Out of Exile is the second studio album by American rock supergroup Audioslave, released on May 23, 2005, internationally, and a day later in the United States, through Epic Records and Interscope Records. It is the band's only album to chart at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The album spawned the singles "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come", "Doesn't Remind Me", and "Out of Exile"; "Doesn't Remind Me" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 48th Grammy Awards.

Out of Exile
The ocean against a cloudy sky is seen. The band's name is written in the background.
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 23, 2005 (2005-05-23)
RecordedJuly 2004 – January 2005
Studio
pre-production: Swinghouse (West Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length53:38
Label
Producer
Audioslave chronology
Audioslave
(2002)
Out of Exile
(2005)
Revelations
(2006)
Singles from Out of Exile
  1. "Be Yourself"
    Released: February 2, 2005
  2. "Your Time Has Come"
    Released: May 3, 2005
  3. "Doesn't Remind Me"
    Released: July 5, 2005
  4. "Out of Exile"
    Released: November 2005

Background

edit

In an interview shortly before the release of the album, drummer Brad Wilk said: "Audioslave the band has arrived. The first record was people from two other bands with history attached. I don't feel that with this record."[1] For his part, Chris Cornell said he wrote his most personal songs ever for the album, influenced by positive changes in his life since 2002.[2] He also described the album as more varied than the debut and relying less on heavy guitar riffs.[3]

On May 4, 2005, the band traveled to Havana, Cuba, to spend some time interacting with Cuban musicians[4] before playing a concert in the city on May 6.[5] An audience of 70,000 attended the free show, and Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform in Cuba.[6] At the time, Cornell said he hoped the concert would "help to open the musical borders between our two countries." The 26-song set made the concert the longest the band had ever played.[7] Many songs from Out of Exile were performed live for the first time at the concert, which was held three weeks prior to the release of the album. Live in Cuba, a concert documentary covering the band's time in Cuba, was released on DVD in October 2005.

The songs "Your Time Has Come" and "Man or Animal" were featured in the 2006 racing video game FlatOut 2.

Reception

edit

Critical

edit
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [9]
The Austin Chronicle     [10]
Blabbermouth.net6.5/10[11]
Robert Christgau [12]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[13]
Los Angeles Times    [14]
Pitchfork Media6.8/10[15]
PopMatters5/10[16]
Rolling Stone     [17]
Slant Magazine     [18]

Critical response to the album was mostly warm, with many reviews highlighting the fact that the band was beginning to establish its own identity, as opposed to just being Rage Against the Machine fronted by Cornell, which is how some critics described the sound of their first album.[19] Improvement was noted in the quality of Cornell's vocals, likely the result of him quitting smoking and drinking.[20] Slant Magazine said Out of Exile had "the sound of a band coming into its own",[21] and Allmusic praised the album as "lean, hard, strong, and memorable."[22]

The lyrics, however, were still a common complaint, with musicOMH.com writing that Cornell's lyrics "continue to border on the ridiculous."[23]

The album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.

Commercial

edit

Out of Exile was released in the United States on May 24, 2005. It sold 263,000 album-equivalent units in its first week of release, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.[24][25] The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, indicating sales of a million units.

Track listing

edit

All lyrics written by Chris Cornell; all music composed by Audioslave.

Out of Exile track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Your Time Has Come"4:15
2."Out of Exile"4:51
3."Be Yourself"4:39
4."Doesn't Remind Me"4:15
5."Drown Me Slowly"3:53
6."Heaven's Dead"4:36
7."The Worm"3:57
8."Man or Animal"3:53
9."Yesterday to Tomorrow"4:33
10."Dandelion"4:38
11."#1 Zero"4:59
12."The Curse"5:09
Total length:53:38
UK bonus track[citation needed]
No.TitleLength
13."Like a Stone" (live)4:24
Japanese bonus tracks[citation needed]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Super Stupid" (Funkadelic cover)Edward Hazel, Lucious Ross, William Nelson, George Clinton3:26
14."Like a Stone" (live) 4:24

Note

  • The lyrics in the background during the bridge of "Drown Me Slowly" were reused as the lyrics of the bridge of "Sound of a Gun" on Audioslave's next album.

