Soundgarden

What? Was the limp-pop direction of his first (& only) solo joint failing him so much that he's reverting back to his Badmotorfinger / Louder than Love uber-aggression stance?

It's a shame - both Superunknown & Down on the Upside had some good tunes on them. And, yes, that's TUNES. I'm partial to those two albums, but that's not to slight Badmotorfinger at all. Their stuff preceeding that is catch-as-catch-can - especially Ultramega OK, which only lives up to the latter half of its title. (I know Maura would vehemently disagree, though. Or, at the very least, respectfully refute.)

Personally, I think Soundgarden was better @ going "pop" than being "grunge". If you want Sabbath-esque guitar leads & thud-thud- thud, all you need is the Melvins. All you should want is the Melvins. All there is is the Melvins, really. (Granted, King Buzzo can't wail like a Mecha-Christina (post-testosterone shots, mind you), but SG's excessive use of that schtick didn't do Chris any favors.)

By the way - despite my developed aversion for all things Classic & Rock, I'd have to say that Led Zeppelin III and IV are nearly unassailable. Lumping the Zep in with the Doors is a damn shame.

Best and most effective damn dump on Zac I've ever read. Yow!

After that, classic. After I was out of high school and I went through various phases of elitism, I sort of forgot how classic. But I remembered eventually.

All of the last three albums are worth listening to, as albums, though if your tastes lean toward songwriting and "hard rock" rather than metal you'd probably prefer Down on the Upside and, moreso, Superunknown. But Badmotorfinger is a motherfucker.

Aside from that, late-career singles to search (I am very much counting on Maura to pop up and recommend early ones):

Badmotorfinger: Rusty Cage, Outshined, New Damage

Superunknown: Fell On Black Days, Mailman, Limo Wreck, The Day I Tried To Live, 4th of July

Down on the Upside: uh, I don't know most of these songs by name, and I don't have my CD with me, but the two singles (Blow Up the Outside World and Burden in My Hand) are good too. "Never the Machine Forever", maybe?

As a matter of fact, their a-sides record would be an excellent purchase if you want some Soundgarden but don't think you want a whole album.

Soundgarden just couldn't top their masterwork, and "Down On The Upside" had some naff moments. Fortunately for us, their recorded output was capped off by the sublime "Boot Camp."

But one thing I was taken with was during the bridge or somewhere in the middle of all the riffage in the middle is this pretty direct lift of a couple Jesus Christ Superstar themes which I never picked up on in 1992 for one reason or another... despite picking the very same themes up in Pegboy and Afghan Whigs records from the same year. Anyone else catch that?

In any case, Soundgarden -- in their day (now many, many, many moons ago) -- were fucking **MASSIVE** , and a QUADRILLION LIGHT YEARS OF BROAD SWEEPING VAST DISTANCES better than their snivelling little pals in Nirvana. First saw them at L'Amour in Brooklyn (with Voi Vod and Faith No More) circa Louder Than Love and they blasted a new part in my hair. Great, great, great band .

big fans of Killing Joke, by the way.

Soundgarden had their moments.

I don't really see much of a point of comparison with Soundgarden and Nirvana anyway, other than they were both guitar rock bands from Seattle....Soundgarden has way more in common with the bands that Myonga just cited than Nirvana....

Also, I REALLY REALLY REALLY WISH I WOULD HAD BEEN AT THAT SHOW....christ what a lineup! I need to listen to some Voivod.

And yes, the show in question was godlike. Voi Vod had recently released Nothingface and FNM were promoting The Real Thing. And this was at a shitty, tiny little club. I was wearing a Dread Zeppelin shirt at the time, and Matt Cameron -- seemingly on his way out of the men's room during Voi Vod's set -- says "that's some funny, fucked up shit!". Yay.

i had erased dread zeppelin from my memory until i read that. yikes! boy i bet that wouldn't seem as funny if i heard it now...

I like 'em both just fine.

Actually, honestly, I guess Soundgarden were better than I ever give 'em credit for. If I'd never read a single interview with or article about them, I'd like 'em more than I do. (But still not as much as Sabbath or Zep, from whom they borrowed plenty despite their nonsensical denials.)

alex in nyc is officially the biggest crybaby on ILX.

How does merely stating a fact make me a crybaby?

I've never heard anyone else make the comparison, but Soundgarden's songwriting remind me a lot of early Traffic- stuff like "Mr. Fantasy" and "Forty Thousand Headmen"- in the lyrics, the dynamics and in Cornell's singing.

I wonder if "My Wave" was meant as a Yes rip, because it reminds me of part of "Ritual"...

Anyone know how much some of their rarer vinyl is worth? Such as:

Louder Than Live (yes, Live) on blue vinyl.
Hands All Over promo single.
Loud Love promo single.
etc.

Try completed listings on ebay -

http://cgi.ebay.com/SOUNDGARDEN-Louder-Than-Live-promo-12-blue-wax-punk_W0QQitemZ370061040886QQihZ024QQcategoryZ306QQcmdZViewItem

63 on ebay, can buy it mint on musicstack for 70.

Thanks, but how do you search for ebay completed listings?

