Scream (Chris Cornell album)

Scream
Studio album by Chris Cornell
Released	March 10, 2009
Recorded	2008
Studio	Hit Factory Criteria (Miami) The Studio at the Setai (Miami Beach)
Genre	Pop rock dance-pop electropop
Length	63:14
Label	Mosley Suretone
Producer	Timbaland (exec.) Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon Jim Beanz Justin Timberlake Ryan Tedder
Chris Cornell chronology
Carry On (2007) Scream (2009) Part of Me Remix EP (2009)
Singles from Scream
"Long Gone" Released: July 29, 2008 "Watch Out" Released: August 5, 2008 "Ground Zero" Released: September 9, 2008 "Scream" Released: September 22, 2008 "Part of Me" Released: October 12, 2008

Scream is the third solo studio album by American musician Chris Cornell. Released on March 10, 2009, through Suretone Records and Mosley Music Group, it marked a shift from Cornell's previous musical efforts. Guitar and rock elements were largely excluded, replaced with producer Timbaland's electronic pop soundscapes. The album was promoted with the release of five digital singles and three music videos, and was met with mostly negative reviews. The album debuted in the U.S at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 26,000 copies sold.^[1]

Production

Recording history

With the idea of remixing songs from his previous album Carry On (2007), Cornell first came into contact with Timbaland.^[2] However, the collaboration evolved into the duo writing and recording an entire album in just six weeks, notably with the conceptual direction of "tying it all together musically", which Cornell describes as "[harkening] back to albums that I listened to when I was a kid, where the music never stops" and that it "begs to be listened to on headphones all the way through".^[2]

Musical style

Billboard reported that Scream shows Cornell moving "in a much more pop-oriented direction, with busy drum machine beats, buffed-up chorus vocals and string samples filling the nooks and crannies", comparing it to Gnarls Barkley and less that of "the guitar-driven music of Cornell's past with Soundgarden and Audioslave". Despite the controversy caused by teaming up with Timbaland,^[3] Cornell insisted that he still played an integral part of the album's creation and didn't do what "Timbaland told me to do," further noting that they "didn't really have that relationship" and "it wasn't that type of a process. It was more, he would bring in a beat, an idea, I would write to it and sing it, and we would move on kind of to the next thing."^[3]

Describing the album as a whole, Cornell compared it to Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and Queen's A Night at the Opera, citing the psychedelic elements that Timbaland brought into the production.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	42/100[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Robert Christgau	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[7]
Hot Press	(favorable)[8]
Los Angeles Times	[9]
The New York Times	(mixed)[10]
NME	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Spin	[13]

In the U.S, the album debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and thus became Cornell's first top 10 solo album. The next week it dropped 55 places to number 65, which was the largest second-week drop for a top 10-debuting album in two and a half years.^[15] It spent 10 weeks on the Billboard 200.^[16]

Initial critical response towards the release was mixed to negative. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 42, based on 19 reviews.^[14] Scream received positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly and Hot Press who felt that the collaboration between producer Timbaland and Chris Cornell worked.^[14] The mixed reviews were more prevalent, with Spin stating the album was "strangely appealing in its elaborately empty efficiency", while Billboard noted that "sometimes it's good bizarre. Other times it's bad bizarre."^[17] Rolling Stone wrote that Scream "veers between drab–sleek and rock–dude soulful; Cornell's yowl never sounds at home".^[14] Among the negative reviews, Allmusic wrote that "Scream is one of those rare big-budget disasters, an exercise in misguided ambition that makes no sense outside of pure theory."^[18]

Nine Inch Nails creator Trent Reznor attacked the album, suggesting on Twitter that Cornell had "embarrass(ed)" himself.^[19] Reznor regretted his comments, writing an apology email to Cornell when both Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden announced a co-headlining tour.^[20]

After Cornell’s death, Timbaland said that Cornell was “One of the best I've worked with“ and singled out Scream as “One of my favorite albums I was honored to work on.“ He later added: “It was an honor creating this Classic with Chris Cornell“^[21][22]

