Its hard for me to identify many other hard rock albums that are as plug and play fantastic with so many terrific songs as this one. Titled Audioslave and released in 2002, this album is nearly unsurpassed at blending the genre between Guns N' Roses game changing Appetite for Destruction and some of the best of early Van Halen with a tinge of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains mixed in. This album combines the best hard rock voice, arguably, in music history with an incredible guitar master to bring an album forward that continues to be featured on radio stations and streaming services across the country.
I go back to this album as much any other in the entire Hard Rock music genre. There are 5 songs (Show Me How to Live, What You Are, Like a Stone, Shadow on the Sun, I Am the Highway) that are incredible and appeal to those that love this genre (like me) but also straddle the barrier between rock and hard rock that Guns N' Roses broke through with Appetite for Destruction. This is the barrier that is broken when a Michael Jackson or Adele fan also decides to pump their fists to a song like Sweet Child O' Mine. This doesn't happen often but it happened with this album and I put many of the 5 songs noted above on the same list with Sweet Child O' Mine. Whether it's what is possibly the best driving song ever, I Am the Highway, a truly memorable song featured in a terrific movie (Shadow on the Sun in Collateral) or a song like Cochise which leads off the album and is an emphatically strong display of technical music and vocal power, there's alot to dig into on Audioslave.
When I'm in the kitchen preparing a meal and hear my 11 year old son downstairs playing the guitar and singing the songs Like a Stone or I Am the Highway, it kind of makes me think... I must play these songs alot and he must also see the genius in this music if he's taking the time to replicate it. After all, he's got an endless list of songs to pick from that are readily available thanks to Spotify.
Audioslave came together when the former members of Rage Against the Machine sought a new singer after their lead singer left the band in 2000. Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine's lead guitarist, is a genius with his guitar techniques and is able to reach a level of complexity few can aspire to. Most of Rage Against the Machine's songs feature his guitar work in long and complex guitars solos where Morello gets to showcase his unique talents. This is also the case in most of Audioslave's songs. Brad Wilk is amazing on drums as is Tim Commerford on Bass guitar, but the virtuoso lead guitar work of Morello paired with the voice of Chris Cornell is really something to behold and remember. With all due respect to the MANY talented hard rock lead singers from so many bands over the years, with the encouragement of Rick Rubin, the former Rage band members shot for the stars when they went for Chris Cornell to front the band. Cornell had an incredible run as Soundgarden's front man, with the band finally gaining widescale appreciation when it began to harness the power of the instrument that Chris Cornell's voice is. Cornell also had success with Eddie Vedder (Temple of the Dog) and has delivered solo music gifts like Seasons from the Singles movie soundtrack. Rage was bringing a singer with a super human voice into the room to share the stage with Morello, Wilk and Commerford when Audioslave formed.
While I'm a big fan of hard rock and am knowledgeable on the genre, its a wide ranging genre and everyone has their favorites. However, for my listening tastes, beginning in the mid to late 1980s as I entered my teens and then into the 90s and early adulthood and beyond, the songs listed below have stuck with me through decades and are still actively living with me today in 2025. They used to reside on a CD on my CD rack (that I thought was so cool in 1994) until they morphed into a file on my iPod. Today, they still occupy a spot on one of my genre specific Spotify playlists.
Metallica
Fade to Black
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Wherever I May Roam
Enter Sandman
Nothing Else Matters
Sad But True
Guns N' Roses
Welcome to the Jungle
Paradise City
Sweet Child of Mine
November Rain
Patience
Def Leppard
Hysteria
Photograph
Van Halen (David Lee Roth)
Ain't Talkin' bout Love
Runnin' with the Devil
Jump
I'll Wait
Van Halen (Sammy Hagar)
Best of Both Worlds
Why Can't This Be Love
Motley Crue
Dr. Feelgood
Kickstart My Heart
Cinderella
Don't Know What You Got
Poison
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
What did Audioslave do? They took the best of some of the songs listed above and created something beautiful. Audioslave made 3 albums over 6 to 7 years and that was it. They went their separate ways, for numerous reasons, and were and will never be heard from again. Their 2nd album, featuring The Curse and Doesn't Remind Me, was also terrific, but that first album is a game changer. To me, it harkened back to something that falls between hard rock Neil Young (Rockin' In the Free World), Black Sabbath and maybe early U2 (I Will Follow, New Years Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday). A younger Bono also possessed a powerful, beautiful, and flexible voice that few can match.
This album was widely regarded when it was released and continues to be remembered. For me, it's not remembered enough. If you know about War, Nevermind, Appetite for Destruction, 1984, Ten or Back in Black, I think you need to know about Audioslave.
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