First it steals your mind and then it steals your... your POLL: SUPERUNKNOWN

I remember this CD as being something like 80 or 90 minutes long which was frightening because I didn't think you could press a CD with that capacity, but it also sounded really muddy, so those two things combined made me suspect there was some shenanigans they were pulling to fit that many minutes on a CD at the cost of audio quality. Is that what they did?

it's just 70 minutes.

really talk, this is by far my favorite grunge album, and i like a lot of grunge albums. "Head Down" and "Fresh Tendrils" and "Like Suicide" are all massive, and aside from "Black Hole Sun" I never really get sick of the singles.

may toss a coin to decide between "Head Down" and "Limo Wreck" later

At the time it was Kickstand or Spoonman - I'm going to need to listen to this again though before voting.

Black Days then, dunno what now.

I'm pretty impressed - with the album rather than myself, I think - how I can really vividly recall all the songs despite not listening to this for years. 4th Of July might just edge it due to hueg chorus

9. "4th of July" – 5:08

Love this album, love it more than any Nirvana album. I re-bought it last year after not hearing it for probably 10 years. It didn't leave the CD player in my car for about a month. Never really known what any of the songs are called though - think I'll give it a listen over the weekend before voting.

First instinct is to vote for Head Down, though.

the day i tried to live

When Helgeson bigged up "Pretty Noose" on that "Spoonman" thread, he wasn't wrong, as I'm now discovering. Put that song on here instead of "Let Me Drown" and we've got another contender.

Hmmm, probably Black Days, but I might have to think about it. Let Me Drown is a great opener IMO.

"Mailman" is probably the only track here I have no real time for.

(and listening to it now, it's not that bad!)

I never need to hear Black Hole Sun again as long as I live.

i definitely had a spell with this way back (though not all the way back). vote for "The Day I Tried to Live" because of the part where cornell shreeks and the guitar fades in. or is it the other way round? maybe i should listen to it again...

Also need to listen to this again, I know every note of it but several of the songs have obscure titles and I want to be sure...

"Fell On Black Days" or "Spoonman."

or "My Way"! Lots of good songs here.

i love "My Wave," at first it kinda felt like the lightweight pop song of the album but there's so many layers to the riffs and the rhythms and the whole outro is awesome.

the outtake/international bonus track "She Likes Surprises" is pretty awesome too

fell on black days.
i never want to hear "Black Hole Sun" again especially dont want to see the overplayed video.

She Likes Surprises is a great little song, yeah.

Lots of good songs here

no shit!!!!!

im voting for "Kickstand"

I'm voting "My Wave" for the twisty bass/drum interplay in the middle and the weird E power chord tuning that Kim Thayil used. (E-E-B-B-B-E)

How are you listening to these songs? My Wave (all the singles really) always seemed to sound much better on the radio than on the CD -- more peppy if that makes sense.

Also which riff is Spoonman taken from? It's a 70s song and Rikki Rachtman busted Chris Cornell's chops for it on MTV, and he's all "shucks, you're right" but it's not very confrontational -- they're kicking back, bowling.

The Day I Tried To Live

This record was a monster in every sense of the word. And it's aged really well.

I remember part of Cornell's score for Singles included an acoustic version of the "Spoonman" riff, but I know that's not what you mean...really the rhythm/time signature makes the riff, if what he ripped it off from doesn't have that then he still made it his own.

My favorite album when I was fourteen- consistently strong songwriting for such a long album. And all the dudes in the band contributed to the songwriting. Ben Shepard wrote Head Down, definitely one of the high points. Haven't heard it in years, maybe I'll download it tonight. Anyway, I guess I'll vote for Let Me Drown just over the title track and Like Suicide. I'm kinda sick of the singles which there seemed to be a lot of for one album.

Listening now for the first time in years and really enjoying it. I'd forgotten how good Head High is.

Sorry, I mean Head Down.

hardly seems fair to unvote "Black Hole Sun" for overplay... not a prob for me though since 4th of july low/high vox take the biscuit

this record is flawless imo. i'm voting 'half' w/ 'the day i tried to live' a close 2nd

i always meant to check out Ben Shepherd's other bands based on all is songwriting credits on some of SG's best songs, anyone have any reccomendations?

argh argh argh Head Down or Limo Wreck....with a late run from The Day I Tried To Live :-/

fell on black days

4tth of July, Head Down, Limo Wreck, Mailman, and The Day I Tried to Live in five-way tie for first...

