King Ultramega, collective featuring members of Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Mastodon and Soundgarden, has returned with a stirring instrumental version of Audioslave’s Be Yourself. This new release features Joe Satriani on lead guitar and serves as both a tribute to Chris Cornell and a way to raise funds for MusiCares, the nonprofit that supports musicians with mental health, recovery and emergency services.
Satriani takes on the challenge of replacing Cornell’s unmistakable voice by letting his guitar do the singing. He carefully mirrors the song’s vocal phrasing, filling it with emotion through tone, bends and vibrato. The result is a performance that carries the same message of strength and honesty that made the original such a powerful anthem.
“Chris was a brilliant communicator,” Satriani explained. “He often used his voice like a guitarist would approach riffs and phrases. I tried to dive into that approach and create a layered guitar performance that would honor him.”
The idea started with bassist and producer Mark Menghi, who kept his parts close to the original to leave space for Satriani’s melodic interpretation. Behind them, Kenny Aronoff provides a steady, heartfelt rhythm, adding weight to the arrangement without overpowering it. Menghi said the inspiration came to him on a run when he heard Cornell’s voice singing the lyric to be yourself is all that you can do. “I could instantly hear it as an instrumental in Joe’s style,” he recalled.
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