Armed with an arsenal of hits that spans the past decade and a half, and backed by a band of hired guns who quite capably covered them all, singer Chris Cornell [ tickets ] rolled into Boston last night (4/19) and showed the sold-out Avalon crowd that, yes, his voice really does sound as amazing in person as it does on all those albums.

Early in the set, Cornell commented that Boston is where he gave his first solo performance after splitting with grunge-rock juggernaut Soundgarden and releasing his inaugural solo album, 1999's "Euphoria Morning." Since then, the singer spent several years fronting Audioslave, a group he formed with Rage Against the Machine power trio Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass) and Brad Wilk (drums). After helming the band for three well-received albums, Cornell announced earlier this year that he was going it alone again, citing "irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences."

During last night's show, the singer was visibly unburdened by personality conflicts and musical differences as he smiled his way through a set that was all about him; sure, he gave ample props to the two guitarists, bassist and drummer with whom he shared the stage, but the marquee said "Chris Cornell," and it was his staggering catalog of alt-rock hits that pulled in a sold-out crowd. Why take orders when you can be the boss?

The crowd offered plenty of positive reinforcement, heaping screams and applause upon the singer as he and his group worked their way through the setlist..

One of the crowd's most frenzied responses came when Cornell and company broke out "Say Hello 2 Heaven," a song from the 1991 album "Temple of the Dog," a one-off tribute to late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood (once Cornell's roommate), who died of a drug overdose in 1990.

"This one is for a friend," Cornell said simply before diving into the number--which he completely nailed.

Truth be told, Cornell's voice--which had begun to show signs of wear during his stint with Audioslave--sounded the best it has in years during the Boston show, thanks partly to a clean mix, but due mostly to whatever the singer has done to restore his greatest asset: a set of pipes that emit a rock-god howl no one else can come close to.

As expected, material from Cornell's forthcoming sophomore solo effort ("Carry On," out June 5) got a more mellow reaction, though two such numbers--current single "No Such Thing" and "You Know My Name," a cut that first turned up on last year's "007 Casino Royale" soundtrack--were well received and proved that he still has plenty of creative fuel left in the tank.

The crowd would have gone home happy if things ended with first-encore closer "Black Hole Sun," but a positively scorching, second-encore rendition of the Soundgarden nugget "Slaves and Bulldozers"--a deep track from 1991's "Badmotorfinger"--caused jaws to drop and reminded longtime fans just why Cornell rose to fame in the first place.

Setlist:

Spoonman
Outshined
Hungerstrike
No Such Thing
Like A Stone
Original Fire
Burden in my Hand
Pretty Noose
Seasons
Can't Change Me
Redemption Song
Doesn't Remind Me
Cochise
Safe and Sound
You Know My Name
Rusty Cage

1st encore:

Say Hello 2 Heaven
Ghost
Black Hole Sun

2nd Encore:

Slaves and Bulldozers