Soundgarden = easily the most underrated band of the '90s...

best thing out of seattle since jimi amirite

Not a letdown, but not what I was hoping for after Badmotorfinger. "Fell On Black Days" was the disappointment- the first song that sounded like grunge was falling into it own cliches of power-balladry (moaning, soft to loud build-up, awkward bad poetry for a hook). (I mean, Pearl Jam was already there, but no one respected them at that point...) But so much of this is great. (and in retrospect, "Black Days" is strong stuff considering Audioslave and Part of Me lay ahead) Because I've long had a weakness for Krawling Kromatic Kashmir riffs, I'd have answered "Day I Tried to Live" until recently. But for some reason, that spell has lifted. 'Cause I've rationed playing this record and don't hear the track on the radio, I'm voting for the Dingley-Jingly-Dear Prudence riffery of "Black Hole Sun." Tho' my single favorite Soundgarden song is might be "Pretty Noose".

down on the upside is mightily underrated

i have been feasting on "pretty noose" today

I hope Thayil gets a second wind someday.

Aw, he's only got 79 myspace friends. Good for him.

He was the brains of that operation.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Surprised myself a bit by going for Head Down. I've been coming back to it a lot these past few days.

am about to spin a coin to decide on "Limo Wreck" or "Head Down"

("Head Down" is tails, obv)

Limo Wreck wins.

Best of three?

Too late. If Head Down finishes one short of or tied with Black Hole Sun then I'll repent.

"Limo Wreck" is the only song on here that I can't instantly recall how it goes by reading the title ("Mailman" took a second but I got there).

"The Day I Tried To Live" heavy in the best way.

Great record but I prefer Badmotorfinger...they hadn't yet tipped into such seriousness yet, were still kinda "fun" on the heels of the Cheech & Chong/Spinal Tap goofs...but anyway yeah this is a good one if about 15 minutes too long

This is a really consistent album - in a pinch I could cut a couple of things, but most of it is great songs on an equal playing field. I think I'll throw my vote to "Let Me Drown" just because I don't think it'll get too many picks here and it starts the album out very nicely, kind of a blueprint for everything that follows.

The really underrated song that deserves more votes than it's gonna get is the title-track. I would say the same for Like Suicide but never underestimate the lurker vote.

fwiw, the title track edges past the US singles to make my top three along with The Day I Tried To Live and 4th of July.

The singles all kill though. Even Black Hole Sun, which probably gets shafted here on account'a getting played to death and beyond.

I really like Black Hole Sun! But I think it'll do better (lurker-vote-wise) on account of being a huge single, not worse.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Huh, glad "4th of July" placed as high as it did.

Mailman got shafted methinks...

"Fell on Black Days" is probably their best song, even if i voted for "Spoonman."

i voted 4th of July and am pretty comfortable with that choice...

+1 je ne regrette rien but country matters otm

Ugh.. I would've voted "Let Me Drown."

I can't believe "Mailman" got no love. (Didn't see this til today or I woulda voted for it.)

Mailman"My Wave" got shafted methinks...

ok does anyone besides me LOVE "Fresh Tendrils"?

Am utterly confused by how unremarkable album track "Fell On Black Days" has won this tbh.

It's a groovy track. I like how the bass builds.

It's a great track. Was terrific live too.

yeah, it doesn't rock as hard as some of the other tracks but it's a really great composition.

Hard to believe Cornell wrote that ridiculously killer top 5 on his own, given his soon-to-be-crapitude.

would have voted head down, had i seen this poll. the whole album is golden though.

Am utterly confused by how unremarkable album track "Fell On Black Days" has won this tbh

i guess it wasn't a single in the UK but in the US it was one of the album's biggest hits

it was a single in the UK. but yeah, its probably my least favourite - not a bad song, but outclassed, to me, by its brethren.

I've heard girls describe that song as "sexy.." The video def got played a lot, around the same time as "Buddy Holly" and "When I Come Around."

cuz i fell onnnnnnnnnnn black gays

man i've been wanting to listen to this album again ever since this thread but hadn't gotten around to it, then walked into a record store yesterday and they were playing "Mailman." shit sounded so good i was seriously considering just browsing while the whole album played, but when "Black Hole Sun" kicked in i had to run to the register. i don't know if there's any song in the world i'm more sick of at this point.

