Chris Cornell R.I.P. (1964-2017)

I was able to locate a brand new Songbook LP at the original price. Washed it up today, hoping to spin it tomorrow.

 

It's downright annoying that certain people use tragedies to make a quick buck. Especially when they overprice recent releases. Obviously an original clear vinyl edition of "Superunknown" can't be found cheap. But the more recent stuff? Patience is a virtue

 

I was excited to finally get my hands on a copy of Mad Season/Seattle Symphony - Sonic Evolution on vinyl, and at the original list price, too. I missed out on being able to get a first pressing, which was on Red and Black splatter vinyl, and then a second pressing on Purple vinyl came and went before I could buy one. With Chris' passing, since he was the featured singer on it, and it being out of print currently, I thought I'd never be able to find a copy at a decent price again. Thankfully, I lucked out, and a random internet search turned up a copy available from a place called AudiophileUSA, who still had one in stock, and they hadn't marked the price up on it either. Came in the mail today. It's a second pressing on Purple vinyl, but that's fine with me. Now I just need to get a copy of Songbook on vinyl, and I'll be good.

 

I was recently able to find a new copy of songbook 2lp for $40 I did not hesitate !

 

RIP, Chris Cornell..

 

RIP Chris Cornell

 

Yeah same set up at the Santa Barbara show I saw him in 2015. God that seems like just yesterday. He was an incredible singer, guitar player, and songwriter. I miss him more with each passing day...I've not really been affected by a celebrity passing as deeply as this one. He, via his music, really was there for me from my formative years (high-school was when BMF came out, and SU and DoTU got me through college) and into adulthood. Unlike the others who I also listened to and passed in an untimely fashion (Cobain, Staley), those you could see coming based on various factors. Chris was supposed to be the one who made it through the fire and take us into our old age with his continued talent-filled output. I'm thankful to have seen him quite a bit in concert. I owe him one now, so I do still plan on taking the acoustic out to his gravesite when the crowds die down, and playing a short tribute set to him.

 

So far most online sights I've checked recently have been sold out, but the price was similar.

 

Feel exactly the same my friend. My girlfriend and I are still shocked and very affected buy it
SG was a huge part of our lives in the 90s and his voice has always been there resonating for us since the age of 10 for me.

 

Eddie Vedder’s moving, heartfelt speech about Chris Cornell

 

The original Superunknown on vinyl isn't all that good as they were basically mastered from the CD. I have one on blue/translucent plastic and it's ok. The one to have is the German 360 reissue released in the early 00's.

With regards to Chris, we've lost a truly good one. Not only as an artist but going by some of the stories on the net, an extremely all round nice guy.

 

Thanks for this. Really.

 

...

 

I just bought a frame so I can hang on my wall the Songbook LP I bought at the one of the Songbook shows I attended, mostly as a reminder at how lucky I was to catch him at some of these really special and intimate shows

 

360? Haha, you are making this sound like an IMAX release

"320" is the code for German vinyl pressings

 

I've been watching footage of Cornell during 2017 with audioslave and soundgarden- and he looks and sounds a little worse for wear it must be said .. he didnt look himself in certain shows. I'm not trying to jump to conclusions but something clearly wasnt right with him. He looked drunk in some footage. He sounded awful with audioslave.
Cornell is one of my favourite vocalists and i know he was always hit and miss live because of the high bar he set himself on studio recordings, but i dont think he was in great shape in the 2017 shows i have watched ...

 

Yep, you're right! Umm, finger-trouble.

 

Something was off and yet the toxicology report from the night he died really didn't show much of anything out of place. He had no alcohol, marijuana or illegal drugs in his system. He had a prescription migraine medication, an antihistemine and caffeine. He had a slightly elevated level of the Ativan, also prescribed, but not overwhelmingly so and in keeping with his wife saying he told her that after the show he took a couple of extra(which the bodyguard said as well) so not something that should have affected him during the show.

Whatever he was going through, over all, I don't think it was drugs/alcohol, it was something physical/mental. He was in pain, I don't know if it was physical, mental or some combination of both. You watch shows November 2016 with Temple of the Dog and they are totally different than the shows in 2017. Though he did do a really nice job on The Promise on Jimmy Fallon(I think it was Jimmy Fallon) in April, not an easy song to sing and he sounds very good but looks kind of fragile.

 

I am staying at the MGM Grand. Soon as I got here I had to take a look. They took down the room number next to the door. It's tucked away in the corner right next to the exit. The wall next to the room has scrapes on it what I can only guess was from a stretcher. The other freaky part is I'm here with work people and my boss has the exact suite Chris did - right down to the exact room number ending in 36, just a few floors up. So I was basically in the same room and saw the layout of the room.

It's just so sad. I'm not trying to be TMZ but it's just depressing and who else to share it with than others on this board who feel the same way I do. Just awful.

