Chris Cornell: Ranking Every Album From Worst To Best

Soundgarden fans who were used to hearing Chris Cornell's spellbinding howl overtop fast and furious rock melodies were probably a little taken aback the first time they heard the frontman's debut solo album. It's still a rock album, to be sure, but there's no sludgy, distorted riffs or arena rock bombast. It's just Chris. But that ain't a bad thing.

There's a slinky, deeply entrancing quality to Euphoria Morning that lends itself extremely well to Cornell's scruffy vibrato. For the first time in his career, it felt like he wasn't aiming for the gut or the rafters, but for somewhere deep inside the psyche, going at the album with a more cerebral approach.

Thematically Euphoria Morning (originally titled Euphoria Mourning), is heartbreakingly cathartic, with Cornell issuing indictments of his own failures and giving listeners a peak into the tumultuous years between Soundgarden's breakup and his first solo release.

And that's why this album succeeds. Whether he's dipping his toes into bluesier territory, or further extending the psychedelic experimentations of Down on the Upside, Cornell never compromises lyrically. You're getting him at his most honest and introspective.