Here Today... Gone To Hell!

One particular now-defunct band that I have always believed never got enough credit was Soundgarden. By observing all of your preferences in music, I've noticed plenty of touches of grunge, metal, and blues. This was essentially what SG were. These are also my three favorite genres; sub-genres aside. On their earlier albums, you can tell they were heavily influenced by the decade that came before them.

Most people know of SG by their 1994 release, Superunknown, but I don't really think that's the best way to start getting into them. Since they were one of those bands where none of their albums sounded identical to another, you have to start at the beginning. And in my opinion, the beginning is where the good stuff is. The distortion is so organized.

Chris Cornell is one of the greatest singer/songwriters I've ever heard. Just because he's well-known, doesn't mean he's regarded in the right aspects as much as he should be. Tracks I recommend to witness this high-octave beast are Beyond The Wheel [from Ultramega OK], All Your Lies [also from Ultramega OK], Loud Love [from Louder Than Love], Hands All Over [also from Louder Than Love], Jesus Christ Pose [from Badmotorfinger], Slaves and Bulldozers [also from Badmotorfinger], Limo Wreck [from Superunknown], and The Day I Tried To Live [also from Superunknown].

Kim Thayil is hands-down my favorite guitarist of all time. Jimi is obviously the greatest, but this man is so fucking underrated it's disgusting. He wrote THE most memorable riffs of the late 1980s and early-mid 1990s, and that is indisputable. I'm not a musician, and I don't know the technicalities of guitars and whatnot, but I do know what a good riff and a good solo are. Thayil went beyond that. Tracks I recommend that show his skills off best are Head Injury [from Ultramega OK], All Your Lies [also from Ultramega OK], Gun [from Louder Than Love], Hands All Over [from Louder Than Love], Big Dumb Sex [also from Louder Than Love], Rusty Cage [from Badmotorfinger], Jesus Christ Pose [also from Badmotorfinger], Spoonman [from Superunknown], Head Down [also from Superunknown], and Pretty Noose [from Down On The Upside],

Matt Cameron is an incredible drummer, obviously one of the best and most recognizable of the 1990s. I think he's taken the spot of the ever-changing drummer in Pearl Jam, but tracks you need to listen to from this guy are Flower [from Ultramega OK], Nazi Driver [also from Ultramega OK], Gun [from Louder Than Love], Hands All Over [also from Louder Than Love], Room a Thousand Years Wide [from Badmotorfinger], Face Pollution [also from Badmotorfinger], Let Me Drown [from Superunknown], My Wave [also from Superunknown], Pretty Noose [from Down On The Upside], and Ty Cobb [also from Down On The Upside].

I have no comments on Ben Shepherd or Hiro Yamamoto, and don't usually have opinions on much other bassists except for funk-metal bands like FNM or, like, RHCP. I recognize it's extremely necessary, but yeah. I recommend this band so much, even if they have gone their seperate ways. Long live Soundgarden, and after you have d/l those tracks, order all their albums! Thank you, come again.

 : ok:

I agree a hundred and fucking 20 percent! I love soundgarden. great band that got lumped into the grunge scene. I hate what happened to bands like AIC and soundgarden because the music fucking rocked but just got labeled as some generational thing and never fully appreciated. I have all of their albums and they get heavy rotation in my car. Cornell has one of the greatest voices....ever really. I somehow can't get into audioslave nearly as much tho. I picked up the album and there was some stuff I liked but I guess I was just hoping for more with the lofty standards soundgarden set. I remember hearing on the radio that soundgarden had broken up and they said it like it was no big thing and that bothered me alot because they deserved to have everyone up in arms over such a sudden break up. I hope people check out the songs you listed because while I like "black hole sun" most people I know who aren't into them only know them as that song and I don't think it defines them well because in my opinion they made alot of better music before and after that song.

yeah, of course. I, in fact, think that's one of their worst. the riffs are so lazy, and it was extremely lucky enough to be a radio hit. Fucking great music video, though, obviously.

