There were break dancers battling in the beer garden during Chris Cornell's set Sunday night at Seattle's Showbox SoDo.

As if you needed anything else to underscore just how weird it is that the “Outshined” guy decided to bring sexy back. In case you haven't heard, Cornell teamed up with Justin Timberlake/Nelly Furtado/Pussycat Dolls producer Timbaland for his forthcoming solo album, “Scream,” performed in its entirety at the show. And it's a lot for some fans to process for sure.

Cornell going pop?

Crowd surfing replaced by b-boys battling at his shows?

Head ... spinning. World ... no longer ... makes sense.

Fans weren't as bent out of shape as I expected, actually. But there was a vocal minority for sure, as represented by the guy shouting "Chris, you suck!" directly to my left during parts of the show. And Timbaland, the artist formerly known as Tim Mosley, took a moment to acknowledge the controversy that's bubbling up through the rock blogosphere.

“I can fit myself in a fan’s shoes, so I can understand,” he said, adding “it’s 2008. That tired, same grunge sound needs a change." No disrespect to grungesters. A little later he contradicted that sentiment slightly as he and his band performed the hit that set off grunge mania, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It's a tired cliche repeated by many a hip-hop band touring Seattle, but Tim's sythesizer-infused version was actually kind of interesting.

But I digress. Mosley went on to call “Scream” “one of the best pieces of work I’ve done in my life.”

And Cornell's new songs actually went over better than I expected. There were no cries of "Judas!" And it was actually a cool melding of subcultures, with aging gen-xers with grunge goatees bobbing their heads alongside KUBE fans in Wu-Tang tees. Welcome to the iPod Generation.

Regarding the new sound, it bridges the sweeping, cinematic rock of “You Know My Name,” Cornell's James Bond theme from a few years back, and the sort of synth and break beat-driven pop you’d expect from Timbaland.

For the record, I think the new record will be quite good, even if it causes conniption fits among Cornell's most reactionary fans. There were moments when Cornell sounded a bit too like Timbaland's One Republic buddies, and muddy sound left a bit to be desired, making it difficult to form a firm impression of the lyrics. But this much was clear: Cornell's honey drawl, one of the greatest rock voices of our generation, is totally suited for pop and R&B. Hell, if he'd grown up in Orlando instead of the hard rockin' Northwest, he might have been doing synchronized dance moves instead of banging his head in concert all along.

Four songs are available on iTunes already. I kind of like 'em, especially a hip-hop flavored cut called “Ground Zero.” But, hey, I’m a guy who grew up listening to Run DMC, Prince and Metallica, and I may not be typical of Cornell’s core demo.

But while disgruntled fans accuse Cornell of selling out, I think quite the opposite. If he were being cynical to cash in, he’d record a new album with 15 variations of “Black Hole Sun.”

I think what he's doing is a bold but baffling move. Is is part of some weird, mid-life crisis? Maybe. But the guy seems sincere and re-energized post-Audioslave.

I've tried to keep an open mind since I've talked to several artists over the years who felt confined by expectations to varying degrees. Take Ne-Yo who once told me he'd like to work with Faith Hill and write a few country cuts.

Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? If the new disc flops, so what? The guy's surely got plenty of money. And once he gets the pop bug out of his system, maybe he'll patch things up with his old Soundgarden band mates. Hmmm? Right? Right?

Speaking of Soundgarden, I was bummed that he didn't play any of his old band's hits like he did last fall at the Paramount. But he did throw a couple of bones to the old Temple of the Dog faithful with an encore that consisted of “Hunger Strike” and “Reach Down.”