The 10 best Chris Cornell songs
By the 1990s, most fans had been burned out on the idea of the all-star frontman. As much as people had loved vocalists like Axl Rose and Bret Michaels in the days of MTV, it was starting to look a lot more pretentious once the new wave of grunge began rolling in. Despite his penchant for writing the heaviest music from Seattle, Chris Cornell remained the resident rock god of the ‘90s.
In an age when most frontmen hid behind guitars or avoided the limelight entirely, Cornell was more concerned with making a sprawling landscape in the listener’s mind. Although he may have made the same rock star poses as the hair bands that came before him, Cornell earned every piece of it with a searing voice that could cut through any soundproofing ever made.
Outside of his work with Soundgarden, Cornell’s second act with Audioslave brought its share of classic tracks into the mix, featuring the fantastic guitar acrobatics of Tom Morello behind him. Even if it wasn’t as art-rock as Soundgarden, Cornell made the strangest ideas palatable to the rock audience.
Regardless of which outfit he found himself in, Cornell was looking to push music forward with his voice, creating songs that were just as strange as they were beautiful. Even though the grunge movement may have been looking to tear down all the phoniness of old-school rock and roll, Cornell might have been the most worthy successor that the new school had to Robert Plant.
The 10 greatest Chris Cornell songs:
10. ‘One’ – live performance
For all of the bombast behind Cornell’s voice, he did have a sense of humour about him. Regardless of how insane the songs on Louder Than Love may have sounded, it would be undercut by the fact that they have a song called ‘Big Dumb Sex’ towards the end. Although Cornell may have put down the sophomoric humour by the 2000s, he did use it to make one of his most creative cover songs.
Coming from a live performance that he made during the 2000s, Cornell was originally planning on singing U2’s ‘One’ but had admitted to getting confused when the lyrics to Metallica’s ‘One’ came up when searching for the words. Instead of just getting the actual lyrics, Cornell did his audience one better by doing both at the same time.
Even though Metallica’s tale of a man getting his body torn apart in war caters to a metal accompaniment, the heartbroken tone of U2’s melody is an inspired move, especially towards the end of each verse where he talks about the terrible silence stopping him. Cornell knew how to twist people’s emotions, but never before has the tale of the cold embrace of death felt so hopeful.
9. ‘Beyond the Wheel’ – Ultramega OK
No one can fault Soundgarden’s debut for being a little bit rough around the edges. Even though the band had been an established act in the Seattle scene, Ultramega OK showcases them as a group of kids still figuring things out, including experimenting with punk on a handful of tracks. Although most of the attention was paid to the lead single ‘Flower’, ‘Beyond the Wheel’ is where Cornell gets to flex his chops.
Set at a dirge rhythm reminiscent of Black Sabbath, Cornell shrieks like a banshee throughout most of this song, almost channelling Ian Gillan from Deep Purple with his high notes. Although most of the song feels like the epitome of downtown Seattle, Cornell’s voice takes the listener to the bowels of hell with every line, getting increasingly despondent as the track goes on.
Despite the spotty production here and there, this song would practically become a litmus test for what Cornell could do later, becoming a distinctive part of his sound going into the recording of future classics like Superunknown. Soundgarden may have had a few bugs to work out, but any vocalist who heard this performance knew that a giant had officially entered the rock scene.
8. ‘Seasons’ – Singles Soundtrack
One of the biggest pitfalls with most powerhouse vocalists is their inability to pull things back. Even though he may have had one of the greatest voices of his time, no one’s necessarily looking to Lemmy Kilmister to sing a slow ballad on any Motörhead track. Though he may have worked best when everything was on ten, Cornell also had a soothing lower register when strapping on the acoustic.
Appearing on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe movie Singles, ‘Seasons’ is one of the most singularly pretty melodies that Cornell has ever written. Featuring a cascading acoustic guitar rhythm, Cornell sounds like a lonesome drifter across this song, feeling like life is going on without him and becoming lost now that he’s in a different stage in life.
Although this might have been intended to reflect the characters’ mood, Cornell could have easily just been singing about himself here. With many friends having passed away and turning into one of Seattle’s biggest stars, Cornell was undoubtedly doing an inventory about his place in the world. For all of the massive posturing that may have poured out of him every time he took to the stage, ‘Seasons’ is a look at the tortured soul trapped underneath all of those vocal screams.
7. ‘Burden In My Hand’ – Down on the Upside
For all of his vocal acrobatics, it’s really easy to sidestep Cornell’s role as a songwriter. Whether it was on an acoustic guitar or over the most daunting backing tracks imaginable, Cornell knew how to use melody to his advantage, never making the listener feel completely comfortable going through a normal pop song progression. By the time the band made Down On The Upside, a song as strange as ‘Burden in My Hand’ was almost expected.
Taking to acoustic guitar, Cornell plays this song in one of the strangest tunings made for guitar, usually only reserved for artists like Joni Mitchell or Crosby Stills and Nash. Although there is a folk-infused tinge to the tune, Cornell puts his hard rock sheen over everything, finding different inversions to suit his melody and following the music rather than being carried by it.
Although Soundgarden has drawn many comparisons to Led Zeppelin throughout the years, this song might be the most indicative of Zeppelin’s mindset when writing melodies. Cornell could have been playing the same rudimentary songs forever, but like Page and Plant before him, he knew it was more fun to stretch the limits of his writing until he finally got a tune out of it.
6. ‘Outshined’ – Badmotorfinger
There’s always been a lingering question as to whether Soundgarden belongs in the conversation of a heavy metal band. Although their music was certainly dark, certain expectations came with being in a metal band that was far outside of what they were either capable of or necessarily wanted to do. If there was one song that teetered with the idea of a metal anthem, though, ‘Outshined’ stands head and shoulders above everything else in their catalogue.