Soundgarden were great. GN'R even took them on tour before the general public had an idea of how great they were.

If you want to hear great drumming from Matt Cameron, listen to "Jesus Christ Pose".

Also, check out Chris' solo album "Euphoria Morning" and the song "Seasons" on the Singles soundtrack. Doesn't sound like Soundgarden, but it's still great.




/jarmo

I have euphoria morning. Real good album. Much Mellower than anything soundgarden ever did, but a nice turn for cornell.

yeah, here are a few articles/interviews that have mentions of axl and gn'r.

http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/rip_7-92.shtml
http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/kerr_4-4-92.shtml
http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/circus_1-31-92.shtml

when they were on Headbanger's Ball, there's also an axl mention, which seems to be a bit awkward...

http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/articles/rocket_3-90.shtml

Rachtman: Axl Rose seems to like your band. What do you say about that?

Chris: (deadpan) Wow. As long as the checks we send him clear, he seems to keep saying good things about us.

Rachtman: So the checks keep coming. We talked a little earlier that you guys are from Seattle. Did you create a big buzz there and the record companies came to you, or did you go out to LA?

Kim: (long pause) No, the record companies came to see us in Seattle before we ever went and played Los Angeles.

thanks for the articles. I love the part in the last one where he tells the crowd "no corny devil shit" and gets them to give the finger thru the whole song.

If they're talking about the metal salute in general, okay, but that would be ironic considering their Ultramega OK album and all of its content... haha.

hahaha very true. But they say in the article chris said it after the crowd all had the metal saulte up.

Though, I have also read that they have made a few tracks sort of "mocking" the cliches in metal. Like their "665" and "667" tracks, and the whole meaning of Big Dumb Sex, and maybe even Jesus Christ Pose.

Cornell is one the greatest vocalist I've heard

they definitely kicked ass and its too bad they broke up. hopefully the next audioslave cd is good though, i love chris cornell!

I couldn't agree more - Soundgarden for me were the band of the '90's, hugely under-rated and unfairly lumped in with the whole grunge sound and thus overlooked. Their arrangments are so unique and don't conform to accepted norms and the lyrical themes were always so dark and interesting. I miss them hugely cos although Audioslave are good they don't hold a candle . Euphoria Morning is also well worth investigating

hey alice- I was wondering what your favorite soundgarden song is. Mine is actually bleed together. I am not one to buy greatest hits compilations for the couple extra tracks if I have all their other releases but I heard that song and had my friend burn it right away. And to think it almost wasn't released. Lyrically I like tighter and tighter a little bit more but overall I give the nod to bleed together.

holy water.

Soundgarden can definately get away with calling themselves the band of the 90's (not counting UYI I&II).

Like has been said, they never got the recognition as a great rock band.  Probably because they were labelled grunge and we all know which band was unfairly placed at the top of that tree, at least by the media.

Soundgarden and Alice in Chains are fuckin great bands!

I also love this band along with Nirvana and Alice in Chains, they are my favorite band after Nirvana and GN'R, I think they never really got the credit they diserved most of the attention was faced on Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but thery are still a great band, my favorite song by them at the time is probley Drawing Flies.

Extremely good band, i am very disappointed in Audioslave in comparison.  My fave song by them would probably be Limo Wreck although there is still a lot of their stuff i have not heard and need to look into.  I agree they were unfairly overshawdowed by Nirvana as most bands who were in the 'grunge' scene were along w/ Pearl Jam they were 2 exceptional bands of that time who to many just faded away.  Soundgarden breaking up was seen as no big thing and Pearl Jam's existence these days is not really noticeable to the masses even though the music is still great.

i'm no soundgarden expert but i love chris cornell's voice n i thought Temple of the Dog were great. The only SG songs i know are Black Hole Sun n Spoonman but they're cool

I think Soundgarden are boring and their songs just go on and on and on.  They're not bad, but i just get so borrred listening to them....sorry alicemudgarden, don't kill me :-X

Soundgarden, good band, some great material, but very overrated.


