Chris Cornell

If such a thing as "nü-metal cred" exists, Chris Cornell has it in spades. Soundgarden was arguably the most legit of the post-Nirvana "yeeaaahhhh-rock" bands, and Audioslave was the supergroup that alternative rockers dreamed of while debugging their PCs for Y2K. It's understandable that folks would be up in arms over Scream, Cornell's recent solo album and first collaboration with prolific pop producer Timbaland.  Whereas Audioslave had a problem with execution — surely the promise of "Rage Against the Machine without all the rapping" could have been more satisfying — Scream sparks a debate over principle. Chris Cornell still utilizes the chesty vibratothat once echoed Eddie Vedder's pleas of "I'm going hungry," and Timbaland's idiosyncratic beats are simply begging for a Timberlake cameo. But for fans of either artist, it's a matter of whether the sum of these two parts should even exist.