Chris Cornell released his solo record Scream in 2009. The album was divisive, to say the least. Produced by Timbaland, the album shed Cornell’s rock n’ roll past and went for more of an electronic sound.
“You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable?” – Trent Reznor
In 2009, Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor signed up to Twitter and had around 40,000 followers. He took to Twitter following the release of Scream and wrote, “You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell’s record? Jesus.”
The album was panned by critics, receiving 2 stars from Rolling Stone Magazine, but Cornell was well-prepared for the fan reaction telling the magazine, “Maybe I’m an optimist or just an idiot but I really think the fans will come around to the concept.”
“I really have no personal issue with Chris at all.” – Trent Reznor
Reznor would shed some light on the Tweet later that year, during an interview with the Canadian press. “We had a chip on our shoulder about Soundgarden because their record, Superunknown, came out the same day as Downward Spiral came out, and they beat us to No. 1 on Billboard… I really have no personal issue with Chris at all. The thing I said on Twitter goes deeper than what may have appeared on the surface.”
We were on Interscope and I had Jimmy Iovine, the president of the label, come up to me on every record from With Teeth onwards, saying I should do some sort of urban thing — it was Timbaland for a while, then it was Pharrell for a while — because ‘that’s how you sell records.’
The idea seemed so preposterous and insulting. I’m not talking about ‘let’s go make a record with Dr. Dre,’ because that would be kind of cool. What he’s talking about is making your record sound like what’s on the radio, whether it’s appropriate or not. That’s what Chris did. I think that when somebody who is respected like he is, goes that route, it sends the message that it’s okay to give up any kind of core values you had to be the fashion of the moment. I don’t think that’s okay. I think it’s harmful. If I have one major fight in the world of the music business, it’s trying to keep art first and commerce second.”
Reznor Announces a New Album
A few weeks after the tweet and that interview, Reznor didn’t stop there. On April 1, 2009, he announced a new record called Strobe Light which was produced by Timbaland and featured collaborations with Chris Martin, Jay-Z, Bono, Sheryl Crow, Justin Timberlake, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, Fergie, Alicia Keys and even Reznor’s old rival, Ministry’s Al Jourgensen.
In his statement, Reznor would tell fans Strobe Light could be bought for $18.98 “plus a $10 digital delivery convenience fee.” He would also say in his April Fools statement, “Your email will be kept confidential and will not be used for spam unless we can make some money selling it.”
“Chris Cornell + Timbaland = depression.” – Alessandro Cortini
It wasn’t just Reznor hating on the album. His Nine Inch Nails bandmate, Alessandro Cortini tweeted about Cornell’s latest album around the same time saying, “Chris Cornell + Timbaland = depression,” in his first post, followed by, “Once again, please somebody erase this nightmare that is Chris Cornell’s new album,” and “I don’t know why I am listening to it. I am so bummed right now! Where’s Soundgarden?”
What did Chris Cornell have to say to all of this? He responded with a cryptic tweet with the following statement without calling out Reznor by name, “What do you think Jesus would Twitter? ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone’ or ‘Has anyone seen Judas? He was here a minute ago.'”
5 years later in 2014, Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails announced a co-headlining tour.
“The Chris I met on that tour was a gentleman that completely had his shit together.” – Trent Reznor
Looking back at his 2009 statements following Cornell’s death in 2017, Reznor told an interviewer, “Prior to the co-headlining tour, I wrote Chris an email apologizing for that outburst. He was very cool and generous about it – ‘It’s the past, eff it. Let’s go on.’ The Chris I met on that tour was a gentleman that completely had his shit together. Seeing Chris do that record felt like a blow to me. I thought, ‘He’s above that, man’. He’s one of the 10 best vocalists of our time.”
Like this story? Check out Glenn Danzig’s Disastrous Austin Festival Gig
Check out our YouTube channel