The album of Soundgarden’s return reminds movies like “The Avengers” for which the band recorded “Live To Rise” this Spring – much more media noise and PR than actual qualities of the product.

And “King Animal” is exactly this – a product of the industry. As probably is the reunion of the Seattle legend itself.

Alice In Chains came back heavily and expressly even with the risk that is “a new singer” with “Black Gives Way To Blie”.

Pearl Jam never left and their music matured, slowly turning from 90’s angry rock to elegant alternative music for middle age listeners. There was huge noise around Soundgarden, we have waited the album for more than a year, there were news about everything around the band and the first full-length record of the Americans from 16 years is filled with polished and flat mainstream rock.

“Been Away Too Long” is a predictable pseudorevelation that looks more like an obligation for the band. This reminds to the bullshit of Ozzy for the last ten and more years.

The song is pumped, Chris sings amazing but the music is very tamed, the guitar of Kim Thayil presents instead of biting and the song could actually be rotated on every rock station, both soft and hard. This is the whole feeling “King Animal” leaves – a very important and big band, created and moved by four great musicians is again in front of us and somehow by obligation pulls out perfectly played soulless rock.

There are of course some strong moments – “Non-State Actor” is a playful funky song which played live would make you jump for 4 minutes; “By Crooked Steps” pulsates in the wavy rhythm of the bass and the drums we love to hear from Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron; the slow closing heat of the ritual-like “Rowing”; the strong voice of Chris Cornell...

But the aim for a certain listenable sound and the following of the formula of straight hard rock tracks, stirred with a balladic song here and there turn the album to a predictable record and not a creation of leaders who have inspired the ones of today.

Most of the song lack of face and muscles: in “Bones of Birds” we have nicely dispersed psychedelic rock, anchored by the loosen chorus, the lyrical “Black Saturday” and “Halfway There” look for semi acoustic serenity behind the riffs of Kim – more an echo from the titanic thunder that Soundgarden used to be.

Yes, in 2012 we definitely hear and see a hugely important band which today returns on the back of “King Animal” – not a wild beast but a very well domesticated and trained for tricks animal.