ALBUM REVIEW: Chris Cornell – ‘Euphoria Mourning’ (Reissue)

Chris Cornell, frontman of Soundgarden and Audioslave, has made the decision to re-release his 1999 debut solo album, Euphoria Morning, with its original name, Euphoria Mourning. The difference proves to be pivotal because the previous name didn’t reflect the content, but now listeners can see the theme; the loss of something good and the craving for something more.

Cornell takes us deep into the psyche through all of the stages of grief but never denial. Make no mistake, this is one of the most honest albums there is, sharing with us the most self-aware confessions, i.e. ‘I only love you when I’m down’.

This lyrical style is reminiscent of his style on masterpiece album, Superunknown, released with Soundgarden in 1994, where Chris painted heavy pictures of his own failures, i.e. ‘the day I tried to live, I wallowed in the blood and mud with all the other pigs’. One of Cornell’s biggest strengths is the way he displays catharsis, he drew from his past and so wisely played to his forte, making it fittingly rife in Euphoria Mourning.

Cornell even captures the grunge style to make contradictory statements within a line to reveal a mystery or truth, ‘I’m gonna… Writhe in your calm and provide your release’. The album as a whole echoes the grunge era, but at the same time offers Cornell something he wouldn’t be able to do with a band, more freedom and diversity to break away from typical forms, as well as to dispose of the reliance on guitar solos and big drums.

This allows him to take lots of different turns in a song and even to change the genre altogether to something like blues rock or something a little more funky. The album is a great solo effort that shows the power of creativity and the capabilities of someone making their own decisions.

The only thing the listener will have to work through is the excellent use of symbolism, which means so much more upon reflection. Listeners should also be aware that the release doesn’t try to be heavy or upbeat like other rock albums, but rather it achieves melancholic bliss, putting in nice, sad sounds with an accompaniment of many different instruments, all to help us empathise with Cornell’s sense of loss. The track ‘Steel Rain’ epitomises this, it perfectly captures agony and despair; it connects to your heart and makes you want to share in the song’s pain.

The track ‘Disappearing One’ deserves the most praise as it perfectly contrasts the black and white, how someone can disappear but always return. It comes with the greatest piece of imagery in the album because it presents the utmost suffering, ‘And there you lie like a painting of Christ, bleeding on the heads of the ones who nailed you down’.