MY problem with Audioslave is two fold.

To me, the thing that made Rage Against The Machine so essential was the vitriolic political venom spat out by Zack De La Rocha. He was the perfect accompaniment to the industrial riffing provided by Tom Morello et al.

What made Soundgarden so essential was the way their melodic, bruising metal combined so well with Chris Cornell's rasp.

Audioslave - which sees Cornell take De La Rocha's spot in RATM - have so far failed to convince me that the remaining elements of their previous incarnations will blend.

And Revelations still sounds like a pair of jilted lovers hooking up: It's always going to be compared to what they had before. Whereas De La Rocha demanded your attention, Cornell's not engaging enough to make up for some relatively mundane riffing.

And I think that's the root of it. In Soundgarden, Cornell had some wicked riffs and melodies to work with. In RATM, De La Rocha was the difference between a lesson in guitar effects and a seminal metal album. This 'hybrid' just doesn't work for me - apart from Original Fire, which sounds like Primal Scream's Rocks Off given a heavy metal makeover. Not as good, but entertaining, which is more than I can say for most of this album.

My advice: Pick up a copy of either RATM's eponymous debut or Garden's Superunknown and play them very loudly until the disc wears out or you go deaf, whichever comes first. Both are genuine, original classics and are infinitely more worthy of your time than this FM rock.