Audioslave released Audioslave in the United States on November 19, 2002. Their first studio album paired former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell with guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine. Produced by Rick Rubin and the band, it opened with “Cochise,” the first single from a partnership that also found room for the more melodic “Like a Stone” and “I Am the Highway.”
Rubin had suggested the musicians try working together, and Cornell put plans for another solo album aside to pursue the collaboration. The writing became a shared activity almost immediately. On an interview disc accompanying the debut, later excerpted by Double J, Cornell recalled that nearly every song was written with all four members present. He hadn't worked that way so consistently since Soundgarden's early years. Returning to that setting gave him something he valued: musicians who got along and could develop songs together without a struggle.
For Wilk, the amount of material was a practical sign that the partnership worked. In an interview for Modern Drummer's April 2003 cover story, with additional comments published online in 2005, he discussed songs left over from the debut sessions. Rage had struggled to assemble 11 or 12 tracks everyone agreed on, he explained. Audioslave had enough material to keep some in reserve, even if he couldn't say whether it would become B-sides or another album.
Morello made a deliberate change to his equipment as the group took shape. He told Rock Sound in 2024 that he began playing a Stratocaster at Audioslave's inception and wrote “SOUL POWER” on the instrument. He kept using his familiar amplifiers, but the guitar encouraged him to move beyond established habits. Working with Cornell also changed what happened between the instruments and the voice. “The harmonic interplay between guitar and singer was something that was brand new in my musical career,” he said. The same sessions could accommodate the force of “Show Me How to Live” and the space around Cornell's singing in “I Am the Highway.”
Their listening reached beyond the two bands that had made them famous. In a 2002 Guitar World interview excerpted by Blabbermouth, Morello pointed to Portishead and the Chemical Brothers as rhythmic reference points for “The Last Remaining Light” and “Hypnotize.” He recalled starting with heavier songs, then reaching material such as “Like a Stone” within the first week. The album's range was already developing while the musicians were learning how to write together.
Getting those songs released proved less straightforward. Rough rehearsal recordings circulated online before the finished album, and Cornell briefly left the group during a period Morello attributed to management problems and miscommunication. The guitarist said the musicians remained friends and reunited after changing management. Epic's September 2002 album announcement also addressed the leaked recordings, distinguishing those early demos from the completed record. Listeners had encountered unfinished versions before the band could present the album on its own terms.
The finished 14-track debut reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200. “Like a Stone” earned a Best Hard Rock Performance nomination at the 2004 Grammys, while Audioslave was nominated for Best Rock Album.
