The oft-delayed blend of Chris Cornell's trademark grunge-soul growl and Timbaland's percolating computer grooves, "Scream" is no less bizarre than its team-up suggests. Sometimes it's good bizarre: "Never Far Away" throbs with a dark drama not unlike the kind Cornell brought to his 2007 cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Other times it's bad bizarre: With its layered harmony vocals and chintzy Middle Eastern trimmings, "Take Me Alive" sounds like it should be credited to the Pussycat Dudes. Throughout "Scream," though, you have to admire Cornell's and Timbaland's conviction: This music never gives off the whiff of desperation, even when it probably should.—Mikael Wood