''Carry On'' is the second solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

musician

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell ( Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the primary lyricist for the rock music, rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a ...

. It was released on May 28, 2007, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and June 5, 2007, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. This album is Cornell's second after '' Euphoria Mourning'' in 1999, and his first since leaving his former band

Audioslave Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine memb ...

. The album has sold 121,000 copies in the US.

Production

Recording history

''Carry On'' was produced by

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...

. Among the artists who accompanied Cornell on his second solo release was friend

Gary Lucas Gary Lucas (born June 20, 1952) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and composer who was a member of Captain Beefheart's band. He formed the band Gods and Monsters in 1989. Lucas has released more than 50 albums to date as a solo artist or ...

, who contributed

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

to some of the tracks. Cornell has stated that he is always writing, and that there are some songs that he was not able to put onto an Audioslave album. While recording his second solo album, Cornell was involved in a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

accident. He was apparently " rear-ended by a truck in L.A.'s

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...

while riding his motorcycle" and "catapulted 20 feet into the air." He was able to walk away from the accident, but had severe cuts and bruises. He returned to the studio later that day.

Musical style

The album's style has been described as "a mash-up of

alt-rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine considered the album as "a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

maturation." Cornell stated that he took influences from a variety of genres including heavy rock on the recording of ''Carry On''.

Reception

The album debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 37,000 copies in the United States. ''Carry On'' received generally mixed reviews from music critics. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

described it as "possibly the most confused album you’ll come across all year ... a collection that is both catchy and dreary at the same time." Cornell announced that " No Such Thing" would be the album's first single during interviews with various radio stations around the

Track listing

The album features fourteen tracks, including the first album appearance of "

You Know My Name "You Know My Name" is the theme song of the 2006 James Bond film '' Casino Royale'', performed by American musician Chris Cornell, who wrote and produced it jointly with David Arnold, the film's composer. The track was leaked onto the internet on ...

", the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for '' Casino Royale'', the 2006 installment in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

franchise. The album also features a cover of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's hit song from ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'', "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 3, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produ ...

". All songs written by

, except where noted.

Personnel

Personnel adapted from ''Carry On'' liner notes. ;Musicians *

- lead vocals (all tracks), guitar (all tracks), keyboard (track 12) *

- guitar (tracks 3–14) *

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac (born September 11, 1965) is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). He is a touring member of New Jersey rock band My Chemical Romance. ...

- keyboards (tracks 2, and 5–9) * Miles Mosley - bass guitar (tracks 1–7, 9–12, and 14), upright bass (tracks 8 and 13) *

Nir Zidkyahu Nir Zidkyahu (, , born November 1967), also known as Nir Z, is an Israeli studio-session drummer, and the brother of Blackfield's drummer Tomer Z. He joined in spring 1997 with Genesis, he played in eight tracks for their last album ''Calling A ...

- drums (all tracks) * Cameron Greider - guitar (tracks 3–6, and 8–13) *

Brian Ray Brian Thomas Ray is an American musician best known as a guitarist, bassist and backing vocalist with Paul McCartney's Paul McCartney Band, touring band since 2002, and formerly as a musical director and guitarist for Etta James. Ray has perfo ...

- guitar (tracks 1, 2, 7, 9, and 10) * Dimitri Coats - guitar (tracks 2, 7, and 10) * Steve Lillywhite - piano (track 10) * Joe Sublett - tenor saxophone (track 4) * Darrell Leonard - trumpet (track 4) * Dave Cobb - horn arrangements (track 4) ;Production * Steve Lillywhite - production, mixing * Todd Parker - recording, mixing * David Colving - additional engineering * Stephen Marcusson - mastering * Cindi Peters - production coordination * D. Sardy - mixing (track 14) * Ryan Castle - engineering (track 14) * Cameron Barton - additional engineering (track 14)

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Chris Cornell albums Interscope Records albums