining Light,” “Exploder” and “Like A Stone” showed promise, as the former members of Rage Against the Machine (Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, Timmy C.) and former singer of Soundgarden (Chris Cornell) branched beyond the constrictive formats that doomed those groups.And here they have gone the complete opposite direction, only worse. “Dandelion” sounds more like the boring generic rock side of Incubus with slightly raspier vocals. First track “Your Time Has Come” again finds guitar wizard Tom Morello replaying the tired pentatonic whole step jumps he’s been milking since 1992 – minus any emotional effect. Tom’s solos and mind-boggling guitar noise are thankfully still present but without solid melodic structures to carry them (or the vocal fire Zach De La Rocha exuded in the early 90s) they all fall flat. Cornell’s vocals are positively unconvincing. The chorus in “Be Yourself” has noticeably less energy or spirit expected of him.

There are few bright spots such as the bluesy bassline and patient pace of “#1 Zero.” Overall, it’s more of the same and less that will give this band longevity. With such a strong couple of years for music, this is downright disappointing. These four musicians are far more talented than this.