A serious pro all the way and seemlessly found his way into Pearl Jam when they broke up. I've seen them 5 or 6 times, twice post reunion. I attended the show at Seattle's Paramount when they 1st got the band back together and Matt had all his kids in attendance standing behind his drum kid. The guy has a whole slew of kids and is no doubt a great provider. There are no dummies in Soundgarden....Thayil no virtuoso and a quirky player, yet nobody else sounds like him. I'm guessing when you saw them was with G&R or maybe Voivod/Faith no more. I personally never saw them in person until the Superunknown period, and I tend to think they were a more consistent live band in their earlier days... Superunknown at Seattle's memorial coliseum was a great show with many momentum shifts with the varying material that existed at the time. I saw the 2 subsequent tours and both shows were progressively worse. I was at the Mercer Arena show featured in part on Live on I 5, and the band was really burnt out. It was the right time for them to call it quits IMO. I personally wasn't particularly excited to see them get back together, and I mostly felt as I do now, that I had done the 90s properly and didn't need those days back. A friend of mine/bass player bandmate was enthused about the reunion and I went in large part for his sake. The band wasn't revelatory, but they were on their game and played as well and better than my 1st show of theirs.. I also went and watched them co headline with NIN and they were again excellent........ Peace
Love what Shepherd brought to the band, and Upside is a particular favorite of mine, since it's the most Shepherd-heavy album.
Also perhaps why it's their longest, since he contributed about 4 songs? Matt Cameron had a couple music writing credits as well, and Kim had his song. I'm really starting to appreciate their early era more, which in the past I overlooked a bit. Particularly Louder Than Love, which I always liked though I thought it was a bit dated-sounding at the time of Superunknown/Upside. Now I really appreciate it for the powerful music it truly is. "LOUD LOVE!!" Man, Chris was really poised here in 1989 to become, I think, the best frontman in rock in the 90's--and did. There are very few I would even put up there with him, perhaps only Layne Staley and Maynard Keenan come close for me:
I loved Soundgarden. The whole 90s "grunge" thing was probably the last musical movement I could connect with. A friend of mine and me used to joke back then that it was like the golden era of hard rock in the 70s. In the 90s we had our Black Sabbath (Soundgarden), Rolling Stones (Black Crowes) and our Zeppelin (Guns N Roses). The GnR/Zeppelin comparison is probably pretty far off but Sabbath/Soundgarden seems fair. Those bands were all so diverse I think it's unfair to categorize them all as grunge. I saw Soundgarden a couple of times in concert and was always blown away. The first time I saw them was at Lollapalooza and they opened with the Doors' cover "Waiting for the Sun." Metallica was the headliner... what a day! Now the sad part... I saw Soundgarden in Kansas City at the venerable Starlight Theater, a beautiful out door amphitheater in Swope Park...it was May 15, 2017. It was a great concert. There were some problems with Cornell's earphones. He disappeared off stage a couple of times. I was so into it I practically floated out of the theater when it was over. Three days later my wife woke me to the tragic news that Chris had taken his life. I couldn't believe it. Having seen the incredible artistry that band and Cornell personally put out, it was a huge blow. I had put my thoughts about the show out and then had to turn around and write about his passing. Tough week. Here were my thoughts on the show... the piece on Cornell's passing is out there too, but I won't put it here... enough of me bringing the thread down. Let's remember the good stuff! Concert Review: Soundgarden, Kansas City May 14, 2017
Big fan! I was hooked the first time I saw Jesus Christ Pose on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Ah, the good 'ol days. Also fortunate to see them twice at the bookends of their journey. Once at 1992 Lollapalooza and again in 2013.
I don’t feel that way about Audioslave but I understand. Also, I’m glad I got the Cornell box set before it went on for ridiculous prices. It was a lucky find in a small second run at Bullmoose.
I'm not much of a fan of the pre Badmotorfinger stuff, but that one plus the next two are really good, IMO.