I can't believe "Mailman" got no love. (Didn't see this til today or I woulda voted for it.)

this, me, too.

I thought I was sick of Black Hole Sun, but re-listening to this recently it's actually a decent song that works well in the context of the album.

im still sick of it. I have to skip it.

chap is totes otm

it's a great song, but I cant bear to ever hear it. Cable tv hitting my town coincided with the video being released and it completely ruined it for me. It was inescapable on mtv/the box etc.
Thankfully when I saw soundgarden, cornell did a solo acoustic version of it, so it at least was different. I think i'll have nightmares about that video.

i don't think i've ever seen the video

damn kids

I'd forgotten how nice the guitar tone in the verses is.

I was utterly convinced it was a steel drum for like the first 6 months after the album came out

leslie ftw

classic pretentious grunge video (see also: Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box, STP's Vaseline...)

Really grooving on "Like Suicide" today, although as a non-metal-head I sort of tune out the long long solos and so on - but it's one of Cornell's best melodies and some great lyrics too. "Safe outside my gilded cage, with an ounce of pain / I wield a ton of rage." Not sure what he's talking about but it sounds so great.

This is my favorite rock lp. Probably my favorite drumming on a rock record too.

Love how how his vocals go past red on Mailman when he sings "RIDIIIIING", like they just cranked it over the top to give it that hair-splitting crackly edge.

Def Cornell's best vocals on this album.

"but it also sounded really muddy"

Nah, this has always been my go to record for testing speakers/headphones. Its exactly how I want my big budget rock records to sound. For how much is going on underneath, there is plenty if distinction and space imo. The vocals aren't overly prominent, which was probably hard as Cornell was at his peak. Badmotorfinger sounds really tinny though, could stand a re-master.

xp

His vocals are perfect. Not many that could/can do the things he does on this record. Hard to even pick like one song that stands above another, as far as vocals go.

some dude otm in this thread, even down to his love for Fresh Tendrils. Love the intro on that, and the coda, and the bass, and that little horn stab when it kicks back in after the breakdown.

So many details on this album, I still get genuine excitement when I settle down to listen to it.

"fresh tendrils" is my favorite soundgarden song. it's so knotted up in itself you can lose track of it.

Ya it starts like its just gonna be this simple kick/snare/riff/bass thing but then it just kind of goes off in all these tangents and rhythm switches. Kind of teases at a major guitar solo at the end too.

Yeah, it's like the definitive deep cut, really great getting to know it slowly. Love the "If-it-sits-upon-your-tongue" part.

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

this thread has inspired me to crank superunknown on the way to work this morning. no big deal, i do this every couple of weeks or so anyway tbh.

my place was beneath you, but now i am above.

think day i tried to live might have nudged ahead of head down and limo wreck these days

spoonmaayuunnnnn

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

Mailman and Limo Wreck are so massively heavy

4th Of July achieves supreme heaviosity too.

Yeah those octaved vocals are a great touch

Limo Wreck was the jam in summer 94

4th Of July achieves supreme heaviosity too.

― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:27 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah those octaved vocals are a great touch

― Neanderthal, Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:29 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM!

the guitars on 4th of july sound like they've been steeped in a bbq smoker for several weeks

Also OTM

This album is so well sequenced.

Choosing a favourite track on this is difficult, today I would have chosen 'My Wave'... could be different if you asked me tomorrow, though.

My Wave is a rhythmic delight. they should use it in high school music classes.

Absolutely! Not just the 5/4 verses, but that little breakdown section after the first chorus. Wonderful stuff.

yeah, it's kind of fun remembering this was a 'hit' on modern rock radio (at least in my town) for a while in the early 90s. granted, nowhere near played as much as Spoonman or Black Hole Sun, but it was cool hearing a song this off-kilter on the radio.

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

The first dude I ever crushed on could play "Fell On Black Days" perfectly. Sigh.

that and Spoonman were some of the earliest songs I learned on guitar

honestly that album is a helluva lotta fun for a home rhythm guitarist.

oh god there's a cankles post from another thread that i am so tempted to post right now xp

hah just caught this thread and immediately played 4th of July on Spotify

"just caught this thread revive ahem...."

otm, perfect timing for another listen, been a couple months.

