Chris Cornell

Euphoria Morning (A&M)
by Martin Popoff

When I heard (as the months ticked by) that this wasn’t that rockin’, my anticipation crested, because of my high regard for mellow Soundgarden, then waned once I saw a few reviews. Fact is, this thing’s quite a snoozer, as impenetrable as the awkward, ill-fitting record title, a cross between Radiohead, Oasis, soft Lenny Kravitz, softer Manic Street Preachers, and the bits of Soundgarden which were so mellow, they felt unarranged.

Love the guy’s voice and his lyrics, but too much of this just lopes with no directive, most every track adding some sort of new alternative/acid jazz novelty effect (usually just a smarmy guitar tone) that distracts from the songs while adding little. Like the large amounts of sinking, soaring, and general motion in the lyrics, I just felt awash in this thing, listen after listen, and not in a good way. We Canuckleheads can go ahead and compare it to the dreaded Edwin slab ‘cos it’s the same sort of cyclical meander. There are hooky tracks (“Flutter Girl,” Page/Planter “Follow My Way” and just barely “Pillow Of Your Bones”), but much of it is this Gap-garbed nu-Beatles stuff that pushes away enjoyment.