Featuring one of Kim Thayil’s greatest drop-D guitar riffs, Cornell channels his inner Ozzy Osbourne throughout this song, keeping everything rooted in blues and possessing an indefinable swagger in his vocal melody. Then again, no one was going to listen to a Seattle band without at least a little bit of cynicism.
Compared to the rest of his peers, Cornell’s look into his depressive thoughts on this song is eye-opening where he talks about feeling desensitised to the rest of the world and feeling like he’s sinking when he knows that he can’t get any lower. For all of the concerned parents who thought grunge was nothing but dirty nonsense, ‘Outshined’ presented a deeper conversation than even grunge fans were ready to have.
5. ‘Cochise’ – Audioslave
Although Cornell may have kept a lot of his chops during his time in Audioslave, this was not going to be a second Soundgarden. Coming from the same minds who produced hard-hitting anthems like ‘Killing in the Name’, Cornell wasn’t going to throw a strange time signature into the mix that would disrupt the members of Rage from making their own magic. Instead of the art rock outfit, Cornell could play the rock star for the first time, and ‘Cochise’ came out with all guns blazing.
Based on a blazing blues riff from Morello, Cornell absolutely soars over each minute of the song, channelling the same kind of swagger that he learned from his rock heroes like Steven Tyler. Though the song might have a Rage aesthetic in the instrumentation, there was no chance it would have flown in Rage Against the Machine.
Coming out of Cornell’s mouth, this is the kind of song that feels shallow in all the right ways, with a lyric just open to interpretation enough to keep the listener on edge throughout the whole track. Every aspect of Cornell’s career had been about pushing music forward, so the only logical way to go against the norm was to write a simple kickass rock song.
4. ‘Black Hole Sun’ – Superunknown
Towards the mid-90s, Soundgarden felt like the one Seattle band that hadn’t truly blown up yet. Although they had been one of the first ones on the scene, their artsy approach to rock music usually kept them at arm’s length with the hit parade. Once Cornell came to rehearsal with ‘Black Hole Sun’, though, they knew they had a hit on their hands.
This is strange, considering how eccentric Cornell’s chord progression is throughout the song. Slowly going down the fretboard in atonal half steps, Cornell weaves his melody together just like The Beatles would, almost having a pop-slanted approach until the massive guitars come rolling in.
Despite being their most mainstream song, Cornell still finds ways to throw in his usual tricks, like the enigmatic section on the bridge or the muted screams that come and go in the mix during the end of the chorus. As much as Nirvana may have been lauded as The Beatles of the Seattle scene, Cornell proved with one song that he was just as ambitious as Kurt Cobain was.
3. ‘Hunger Strike’ – Temple of the Dog
By the early ‘90s, Chris Cornell had become desensitised to making music. After coming off of a tour, Cornell was shocked when his roommate Andy Wood, formerly of Mother Love Bone, passed away due to a drug overdose. Although Cornell took time to grieve, he knew the best way to memorialise his friend was through the power of music.
Assembling Temple of the Dog with the surviving members of Mother Love Bone, Cornell wrote most of the tracks in tribute to his fallen friend, only to be stumped by the one verse of ‘Hunger Strike’. After trying to cut it as a solo vocal track, the band suggested they use a newcomer to the scene who they were beginning to have rehearsals with named Eddie Vedder, which created vocal magic in the studio.
As both singers deliver the chorus vocals, Cornell’s inspired screams on the final version are one of the most gripping moments of ‘90s rock, practically blessing the future Pearl Jam singer in the process. No one wants to make an album like Temple of the Dog, but hidden within this performance is the sound of Cornell starting to heal the wounds that came with his friend’s death.
2. ‘Like a Stone’ – Audioslave
For Cornell, joining Audioslave presented a whole host of opportunities. While it could have been just as easy to copy and paste the same schtick that he was doing in Soundgarden, Cornell knew that there was something that he could lend to the members of Rage other than just the sound of his voice. Although ‘Like a Stone’ may have been far from the most uptempo track he ever released, it’s certainly the most emotional performance he has ever laid down.
Being an exercise in minimal instrumentation, most of the song is reserved for Cornell’s vocals, as he sings about the problems that he has had with death. While often misinterpreted as a love song, Cornell paints a vivid picture of a man wasting his life away, waiting to one day see the people he loves again as he waits for the cold embrace of death to take him.
Although Cornell has earned his stripes as a rock vocalist, his vocal ad-libs during the song seem to touch on soul territory, delivering it with the same gravitas expected out of Smokey Robinson or Aretha Franklin. Cornell had already given the music world enough classic material before the ‘00s began, but hearing a song like this let most fans know that he was just getting started.
1. ‘Spoonman’ – Superunknown
While all Soundgarden records tend to sound different, there’s no disputing that Superunknown is their magnum opus. Taking the best of every member of the group, every song is a different snapshot of what the band are capable of, from the crushing sounds of ‘4th of July’ to the mellow groove behind ‘Fell On Black Days’. Every Soundgarden song is meant to be a new experience, but ‘Spoonman’ is the best indication of everything Cornell was great at.
Before the vocals come in, Cornell’s ad-libs already sound powerful, following the music before everything drops out for his voice. Inspired by a local Seattle musician known for playing the spoons, Cornell turns in one of his most acrobatic performances here, signalling the arrival of Soundgarden as a musical tour-de-force alongside Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Even though rock singers might train for years to match the intensity of Cornell, the ending screams of the song are something that only he can pull off effectively, possessing a healthy amount of soul, grit and raw power that grabs the listener by the throat. If Soundgarden were the ‘90s answer to Led Zeppelin, this is their ‘Black Dog’, with Cornell turning in a better performance than Plant ever could.
