SoundgardenYou look at the cover of King Animal and there are all sorts of fears running through your head. It's been fifteen years. Cornell's solo record. That god-fucking-awful art work. But then you hit play and those fears are suddenly replaced by a sense of joy, like catching up with an old friend where time has stood still. Sure, the lyrics of Been Away Too Long are pretty cliche, almost expected; however, the template is there. Cornell's voice still sounds incredibly powerful, Kim Thayil's guitar work howls just as wildly and the rhythm end of Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron twist creative ideas out of potentially stock templates with the smallest shard of effort.
That opener is probably the most 'rawk' moment of King Animal; however, it's certainly not the only high point. By Crooked Step's out-of-kilter time signature gives the track an escapist feel, while Bones Of Birds definitely has some Black Hole Sun vibes, Thayil's ruminating lines keeping an air of darkness lingering over Cornell's vocals. Unfortunately, the old legs get the better of the Seattle grunge stalwarts by the album's conclusion, with a clutch of banal tracks dragging the chain. At least three of the four songs following Black Saturday could have been left off, parring the recording back to a lean 11 cuts. But, considering this is perhaps the band's final shake of the stick, you can recognise the personal need to have these songs heard.
Yes, it's twenty years since the heyday of grunge, but the old boys have done an admirable job of maintaining that genre's legacy, and in turn their own.
