PW's Song Of The Week: SONG OF THE WEEK: 6-2-2024

SONG: "Someone To Die For"

ARTIST: Chris Cornell (feat. Eleven)

ALBUM: Not on an album

YEAR: 1998

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Seattle, Washington

YEARS ACTIVE: 1983 - 2017

WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Someone To Die For" appears to be a song about having someone come into you life that changes everything you thought was most important to you, because that person, all of a sudden, becomes the most important thing in your life. Your world now centers around this person. It's truly unconditional love for someone. The vocalist could be singing about his life partner or it could be about his child. You could see that either one could pertain to this song.

CHRIS CORNELL DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1999 - Euphoria Mourning (Interscope Records)

* peaked at #18 on the Billboard 200

2007 - Carry On (Interscope/Suretone Records)

* peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200

2009 - Scream (Interscope/Suretone Records)

* peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200

2011 - Songbook (Universal Records)

* peaked at #69 on the Billboard 200

2015 - Higher Truth (Universal Music Enterprises)

* peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200

2020 - No One Sings Like You Anymore (Universal Music Enterprises)

* peaked at #78 on the Billboard 200

MY THOUGHTS ON CHRIS CORNELL:

Seattle, Washington's own, Chris Cornell jumped into the music scene back in 1983. He was a founder of the legendary band Soundgarden. At first he was the band's drummer, but soon jumped up to rhythm guitar so he could handle vocal duties much easier. Soundgarden, of course, is just enormous! One of the greatest hard rock bands of all time and for my money, Chris Cornell is the greatest rock vocalist of all time. Yeah, I said it! Soundgarden was a force from 1984 till 1997 when the band broke up due to internal conflicts. They did reunite in 2010 and continued on right up till Chris Cornell's untimely death. More on that later. Chris Cornell was also the frontman for the Seattle supergroup, Temple Of The Dog, which featured members of Soundgarden and, at the time, the newly formed Pearl Jam. This band was formed because Cornell had written some tribute songs for the lead singer of Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood. Cornell and Wood were great friends and roommates at the time of Wood's death. Cornell penned "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and "Reach Down" in honor of Wood. Cornell was also the frontman of another supergroup, Audioslave, from 2001 till 2007. Before Cornell passed, there was also talk of Audioslave reuniting as well. Audioslave was Rage Against The Machine but fronted by Chris Cornell, featuring blistering hard rock songs! What I'm here to talk about today, however, is Chris Cornell's solo career. When Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, Cornell began working on his first solo album, 1999's "Euphoria Mourning". This album showed a softer side of Cornell but proved that he could be just as dynamic a singer on any kind of music. After his stint with Audioslave, Cornell released his second solo album, 2007's "Carry On". In 2009, Cornell teamed up with R&B producer Timbaland and created the album "Scream". This was quite the departure for Cornell and I would say most fans of his weren't that into this album. Cornell did remake a few of the songs off of "Scream" in a more rock oriented format and there were rumors that he might do the whole album over that way but that never happened. In 2011, Cornell released the live acoustic album "Songbook". If ever you wanted a document to show how super talented Mr. Cornell was, you should listen to this masterpiece. It's just Cornell with his incredible voice and an acoustic guitar. The album spans his solo stuff, along with Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple Of The Dog songs. A true piece of art. 2015 saw Cornell release the very last full length studio album he was a part of while he was still alive, "Higher Truth". In 2020, the covers album "No One Sings Like You Anymore" was released posthumously. One of the biggest tragedies in the world of music happened on May 18, 2017 when Chris Cornell was found dead in his Detroit hotel room after performing with Soundgarden. The death was ruled suicide by hanging. Cornell had dealt with depression for most of his life but it seemed like he had things together at the time of his death. It was a shock to all and just put such a total dark cloud on the music world to lose such an iconic talent. I love everything Chris did, Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple, his solo stuff. He even fronted the Seattle band Mad Season, which featured the late Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley, when the surviving members played a show in Seattle. Cornell's voice was so powerful and his range was so dynamic. He had such a gift. I can't even begin to tell how important the music of Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and yes, Soundgarden was to me growing up. When we lost Kurt, it hurt, but deep down we saw it happening. With Layne, it was more drawn out, but we all could see the ultimate writing on the wall even though we didn't want to. But with Chris, we never saw it happening. He just seemed like a beacon of light. So talented, so charming, so funny. As someone who has lost a few friends to suicide, there's so many questions that will forever go unanswered. All you can do is to tell everyone that means something to you that you love them and never take for granted the time you have with them.

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

Soundgarden

Temple Of The Dog

Audioslave

Pearl Jam

Stone Temple Pilots

TEN CHRIS CORNELL SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince cover)

2. Sunshower

3. The Keeper

4. Seasons

5. I Am The Highway (Audioslave cover) (acoustic)