every song deserves a vote
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 1 April 2009 23:04 (fifteen years ago) link
i actually never quite dug rusty cage. kind of plods a bit for me, and i always found it a bit of an unrepresentative track to start the album. the closing two tracks are actually outstanding - i normally never make it that far, because i'm so comprehensively pummeled by some of the earlier tracks.
― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 2 April 2009 02:27 (fifteen years ago) link
voted 'Face Pollution' for the hell of it.
this was my absolute favorite band in the world from '89 to late '91. must have seen them literally 8 or 9 times during that span (in which they toured CONSTANTLY)
disagree about "Rusty Cage" ... being a massive 'Louder Than Love' fan, I had so much anticipation for this album, first time I heard "RC" i got goosebumps: they were actually getting *better*. rest of the album didn't really maintain that level, except for JCP, for me
― Stormy Davis, Thursday, 2 April 2009 03:30 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm going to go back and listen to 'louder than love'. seems there's much more to it than i initially tapped found.
anyone hear a prelude to 'fresh tendrils' in 'mind riot'? or a precursor to 'mailman' in 'holy water'?
― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 2 April 2009 07:57 (fifteen years ago) link
no but i hear a precursor to 'holy water' in 'incessant mace'...
― Plunge Protection Team, Thursday, 2 April 2009 12:52 (fifteen years ago) link
the song that starts out with "this is a pig" and "this is the sound the devil makes" is also a good one. This whole thing is great, with special mention to "Drawing Flies". I love when the whole band drops out and its just Cornell and the bass. Very nice.
― Bill Magill, Thursday, 2 April 2009 13:54 (fifteen years ago) link
I feel like "Outshined" is not going to do that well. I love that song, though.
― Shannon Whirry & the Bad Brains, Thursday, 2 April 2009 16:06 (fifteen years ago) link
we're way too indie around here for Outshined to win this, but it burns... it's between that and Slaves & Bulldozers for me
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Thursday, 2 April 2009 16:39 (fifteen years ago) link
more badmotorfinger video lulz
it's worth remembering that Soundgarden got their major label deal years before "grunge" broke, and it would be years more still before "stoner" had a section at the record store. A&M was selling them as a straight-up metal act.
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Thursday, 2 April 2009 16:43 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah i saw Soundgarden on Headbanger's Ball more than 120 Minutes, even after grunge hit, definitely.
the "Outshined" video always reminds me of Beavis & Butthead, who thought the bearded dude was the singer from the Spin Doctors. still a great song, don't think it'll suffer too much in the poll since it's by far the album's biggest hit.
― deceptigoon (some dude), Thursday, 2 April 2009 16:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Drawing Flies
― Joe, Thursday, 2 April 2009 19:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Saturday, 4 April 2009 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
I adored this album when it came out, but I re-visited it again the other day and it didn't retain the same punch for me. Alas.
That all said, I'll go with "Searching with My Good Eye Closed," as Cornell's voice is unstoppable on that one. Shame about that solo career.
― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 5 April 2009 12:16 (fifteen years ago) link
Rusty Cage is a great opener and I love that slow middle section. This album trails off pretty quickly for me after the first few songs.
― Moodles, Sunday, 5 April 2009 14:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Searching With My Good Eye Closed is a dark horse. Hope it gets more than a couple of votes:
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Sunday, 5 April 2009 17:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Sunday, 5 April 2009 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
I feel like "Outshined" is not going to do that well.
whoops
― Shannon Whirry & the Bad Brains, Sunday, 5 April 2009 23:28 (fifteen years ago) link
You know an album kicks ass when every single track gets at least two votes.
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Monday, 6 April 2009 00:03 (fifteen years ago) link
I was always partial to the Devo cover on SOMMS.
― pipecock, Monday, 6 April 2009 01:03 (fifteen years ago) link
"You know an album kicks ass when every single track gets at least two votes."
truth^
― Bill Magill, Monday, 6 April 2009 13:16 (fifteen years ago) link
the song that starts out with "this is a pig"
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SPXP.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
The "See 'n' Say"! One of my favourite toys as a toddler
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 6 April 2009 21:31 (fifteen years ago) link
You should have photoshopped a picture of Cornell as the farmer
― Bill Magill, Monday, 6 April 2009 21:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Loud Love poll?