Track listing

Songwriter credits adapted from the liner notes of the album. Songwriters for the bonus tracks can be found in the ASCAP database.^[23]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Additional production	Length
1.	"Part of Me"	Chris Cornell Jerome Harmon Timothy Mosley Ezekiel Lewis Balewa Muhammad	Backing vocals: Ezekiel Lewis and Jim Beanz	5:14
2.	"Time"	Cornell Harmon Mosley James Washington Lewis Muhammad	Backing vocals: Ezekiel Lewis and Jim Beanz Co-produced with Jim Beanz	4:39
3.	"Sweet Revenge"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz	4:10
4.	"Get Up"	Cornell Harmon Mosley	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz	3:35
5.	"Ground Zero"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz Co-produced with Jim Beanz	3:09
6.	"Never Far Away"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Lewis Muhammad	Backing vocals: Ryan Tedder	5:06
7.	"Take Me Alive"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington Justin Timberlake	Backing vocals: Justin Timberlake and Jim Beanz	4:36
8.	"Long Gone"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Lewis Muhammad Patrick "J. Que" Smith	Backing vocals: Ezekiel Lewis	5:15
9.	"Scream"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington		6:14
10.	"Enemy"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Lewis Muhammad Ryan Tedder King Logan	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz	4:35
11.	"Other Side of Town"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz	4:48
12.	"Climbing Up the Walls"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz	4:48
13.	"Watch Out"	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington	Backing vocals: Jim Beanz Co-produced with Jim Beanz	4:02
14.	"Two Drink Minimum" (hidden track)	Cornell Harmon Mosley		3:03

Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Additional production	Length
15.	"Ordinary Girl" (Availability: iTunes US and UK)	Cornell Harmon Mosley	Co-produced with Ryan Tedder	4:33
16.	"Lost Cause" (Availability: iTunes UK, Barnes & Noble)	Cornell Harmon Mosley Washington		4:20
17.	"Do Me Wrong" (Availability: Amazon.com and Japanese editions.)	Cornell Harmon Mosley	Co-produced with Ryan Tedder	2:54
18.	"Stop Me" (Availability: Verizon Wireless – Blackberry Storm exclusive,[24] Rhapsody digital-download service)	Harmon Mosely James Fauntleroy	Co-produced with Ryan Tedder Backing vocals: James Fauntleroy	3:34

Personnel

Musicians Chris Cornell – lead vocals Timbaland – all instruments Jerome Harmon – all instruments DJ Timmy T – DJ scratching Demo Castellon – additional programming Dan Warner – all additional guitars Lee Levin – additional live drums (6, 8) Darryl Pearson – additional live bass (1, 13), additional live bass, guitars and background vocals (8) Justin Timberlake – additional background vocals (7) Amar – additional background vocals (7) Ryan Tedder – additional background vocals (6) Jim Beanz – additional background vocals (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13) Ezekiel Lewis – additional background vocals (1, 2, 8) Brent Kutzle – additional cello (10) Peter Thorn – additional guitars (10, 12) Jason Sutter – additional live drums (12) Lasim Richards – horns (1) Frank Chadwyck Bernstein – horns (1) Brian Keegan – horns (1) Rashawn Ross – horns (1) Phil Lassiter – horns (1)

Production Timbaland – production (all songs), executive producer Jerome Harmon – production (all songs) Demo Castellon – mixing, recording, co-executive producer, mixing (5, 10, 12) Julian Vazquez Jr. – recording, mixing (10) Jim Beanz – vocal production Chris Gehringer – mastering Chris Godbey – Pro Tools editing, additional recording, mixing (5) Ron Taylor – Pro Tools editing, additional recording Chris Carroll – additional recording Fareed Salamah – additional recording, mixing (12), 2nd mix assistant King Logan – co-production (10) Peter Thorn – additional guitar recording (10, 12) Tom Weir – additional live drums recording (12) Scott Eric Olivier – additional live drums recording (12) Brandon Jones – assistant engineer Alex Graupera – assistant engineer Miguel Bustamante – assistant engineer Chad Jolly – assistant engineer Rick Bryant – assistant engineer Sebastian de Peyrecave – assistant engineer Marc VanGool – guitar technician

