Audioslave is an option rock super group consisting of Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden) and the instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine. It has been disputed whether this Audioslave band owes more to the sound of Chris Cornell's vocals, or the sound of the Rage Against The Machine instrumentalists.

Their first studio album, Audioslave, drew mixed reaction from critics but swiftly attained double platinum-selling rank. Some lambasted the group as millionaire musicians who continually argued throughout album production, and whose 1970s rock sound is first and foremost the result of post-studio modification. Others compared them to Led Zeppelin, saying they add much-needed sound and style to contemporary mainstream music. They toured at length worldwide in 2003, silencing many critics and gaining largely positive reviews for their stunning live performances.

Allegations that they argued throughout production are not entirely unfounded; the group broke up in April 2002, before they had even released an album, but reunited in the summer and went on to release their debut album on November 19. Though, subsequent interviews with the Audioslave band revealed that early problems had been partly due to outside pressures which were resolved when the band members sacked their previous management companies and hired Los Angeles Company the Firm.

On May 6 2005, Audioslave became the primary American rock group to perform a free outdoor concert in Cuba. The concert was authorized by the United States Treasury Department. Their latest album, Out of Exile, was free on May 24 2005 which debuted #1 on the US charts, features the song "Be Yourself" as their new single. The whole album was uploaded online at Audioslave's Myspace site for previewing.

The Audioslave band's first London concert had the fans on their feet from the outset. Touring in support of their just-released second album -- the seriously acclaimed Out of Exile -- Audioslave headlined at the John Labatt Centre last night previous to a near-capacity crowd of 7,000 plus.

From the instant the ocean-scene curtain radically fell to the floor, the fans were on their feet and remained there for the period. Leather-lunged singer and lyricist Chris Cornell hails from Soundgarden, one of the main and most ambitious of the Seattle grunge bands. Guitarist extraordinaire Tom Morello hails from Rage against the Machine, as does Audioslave's relentless rhythm section of bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk

Fears that Audioslave was going to be a one-off super group were put to rest with the release of Out of Exile, seen by the majority as a real advance on their accomplished first disc, which racked up sales over 5 million in the three years since its release.

With two solid albums of their own to resolutely establish their current identity, in concert Audioslave now have the self-assurance to reach into their various musical pasts and pull out some earlier highlights from the heydays of Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine and Cornell's other supergroup/side project, Temple of the Dog.

To be sure, Audioslave opened with a barrage of Audioslave material, warming up the crowd with the primary track from the current album, the blistering anti-war anthem Your Time Has Come. This was followed by Set It Off from the first eponymous album and then a trio of the newer songs, the darkly whimsical Doesn't Remind Me, Out of Exile and Be Yourself. Although you might think it useless with music that is amplified this noisily, Cornell constantly exhorts the audience to sing along with him and from time to time the results are strangely moving, as they were last night when 7,000 massed voices joined in to sing along with the chorus: "Be yourself, it's all that you can do."

On a lot of occasions last night I sensed that for all their fury and fire, Audioslave is future a kind of populism redolent of U2. This is one highly regarded band that invite its audience to come close and concluding their first-ever Canadian tour in London, Cornell expressed real affection for the welcome the band has received in this country. His gratitude was silently seconded by Wilk at the drums, which placed a hand over his heart and bowed.