Soundgarden: An Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Chrome_Head, Jun 28, 2020.

  1. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Went down a rabbit hole tonight listening to them on streaming, particularly the great Echo Of Miles: Scattered Track Across The Miles box set. How amazing was this band? I'm working through a lot of their older material and I'm pleased to find I like the screamy stuff more than ever--something very raw and powerful about it. I believe this track, "Fresh Deadly Roses", was a B-side to the "Loud Love" single:



    I went searching for a thread on here on the band, but other than discussion about some of their vinyl releases, nothing in the way of an appreciation thread. So that's what this thread is for--your reminiscences, favorite tracks, videos, or your favorite shows.

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  2. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Love "Badmotorfinger" and "Superunknown". Cornell's vocals were unworldly. The songwriting is excellent and very consistent on those 2 albums as well.
     
  3. Kevin j

    Kevin j The 5th 99

    Location:
    Seattle Area
    I appreciate them. I only got to see them once, opening for Neil Young in 1993, but it was a great show. My wife always said she couldn't stand Cornell's voice, but one day we were drinking beers out in our back yard and I put on "Badmotorfinger". When "JCP" came on she turned to me and said "Ok, I get it".
     
  4. m_y_t_h

    m_y_t_h Forum Resident

    Location:
    Quebeck, Tennessee
    Superunknown is one of the absolute best albums of the 90s. It's a long record and it keeps your attention the whole time.

    Down on the Upside is also a very good album that I feel is underappreciated.

    And Badmotorfinger is a heavy monster.
     
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  5. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    My older sister was a fan and had the Badmotorfinger CD at the height of grunge. It was pretty easy to like--hard hitting, metallic and just sounded so cool. Still perhaps my favorite.

    I bought Superunknown the day it came out. It actually took a little while to grow on me, it was a bit different than what they'd done before. Still heavy, but with a very Beatles-y influence on some cuts.

    I do love Upside also, it's sprawling, probably a few too many tracks on it, but they were still creating at a high level at the time. I remember my friend calling to tell me that the news broke that they were calling it a day, was this back around '97?

    As far as live, they were my first concert, if I can count Lollapalooza '96 (which they headlined with Metallica). They played "Waiting For The Sun", a Doors cover, which blew my mind because I was quite a huge fan of both bands at the time.

    Was lucky enough to see them again when they reunited in 2011 or so, and once more in 2014. Also saw Chris Cornell once solo at a tiny venue for his first solo album, that was actually a great show.
     
  6. Grow Fins

    Grow Fins ...and leave you laaaaand-lubbing women alone

    Location:
    Antwerp, Belgium
    Echo of Miles is a great place to rekindle your appreciation for the mighty Knights of the Soundtable. I have pretty much worn out the studio albums so I don't listen to them too regularly anymore. But all those B-sides, what a find they were! Gobsmacking, especially their very strong quality. The release of Black Rain put me on their trail, and I now have most of them in digital. Particular favorites: Blind Dogs, Cold B1tch... I would like the set on vinyl but it's expensive and I have concerns over the SQ. I did get the Superunknown singles which feature several of those tracks.

    Great to have a SG thread on here at last!
     
  7. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Glad you’re contributing to it!

    I would also like to have the Echo Of Miles set on vinyl, but it is quite expensive as you point out. Maybe they didn’t make that many?

    One thing that puts me off is that the material doesn’t sound like it was sonically touched for the box at all. Tracks like “Show Me” and “Bleed Together” sound a little lossy to me on it, not sure what sources were used for it.

    Always loved the Superunknown outtake “She Likes Surprises”, great heavy grunge psychdelic track:

     
  8. raimiz1991inc

    raimiz1991inc Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Paz, Bolivia
    Constantly tied as my favorite band of all time (along with Genesis). I discovered them in 2005, when I was 13, and they changed my life. I love every album, but Badmotorfinger remains my go-to although I'm pretty sure Superunknown is the better album. I find Down On The Upside to be incredibly underrated and very much a step in the right direction, progressing very much as a band with songs like "Overfloater", "Zero Chance", "Applebite", "Tighter & Tighter" amongst others. Louder Than Love is the epitome of grunge and the band's B-Sides are among the greatest of any band I've ever heard. The live albums and b-sides they've put out are mind blowing and everything about them is perfect in my eyes, though King Animal is still kind of a grower.
     
  9. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I'm glad we have King Animal, but I probably only love about half of it. Still was a solid comeback album.
     
  10. Ma Kelly

    Ma Kelly Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Love them. Have done since Superunknown came out, but it's really only the last couple of years that I've grown to love Ultramega OK (thanks to the remix) and Louder Than Love. There's a ton of great videos on Youtube too and recently discovred the 1992 Paramount Theatre gig, which is great. Beyond the Wheel is just head-melting.

    My favourite clip is probably this, from their support slot with GnR . How the hell does Ben Shepherd play the bass around his ankles and how does Matt Cameron look like hes just having a leisurely little hit on his kit when he's clearly pummelling it?! So good.
     
  11. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Have to say, Shepherd and Cameron were certainly one of the best and most muscular rhythm sections in rock.
     