I love the licks in the title track.

Deluxe edition!

when the main riff returns in the middle of "Fresh Tendrils" I can practically hear the arena crowds cheering.

looking forward to combing through the bonus tracks and seeing if there's anything interesting or fun in there. wish i could catch one of the shows where they're playing the album.

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994. Music hasn't really changed too much in the last 20 years, other than technologies and distribution.

well Cornell's hair

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994 but Soundgarden made an amazing album that was basically grunge Zep.

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, July 2, 2013 9:29 AM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994 but Soundgarden made an amazing album that was basically grunge Zep.
--some dude

by 1994 the Beatles influence is starting to creep in

fresh tendrils you might say

i still find it so hard to hear this as music, like it short-circuits and i just hear 1994+ on endless repeat. for thayil's riff monster reputation a lot of the guitar parts are surprisingly thin! but the writing and the giant space-filling drums and vox make it so you don't even really focus on exactly what the guitars are doing.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/soundgarden-dive-back-into-superunknown-with-aggressive-new-york-gig-20140603

someone tell me if the bonus tracks on this are worth the investment - it is hells of expensive!

i think head down is my favourite track on this now - that fusion of androgyny and heaviness is just heaven

yeah "Head Down" is amazing. Ben Shepherd-written songs always showed a really interesting side of the band.

The vocal production on Head Down is extremely inventive, the way you don't get a hint of the Cornell roar till it comes in as backing vox in the last verse.

Actually I misremembered, it comes in during the first 'head high' part. Still supremely cool.

It always reminds me of this Cave In tune, similar blend of the deft and the heavy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoSoTV81p0A

I'm still somewhat amazed that an album like this blew up so big. everyone in my school loved Soundgarden and had Soundgarden shirts - granted I don't know how many of them went beyond the singles, but even the singles were quirky themselves.

def need to get this reissue.

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994 but Soundgarden made an amazing album that was basically grunge Zep.

― some dude, Wednesday, June 4, 2014 2:40 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Absolutely! Definitely Sabbath in its guitar tones, but Zep in the alternate tunings, time sig changes and obviously the vocals too. This is quite possibly their most 'psychedelic' LP too, for want of a better term.

i haven't A/B'ed the remaster properly but i think what i read is right, shepherd's bass sounds way more present

fuck even black hole sun is still good, that fuckin song

v excited to hear this remaster. i love the sound of the OG but interested to see how they can or did improve it.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2011/10/soundgardens_kim_thayil_talks.php

With the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, Ten, and Badmotorfinger all happening this year it seems like there is a renewed interest in grunge music in the media. Do you feel like there is going to be a resurgence of people making this kind of music as well?

It's bound to happen anyways. There's something cyclical about those influential musics. They seem to always stay in the public eye because they're influencing musicians. That's one thing about our band in particular; we've influenced a lot of guitar players, drummers and singers. We influence many experimental and arty bands and outsider music as well as more mainstream popular rock bands. That is one of the greatest achievements of our legacy -- to meet guys in young bands and girls that are guitarists because they are inspired by us, to meet teenagers who are getting into high school band or jazz band because they're picking up bass or guitar and Soundgarden is one of their favorite bands. That's great. To have that sort of influence and encouragement amongst musicians and songwriters is very important. I personally don't understand why most musicians or artists don't see that as an important goal of what they're doing. That's always been important to what we were doing. We would like to be like that band that had influence on us -- like the MC5 or The Stooges, The Ramones or Aerosmith. We would like to be that band for up-and-coming musicians as well as our contemporaries. And we have been. It's as if we have met many of our goals and to have achieved this particular aspect of being in a creative and original band.

While it sounds very 1994, I think of the three big Seattle bands Soundgarden easily sounds the most contemporary considering all the stoner metal and doom that has followed, it still fits in with that stuff. They had a pretty wide sound.

I'd like to hear a rawer more room mix of Badmotorfinger, if such a thing existed. You would think there would be some well recorded multi-track live stuff from the 90s out somewhere in the vaults considering the stature of the band.

It sounds great to me!

