My mind is finally clear enough for this. And yes, my eyebrows went through a lot in 2012, letâs not talk about it right now.
Top 10ish Chris Cornell Songs:
10b) Birth Ritual
Anyone whose ever relied on their own pipes to make music will know what it sounds like to struggle with a high note. Even when the note is still within your range, but touching its limits, it becomes difficult to sing the note loudly with the same control. Not a problem for Chris in Birth Ritual. The higher notes in this song are sung even louder than the notes that sit more comfortably within his range. Not only does he hit these notes with precision, heâll drop one or two octaves within the same few bars comfortably. Power and control at its finest.
10a) Cochise
Say what you want about Audioslave, even Iâll take my personal jab at Chrisâ attempt to cover âSleep Now in the Fire,â but like them or not, Cochise storms out of the gate. The song takes Chrisâ vocals from his coarse belting in the chorus to the hauntingly smooth verse into a full on gravel-rolling-down-a-hill scream at around the three minute mark. Itâs complemented well in the video where you see Cornellâs silhouette lean back to unleash the scream.Â
By this time, Chrisâ voice hardly sounds like it did in Ultramega OK or even Louder than Love. Hell, itâs even pretty far from Superunknown. Thing is, he didnât let that stop him, he let it challenge him. Cochise isnât the kind of song youâd give to a younger Cornell. Itâs the older, matured, and weathered sound of his voice with Morelloâs guitar that really lights the candle under this one. It shows Chrisâ adaptability, versatility, and evolution as a musician and vocalist.
10) Smokestack Lightning
Following his passing, I saw a lot of songs being passed around in honor of Chris and his voice. This is one I expected to see, but didnât. One of the great things about Chris and Soundgarden in general was the exploration and incorporation of other genres into the music. In this cover, you get a bluesy side of Cornell. Although heâs quite young here, you hear those tinges of maturity in his voice weâd go on to know later on in his life.Â
Chrisâ vocal control as he exits certain notes in this song is impressive. Iâve seen it argued whether or not the extremely high notes towards the end of the song are technically falsetto. Some argue heâs not even there in these notes, but whatever you want to call these otherworldly notes he belts at about the four minute mark, theyâre blistering, intense, and unforgettable.
09)Â Fell on Black Days
AÂ lot of the songs on this list celebrate Cornellâs range, especially on the higher end. But thatâs not to say his mid-range isnât wonderful and almost viscous in its tones.Â
When listening to the discography in order, I imagined that few saw a song like Black Days coming. Fans of Screaming Life EP and Ultramega OK might not have known a lot about this version of the band; the version that loves the darker iteration of the Beatles, the version that borrows from sludge. The version that steps away from metal and intoâŠthis.
No exaggerated screams to be found in this song, no seam-splitting falsettos, just an occasional burst of 800 grit here and there.
Benâs haunting bassline crawls under Chrisâ melody. Black Days is a wonderful demonstration of the quality and depth of Cornellâs voice, never mind the range, never mind the control- just the quality of his natural voice shines completely on this unforgettable and wildly successful Superunknown track.
08) Incessant Mace
AÂ song for villains, Incessant Mace has this malicious sensuality about it. Chris voice wears a silk red spaghetti strap dress and feels its own curves during the first half of the song. The notes meander hypnotically, allowing Chrisâ voice to slither from note to note in a slow burn of seductive prowess. The extremely present reverb in the song makes it sound as though his voice is traveling along the rails from hell to earth. As the song reaches its climax, these meandering notes go from a feral caress into a vicious chopping. As we reach the end of the song, itâs as though Chris shows his fangs and spits venom. Itâs the moment the skirt is hiked high enough to show the blade concealed beneath.Â
The end of the song, when Chris just bellows, âMace, mace, mace, maceâ spits absolute aural venom as the song slithers out of reach.
