Chris Cornell partnering with Timbaland was the most unlikely musical collaboration ever. If your experience of Cornell is through Soundgarden or Audioslave, you are about to hear the boldest move of his career.

Now, if you’ve been wondering where Cornell’s been since Audioslave broke up, the video reveals all: he’s been brooding in clubs in Puerto Rico, Texas and New York. Observing women flirting on the dancefloor while their menfolk look on in frustration. Oh yes, and hanging out with hordes of line-dancing women.

On first listen, I was skeptical. Cornell’s voice is exceptionally well suited to rock. History tells us this. But initially, the combination of Cornell’s voice and Timbaland’s beats is reminiscent of Sexbomb-era Tom Jones. You know, when he tried to appeal to the young folks?

The thing with Timbaland though is that sometimes his influence isn’t immediately likeable. Or appreciated. I find the best thing is to just accept it. I’m talking to you crusty ol’ Soundgarden fans!

To listen to Part Of Me, you have to approach this as a new era for Cornell. It’s a brave move, but the song is brilliant. My only issue is that the edited version removes the crucial ‘bitch’ word from the chorus, which ruins it slightly.

And the collaboration works brilliantly in my opinion. There’s a grinding beat to it, and rather than go all-out R&B, we get some distorted guitars in the mix as a hat-tip to Cornell’s roots. It’s totally different, but it really works.

As an added bonus, Classic Rock have an interview with Chris, which should interest those of you with questions about his musical direction.