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Tuesday, 7 April 2009 23:04 (fifteen years ago) link
forthcoming... been crazy frazzled with the working
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 8 April 2009 20:38 (fifteen years ago) link
POLL on Kevin's Mom: LOUDER THAN LOVE
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 8 April 2009 23:00 (fifteen years ago) link
woo
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 8 April 2009 23:03 (fifteen years ago) link
finally bought a copy of this on cd after only having a tape for years. it's held up well. I wish stuff like this had mainstream presence nowadays. so creative.
It's exhilirating to hear Cornell utter every verse lyric in "Outshined", with complete and utter conviction.
Funny thing was as a kid, I never really got the 'stoner' connection, but it's clearly there, perhaps moreso than on their later works....
― Bogart Puff 'n Stuff (Cattle Grind), Sunday, 25 April 2010 16:02 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm all about Mind Riot at the moment. I think I currently prefer this album to Superunkown - it's dirtier.
― rhythm fixated member (chap), Saturday, 21 August 2010 17:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Heard this album for the first time in probably 20 years and thought it had aged quite terribly... until I got to side 2.
Searching With My Good Eye Closed -> Room A 1000 Years Wide -> Mind Riot is a killer run.
Sections of Mind Riot reminded me of a Sun City Girls' "Imam" (musically at least)... #seattle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqxYzKaopc
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 30 June 2013 04:57 (ten years ago) link
Would have voted either 'Outshined' or 'Face Pollution'. Still love this album.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 13:14 (ten years ago) link
Outshined shouldn't have won. I probably would've gone with Mind Riot, the opening build up is genius.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 13:36 (ten years ago) link
I can't remember what I voted for. "Jesus Christ Pose" and "Face Pollution" are my favourites but I really think the whole album is amazing.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 13:41 (ten years ago) link
I just put on "Outshined" and remembered one of the things that made this band stand out. Even though I think of this as one of the more standard post-Zep songs, the verses are in 7, which many heavy rock/stoner rock/grunge bands would not even consider doing. Great verse/pre-chorus/two-part-chorus build-up too (and it's still not close to being my favourite!).
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 13:48 (ten years ago) link
There's a great bit in 'Outshined' during the last "show me the power child", where they keep the "outshined! outshined!" rhythm going... puts a bit of an unexpected slant on that part of the song, IMO.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:08 (ten years ago) link
Wow, I just counted the second half of "Rusty Cage": 5 bars of 3 + 1 bar of 4!
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:13 (ten years ago) link
I don't know if you'll agree with me on this, Sund4r, but I always felt there was something about Soundgarden's use of odd time signatures and time signature changes that felt incredibly natural. Like, sometimes when I hear pieces of music that utilise time signature changes, I get the impression that the time sig changes have been shoehorned in just for the sake of it, but with a lot of Soundgarden songs it just feels like the riffs actually came out that way without any planning. I'm sure there was some thought put into that stuff, of course, but with this band it just feels like a lot of their stuff was written naturally and just happened to be in an odd time sig or have time sig changes in it, whether they wrote them in consciously or not.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:17 (ten years ago) link
I remember reading an interview with Thayil in which he said half the time they weren't even aware they were using weird time sigs, they just thought it sounded cool.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:30 (ten years ago) link
Slaves and Bulldozers is the jam from this one. the part where he goes from shrilly screaming NOW I KNOW WHY YOU'VE BEEN SHAKING to pulling back into a more Robert Plant vocal in the chorus is just so awes.
