The fact that they are reuniting is awesome. Yes Chris Cornell’s solo material sucks, but who’s doesn’t?

And the first Audioslave record was good. That’s all most bands can claim anyway.

On the contrary, an acoustic show leaves a singer with nothing to hide behind. It shows every flaw and every nuance of a voice. Cornell has had his rough patches vocally, but not often since he gave up the booze and tobacco. His voice is currently in stunning condition.

But I doubt there’s much point in trying to convince someone who needs to believe someone’s work is crap – even quoting Trent “I want to be Courtney Love” Reznor’s pathetic schoolyard bitchery to back them up.

For what its worth there are plenty of recent videos on YouTube which show Cornell is well able to sing Soundgarden material – or covers of classics like Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song – over a loud live band.

Jesus Christ Pose http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eje0eZDHpM
Immigrant Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9OLBoa8IXc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml5JrKJCzDY

Classic Cornell scream included….

While you may need the high notes of “Pretty Noose” to convince you of CC’s vocal ability, take a listen to “Say Hello 2 Heaven” performed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas 10/09. AND notice, he’s singing over a band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCF-D4HU_to

Put your worries to rest! Cornell delivers with boundless energy and incredible soul!

I do speak from experience in having seen him attempt to sing live with Audioslave, bailing on the high notes, and not really into the performance.

I also speak from experience in having heard all his solo albums, including the awful last one that was so bad his contemporary Trent Reznor even said about it, “You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell’s record? Jesus.”

I also speak from having read many horrible reviews of his tour for said album, which I didn’t see, which aren’t my opinions, but read pretty damning, like this: http://www.nypress.com/blog-3856-chris-cornell-at-webster-hall.html

and this: http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/04/concert_review_chris_cornell_a.php
(Best part of that one is this line: “But, by far the most startling aspect was Cornell’s voice — or lack therof. Even when he erupted into a tirade of yells, the ear drums were merely tickled.”)

I’m not even going to get into posting reviews about his solo albums… We all know how those read…

But I’m digressing a bit, I truly do love Soundgarden and think that Cornell was literally the voice of rock and roll, but come on… You simply can’t compare playing an acoustic show to playing a rock show. There’s completely different dynamics involved, you’re singing over a band, you need to yell to get those notes heard. In these videos he’s barely hitting his high notes, and he’s maybe at half the volume he used to be able to handle, so it’s not really a fair comparison…

Look at what happened to Axl Rose when he tried to play “Welcome to the Jungle” at the 2002 VMAs and completely embarrassed himself trying to hit those notes. Their singing styles are similar in that they use the same belting, diaphragm methods… It just worries me a bit is all, I’d hate to see the band’s image in my mind tarnished by a half-ass performance…

I truly do hope that he does kill it, but an acoustic show proves nothing… When he stands on stage and can hit the notes in “Pretty Noose” perfectly over the rest of the band, than I’ll admit I was worried about nothing…

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chris+cornell+troubadour&search_type=&aq=0&oq=chris+cornell+troubado

Now go check your OWN ego at the door or check out some of Cornell’s music from the last few years on YouTube. Maybe you shouldn’t judge so easily without doing your homework.