heavy rotation- mark lanegan/chris cornell
first appeared at spin.com, 9-14-99
Mark Lanegan- I'll Take Care of You
Mark Lanegan
I'll Take Care of You
(Sub Pop CD)
Chris Cornell
Euphoria Morning
(A&M CD)
first appeared in The Rocket, No. 309
September 8-22, 1999
by Andrew Strickman
Back around 1994 or '95 it became clear that what once was the
Seattle "sound" was changing once again. The Screaming Trees' Dust
was displaying a bit more of the dark, blues-rock that frontman Mark
Lanegan was issuing on his solo albums, while Soundgarden frontman
Chris Cornell cut his hair and appeared on MTV singing about that
darned "Black Hole Sun." Well, two of the greatest rock voices to front
bands are now releasing solo material and guess what? Change is once
again afoot. For Lanegan, it's I'll Take Care of You, an album of
favorite covers that follows the three strong outings away from the
Trees. For Cornell, it's Euphoria Morning, his first full-length foray since
Soundgarden broke up in 1997. Two longtime scene-leaders making
music that on some level brings happiness to their black days.
But happiness doesn't particularly suit Lanegan's or Cornell's music;
both records are dark, often somber visions of the lives we lead. For
Lanegan, that perspective manifests itself in songs ranging from the
beautifully melancholic "Carry Home," written by the late Gun Club
frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce, to the lilting Buck Owens tune "Together
Again." And with the sexy, bottle-in-hand spin he puts on '60s folkie
Tim Rose's "Boogie Boogie," there's no question that Lanegan's tastes
are not pigeonholed by any genre or era. Another great recording from
a true talent.
For Cornell, of course, there's more at stake, particularly because his
"influences" were never that apparent on Soundgarden records--instead
of being influenced, he was the trailblazer. Now, a few deep breaths
later, he gets to spread his wings a bit and surprise us with some soulful,
often acoustic rock. On "Flutter Girl," Cornell's music and lyrics are a
spiritual sister to late-era Beatles, while the highly restrained track that
follows it, "Preaching the End of the World," is the song that Cornell
might have written with his friend Jeff Buckley. "Wave Goodbye" is not
only a farewell to Buckley, but a simple, soulful rumination on losing
loved ones. "Mission" reminds us that Cornell still knows how to climb
a wall of sound deftly, and on "When I'm Down," a boozy piano riff
gives Cornell a terrific pulpit for a bit of post-modern blues.
In a way, these rockers from Seattle's most-recent heyday are growing
older--both musically and emotionally. They're surrounding themselves
with longtime friends behind the scenes (for Lanegan it's producer
Martin Feveyear and a musician roster that includes Mike Johnson,
Barrett Martin, Ben Shepherd, Mark Pickerel and Van Conner;
Cornell has former Eleven members Natasha Shneider and Alain
Johannes on board as producers and collaborators), and they're
making music they want, with little deference to commercial taste. Don't
be too surprised if the masses actually hear what Lanegan and Cornell
have to say and respond in kind.
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