There was a time in the mid 90's when Chris Cornell and Soundgarden were at the forefront of popular music. Songs like 'Black Hole Sun', from their Superunknown album, was the soundtrack to many hours of misspent youth but, like so many other bands before and since, it's difficult to keep success like this in perpetual motion. Cornell and Soundgarden called it quits in 1997 and, since then, Cornell had largely ignored his past until reforming Soundgarden in 2010. Since then, amidst the talk of "two or three" new Soundgarden albums, Cornell has reconnected with his back catalogue in a big way.
Songbook builds a bridge between Cornell's solo and Soundgarden material, with acoustic renditions of 'Black Hole Sun' and 'Fell On Black Days' sitting alongside his own compositions. Interestingly, Cornell also finds room for covers of Led Zeppelin's 'Thank You' and John Lennon's 'Imagine', with the former a highlight on the album and the latter unfortunately not a good companion for his vocal style.
While Cornell's voice is incredibly technically proficient, he does sometimes allow himself to get too carried away and delve into American Idol-style histrionics, but when he errs on the side of caution and sings with restraint there are few more powerful vocalists in rock music today. To his credit, Cornell isn't trading too vulgarly in his former glories and Songbook is a satisfying listen.