07) Wooden Jesus
Whether it was the slight change in musical styles, the chemistry with Eddie Vedder, the personal bearing this project had on Chris, or the hand of God itself, something motivated Cornell to perform like never before on Temple of the Dog. His voice hit like fists in Hunger Strike and would do so again on Wooden Jesus, where Cornell goes from a soft, hymnal style singing, straight into a mountain-moving belt.Â
06) Reach Down
We again find ourselves in an interesting and atypical application of Chrisâ voice in Reach Down; gospel. A bit inspired by Andy Woodâs style, Chris leads the choir-like ensemble of voices that make up the rest of Temple of the Dog.Â
Some of Chrisâ vocal fills and humming sections add so much color and character to the song, moving the almost twelve minute opus down a flaming track. The instruments fall away at about 8:50 and make room for the almost apocalyptic sounding harmonies and eventually lift Chrisâ voice into the foreground, where he grabs the song and doesnât let go.
05)Â Slaves & Bulldozers
Slave and Bulldozers is a tense push-pull of a song that appears on Badmotorfinger and thrashes the listener through about seven minutes of pipes waiting to burst. A real tug of war on the loud/quiet/loud front, itâs when the song completely lets Chris go where the song goes from good to amazing.Â
Itâs particularly noteworthy that Chris doesnât just scream the end of a syllable through the outro of a song like he would go on to do in song like Cochise, but in Slaves, Chris is screaming complete words, complete phrases, abandoning notes and vocal control for something more primal, something more visceral.
04)Â Black Rain
What makes Black Rain particularly interesting was the challenge it presented on a recording basis; half the song was recorded near to the Badmotorfinger era in the 90s and the rest was filled in around the time of Telephantasm in the 2000s.Â
Chrisâ voice sounded expectedly different for the second half of the recording. Rather than re-recording, Cornell opted to perform the missing sections of the song and pair them with the original performance. Knowing this, I could personally tell you exactly where the old Chris ends and the new Chris begins. But itâs not as jarring or disturbing as youâd think. In fact, itâs sewn together very well and the band was able to pull it off completely. I was surprised again that the band would perform the song live without issue, something I thought theyâd avoid because of how this particular song sounded on wax.
Another testament to the timelessness and skill of Cornell, Black Rain reaches into early Soundgarden and late Soundgarden without skipping a beat.
03) Jesus Christ Pose
Unlike a lot of the other songs on this list where Chris goes from low notes and gradually to high notes as a release in the third act of the song, JCP starts and ends at the exact same intensity. The 4/4 driving rhythm of the song keeps the song going at a breakneck pace, pushing Cornell to the top of his performance and making him stay there.Â
02) Beyond the WheelÂ
AÂ performance worthy of demon worship, Beyond the Wheel begins with a cult-worship like chanting verse in Chrisâ lower register that makes absolutely no effort to create a smooth transition right into his upper register. It just happens. It happens without warning, without apology, without giving a shit. In a song where I hear some of Chrisâ highest and lowest notes on record in the same few bars is downright astounding. Chrisâ shrill scream is damn near blood curdling as it belts out into the empty spaces of the song, isolating him between notes in a beautiful love song to the void.
01) Hunted Down
Iâm as surprised as you are that my number one vocal performance comes in the form of Hunted Down. But something about this song always got to me. Chrisâ voice digs its nails into your flesh and drags for about three minutes. My favorite aspect of this song in particular isnât like other songs where iâm in awe of the range or power; itâs the annunciation of the lyrics.
The syncopation of the lyrics with Chrisâ short bursts of energy read like a theatrical performance. It singles Cornell out as both a singer and a performer. From the first âHUUUUEUHâ at the beginning of the song all the way to the bursts of notes that fade into the end of the song, Hunted Down has such a dramatic, theatrical element about it that the song itself is a character simply based on the way Chris chooses to sing and annunciate each word and note.
You can listen to these songs in playlist on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/user/1270285551/playlist/1yzn5EtiKjQ2RjO3SaKMCF
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