― Neanderthal, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:36 (ten years ago) link
I mean, I'm sure that Matt Cameron noticed when he wasn't playing in 4/4 with snare hits on 2 and 4 but I do agree that Soundgarden's time changes or asymmetrical metres flow in a really intuitive way. (I feel the same way about the Beatles' "Blackbird" and Rush's "Limelight", for example.) I get what Thayil meant: he was just trying to write heavy riffs and wasn't deliberately thinking "I want to do something in 7" or "I want to do something in 6-bar phrases with 5 bars of 3 and 1 bar of 4". Those were just the things he did intuitively to write good songs.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:53 (ten years ago) link
What disturbs me is that Wikipedia states that the second part of "Rusty Cage" is in 19/8. Might have to start doing some Wikipedia editing.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:54 (ten years ago) link
Well, 5x3+1x4=19, but I wouldn't notate it as 19/8. Christ.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 14:58 (ten years ago) link
Well, yeah, that's what I mean. Counting the whole phrase as a single bar of 19 (!) is pretty ridiculous.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
That and it doesn't feel like a single bar of 19!
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:02 (ten years ago) link
I think this is the record that has by far survived the grunge era the best for me. This and maybe Meantime.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:06 (ten years ago) link
Fixed it. I wonder if someone will change it back, arguing that they really feel the 19.
xpost
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:07 (ten years ago) link
Reminds me of a story my mate told me - he was watching a band with the most amazing drummer who was pulling off all kinds of ultra-technical odd time sig shit. After the gig he asked him what the time signature was on one tune, and the drummer replied, "I always play in 1/1"
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:09 (ten years ago) link
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, July 2, 2013 10:13 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I hear it as three bars of three and two bars of five fwiw
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
I just played it a few times at low to moderate volume (since I'm at work). I can hear it your way, although right now, I think the guitars support my analysis. I usually try to avoid analysing asymmetrical metres if there's a simpler explanation tbh. I'll listen again at home when I can play it loud enough to hear the drums really clearly.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:39 (ten years ago) link
My problem with counting it as 5 bars of 3 is that then the fourth bar of "3" doesn't have a hit on the 1.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:41 (ten years ago) link
sorry I mean the fifth bar of "3"
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 16:42 (ten years ago) link
Mind Riot isn't the greatest song on this necessarily but it's the one I spend the most time thinking about when I'm not listening to the album
― thing that i used to think was cool but now i just don't have time for (stevie),
That build up! It's got a totally mental tuning as well, every string is 'e'.
― chap, Sunday, 10 October 2021 13:22 (two years ago) link
I really don't think there's a bad song on this.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Sunday, 10 October 2021 13:24 (two years ago) link
Mind Riot has one of the nicest melodic riffs on the entire album.
― Gardyloominati (Neanderthal), Sunday, 10 October 2021 13:26 (two years ago) link
Holy Water is also sinister af
― Gardyloominati (Neanderthal), Sunday, 10 October 2021 13:27 (two years ago) link
I have a distinct memory of hearing Outshined for the first time on my grandmother’s clock radio and feeling like “Whoa, this is so badass, but also nerdy at the same time! Someone made metal just for me!”
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Sunday, 10 October 2021 13:39 (two years ago) link
tbc I was like 11 years old
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 11 October 2021 02:30 (two years ago) link
― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Sunday, April 5, 2009
as true now as it was then \m/
― poster of sparks (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 02:00 (two years ago) link
Tomorrow begat tomorrow...
― earlnash, Tuesday, 12 October 2021 02:20 (two years ago) link
was this posted?
An Oral History Of Badmotorfinger. How are you celebrating 30 years of 'Badmotorfinger?' https://t.co/7pph0DA6zd— Chris Cornell (@chriscornell) October 12, 2021
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 18:19 (two years ago) link
There’s a picture in there of them at the Lollapalooza show I saw in Chicago. My friends and I had gotten way into the Ohio Players and somehow discovered that Soundgarden had covered “Fopp” which of course we never actually heard because it was a small town in 1992. Anyway we painted FOPP on a bedsheet and snuck it in and unfurled it in the middle of their set and Chris Cornell started laughing and sang a line from it and we were super stoked. Later RHCP actually covered it and we thought perhaps we had inspired them to learn it backstage on a whim but it turns out they played it pretty frequently.
― joygoat, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 20:23 (two years ago) link
Heh, someone posted "Drawing Flies" to a xenharmonic/microtonal FB group I read.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Thursday, 14 October 2021 02:47 (two years ago) link