Rock versions

There are currently two Scream tracks that have had "rock versions" of them released. The first being an alternate version of "Long Gone", produced by Howard Benson,^[25] which was accompanied by an official music video directed by DJ Skee's Skee.tv.^[26]

The second track to come to light was a "rock version" of "Never Far Away". This version was not a remix, but a completely new recording, produced by Jordon Zadorozny. It has yet to be released for purchase, but has been, with permission from Cornell himself, made available for streaming by Alan Cross.^[27] In October 2009, it was reported that Cornell was working with Jordon Zadorozny and Michael Friedman to rework the entire Scream album but then Chris rejoined Soundgarden.^[28] No further development on the project had been made between Cornell rejoining Soundgarden and his death on May 18, 2017.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Release format	Length
1.	"Long Gone" (rock version)	Chris Cornell Howard Benson	Released via the Long Gone (rock version) digital-only single	3:41
2.	"Never Far Away" (rock version)	Cornell Jordon Zadorozny	Only available for streaming	3:59

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Austria Albums Top 75[29]	47
Canadian Albums Top 100[30]	13
Denmark Albums Top 40[29]	30
Dutch Albums Top 100[29]	61
Finnish Albums Chart[31]	18
German Albums Chart[32]	46
Polish Albums Chart[33]	32
Swiss Albums Top 100[29]	28
UK Albums Top 75[34]	70
U.S. Billboard 200[1]	10
World Albums Top 40[29]	35

References

1. "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
2. "Chris Cornell Unveils Timbaland-Produced Tracks That Sound Like ... Chris Cornell And Timbaland". MTV. July 24, 2008. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
3. "CHRIS CORNELL Sets Release Date For New Album". Blabbermouth. August 25, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
4. "CHRIS CORNELL To Unleash His 'Scream' This Fall". Blabbermouth. July 29, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
5. "Scream - Chris Cornell". AllMusic.
6. "CG: Artist 253". Robert Christgau.
7. "Scream Review". Entertainment Weekly. March 4, 2009. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
8. "Scream-ager of the year". Hot Press.
9. "Album review: Chris Cornell's 'Scream'". Los Angeles Times.
10. "Critics Choice". The New York Times. March 9, 2009.
11. "Album review: Chris Cornell". NME. March 30, 2009.
12. Hoard, Christian (March 3, 2009). "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
13. "Chris Cornell, 'Scream' (Interscope/Mosley)". Spin.
14. "Chris Cornel:Scream (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2009.
15. "Music Chart Analysis, Artist Spotlights, Music Insider, Chart Beat & News". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
16. [1] Archived May 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
17. "Scream". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
18. "Scream review: Allmusic". Allmusic. Macrovision, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
19. "Twitter / Trent Reznor: You know that feeling you ..." March 15, 2009. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
20. "Trent Reznor apologized for his harsh comments about Chris Cornell's Scream album". Consequence of Sound. May 30, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
21. https://x.com/timbaland/status/865254480874356736?s=46
22. https://x.com/timbaland/status/1262532277306785793?s=46
23. https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/performer/CHRIS_CORNELL ^{[bare URL]}
24. "Chris Cornell - "Stop Me"". The Timbaland Buzz. March 15, 2009. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
25. "iTunes - Music - Long Gone (Rock Version) - Single by Chris Cornell". Itunes.apple.com. May 5, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
26. "Long Gone (Rock Version) - Chris Cornell". YouTube. Retrieved June 3, 2012.^{[dead YouTube link]}
27. [2] Archived November 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
28. "Chris Cornell to rework entire "Scream" album into rock album". AlternativeAddiction. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
29. "Chris Cornell - Scream - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
30. "CANOE - JAM! Music SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on December 26, 2004. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
31. Suomen virallinen lista
32. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche". musicline.de. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
33. OLiS Archived March 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
34. 1 hr ago (April 20, 2011). "Yahoo! UK & Ireland omg! - Celebrity Gossip | News | Photos | Videos". Uk.launch.yahoo.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011.