Audioslave is the debut studio album by Audioslave, released on November 18, 2002. The album spawned the singles Cochise, Like a Stone, I Am the Highway and What You Are; Like a Stone was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards. After Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, the remaining members of the band began searching for a new vocalist.
The producer suggested that they contact Chris Cornell, who was in the process of writing material for a second solo album when Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk contacted him, but he decided to drop it and pursue the opportunity to work with them. The new quartet wrote 21 songs during 19 days of rehearsal and began recording their first album in late May 2001. Rough versions of thirteen songs from the album were leaked on various peer to peer file sharing networks on May 17, 2002, six months before the album’s official release, under the name Civilian (or The Civilian Project).
The album was released on November 18, 2002 in the UK and a day later in the US. The album entered the Billboard 200 chart at position number seven, after selling 162,000 copies in its first week. It was certified gold by the RIAA less than a month after its release, and by 2006 had achieved triple-platinum status. It is the most successful Audioslave album to date, having sold more than three million copies in the United States alone.
Tracklist:
- Cochise
- Show Me How to Live
- Gasoline
- What You Are
- Like a Stone
- Set It Off
- Shadow on the Sun
- I Am the Highway
- Exploder
- Hypnotize
- Bring Em Back Alive
- Light My Way
- Getaway Car
- The Last Remaining Light
Audioslave
Chris Cornell: vocals
Tim Commerford: bass, backing vocals
Brad Wilk: drums
Tom Morello: guitars
Production and design
Produced by Rick Rubin; Co-Produced by Audioslave
Mixed by Rich Costey
Recorded by David Schiffman and Andrew Scheps
Additional Engineering by John Burton, Floyd Reitsma, Thom Russo, and Andrew Scheps; Assisted by Chris Holmes and Darron Mora
Digital Editing by Greg Fidelman, Thom Russo, and Andrew Scheps
Album Production Coordinator/Wrangler: Lindsay Chase
Mastered by Vlado Meller, Assisted by Steve Kadison
Album Cover by Storm Thorgerson and Peter Curzon
Art Direction by Storm Thorgerson; Assisted by Dan Abbott and Finlay Cowan
“Flame” Logo by Peter Curzon
Photography by Rupert Truman
Band Photos by Danny Clinch
Sculpture Made by Hothouse
Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017)
