Chris Cornell

Hands down, my favorite rock singer of all time is Chris Cornell. Chances are, I will cover various albums from his illustrious career over the course of this blog, but for now I'm going to talk about Cornell and his career in general.

Chris Cornell was born in Seattle in 1964. In 1984, 20 years later, he formed Soundgarden with friends Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto. This makes Soundgarden and I the same age. No wonder I love them so much. An interesting note: Chris Cornell started out as the drummer. Eventually Matt Cameron settled in and took over the drum kit; clearly the band recognized Cornell's vocal talent. Soundgarden signed to the famous indie label Sub Pop, which has a very strong association with the Seattle "grunge" sound. Several years later, they were the first band out of that scene to sign to a major label.

Soundgarden's early years were comprised of albums such as the dual EPs "Screaming Life" and "Fopp," their debut LP "Ultramega OK" (which was nominated for a Grammy), and "Louder Than Love" (their major label debut). It wasn't until "Badmotorfinger," however, that they began to attain truly notable mainstream success. That album, bolstered by hits like "Outshined," "Jesus Christ Pose," and "Rusty Cage," rocketed them into the limelight. That album happens to not only be my favorite Soundgarden album, but one of my favorite albums of all time. I will definitely cover it on this blog at some point, and talk about its influence on me.

Despite being the first to the major label party, Soundgarden's success was eclipsed in the early years by Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Indeed, while "Badmotorfinger" came out the same year, 1991, as "Nevermind" and "Ten," the latter two albums enjoyed success on a whole other level. Not to say that they were bitter rivals. In fact, Cornell collaborated with the members of Pearl Jam on the Temple of the Dog project, a tribute to their late friend, Andrew Wood of the band Mother Love Bone. This album resulted in the hit song "Hunger Strike," which is a duet between Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder. I still remember when I first heard that song on the radio: "Hey, that sounds like the guy from Soundgarden . . . and the guy from Pearl Jam. How can that be?" When I confirmed their identities my mind was just about blown. That song is still one of my favorites.

It wasn't until 1994 that Soundgarden truly took the charts by storm with "Superunknown." This is the album that cemented the band's status as rock royalty, particularly due to the smash hit "Black Hole Sun." Other hits like "Fell on Black Days" and "Spoonman" showed that Soundgarden weren't just a one-hit wonder. It was "Black Hole Sun" that first introduced me to the band and to Cornell's amazing voice. I was hooked from first listen.

Unfortunately, Soundgarden's follow-up to "Superunknown," titled "Down on the Upside," did not replicate the former album's success. Although it did give us the classic song, "Burden in My Hand," which is one of my absolute favorite songs. After that album Soundgarden broke up. By the time I actually discovered them in 1999, they'd already been broken up for three years or so (I was a bit late to rock music).

Chris Cornell pursued a solo career for a while, including the wonderful album "Euphoria Morning." "Can't Change Me," the single from that album, is another one of my all-time favorite songs (anyone seeing a pattern here?)

Cornell was pretty quiet for a few years, until a rumor started that he was possibly going to collaborate with the former members of Rage Against the Machine, who were without a singer since Zack de la Rocha left the band. This was practically too good to be true! I hadn't been much a fan of RATM at the time. While I loved their instrumentals, I wasn't that much a fan of the rap vocals (they've since grown on me). So pairing my favorite vocalist with them sounded like the makings of the best band ever!

When the supergroup finally came to fruition with Audioslave's first album, my expectations were more than met . . . it was an awesome album! While their second and third albums couldn't quite measure up, they were still solidly one of my favorite bands and I was able to see them live twice. To my pleasure, they tended to cover several Soundgarden songs, which was the second best thing to seeing Soundgarden live. Here's one of my favorite Audioslave songs, "Show Me How to Live."

Chris Cornell also had the honor of contributing the theme song for the movie that brought James Bond back into movie audiences' good graces: Casino Royale. The song, called "You Know My Name," did not disappoint. While it didn't quite dethrone "A View to a Kill" as my favorite James Bond theme, it's definitely up there!

Chris Cornell's solo career hasn't been quite as . . . consistently high-quality as his work with Soundgarden. None of his solo albums after "Euphoria Morning" really had the same magic, and he made the questionable decision to work with Timbaland for one of them. Fortunately, a few years ago Soundgarden reunited, and I was finally able to see them perform live. This was after I had already seen Audioslave twice and Chris Cornell solo twice. What an amazing show! The band later put out their first album since "Down on the Upside": "King Animal."

