Shriek of the Week, Volume One

Everybody needs a gimmick. Here's mine... Every week in this very space, I will link to a band or artist who you really ought to know. I'm calling it Shriek of the Week because I am uncreative and really miss WLIR. Since this is the first time I'm doing this, there's a good chance I'm preaching to the choir as I've picked a surefire winner... Audioslave.

When two beautiful people get married, you usually expect beautiful babies to follow. Most of the time, it doesn't happen, or at very least, the kids don't quite live up to expectations. In this case, Soundgarden and Rage made a baby, and we got a fucking supermodel.

Audioslave is powerful, it just takes one listen to "Cochise" or "Set It Off" to know that, but it's never just noise. They put on one of the best live shows I've ever seen, seriously, it's a physical and emotional thrill. Their music has an amazingly clear sound, and it's often coupled with lyrics that go so much farther than the typical "break stuff/fuck you" b.s. that can ruin even the hardest rock. Their political leanings are well known, but they've gone beyond Rage's near tunnel-vision outrage to touch on the best and worst in life. "Show Me How to Live" is an exploration of belief and existence set to one of those fantastic "only Morello can do it" guitar riffs, "Dandelion" is practically a love letter, and one of my favorites off their self-titled debut, "Exploder," features a downright inspirational chorus:

"If you're free you'll never see the walls,
If your head is clear you'll never free fall,
If you're right you'll never fear the wrong,
If your head is high you'll never fear at all."

And if you're listening to Audioslave, you'll never be disappointed.