A different dude on Amazon wrote this, though:

--------------------------------------------------------

A major label announces two surround titles within a couple weeks of each other, a first in a very long time in North America where the majors have given up on surround sound since around 2005/2006 when they withdrew from the Super Audio CD/DVD-Audio format war. Could this be the push some of us have been hoping for finally starting? Soundgarden and Bob Marley both getting brand new 5.1 mixes?

Well after 8 weeks of asking we finally got the details of this release a few days ago in terms of the technical specs, they did go back to the original analogue multitracks to create the 5.1 mix and they did go back to the original analogue stereo master to create the vinyl, although they archived it to 24/192 and then mastered in the digital domain. Adam Kasper who produced Down on the Upside and King Animal was going to do the 5.1 mix, he has no 5.1 credits to his name so that was a bit concerning but at least he was using the multitracks so we knew we could hope for a fully discrete mix.

Now as we begin to listen we realize it was all for nought, despite all the care taken or seemingly being taken to go back to the original source material we have a release that's been slammed in true loudness wars fashion. One might have expected the regular CDs and lossy digital download files to be victims, but this is also available on Blu-ray Audio in 24-bit/96kHz stereo AND on another audiophile website (name removed in case it's against review policies) as a 24-bit/192kHz download. These are both equally as dynamically challenged as the CD! It makes no sense. People buy 24-bit to listen to on superior equipment. Dynamically lifeless music is only bearable on the cheapest in ear buds while busy commuting or working out when you're not really paying attention to the music.

Why Soundgarden? Why? Why doesn't the sonic integrity of your music mean more to you? Why Adam Kasper? Why? You're listening to this on studio monitors, you know what the original tape sounds like! We have gotten close to it with the original CD. This is so frustrating it's hard to put into words. Please, let the tipping point be nigh. Let's push this review to the top so people know not to waste their hard-earned money supporting mediocre releases.

Here's the dynamic range log of the 24/192 download.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Soundgarden / Superunknown (Deluxe Edition)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR5 0.00 dB -6.46 dB 3:53 01-Let Me Drown
DR6 0.00 dB -7.69 dB 5:13 02-My Wave
DR7 0.00 dB -8.02 dB 4:43 03-Fell On Black Days
DR6 0.00 dB -6.45 dB 4:26 04-Mailman
DR6 0.00 dB -6.62 dB 5:07 05-Superunknown
DR6 0.00 dB -7.76 dB 6:10 06-Head Down
DR6 0.00 dB -8.12 dB 5:19 07-Black Hole Sun
DR6 0.00 dB -6.68 dB 4:07 08-Spoonman
DR6 0.00 dB -7.23 dB 5:48 09-Limo Wreck
DR7 0.00 dB -8.25 dB 5:20 10-The Day I Tried To Live
DR6 0.00 dB -6.90 dB 1:34 11-Kickstand
DR7 0.00 dB -7.88 dB 4:17 12-Fresh Tendrils
DR6 0.00 dB -7.05 dB 5:09 13-4th Of July
DR8 0.00 dB -10.42 dB 2:15 14-Half
DR6 0.00 dB -7.86 dB 7:04 15-Like Suicide
DR6 -0.24 dB -7.55 dB 3:18 16-She Likes Surprises
DR6 -0.54 dB -8.05 dB 5:27 30-The Day I Tried To Live (Alternate Mix)
DR6 -0.20 dB -8.12 dB 5:13 31-4th Of July (Instrumental)
DR6 -0.20 dB -7.55 dB 5:09 32-Superunknown (Instrumental)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 19
Official DR value: DR6

Samplerate: 192000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 7813 kbps
Codec: FLAC

Stop the madness. Vote with your wallet. When these guys stop selling records they will ask why, they will read social media, they will see that people are tired of being fooled by the "loudness is better" approach that idiots in suits at record labels are telling you we want. We don't want that. We have NEVER signed petitions begging for more loudness wars releases. We have never pined for dynamically lifeless music.

Dear Lord PLEASE let them not muck up the Bob Marley release.

Adam Kasper, executives at Universal responsible for this release, Soundgarden; please all give yourselves a good kick in the backside for ruining this incredible album.

