Wall of Mouths

Not a member on here but was looking for some info on the band and saw this thread.

I’d like to make a quick point. People are saying Cornell’s a “sell out” with this album. I’m not gonna debate the quality of it here - personally I love it but my opinion is of little importance - but I’d like to ask…what makes him a sell out?

The fact that he’s made an album that will alienate his vast audience? Soundgarden had sold over 20 million albums when Cornell began work on his solo album in 1998…by now it’s probably nearer to the 25 mark. Side-project-that-had-no-tour-and-only-one-music-video-barely-any-promo Temple of the Dog’s album sold over 2 million copies. Audioslave meanwhile have sold over 10 million albums. Cornell has a BIG audience out there if he wants it. OK, so his solo albums haven’t sold so well - Euphoria Morning sold around 400, 000 copies Stateside and probably shifted around 1 million units worldwide, while Carry On has sold around the 450, 000 unit mark worldwide. That means not only does Cornell not need the money (especially as he’s not got a history for many addictions/big divorces, which can sap a rock star to poverty level pretty quickly and is what keeps a lot of them from retiring at the age of 40), but generally the further he’s got a formula that works. So this release is going to thoroughly alienate and upset his old fans.

Is he a sellout because he’s trying to attract a new audience? There is no WAY the pop mainstream are gonna accept a man of his age with a history rooted in grunge take the mainstream rockers by storm - maybe if he was 21 and gonna get in Kerrang magazine just for being hot but that’s not gonna happen - nor is he going to appeal to fans of the R&B that his new release is rooted in. Cornell’s management, record label, and common sense mean he’ll know this as well as we do - he is not gonna become Jay-Z’s best friend just because of this release.

Is he a sellout for taking a risk and working with someone who he knew nothing about musically and who had a completely different style of working to? Timberland and his people inhabit an entirely different astral plane to Cornell, this whole thing woulda been a huge learning curve for him.

He’s the opposite of a sellout - he’s made an album he knows will sell less copies than it could because it’s what he wants. Really, after the huge attention he got for that song in that Bond movie he’d have made a TON more cash if he stuck to the formula.

Hate the album all you want, but a sellout the man is not.