Soundgarden

idk Soundgarden never sounded quite on the same level of bleak to me

Arguably it was more hiding in plain sight? I mean...Cornell *looked* great and was always undeniably there, 'present' in the moment. That kind of presence and image can, well, I don't want to say cover up a lot, but.

they just always struck me as having a bit more self awareness of essentially being a classic rock band idk

A friend from my freshman year in college was a huge music nerd from Seattle and after returning from a trip home he brought back this warbly tape of 4-track demos from Cornell that was such a massive departure from Soundgarden at the time (Louder Than Love, Flower & the Screaming Life/Fopp reissue)... it was way more in line sonically with The Winding Sheet or what would become the blues/gospel songs off Temple of the Dog, but with lucid imaginative lyrics, experimental song structures and crazy guitar tunings played on his acoustic.

The only song I recognized coming to fruition from that tape was "Seasons" which showed up on the Singles OST. I'd love to hear those spooky, warbly demos again if any old school Seattle folks know what I'm talking about.

that could be the tape he made in character for SINGLES, which is coming out as part of its deluxe reissue tomorrow

Almost a decade ago, my wife and I hired a car to take us to the airport. The driver had just driven Cornell a few days prior, and said he was one of the most genuinely friendly people he'd had in his car, including everyone. I still remember his exact words: "Just a real gentle soul."

Rest in peace, man.

Cornell *looked* great and was always undeniably there, 'present' in the moment. That kind of presence and image can, well, I don't want to say cover up a lot, but.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, May 18, 2017 8:29 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Think that's another reason he reminds me more of Hutchence now. 😞

i've been listening to them pretty much constantly again ever since the reissue campaign got going, they were as big a part of my teenage years as any kid back then but it took until my thirties to realize just what cornell had put into those superunknown songs.

: (

who will be the first to claim that the timbaland album is underrated?

me

well, not underrated per se, but i've always enjoyed how strange and tasteless it is

I'm gutted by this. What a tragedy. If only he hadn't been alone, I keep thinking.

Review of last night's show. Not sure if it gets the right balance, but I don't know what IS the right balance.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/05/18/chris-cornells-final-performance-something-clearly-wasnt-right/101842384/

That said that last paragraph...oof.

(And I don't mean in a good way.)

yeah don't watch that stuff

I watched a couple songs from the first night of the tour and a couple songs from last night -- the difference in energy level and voice are startling

I forgot how great "Say Hello 2 Heaven" sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRbSFprzSaA&spfreload=10

i dont know if I can handle Temple of The Dog yet. i cried my eyes out at the live show in December when he was alive & singing, god knows I'd be a mess now

i am really struggling with this. i mean bowie & prince broke me but this is like my immediate musical circle, it's just too fucking real & i hate it

VG : hugs. xx

ty <3

aw

yep god almighty do NOT watch clips from last night's Detroit show, just don't do it to yrself

;_;

thanks for the warning- I don't want to remember him in some fucked up way.
goddamn I can't overstate how much I love that band. truly sad

i tried to do a top 10, so far i'm at 25 lol

I've always thought pre-major label Soundgarden was a bit hit-and-miss. I think they got better once they signed to a major...but I'm listening to "Screaming Life" right now and it is knocking it out of the park right now. Proper grunge biznizz

played through superunknown making dinner. i've never been one to play their records all the way through and i don't know why, they were really really good.

it's funny, i was so diehard about soundgarden that i fucking HATED superunknown when it came out

i hated all the dudes at college that suddenly were airdrumming to spoonman and i hated black hole sun on the radio endlesssly & i hated chris's haircut & the album was so new & polished sounding
i liked 4th of july & fell on black days but man thst album was a real sore point for me for a while until i grew out of it

so dumb

now i listen to it & it is so good all the way through, just so much going on musically & lyrically! fucking huge achievement

lol i'm younger than you but there was a ubiquity to superunknown even for me so i can totally see pushing back on those songs.

and then tonight i'm like the spoonman riff is up there with any jimmy page riff ever.

Superunknown is great.

Yeah I was way into Badmotorfinger and then Superunknown was their "sellout"' record for me where they "lost their edge". Of course that's silly in retrospect, it's a fine record.

There are some really good songs on Superunknown but I have always hated "Black Hole Sun." Not since it got popular, but since the first time I heard it. It's slow and boring, it's got that lacy-cuffs psychedelic thing going on that I hate...it's just not a good song, to my ear. But "My Wave" still kills, and a bunch of other stuff, too. Like basically every album from 1996, it's too long, of course.

I couldn't quite get over "Spoonman" to a degree -- I kept imagining Sammy Davis Jr. doing a riff on his "Candy Man," even more Vegas, though ("The shpoonman, he's got the shpoons!"). So I ended up more appreciating them for Superunknown where I had played Badmotorfinger into the ground, and I never quite returned to that same level in general with his work. Different sonic interests and so forth. Remarkable album nonetheless -- I remember it and The Downward Spiral came out the same day and charted 1-2 as a result. For a moment there things seemed aligned with my vision of the universe.

A very nice touch

The Space Needle will go dark from 9-10pm tonight in remembrance of @chriscornell. RIP. #noonesingslikeyouanymore https://t.co/D0XmOhTbkp

— Space Needle (@space_needle) May 18, 2017

I couldn't quite get over "Spoonman" to a degree

OTM. That song is dreadful, I never even bothered to listen to the album.

https://genius.com/Soundgarden-spoonman-lyrics

But I loved every release up that one, saw them a half-dozen times.

My Wave and Fell On Black Days are perfect meshings of sound, melody, arrangement, and singer.

Wtf "spoonman" is awesome

Lately I've been waking up early in the morning and putting on NPR to help me doze back off, so I was only half-awake when I heard about his death and now its fact is trapped between concrete reality and a hazy half-memory. It just doesn't square to me.

I may be the only person who thinks Ultramega OK is their best album, but their singles are all-time, and he was a brilliant songwriter.

i learned about this b/c my wife audibly gasped looking at her phone at about 7 a.m. while we were waking up. first thought was something happened at her job, second thought was something happened to trump.

this news was unwelcome, to say the least.

Michael B OTM. 7/4 riff is inspired.

Musically I have no problem with the song! But still.

I don't know what the lyrics are about, really, but I didn't think that was a concern for you.:)

Genuinely curious about the cavils!

I may be the only person who thinks Ultramega OK is their best album

The remastered version gives you a much stronger case.

nah I still have a block with that song

I did only just realize how Zeppelin-y Big Dumb Sex is with that big old fat riff, which makes the song even funnier

Is it just me or did he look very handsome on the "like a stone" video? That said I was never much of a fan of Soundgarden or Audioslave and I hated his Bond song in Casino Royale but I really respected him and liked him as a person... saw several interviews and fan videos of him instage joking with the audience and to my surprise he was not an asshole at all. I feel like most rockers from the late 80s early 90s were very unpleasant people.

Not Cornell tho... so he was a talented guy, humble and charismatic and pretty good looking. A keeper all around... real shame he wasn't happy with his life, seemed like he had it all.

My modest obit

Spoonman is about heroin right