Good people out there who love music, stick to your original 1994 CDs of Superunknown, the experience is much, much better. And if you are looking for the superior analogue experience then save up your coin (you won't need a lot more than the list price of this Super Deluxe set anyway) and find the German pressing that Willem Makee cut around 2004. It was from a tape copy of the analogue stereo master and is the only all analogue cut of Superunknown available. The new vinyl may be pressed very well at QRP but the mastering is the same as the CD if the downloadable vinyl rip files are any indication.

Link to original superior 1994 CD release on Amazon is right here - Superunknown

What a shame this project wasn't done with someone like Barry Diament from Soundkeeper Recordings. I just came across a great interview (search for "Audiostream Barry Diament" for the url) with Barry Diament talking about his illustrious career path and this bit really made me smile:

"By the mid-1990's I realized that many clients were starting to evaluate my work using the level meters instead of the loudspeakers. At this point, I had to stop and ask myself just what I sought to accomplish as an audio engineer. Now, I enjoy loudness when it is appropriate but in my experience, if you want to shake the walls with AC/DC (or with Mahler), the best way to achieve this is with the playback volume control. Any other way, such as arbitrarily increasing the level on the recording itself involves a host of sonic trade-offs. First among them, is the sense of Life that comes from musical dynamics. Since my goals as an engineer are sourced in my love of music, I didn't want to participate in the ongoing Loudness Wars. All the truly great sounding records and CDs in my collection had much lower average levels than what the majors were releasing. I wanted to preserve all the musical Life in every source I mastered too and never used compression myself. While some say it increases "punch", the sonic evidence tells a quite different story. Besides, how does one increase punch by reducing dynamics, where the punch "lives"? So, I started accepting only those jobs where the client's prime interest was the musical presentation and the preservation of musical dynamics."

lol can't stand loudness wars ppl and that's a great example of why right there

Wait, is he talking about the standard reissue version or specifically the 5.1 mix that was only in the super expenseive box set version? Wasn't sure.

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

i listened to the remaster five times yesterday

i only skipped spoonman once

i sometimes mix up Matt Cameron and Matt Chamberlain, and it doesn't help that Matt Chamberlain is filling in for Matt Cameron in Soundgarden while he (Matt Cameron) is on tour with Pearl Jam.

oh shit really? i wondered how matt would juggle those two responsibilities. also, would not want to see soundgarden w/out matt cameron. also, matt cameron is such a good fit with pearl jam now.

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994 but Soundgarden made an amazing album that was basically grunge Zep.

― some dude, Wednesday, June 4, 2014 2:40 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

gonna take this opportunity, what with Zepmania at full swing on ILM, to say that Soundgarden >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Led Zeppelin, and I don't care who FPs me

noone even cares enough to FP, son, you boring

i did one just for kicks

but be realistic son

Do you like the other Soundgarden albums besides SU and Upside?

(xp to imago)

"Dear Lord PLEASE let them not muck up the Bob Marley release."

―Bob Marley

Badmotorfinger might be even better than SU!

Nice to be sonned by some folks who probably aren't 15 years older than me

hardsonned, even

privilege of cusp-millennials

I'm not a huge fan of BMFR but lately I've been checking out a lot of albums I had heretofore dismissed and am getting a lot more out of them; maybe that one's next

Ultramega OK is p cool tho

UOK is the only Soundgarden I like from start to finish.

'Hands All Over' still kicks all kinds of arse.

For me it goes:

Superunknown > BMFR > DOTU > UMO > Louder Than Love

Never spent much time with Fopp/Screaming Life, and I remember really liking the new one when it came out, but I haven't played it much since.

i gotta say that i think that this band benefits from the songs sounding huge, which is why i've never really warmed to UMO; it just sounds too tepid and wishy-washy.

I blasted Badmotorfinger this morning- that record is wall-to-wall badass.

Yeah if they remaster it right one day I may consider it over SU

listening to it now, Louder than Love kinda strikes me as a strangely by-the-numbers cock-rock anomaly amidst a bunch of interesting, unusual, and occasionally abstract records.

The tune by Soundgarden I was always obsessed with was "Room a Thousand Years Wide". It's got such a cool drony sound and that riff is very hypnotic.

