The best album I've heard this year, ironically is not in any way at all underground but totally mainstream. Here's a good piece of modern pop/rock culture- Audioslave's Out of Exile. The ex Rage Against the Machine outfit has has upped the ante and brought their own musical talents up a couple of notches. And what that results in is an album that not only satisfies ardent fans but also attract new listeners.This is what band maturity should be all about. Not deviating too much from what made them famous in the first place, but redefining themselves and polishing up their skills. Yes true, in this fickle minded music industry change is inevitable. But changing slowly is way better than destroying your roots. Don't shock your fans too much. They may be loyal but their ears will still bleed if the music sucks.
Audioslave seems to know what its fans like. Quirky guitar solos, tormented vocals and catchy bass lines. So they took all these elements and perfected them. Every track, I can tell you is standard. Verse, chorus, verse, solo, chorus, ending. But hell what makes them so good is that they can take the mundane and predictable and still make is sound so fanfuckingtastic. Each solo is painstakingly technical and all the riffs differ so much. Never the same. That's why it's been stuck in my pod for the past 2 weeks.
I dare say the first track of every album is one of the most important as it sets the tempo for the rest of the piece and it signals the message the band is trying to send to you. And Audioslave riproars with one of the best tracks from the album, Your Time Has Come. The uber catchy solo is so blindingly fast, I think its synthesized. Other brilliant tracks in this finely balanced acoustic and rock album include Be Yourself, Doesn't Remind Me, Heaven's Dead, The Worm, Man or Animal, Yesterday To Tomorrow, Dandelion, #1 Zero, The Curse, (erm fuck, isin't that the entire album already?!) and my personal favourite, Out of Exile. It sounded so good I learnt to play it on my bass. Sadly nobody's there to attempt the guitar.
So go tune in to it with no regrets. On my accounts, its bleedingly good. And do ask around for a guitarist who likes to jam Audioslave. Thanks.