Chris Cornell is one of the greatest rock vocalists of his generation. From Temple of the Dog to Soundgarden to his solo work to Audioslave and back to Soundgarden again, Cornell's career has given rock music some of its most enduring classics. If you want to sample the best that the "Seattle Sound" had to offer, you can't go wrong with sampling any of Cornell's amazing work.

"Burn it Black" by Injected

Today I found out that Jade Lemons, former guitarist for the band Injected, passed away this week of a drug overdose. In honor of Jade, I wanted to dedicate this entry to Injected's one and only album, "Burn it Black."

"Burn it Black" was released on February 26, 2002. 2002 was a big year for me. It was the year I graduated from high school and started college. Hence, I deeply associated the songs from that album with my year in the dorms.

Injected were composed of singer Danny Grady, guitarist Jade Lemons (RIP), bassist Steve Slovisky, and drummer Chris Wojtal. They were a group of high school friends from Atlanta that found success on the local scene and make their big move toward rock stardom in 2002 with their debut album. They scored a couple of minor hits on alternative rock radio with "Faithless" and "Bullet," as well as songs on the soundtracks for the movies "Spider-man," "The Fast and the Furious," and "The Scorpion King." They were also featured on the MTV Campus Invasion Tour. All the makings of success, right?

Well, for some reason that success was short lived. From what I've read, it sounds like there was a change in management at their record label, Island Records. The new management did not support them, and their second album (the tracks for which had already been recorded) went unreleased. They were dropped from their label and ended up breaking up and going their separate ways. The recorded tracks for the aborted second album, "The Truth About You," were eventually leaked online.

The original line-up of Injected reunited at least once for a charity show in Atlanta. They still have a dedicated following online, and I am one of their long time fans. I wish I could have seen them live! They ended up giving some of their songs from the second album for other bands to record. Butch Walker, who produced "Burn it Black," used the song "So At Last" on one of his albums. A band called Upside took "Monday" (one of my favorite songs) and "Daylight." Probably most notably, David Cook of American Idol fame made a minor hit out of "Barbasol" (also known as "Spun Again").

But back to where it all began, "Burn it Black." That album gets me revved up like few albums do. Injected were great at mixing super catchy, heavy guitar riffs with great, melodic singing.

Track 1, "When She Comes" gets the album going on a high note. I love the way the riff starts fairly quietly for a seconds before the rest of the band joins in and the song explodes into a high energy, head-bouncing good time. There's something about the way the spiraling guitar chugs along in this song that gets the heart pumping!

The album doesn't slow down as it moves into Track 2, the title track "Burn it Black." This is one of the most frequent songs on this album to get stuck in my head. It's a pretty straight forward rocker, with that special Injected magic that makes it both catchy and heavy. This song is also the one that made it onto the soundtrack for "The Scorpion King."

Track 3, "Bullet," is one of the singles from the album. However, I'd say it is one of the least representative-sounding songs on the album. As the loudest, most aggressive song on the album, I really think it was chosen as a single to try to cash in on the nu-metal fad. I think this was a miscalculation, as Injected really isn't a nu-metal band. They are a bit too traditional rock and roll to be lumped into the macho posturing and manufactured aggression that defined the nu-metal genre. Not to say that "Bullet" is a bad song. Far from it. It's got one of the album's catchiest choruses, and some ferocious guitar. But I think it hurt Injected's general appeal because it caused them to get lumped in with the hundreds of nu-metal wannabes clogging the music marketplace at the time. End rant.

Track 4, "Faithless," is the other single from the album. This one was a better choice for a single, and it also appeared on the soundtrack for "The Fast and the Furious." It's catchy as hell, with a great soft-loud verse-chorus dynamic. If any one song can be credited with getting me into Injected, I'd say it was either this one or Track 6. More on that song in a minute. But first . . .

Track 5, "It Only Hurts a While." Another highlight (the first half of this album is full of them), this could be called a power ballad of sorts. The emotion of this song really makes it stand out. It's loud and beautiful at the same time.

"Faithless" may have introduced me to Injected, but Track 6, "I IV V," was arguably the one to sell me on them. From the first seconds of the song when the drums fade in, to quickly be joined by the rhythmic pounding of the guitar riff, the listener is treated to the sweetest of rock and roll ear candy. The chorus is catchy and a bit more singable than that of "Faithless." Why this was not a single, I'll never understand. It at least made it onto the soundtrack of one of the biggest movies of the year, the very first "Spider-man."