Ultramega > Badmotor > Louder > SOMMS > Loudest Love >> Screaming Life/Fopp >> Superunknown >>>> King Animal >>>>>>>Down

yeah, i love Room a Thousand Years Wide. the voluminous sound & presence of the song reinforces the implications of the title in a metaphysical kinda way.

back listening to Superunknown now. never noticed before how Jane's Addiction-y Half is.

can't believe i let you guy trick me into listen to Louder Than Love...

anyways the one Soundgarden track that was always my secret personal fav was the one off of the Basketball Diaries soundtrack, "Blind Dogs"

Can anyone explain the Soundgarden/Jesus Lizard beef

Seems Yow and co really hated them

I think Soundgarden may be ILX's favourite grunge act, threads on them are always overwhelmingly, enthusiastically positive.

so overwhelmingly enthusiastically positive that i feel like talking about how much i've grown to like king animal

how did you know that this would be your fate?

this song rules so much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcqghwWu2Vs

yeah it was not bad. i really just wish they never broke up and had half a dozen more Down On The Upside/King Animal-quality decent albums, i would've been fine with those kind of diminishing returns as much as i am with Pearl Jam. better that than Audioslave and Scream, anyway.

they're a band that sound great together, they could put out hookless whatevers forever and i'll be down. was surprised that my favorite songs on king animal are all cornell-written though

i think he probably missed playing with people that could handle the weird tunings and time signatures and had a whole bunch of ideas saved up that he couldn't really put to much use for a decade.

bones of birds def my favourite off king animal

is 'black days' the best song ever to have used 'whatsoever' in a lyric

it's the only best song to use "whatsoever" in a lyric

undisputed champion

also scores big in the whomsoever category

Am utterly confused by how unremarkable album track "Fell On Black Days" has won this tbh.

― leigh exodus (country matters), Friday, 20 March 2009 14:50 (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

During this song I always feel like I'm just waiting for Mailman to start (I don't like to skip tracks)

srsly

Mailman is the one I really came around to

Man, 4th of July was robbed, such a massive song. Idk how that track was received at the time but it's weird to me hearing something so doomy on a relatively mainstream rock album.

my friends and i were teenagers, we just took it all ine

*nedlike flip of the hair*

uug relentlessly otm rn

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, July 2, 2013 9:29 AM (11 months ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, June 3, 2014 7:48 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark

hi brad

Fresh Tendrils getting one vote is insane.

AND THE WRECK OF YOU

WHILE THE REST OF YOU HARVEST GOLD

WHILE THE REST OF YOU HARVEST THE SOULS

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, July 2, 2013 9:29 AM (11 months ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, June 3, 2014 7:48 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Sunday, September 28, 2014 3:39 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark

cuz i fell awwwwnnnnnnnnn

4th of July best song they ever did. Best album is Badmotorfinger. Drawin flies and face pollution baby.

yes fresh fuckin tendrils

/sponeman/

http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1745&context=etd_hon_theses

Exploring the Superunknown: Composition and the
Music of Soundgarden

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, July 2, 2013 9:29 AM (11 months ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, June 3, 2014 7:48 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Sunday, September 28, 2014 3:39 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Saturday, February 7, 2015 2:50 PM (four years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Fell on Black Days winning is as weird to me now as it was four years ago

25 YEARS

Wow. I just started listening to this album this week. I had always had something against SG when I was a kid that I never got over (excepting the Singles soundtrack songs), but I finally found my way in. 25 years too late I guess.

https://www.stereogum.com/2034893/17-essential-songs-in-74/franchises/ultimate-playlist/

respeckt to whiney

me: i have a lot of different drumming inspirations but i wonder who my favorite drummer of all time is

*listens to superunknown*

me: oh, it's matt cameron

Man, I feel bad for Mailman - what a monster tune!

I swear the echo on the vocals on the title track sound just like Nilssons jump in the fire

also 30 years old today

still really long

I rate LTL higher but this is a close second
When you’re really alone, you’re superunknown

I remember polling this album too, I'm such a screw up. Such a monster album, this with Alice in Chains were probably unmatched. If you take out Nirvana.

Listened to it earlier this week with no idea it was the 30th anniversary, still their pinnacle for me. Head Down probably my favourite now, but Fourth Of July, Limo Wreck and The Day I Tried To Live all contenders too.

Let me drown > my wave is a hell of a twofer to open an album

I like to start on track 3 and skip over “spoonman”

CC’s scream after the bridge on “drown” is so epic

Would still rather have Giannis

also 30 years old today

still really long