Chris Cornell’s Legacy Honored with Deluxe Box Set

Chris Cornell’s death in May 2017 robbed the rock ‘n’ roll world of one of its all-time greatest vocalists. The talented singer and songwriter for chart-topping bands like Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog, Cornell also enjoyed a significant solo career with his four solo albums circa 1999-2015 all charting in the Top 20. Over the course of a career that spanned four decades (and still ended far too soon), Cornell earned two Grammy™ Awards and selling better than 30 million records worldwide.

Given his popularity and influence on rock vocalists to follow, it’s only fitting that Cornell should be honored with a career retrospective box set. On November 16th, 2018 UMe will release the self-titled Chris Cornell, a limited-edition deluxe four-disc box set with 64-tracks, 11 of which are previously-unreleased. The set is being released with the support of Cornell’s wife Vicky on behalf of The Chris Cornell Estate.

Working extensively with Cornell’s former bandmates and friends, Vicky Cornell has compiled a collection that represents the singer’s entire career, including songs by all three of his aforementioned bands along with solo material. The set includes such memorable moments as Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike,” and Audioslave’s “Like A Stone.” Among the previously-unreleased songs are a live performance of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a duet with Cat Stevens on “Wild World,” and a duet with his daughter Toni on a cover of Bob Marley’s reggae classic “Redemption Song.”

In addition to the four-disc box set, Chris Cornell will also be released as a seventeen-track single disc version housed in a jewel case with a limited-edition custom die-cut slipcase that showcases Seattle with tree-line graphics on the front and other cities that Cornell lived in on the back cover. The set includes a 32-page booklet with unreleased photos and liner notes by friends and bandmates like Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Tom Morello, Mike McCready, and Brendan O’Brien. A two-LP 180-gram vinyl edition features a gatefold jacket with similar slipcase graphics and a twelve-page booklet while the four-disc box set includes an expanded 54-page booklet.

For the hardcore fan with money to burn, Chris Cornell will also be available as a limited-edition ‘Super Deluxe’ box with four CDs, a DVD, and seven-LP set featuring all 64 songs plus 23 music videos along with a 66-page hardcover book wrapped in linen with a red foul signature cover. The ‘Super Deluxe’ box also includes three artist lithos, three photochromatic lithos inspired by Cornell’s fascination with the sun, a turntable mat, a microfiber vinyl cleaning cloth, and a 36” x 48” wall poster.

“Since Chris’ sudden passing I have put all my efforts and energy into sharing his music and legacy with his fans from all over the world,” says Vicky in a press release for the Chris Cornell box set. “I felt we needed to create a special collection to represent all of him – the friend, husband and father, the risk taker and innovator, the poet and artist. His soaring vocals found their way into the hearts and souls of so many.  His voice was his vision and his words were his peace. This album is for his fans.”

Buy your copy at Amazon.com:
Chris Cornell single disc version
Chris Cornell double LP set
Chris Cornell four-disc box

Chris Cornell of Soundgarden & Audioslave, R.I.P.

Photo by Gordon Correll/GDCGraphics

One of the leading lights of the ‘90s-era Seattle scene, Chris Cornell was found dead in the bathroom of his room at the MGM Grand in Detroit, Michigan after performing a show with Soundgarden at the Fox Theatre. Cornell’s cause of death was ruled to be suicide by hanging; he was only 52 years old.

Cornell is primarily known as the singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock legends Soundgarden. He was also an accomplished solo artist and the frontman of early 2000s supergroup Audioslave as well as the founder of Temple of the Dog, a band formed in tribute to Cornell’s late friend Andrew Wood of Seattle rockers Mother Love Bone. Perhaps the most classically skilled vocalist of the grunge-era, Cornell famously had a vocal range of nearly four octaves and could sing with great power and emotion.

Cornell formed Soundgarden in 1984 with former bandmates Hiro Yamamoto (bass) and Kim Thayil (guitar), originally playing drums and singing. The band added drummer Scott Sundquist and moved Cornell up front, and this line-up recorded three songs that appeared on the C/Z Records compilation Deep Six. When Sundquist left the band in 1986, he was replaced by Matt Cameron of Skin Yard, who would become Soundgarden’s permanent drummer. Signing with Seattle’s Sub Pop Records, the band released the Screaming Life EP in 1987 and the Fopp EP the following year. Jumping to punk label SST Records, the band released its full-length debut, Ultramega OK, which earned them a Grammy® Award nomination and a subsequent deal with the major label A&M Records, for whom they recorded their sophomore effort, 1989’s Louder Than Love.

Soundgarden’s tenure with A&M Records resulted in but four studio albums total, but they’re all considered classics of the era. The band’s 1991 breakthrough, Badmotorfinger, charted Top 40 in the U.S. and U.K. on its way to double Platinum™ sales while its follow-up, 1994’s Superunknown, topped the U.S. charts and sold better than five million copies, earning Soundgarden superstar status. Their final album for the label, 1996’s Down On the Upside, would go Top 10 in a half-dozen countries and land a Platinum™ Record for sales. The band toured constantly, including a slot on the 1996 Lollapalooza tour co-headlining with Metallica. After a worldwide tour that spanned 1996-97, Soundgarden broke up due to internal tensions and disagreement over the creative direction of the band.

Cornell launched his solo career with the 1999 release of Euphoria Morning, which performed respectively, charting Top 20 in the U.S. and Canada, with the singer touring in support of the album. He wouldn’t release a second solo album until 2007’s Carry On, following up two years later with Scream. In between solo efforts, Cornell formed the band Audioslave in 2001 with former Rage Against the Machine band members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk. Audioslave released three albums between 2001 and 2006, selling close to five million copies, the band’s middle album Out of Exile hitting #1 in the U.S. and Canada. Cornell left the band in 2007 to renew his solo career. He would release his final solo album, the critically-acclaimed Higher Truth, in 2015.

Soundgarden reunited in 2010 with the band’s 1990s-era line-up of Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd, and drummer Matt Cameron. The band was touring at the time of Cornell’s death, releasing the album King Animal in 2012 and working on new songs as recently as late 2016. Cornell’s legacy as one of the greatest singers in rock ‘n’ roll is based on his critically-acclaimed work with both Soundgarden and Audioslave. One of the big four bands of Seattle’s vaunted ‘grunge’ scene, Soundgarden was arguably the first and one of the most successful among its peers, largely due to Cornell’s immense vocal abilities, on-stage charisma, and songwriting talents. He will be missed…