The long, strange journey of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell

At the corner of Fifth and Bell, among what is now a canyon of condos, sits one tiny piece in my own little Seattle rock-history guide: There, in a mid-'80s dive bar, was the first place I saw Soundgarden. The band was so young at the time that lead singer Chris Cornell had an adolescent puffiness to his face. He was not yet the chiseled Adonis we'd see in his later MTV videos — yet he had stardom written all over his shirtless chest.

Many in the Northwest will have their own individual Soundgarden memories, because few bands in local history have been more beloved. Soundgarden formed in 1984, and until they broke up in 1997 they had a rabid fan base that was often rewarded by tremendous live shows. Pearl Jam and Nirvana might have sold more albums, but it could be argued that Soundgarden was the truest Seattle band; their sound was a purer distillation of metal and punk. They were rawk-KISW-style in the best sense, and Seattle music fans have always loved hard rock.

When Soundgarden broke up, there were high expectations for Cornell's solo career. Few on the scene had more national exposure, and Cornell's soaring vocal style and onstage charisma seemed tailor-made for modern rock radio. Even the solo work Cornell had done during Soundgarden's tenure — the brilliant "Temple of the Dog" album — suggested a great future.

The result, instead, has been decidedly mixed, with two solo albums finding lukewarm critical and commercial response, and his attempts to form a new band — Audioslave — doomed by the kind of infighting that seems destined for a future "Behind the Music" segment. To top it off, ads for his upcoming Paramount show touted the very strange caveat: that Cornell would be singing, "for the first time," songs from his catalog with Soundgarden and Audioslave.

A sign of a personal and commercial retreat? Perhaps. But it does offer longtime fans the chance again to hear one of the Northwest's great voices tackle material like "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman." With the demise of Audioslave this past year, Cornell may also sing hits like "Cochise" and "Be Yourself" — monster radio hits indeed.

The Audioslave chapter of Cornell's résumé is perhaps the strangest part of his story: He formed the band in 2001 with three of the former members of Rage Against the Machine, and for a moment they appeared to be his musical future. But creative differences within the band caused them to break up twice in six years, the last time in 2006 on the eve of the release of "Revelations."

The problem is not talent — Cornell is truly gifted — but direction has been an issue. His latest album, "Carry On," is overproduced and has earned him some of the poorest reviews of his long career. It includes the title song from the recent James Bond movie "Casino Royale" ("You Know My Name"), but also his misguided cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." That's not something that I ever expected to hear, some 22 years ago at that Belltown dive. Here's hoping the next chapter of his career also makes my personal history reel.

Seattle-area music writer Charles R. Cross is the author of five books. Reach him at charlesrcross@aol.com