The second half of the album isn't quite as strong as the first half, but that just means it's "great" instead of "amazing." Track 7, "Sherman" is a straight-forward heavy rocker. Track 8, "Used Up" is another one where the guitar riff and the chorus compete to dominate my head space. Tracks 9 and 10, "Ms. Fortune" and "Bloodstained," slow things down a bit, but still keep the music rocking. Track 11, "Lights Are Low," offers up one more fast-tempo rocker before the album slows down for the closing track, "Dawn."

Listeners who stick around for the hidden track, "Ride the Snake," will be pulverized by Injected's hardcore offering. Normally I can't stand screamed vocals, but somehow I like this song. Maybe because it's the only one on the album, and I can tell they boys are just doing it for fun. This isn't the genre they want to completely inhabit.

It's a shame that Injected weren't able to find more success from the music industry. In my humble opinion, the talent was there. Perhaps it was a matter of timing. They were playing a brand of rock that was out of style during the days of Nickelback and Limp Bizkit.

Now that Jade Lemons has unfortunately passed away, maybe more people will be introduced to the music that he and his band brought to life. Whatever the rest of the band is doing these days, I wish them much success. Please send warm wishes to them and to the rest of Jade's family and friends!

Homestar Runner

I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. That's what moving into a new apartment and a little bit of international travel will do!

Recently I was reminded by one of my favorite websites to visit during my college years: Homestar Runner.

The creation of brothers Mike and Matt Chapman, aka "The Brothers Chaps," Homestar Runner began as a side project while Mike was in college. The character of Homestar Runner debuted in a picture book that Mike made with a friend and was later brought to life by the brothers in an animated short they created using, of all things, the Super Nintendo game Mario Paint. Eventually the brothers learned how to use Flash and brought Homestar Runner and a colorful cast of supporting characters to the internet. Mike did the animation, and Matt did the voices (with his girlfriend providing the voice of the sole female, Marzipan).


The colorful cast of Homestar Runner.

Though Homestar Runner himself is a funny, memorable character, the most popular character of the site is arguably his nemesis, Strong Bad. Looking a bit like lucha libre wrestler, Strong Bad's snarky, mischievous nature contrasts with Homestar's naive good-naturedness. The site's tent pole feature was Strong Bad Email, a collection of shorts revolving around Strong Bad answering questions from fans. Full of (sometimes obscure) pop culture references and riddled with hidden Easter eggs, the Strong Bad emails were the source of many an inside joke between me and my college buddies.

One of the greatest parts of the email shorts is that often one-off, seemingly throw-away gags would evolve into recurring sketches of their own. From the GI Joe parody "Cheat Commandos" to the faux-comic "Teen Girl Squad," a visit to Homestarrunner.com would always surprise and delight.



In recent years updates to the site had slowed to a crawl. Finally over the last couple of years updates have begun again. From what I have read on handy dandy Wikipedia, both Chaps have largely moved on to other projects.  Matt is a writer and director for the TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba," and Mike has also written for the show.

While the days of Homestar Runner being a normal part of my routine are over, I still have a fondness in my heart for the website. It is great example of two guys expressing their creativity and becoming successful because of it. From the modest beginnings of animating using Mario Paint to having one of the most successful Flash cartoon websites ever, their story is an inspiration and a great example of how the internet has created opportunities for creativity that did not exist before.

Eternal Darkness

When it comes to video games, I have spent most of my life as a Nintendo fan boy. The only non-Nintendo video game systems I ever owned were the Sega Genesis (just for Sonic) and the Xbox 360 (mostly just for Halo, but that one I actually did play other things). Nintendo is mostly known for their exclusives such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox and all the others. Once in a while, though, Nintendo will release an exclusive game by a third party publisher. It doesn't happen so often these days, as it seems like most third parties have shunned Nintendo's current console, the Wii U, but at times in the past there's been some amazing third party Nintendo games. Resident Evil 4, which is largely considered a classic and one of the best games ever, started out as a Gamecube exclusive before it was ported to other systems. The software developer Rare used to make amazing games strictly for Nintendo systems, before they were bought by Microsoft and started ruining their franchises with games like Perfect Dark Zero and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.

There is one third party Nintendo exclusive that will always stick out in my mind: Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.