 

I have been there and stayed there for work several times. I'm supposed to go back in September. It's not one of my favorite places really, although it tries to be nice. It will be definitely strange to go back now, that's for sure.

 

Do you think Chris was losing his voice again ?.. he also complained to his wife that he had blew his voice out because of his in ears ?...
I am a vocalist - I sang in rock bands for years - cover bands and original - I had a pretty decent range and could cover difficult songs by Zeppelin , Alice in chains etc... i know just how hard Cornell songs can be to cover - he was the hardest vocalist I ever attempted to cover because of the loudness, the depth and the fullness of his notes in the tenor range - I remember watching Audioslave at live 8 with my vocal teacher and we were both dismayed at how bad he sounded.. my teacher said something like - "chris has ruined his voice because he pushes for notes in his full voice that he shouldn't be reaching - time and wear and tear are finally catching up with him " .
My teacher regarded Cornell as the greatest in studio pure rock singer but he said he made his songs too difficult to replicate consistently in a live setting..
But Chris got his voice back - he was pretty immaculate on his acoustic tours. He sounded great with soundgarden when they reunited ( not always but most of the time)
In recent times he seemed inconsistent from one show to the next - even one song to the next... i know he was still great but do you think his loss of range contributed to his downfall ?

 

Yes, this has passed thru my mind. His voice was pretty shot by the third Audioslave album. After so many years of singing so many songs in full voice and if you add in tobacco and booze, it's natural that it got the better of him. He did manage to get most of his range back by using a different technique and when I last saw him live he sang beautifully. However, after all the recent touring (solos, Temple, SG) it was starting to sound raspy every now and again and after his 'In-ear' monitors began failing he blew his voice. You can see in the video footage of the last gig that he was having trouble with timing and key. Slaves and Bulldozers was awful. According to his wife, in their last conversation, he complained about the crew having three days to fix the problem with his in-ears but they were unable to fix them in time for the gig and that he couldn't hear himself sing. He also kept saying "I blew my voice, I blew my voice". I know it sounds extreme but maybe he was scared that he had totally wrecked it and it tipped him over the edge. After all, it's what he is known and celebrated for. That and possible other factors may have been sufficient for him to take his life. But saying that, a lot of his family and friends did not see this coming and said he seemed happy and content with his life and had been for years. All this talk about him being a depressive and dark character is more relevant to his youth, not his middle-age.

He did look tired the last few weeks of his life but I would have thought it was down to all the touring. The guy was a workaholic. If he wasn't working on his own material, he was working with other people.

Ultimately we have lost a real, talented artist and I totally bummed by it. Chris is the first idol of mine to have passed (I'm a big fan of Bowie but he's a different generation to me). I think about him everyday and I'm gutted that we will not see him grow into old age. I still think it was some weird freak accident and not suicide but I don't think we'll really ever know. There is a lot of trolling on various social media sites where some people are blaming his wife and mother-in law which frankly is disgraceful. For the Soundgarden guys it must be really tough as well, they've lost their friend and band mate and are unlikely to play those songs ever again. And his kids, his poor kids. Bless them, they lost their Daddy.

 

Yeah, I hear ya mate - I'm gutted about chris too . Really gutted. As for the trolls blaming his wife and mother in law - its disgraceful but the world is full of idiotic keyboard warriors so it's expected unfortunately... I don't want to dwell on why this tragedy occurred anymore - I would much rather celebrate and remember his huge talent..
About Cornell's voice - when I read articles or hear people say that chris could hit high notes in the tenor range 'easily' - it's a lie - chris always strained to hit those notes - that's why he sounded like he did. He relied on raw power to hit those notes -not really technique. The guy had whale lungs !
Chris pushed his voice to extremes in the studio. He was always pushing the boundaries of his voice ... and that's why he was inconsistent live..
Take layne staley - another great singer with great range - ( Although for a decent singer much easier to cover than cornell ) - when staley had an off night he still sounded good because he wasn't singing out of his range in the studio. Cornell was. He was an all or nothing singer. He didn't make things easy for himself ever and he didn't shy away from trying to hit insane notes live..even on a bad night...
Another thing that is hardly mentioned about cornell is just how great and creative he was as a songwriter and a rhythm guitarist - He was singing while playing strange time signatures which is not an easy thing to do.
And the guy was also a poet who could conjure up images in your mind with his lyrics.. He had the lot .. the full package ..

 

@Guapito and @éder:

Thanks for your posts.

My thoughts aren't as deep as either of yours.

I just enjoyed his music.

His final choice was sad for so many reasons, and I am going to miss him.

 

Yes, if you watch some of the older live SG videos there times his voice and playing was insane. The intensity of his vocals could shake a room. Amazing songwriter, as are SG as a whole.