It is under advanced search, it requires you to sign in. If you don't have an account, google is pretty good for finding recent listings too.

try http://www.popsike.com/ too

Screaming Trees have always been a favorite- Cornell co-produced and did backing vocals on Uncle Anaesthesia.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/inside-chris-cornells-moving-refugee-themed-final-video-w488762

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/chris-cornells-daughter-pens-poignant-fathers-day-note-w488849

'Overfloater' is good. I don't think I've ever made it this far into DOtU before.

i ordered a CD (the old pre-remastered version of Badmotorfinger -- which I think actually sounds better a/b-ing my itunes rip vs. the spotify version of the deluxe remaster) right after his death off Amazon (it was on sale one day for $4)

it's really been rewarding listening to this band with fresh ears, I hadn't actively listened to Soundgarden (with the exception of checking out King Animal a couple times) in so many years, so blown away but how GOOD they were...a lot of this stuff I listened to on the car radio or cassette player or a cheapo boombox in someone's apartment or dorm, now listening on good headphones, the rhythm section is such so top notch and Kim was heads above any other guitarist of this era, in terms of having chops but not being a wanker and also using a lot of weird tunings and dissonance and odd time signature riffs that are somehow as infectious as 70s rock

and Cornell...man just a real rock singer that can fucking go out there and GET IT IN like a 70s dude

yep

yeah, and even a lot of the popular retro 70s-styled rock acts that plopped out after the turn of the century never had guys who could wail vocally, they were almost always working with a limited toolbox.

the weird tunings really opened up so many sonic possibilities. when I was learning guitar, Soundgarden were some of the earliest riffs I learned, and I remember learning "Mailman" and "4th of July" and how fun those were to play due to the really weird tunings and unusual finger positioning. always purposeful, like Mailman sounds so fat because the tuning has the A and D strings detuned and set to the same note so it's essentially fattening the high note of the octave, while the E string is detuned and serves as the low octave note. and the tuning allows you to have a Drop D type setup, fingerwise (only with a lower tuning and fatter sound).

yeah i didn't even know about something as routine as drop D until I learned "Outshined"

Badmotorfingers is also kind of more...psychedelic than I thought of them, like I dunno they are traditionally what I think of as a psych band but there's a sorta LSD vibe that hangs over it

They are def psychedelic. I remember the first things I read about them in the Melody Maker circa 91 referred to Thayil's "heavy karmic guitar".

I said something about this way up thread, but they've always reminded me of a very heavy version of early Traffic - the shifting overcast-sky textures of the arrangements, riffs that are complex but not wanky, Cornell's pleading hooks.

God yeah. They would have smashed Paper Sun.

"Mind Riot" kinda felt like a precursor to some of the more atmospheric stuff they did on later albums

That Vedder video making the rounds is cathartic and sad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2GcJ32m13Y

they've always reminded me of a very heavy version of early Traffic

for your consideration, this challop (?) i found on the interweb:

'SG was always more Heart than Sabbath'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY5tDB9mp3c
what a voice

OMG

heavy as fuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkPDK0m8Ir4

Wow. Thanks for that.

And for this:

/they've always reminded me of a very heavy version of early Traffic/

for your consideration, this challop (?) i found on the interweb:

'SG was always more Heart than Sabbath'

that whole new live album is great, some nice early jams on it. felt very very lucky to have caught one of those reunion shows in london - they were on amazing form.

looking back at setlist only sad thing for me personally was no jesus christ pose https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/soundgarden/2012/o2-shepherds-bush-empire-london-england-53da9f5d.html

new live album is immense. cornell's voice is so strong.

Yeah, I'm listening to the live album now and it's redeeming King Animal songs for me - I found that album incredibly forgettable at the time, but those tunes slot into an amazing set very well.

it's a great album! worth spending time with!

Bones Of Birds is one of their very best

Drown me riff 4 lyfe

nah slaves & bulldozers

why choose

“Hands all over” a close second maybe

"Beyond the Wheel" is the tits

cosign on that too

I miss Chris Cornell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUqkDX0tnfM

I will never regret buying the ticket to see him on a whim at some minor local festival (when I couldn't make Welcome to Rockville), as he was gone only a few weeks later. he seemed in good spirits and sounded great, with a lot of his power coming back.

oh, the other song that was a jam was "Room a Thousand Years Wide"

nah slaves & bulldozers

― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, September 20, 2019 10:57 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

http://cfcy.fm/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/08/devil-horns-291x300.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hKsPtw4yY

was curious about this performance and just ended up watching it straight through. greatest band of all time

I saw them on that tour. Gigantic performance, and one of the greatest large venue-concert experiences I can remember.

I was at that show. I'd flown home from Seattle, interviewing Mark Arm, that morning. It rained, and it was sublime. Cornell's voice just got better and better.

He wrote the best vocal melodies.

Yeah that tour was awesome. I saw them the year prior in SF and they were on fire.

Was reminded of this today:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71ZmsBHcOtL._AC_SX679_.jpg

SOUNDGARDEN ROOKIE CARD!

Sad it's not the rare error card with Scott Weiland in a tutu

I'm gonna hit
I'm gonna hit that
I'm gonna hit that upper deck and run

XP But otoh you get Ben Shepard's photo and Jason Everman's credit.

no Hiro, no credibility for a rookie card

Everman’s incorrect credit - he was only in the videos and maybe toured the album. Hiro played on it and he’s pictured on the cover, for crying out loud!

I am pretty sure this was Jason's only studio contribution with SG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpT4kgg5xlw

https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/soundgarden-vicky-cornell-resolution-unreleased-chris-cornell-songs-1235304525/

Sad it’s taken this long just to get close to getting these songs out.

Can't believe it's been almost six years. Wow.