It was early 2001 and the venue was Los Angeles. The biggest supergroup for the new century was born. Audioslave. Courtesy: Rick Rubin. One of the biggest musical brains in the modern rock industry. His repertoire ranges from Run-DMC to Trash metal kings Slayer, from Red Hot Chili Peppers to System of a Down. The ingredients were near-perfect. Chris Cornell, the quintessential frontman of Grunge guzzling Soundgarden collaborating with the headless punk/funk rock group called Rage against the Machine.
This was reminiscent of The Yardbirds-to-Led Zeppelin formation scenario. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant together as Led Zeppelin are arguably the most influential Rock band in the history of rock music industry. Its by far the best amalgamation of trend-setters that laid the thought process and musical philosophy for many of their contemporaries and later who followed them. Even Chris Cornell and Tom Morello are heavily influenced by this legendary British band.

Robert Plant is known for his powerful style, often mystical lyrics, and wide vocal range. As lead singer of Led Zeppelin, he combined rare musical aptitude and knowledge with a large measure of flawless stage performance. Chris Cornell on the other hand has similar vocal ranges and versatility along with being a guitarist. His lyrics were apolitical, they were characterized by his cryptic approach, often dealing with themes of existentialism, love, hedonism, spirituality and Christianity. Both have similarities and are popular for their high pitch ranges like attaining F# and G in their songs.

Jimmy Page and Tom Morello are extremely talented in their own way. Jimmy Page has been credited producing one of the best guitar solos of all time in “stairway to heaven”. Page has been described as “unquestionably one of the all-time most influential, important, and versatile guitarists and songwriters in rock history” by allmusic.com. Tom Morello too can play guitar with virtuoso efficiency using lot of guitar effects like delay, distortion, wah-wah and others. Both are innovators and are revered for their musicianship.
So, the Page and Plant combo was somewhat very nearly formed again in Cornell and Morello. In both the bands, these two (Lead Singer and Lead Guitarist) were the Principal architects in Music direction. But one thing that was greatly missing between Cornell and Morello was rapport and common musical philosophy. Audioslave had parted ways before the release of their first album due to managerial issues. But resolved it soon to release their eponymous debut album.
Audioslave band was more like a business unlike Led Zeppelin who composed music and played it as passion and displayed a thorough showcase of art. Like every band, even Page and Plant had personality conflicts and musical differences but they survived through the thick and thin. The band together fought accusations of plagiarism and defied scathing media attacks and still held on together as a unit until the death of John Bonham.
Chris Cornell was hellbent in inducing his musical vision into the group but Tom Morello was a rampant crusader for political taunts in his music. Thus, ego clashed and Cornell withdrew stating ” Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors.” Though its a fact that Audioslave had seen only vestiges of success compared to what Led Zeppelin had established themselves in their first three studio albums but talent was no dearth in this new supergroup. This engraves that team work is really very important along with genuine talent and discreetness. Both Cornell and Morello might be knowing in their corner of their minds that they can’t achieve supreme popularity individually at the ripe of their careers but could have re-revolutionized the Hard Rock genre with a pastiche of post-grunge and funk/punk metal. But its the fate written by their very own hands which finally wrote them off.

In this business-minded world, money is considered as a trade-off for art. Bonham’s death might not be the only reason for Led Zeppelin’s disbandment but they made a statement and carved a niche every album they released. But the Audioslave jet crashed soon after take-off. My humble request to Cornell and Morello, crush your ego and re-unite.

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