Cornell's voice sounds wayyyy too processed on nearly all their work.  It's a shame.  Sometimes there's too much distortion going on, sometime's it's too low and muffled in the mix, etc etc.  Also, Chris Cornell should have never used any falsetto, ever.  Maybe I'm a little biased because I dislike most uses of falsetto in music, but when he uses it, it just kills it for me.


And the band, along with Cornell, always found ways to fuck up songs.  I mean by writing in parts that kill the song, and make you want to skip to the next.

Kim just doesn't do it for me.  A lot of his stuff just doesn't sound good.  Unfocused, sloppy, wannabe.


I generally hate the production on all Soundgarden albums.  I don't understand why they did the things they did.

Sorry to hear that.

This here website is indisputably the greatest resource for all-things SG. The following link allows you to preview about thirty seconds of each of their released tracks, so enjoy if you've yet to give them a chance yet. Other areas/sections of the site have clips of their music videos, rare releases, interviews, etc.

http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/multimedia/index-albums.shtml

As i said before im not keen on Audioslave so i was wondering what are the former Soundgarden members upto now Chris Cornell's with Audioslave, i'd love to hear another band like Soundgarden so it would be good to know the former members had a band in the similar style or something? Anyone know where they are now?

Matt Cameron is in Pearl Jam and he's also got a project called Wellwater Conspiracy.

Ben Shepherd has worked with Mark Lanegan as well as his own band Hater.




/jarmo

Yup, SG is definitely one of the most underrated bands ever... I would recommend their greatest hits, 'A-sides'.
P.S: Kim Thayil does us Indians proud! : ok:

only thing i hate 'bout that song is Kims solo, it just rips it...terrible :no:

Kim Thayil would be useful to Axl ...

mmm.. interesting concept, but i cant see Thayil in Guns N' Roses - thats so weird that it might just work????

Fucking I would love that, man!

Yeah it would be a perfect fit. I suggested awhile back in the 'Who Should Replace Buckethead' thread that Kim should fill the spot. As some have mentioned, It was a big mistake for Soundgarden to be labeled grunge. Just because Soundgarden is from Seattle doesn't mean shit. Listen to Badmotorfinger. Does that sound like grunge to you? i think the fact that they were pidgeonholed into grunge actually limited what they were capable of. Superunkown is a great album, but it has grunge elements, and probably wouldn't have if they hadn't got stuck with being labeled grunge. Soundgarden was a heavy metal band. What still blows my mind to this day is the fact that they didn't get worldwide recognition with 'Hands All Over'. One of the best songs from the late 80's.

A new SOUNDGARDEN tribute disc, Black Days: Midwest Movement Tribute To Soundgarden will be available on February 21st, distributed by Navarre (www.navarre.com). The album will include the following tracklisting: ALL THE WAY RIDER - 'The Day I Tried To Live', BLOODWILLTELL - 'Pretty Noose', CASANATRA - 'Rusty Cage', DAYFEED - 'Fell On Black Days', DESTROPHY - 'Black Hole Sun', IN A CROWDED ROOM - 'Slaves And Bulldozers', INDEX CASE - 'Jesus Christ Pose', JOHNNYROOK - 'Blow Up The Outside World', THIRTY SECONDS OF SHAME - 'Outshined', WHITE KNUCKLE TRIP - 'Room A Thousand Years Wide'.

i like soundgarden but i also like pearl jam, both with great guitarists and vocalists, hard choice out of the 2.

Soundgarden are one of my favorite bands and Kim Thayil to me was a guitarist that went against the grain, hence why he is so respected.  A read an interview with Chris Cornell a couple of years ago and he said that Kim hardly picks up a guitar anymore.  It's a shame, but it's not like the guy has no money.