A survival horror game that has gone on to become somewhat of a cult classic, Eternal Darkness stood out with several creative elements that cemented it as one of my favorite games of all time. Have you ever seen a movie that you loved so much, that you declared yourself a fan of the director and started seeking out other movies he or she made? That's how I felt about the game's publisher, Silicon Knights, at least at first. When I heard they were involved in the Gamecube remake of Metal Gear Solid (which was given the subtitle "The Twin Snakes") I snatched it up. Unfortunately, Silicon Knights would go on to misfire with their Xbox 360 game Too Human, and after that the company basically imploded. It's quite an interesting story, I'd suggest googling Silicon Knights and reading about the company's fate.

But this entry isn't about Silicon Knights! It's about their brilliant game, Eternal Darkness. Time to break down what made this game so special.

1. It has an ensemble cast.



When done well, an ensemble drama can be a magnificent thing to behold. "Lost" is my favorite TV show of all time, largely for the way it pulled off its enormous cast of characters. Eternal Darkness is one of the few games I'm familiar with that puts you in the shoes of multiple characters. In addition, each character's segment of the game takes place during a different period of history. Not only does this add variety to the game, it also creates excitement as you never quite know who you'll be next. It greatly adds to the epic feel of the game.

2. It borrows from the master of cosmic horror to create a compelling story line.

H.P. Lovecraft is the father of the so-called cosmic horror genre. In the prototypical Lovecraft story, an average person encounters otherworldly forces that make humanity look about as significant as a guppy in the Pacific Ocean. Often such forces are so horribly beyond human comprehension that any person who manages to survive a direct encounter is driven insane. Other-dimensional entities, cults, dark rituals, mysterious books, and ancient, ruined cities make frequent appearances, and the stories are typically set in New England. Eternal Darkness has all of these Lovecraftian tropes and more.



The story centers on Alexandra Roivas (which is "Savior" spelled backwards, incidentally), who is investigating her grandfather's death in his New England mansion. She stumbles upon the Tome of Eternal Darkness, an ancient book (and stand-in for Lovecraft staple, the Necronomicon), which recounts the tales of numerous people throughout history who have battled "the Ancients" (similar to Lovecraft's "Old Ones"), otherworldly creatures of unspeakable evil who are determined to return to Earth and lay waste to all life. Soon enough Alex is swept into the battle, as it turns out each person referenced in the Tome has made some small contribution (often at the cost of their own lives), and it's up to her to finish the fight.

The mythology of the game is so well-realized, I had an immediate hankering to delve into the works of Lovecraft. That, in my book, is the sign of a game that truly captures the creative spirit: it inspires you to want to learn more about something.

3. It introduced a ground-breaking (and fourth wall-breaking) mechanic

The most famous feature of Eternal Darkness is, by far, the "sanity effects." Basically, in addition to the usual health and magic meters found in many games, you also have a green "sanity meter." The meter is depleted every time you are spotted by a monster. When the meter runs low, things start to get . . . weird. The camera angles become askew. Whispers, crying, and screams are heard coming from everywhere and nowhere. And the best part . . . hallucinations.

The hallucinations are where the game creators really mess with you. Some of them are confined to the game world. You might see a room full of monsters that turn out to be imaginary. Or your character's head might explode, or the character might start sinking into the floor. These hallucinations usually last for several seconds before the character shouts, "This isn't happpening!" and reality is restored in a flash. The best and most memorable hallucinations, however, are the ones that break the fourth-wall and start messing with you, the player. You might see a fly crawl across the TV screen. The volume might go down, with a corresponding green volume meter on the side of the screen. Or you might get a message saying your memory card has been corrupted, or your game file has been deleted.


Oh no! I'm surrounded by monsters and my controller's not working! Oh wait . . . it's just insanity.

These tricks could have been a cheap gimmick in a lesser game. But as part of the already creepy package of Eternal Darkness, they are quite brilliant. They add to the feeling of unease that permeates the game.

In order to get the best ending, you have to beat the game three times. With some games I'd balk at this requirement, but not Eternal Darkness. The game is subtly different each time, depending on a choice you make at the beginning. There are three evil Ancients, and one of them is designated as the primary "Big Bad" at the beginning. Only by playing through the three possible scenarios can you truly save humanity.

The ambition and creativity behind Eternal Darkness made it a true classic and one of the Gamecube's best games. H.P. Lovecraft's influence can be felt in many different movies, TV shows, and video games, and I credit Eternal Darkness with being the first to introduce me to his work.

If you own a Nintendo Gamecube and have never played it, I would recommend seeking out the nearest copy! Do it for your sanity . . .