Well, the day has finally arrived. That’s right, Internets: Chris Cornell’s new solo album, the Timbaland-produced Scream, is now available wherever people buy music these days. For me, that place is Amazon, where the MP3 version is already at the super-promotional-discount-to-inflate-Soundscan-numbers-price of $2.99 USD. Now you too can empathize with Sammy O’Hagar and hear what promises to be the Now And Zen of the former Soundgarden frontman’s career – minus the hits, of course!

Now maybe I’m being a bit harsh here. After all, Cornell managed to pen that big Top 20 hit “Light On” for David Cook, the American Idol-winning-douchetestant-with-the-weird-shaped-head. So conceivably he could reach some of that core demographic of teens and desperately lonely forty-somethings with at least one of the tunes on this record. However, I can’t discount bad omens like the album’s repeatedly bumped release date and the tepid reception to the pre-release singles like “Scream” and “Ground Zero”. (Worldwide, five different “singles” were released in physical and/or digital formats–in 2008!)

Still, when you discount the fact that THE GUY USED TO BE THE FUCKING FRONTMAN FOR FUCKING SOUNDGARDEN, Scream isn’t all that bad for a pop record. (“Never Far Away” sounds suspiciously similar to Justin Timberlake’s massive “Cry Me A River”, which was also a Timbaland production.) I’m on my third listen and I don’t feel like killing myself, which automatically means the album has exceeded my expectations. Thanks, Chris! See you on tour!

-GS

[Gary Suarez is justified and ancient. He also writes for Brainwashed and usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No.]