Chris Cornell produced by Timbaland: album-oriented, wounded rock authenticity meets squiggly, attention-deficit hip-hop tricksterism. Their collaboration suggests a nice philosophical dissonance, but only in theory. In practice, Scream is nearly awful: a Vegas-y shpritz of synth orchestras, mock-Asiatic wails and sitars, board-certified cheese-ball rock-guitar solos ripping off Journey and U2, tragically clumsy lyrics (“You’ve got a fatal flaw/Skeleton made of straw,” “Why you keep screaming at the top of yo’ head?”) and Cornell’s phlegmy wail, which has never sounded more labored. (Except when he’s singing hip-hop chants: Then he just sounds like a guy in the wrong studio.) There are a few ideas that stick to the brain, like the powerfully gathering chorus of “Time,” or the ring shout leading to the rubbery new-wave intro of “Ground Zero.” But there’d better be: This is Timbaland, folks.

Download “Time”