  12. Ma Kelly

    Ma Kelly Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The bit in bold is probably my least favourite thing about them! I think their b-sides are pretty much terrible, though there are some good ones - Kyle Petty, Son of Richard is easily one of my favourite songs.
     
  13. Ma Kelly

    Ma Kelly Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The bass was my first instrument, and my style (if I had one...well, the style I wanted to have) was always a weird mix of Geezer Butler and Chris Brady from Pond, but I always, always wished I could play it as low down as Ben Shepherd but, nah my wrist just didn't bend that way. One of life's greatest disappointments!
     
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  14. sillycornelius

    sillycornelius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Raleigh
    I still love this band. I bought Louder Than Love when it first came out and was an instant fan. I only saw them live twice though. Once on the Louder Than Love tour with Danzig & Warrior Soul in 1990 (for $12.50!), and again a couple of years later at Lollapalooza.

    And I'm with you on digging the "screamy" stuff lately. This has been a recent favorite of mine:

     
  15. fretter

    fretter Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I bought a promo cassette single of "Loud Love" before they were famous. Traded that one in the late 90s for store credit. Recently I bought it on iTunes. It's still a great song to me. Also in the late 80s, I picked up "She's a Politician," which came on a flexi disc in an import magazine. I also bought that on iTunes. Another amazing song.
     
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  16. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Badmotorfinger and Superunknown are great, as is most of Down On The Upside.
    King Animal is one of the best reunion albums ever.
    Prior to "finger" I choose and pick individual songs because the albums are patchy. "Nothing To Say", "Loud Love", "Flower" etc.

    I loathe Audioslave and only like Chris' first solo album. Solo Cornell and Soundgarden are two very different entities.
     
  17. possumdude

    possumdude "Spies Like Us" Aficionado

    Location:
    USA
    Chris' passing hit me really hard, maybe more than any other celeb/musician loss in my lifetime. I'll always be grateful that I got to see Soundgarden live a few times when they toured for King Animal.
     
  18. fretter

    fretter Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Soundgarden were a brilliant band.
     
  19. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Appreciated. I saw them twice. Badmotorfinger and Louder Than Love. Both at relatively small venues. For the Louder Than Love show, Jason Everman was playing bass. I had backstage passes, but I decided to just go home.
     
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  20. m_y_t_h

    m_y_t_h Forum Resident

    Location:
    Quebeck, Tennessee
    On the topic of non-album songs, I adore "Birth Ritual."
     
  21. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    People who haven't heard Ben's side band Hater may be interested in them (they've only done 2 albums thus far). I loved the debut. Matt Cameron was also on drums for both albums:



    "Black Rain", great song. I was thrilled when that track came out for the Telephantasm compilation.

    I was a big fan of both Soundgarden and Rage, but Chris fronting a group with the Rage guys sounded better on paper than in practice. Still, they had some good songs. I actually liked their demo that was circulating on the web before the band's proper debut came out, when they were going by the name 'Civilian'. Sounded a lot more raw.

    Awesome track, as is "Blind Dogs".

    I'd love to see a full list of all the non-album songs. There were a couple that didn't make Down On The Upside, like "Karaoke" (which was on the Echos Of Miles box set).
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2020
  22. GoodKitty

    GoodKitty FloydM

    Location:
    Pacific
    Love this band ! ..... and really wish I'd seen 'em more than just once, preferably 1991-1994 but anytime post-reunion would've been wonderful too.

    I really need to revisit King Animal ..... I liked it a lot but not sure I've listened to it since the year it came out.



    Here's what I posted last month about the show I saw.
    3 Years ago today... Chris Cornell



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    :righton: :righton: :righton: :righton:

    .
     
  23. stax o' wax

    stax o' wax Forum Resident

    Location:
    The West
    One of the great heavy metal bands that emerged in the 90's.
    They are unique,very creative, and powerful.
    Lyrics, music,overall vision and production it's all there on their best albums.
    I think they have no less than 3 albums that will be considered "classics".
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2020
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  24. musicnonstop

    musicnonstop Kling Klang Kwatsch Kommentator

    Location:
    Düsseldorf
    Soundgarden, absolutely appreciated, from the moment 'Black Hole Sun' was on MTV's high rotation. My daily wake-up song during draft, as MTV was our alarm-clock back then.

    The album 'Superunknown' was soon to be explorered and discovered, so did the EPs 'Songs From The Superunkown' and 'Alive In The Superunknown'. The diversity in style on those releases really attracted me. Only went back in time for 'Badmotorfinger' after hearing 'Birth Ritual' on the 'Singles OST'. Their earlier releases just sounded too 80s-shrill to me, so I never paid much attention to those. 'Down On The Upside' and 'King Animal' are definitely appreciated too, but played less as I always tend to go back to those that made the biggest impression on me.

    Was lucky enough to see them live in 1995 ('Waiting For The Sun'), 1996 (waiting for the crash) and two days in a row in 2013 (waiting too long for their comeback).

    I'm still devastated that Chris lost himself and we lost him... Nowadays his lyrics often leave me heavy-hearted.
     
  25. Acoustic Warrior

    Acoustic Warrior I Come From The Water

    Location:
    Frankfort Kentucky
    I love just about everything they put out. Screaming Life/Fopp compilation is a fav.
     

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