Louder Than Love came out in the fall of '89 right when I started college. They had a huge buzz on college radio and were my gateway from 80s Metal to 90s alternative. I saw them three times and had tickets for a fourth at Roseland in NYC for Down on the Upside, but Cornell was sick. Avalon (now House of Blues) in Boston 5/12/1992, Badmotorfinger tour with Swervedriver and Monster Magnet. During the first song Cornell jumped into the crowd and was carried to the back of the room and then back to the stage. When the song was over he said, 'thanks, by the way I'm sick so now you're all sick' and laughed. It was an amazing set topped off with encores where all three bands came out together and jammed on a Beatles tune. I think KISS had an event earlier in the week and Kim found some leftover KISS stuff backstage and came out with a big cardboard KISS guitar and a huge smile. Lollapalooza II at Great Woods in Mass 8/17/1992 - This was the infamous show where the lawn crowd set fire to everything during Ministry's set. I think Soundgarden went on early and was uninvolved. They were probably gone by the time it happened. NY State Armory in NYC 6/17/1994 - I had never been to a show here and afterwards I could see why. It's a cavernous and musty army gym with zero ventilation and one small exit. It was probably 90+ degrees outside and well over 100 inside. Tad and Eleven opened, both were great. You could tell it was hot because Ben hardly moved. I was standing by the mixing board mainly because they had a fan. I think I lost 5 or 6 pounds. After the show they played Gregorian Chant as it was very popular in the mid 90s. It was perfect in that big boomy room. The crowd filed to the back to the one door all eager to get outside because it was so hot. You left the room into a lobby with a few steps down to the front lobby by the door. Some people decided they needed to get out faster and started pushing. When the pushing didn't work they started jumping from the upper lobby to the lower over everyone's heads. It got legit scary for a few minutes until I was outside. Here's audio from that show:
Been wanting to post the band's awesome live cover of "Waiting For The Sun", this version from the box set--the song just fits Soundgarden's sound so well with that lumbering riff: You're not bringing the thread down whatsoever. I'm still to this day gutted that Cornell is no longer with us. And that he left behind a beautiful family and one of the best bands in human history. What a talent he is. Also, nice write up! I agree, Kim Thayil on guitar was possibly the band's secret weapon--and I love how he goes from sludgy and complex riffage to the face-melting, psych-metal guitar solos. A somewhat underrated but intensely awesome player.
Jeez, that's a blast from the past. I had that album back in the day but it's long since gone to who knows where. Don't think I ever knew that they had a second album.
Well, loathe is a bit strong, Audioslave just didn't float my boat aside from the first single. It's weird, even though Chris wrote quite a few Soundgarden songs by himself, the band clearly put their collective stamp on anything they released; they were truly a band and not a singer and backing musicians.
I didn't either until the last few years. Came out in 2005, and only got a CD release. Would love to see a reissue of this:
My only SG show. I actually have an uncirculated recording of it ..... As it turned out, the next night in Honolulu was their last for 12 years ...... 3 Years ago today... Chris Cornell - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
Sure. Let me find it. Brb The Vinyl Guide: Ep219: Matt Cameron - Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and more on Apple Podcasts That’s a decent podcast for more alt rock/punk stuff. The host is a bit of a tool sometimes, but the interviews are good.
Soundgarden is one of the bands I hold up when people talk about bands progressing naturally. From Ultramega OK to Louder Than Love to Badmotorfinger to Superunknown is one of the greatest examples of a band maturing and changing with integrity in way that takes nothing away from their power or credibility. I stopped with Superunknown not because Down on the Upside isn't good, I just feel like it wasn't a great leap forward like the others were.
Upside was more of the heavy / melodic sound, but with longer, almost progressive song lengths and structures. Though I’m also not gonna say it was wildly different to Superunknown. In another decade, Upside would’ve been a double album, and it’s almost like the band’s Physical Graffiti to me.
Was driving home tonight and saw this, so I had to pull over and grab a pic for you guys. Damn, miss you Chris!!
I took out the BR discs of BMF and Superunknown from their respective box sets and ripped the audio from the multichannel audio tracks to my computer, they sound amazing! I love to listen to my favorite albums in another mix/version, etc. It also made me think if the Superunknown box set is still in print, I know BMF still is, they are both two of my favorite box sets ever. Hopefully we'll see a similar set for DotU, it's a very creative album and deserves to be enjoyed in surround sound.
I know it’s delving into a rabbit hole and all—but I believe the band wants to get a hold of tapes/files/whatever that they were working on. But there are legal issues surrounding it. Would be nice to see/hear what they had finished and demo-wise. I don't know--maybe it's just a chapter that needs closed (?)
Really cool. The two pictures of Chris on his career retrospective are so damn cool, too. Especially on the box set with how much larger the artwork is on the packaging.