Personnel

edit

Audioslave

Production and design

  • Produced by Rick Rubin and Audioslave
  • Recorded by Brian Virtue, Thom Russo, and Jim Scott; Assisted by Jonny Polonsky, Jason Gossman, Dan Leffler, and Billy Mimes
  • Album production coordinator/wrangler: Lindsay Chase
  • Mixed by Brendan O'Brien
  • Additional engineering by Billy Bowers
  • Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
  • Album cover by Antony Nagelmann
  • Art direction by Robert Fisher
  • Photography by Ethan Russell
  • Pre-production engineering by Keith Simon

Chart positions

edit

Certifications

edit
Certifications for Out of Exile
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[52] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[53] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[54] Platinum 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[55] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[56] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Blabbermouth.net - AUDIOSLAVE Has Finally Arrived". Blabbermouth.net. March 14, 2005. Retrieved May 17, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Audioslave Singer Says New Album Will Be 'One Of The Best Rock Records Ever' Made". Blabbermouth.net. April 12, 2005. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  3. ^ Sculley, Alan. "A Career in Slavery". San Diego CityBeat. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Grigoriadis, Vanessa (May 10, 2005). "Airborne With Audioslave". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  5. ^ Fraenkel, Jim; Corey, Moss (May 7, 2005). "Audioslave Slay Havana With Historic Show". MTV. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  6. ^ "Audioslave visits Cuba for concert and documentary". Ithaca College. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  7. ^ Hastings, John (May 6, 2005). "AOL Journal - BCP Periscope - Audioslave in Cuba". AOL. Retrieved August 25, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Audioslave - Out of Exile". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  9. ^ "Out of Exile - Audioslave". AllMusic.
  10. ^ "Audioslave - Album Review". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
  11. ^ "CD Reviews". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  12. ^ "CG: audioslave". Robert Christgau. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  13. ^ Browne, David (May 27, 2005). "Out of Exile Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  14. ^ Cromelin, Richard (June 5, 2005). "A potential that needs nurturing". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  15. ^ "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  16. ^ Brecheisen, Dave (June 10, 2005). "Audioslave: Out of Exile". PopMatters. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  17. ^ Fricke, David (June 16, 2005). "Out Of Exile : Audioslave : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 15, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  18. ^ Shetler, Scott (June 6, 2005). "Audioslave: Out Of Exile". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  19. ^ Roberts, Michael (July 16, 2003). "Slave New World". Cleveland Scene. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  20. ^ Scaggs, Austin (July 14, 2005). "Q&A: Chris Cornell". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 6, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  21. ^ Shetler, Scott (2005). "Music Review: Audioslave: Out Of Exile". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  22. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Out of Exile Review". Allmusic. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  23. ^ Bansal, Vik (2005). "Audioslave - Out Of Exile : album review". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on January 30, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  24. ^ "A Welcome 'Exile': Audioslave Opens At No. 1". Billboard. June 1, 2005. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  25. ^ "Beyonce's 'B-Day' Makes Big Bow At No. 1". Billboard. September 13, 2006. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  26. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  27. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Audioslave – Out of Exile" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Audioslave – Out of Exile" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  29. ^ "Ultratop.be – Audioslave – Out of Exile" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  30. ^ "Audioslave Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  31. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  32. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Audioslave – Out of Exile" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  33. ^ "Audioslave: Out of Exile" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  34. ^ "Lescharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  35. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Audioslave – Out of Exile" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  36. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Audioslave". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  37. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  38. ^ "Charts.nz – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  39. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  40. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  41. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  42. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  43. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  44. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  45. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  46. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  47. ^ "Audioslave Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  48. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2005". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  49. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 2005". Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  50. ^ "Årslista Album – År 2005" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  51. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2005". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  52. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  53. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Music Canada. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  54. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  55. ^ "British album certifications – Audioslave – Out of Exile". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  56. ^ "American album certifications – Audioslave – Out of Exile". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
edit