10 Rock Albums You Constantly Have To Defend Loving
5. Audioslave: Audioslave (2002)
The debut record from Audioslave is criminally underrated. Fans of Sound Garden and Rage Against The Machine shouldn't have a bad word to say about it. You've got the raucous power of three of the best rock musicians in the game, pounding out infectious jams; add to that, one of the greatest vocalists in music exhibiting the full range of his ability.
Sure, you could maybe nit pick at Chris Cornell's lyrics for being somewhat derivative; there are plenty of references to gasoline and putting pedal to the metal, but with music that drives this hard, that can be forgiven.
Producer Rick Rubin was also criticised for making the album feel over produced, the raw energy of both Sound Garden and Rage Against the Machine was said to be lost in the mix. But this was an unfair assessment. If the respective members were still conducting themselves like a bunch of angsty youths, railing against the pricks, it would have felt forced - considering they were in their 30s. The polished sound simply suited the group's musical maturity.
This record is the perfect blending of two of rock's greatest groups. It should be enjoyed shamelessly.