"Black Hole Sun": Classic or Dud?

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Just wondering.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

was it a dream that beavis and butthead renamed this: "sack hole bung"?

probably not.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't think of a Soundgarden song I like less.

― Nick Mirov (nick), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Taking Sides: Cibo Matto's cover or Steve & Eydie's?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

It's ok if you like the Beatles. I liked Soundgarden better when they tried to sound like Zep.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

classic

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Dull.

― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

The pits.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Who was that that did the lounge-y version?* That version was awesome.

*note: I'm pretty certain it wasn't Richard Cheese

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

that would be Moog Cookbook

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, I thought Nick meant Steve & Eydie (from the Loungeapalooza album)...

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud, just because every time I go home to my parent's house in Chesapeake/Va Beach the radio stations there are still stuck in the early-mid 1990s and I ALWAYS without fail hear Blackhole Sun, Sex and Candy and Hunger Strike within 2 hours of being in range. My friends who still live in the area always tell me about how they bust out laughing whenever they hear Temple of the Dog now and give me running tallies ever since I brought this horribleness to their attention.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 17:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Mediocre.

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Rubbish.

FUNNY video!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked it a lot in seventh grade. I haven't given it much thought since then, but it's classic in my memory.

― Bobby D Gray (bedhead), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

fuckin' fantastically great song plus i love it

― dave q, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, I don't mind it, but I don't like what it's become, so to speak. Liked it much more before I saw the video. Not my favorite song of theirs (by a long shot), but it's certainly not horrible.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Not a classic, but considerably less dud than anything else ever done by this overrated act.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)

"Pretty Noose" was (even) better and so was "Burden in My Hand", "Rusty Cage" and a bunch of other ones!

― dave q, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

"Jesus Christ Pose"! Their one timeless single!

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

(And yes, "Pretty Noose" also = classic. Some damn fine album cuts from Badmotorfinger too - "Slaves & Bulldozers", "Drawing Flies", "Face Pollution", . . . )

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the best Soundgarden tracks ever was written by their bassist, is off of Superunknown, and is called "Head High". It's sick and gorgeous, and definitely one of the more psychedelic things they ever recorded. They had a whole lot of really great album tracks that get forgotten in lieu of their radio songs.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

"Head Down"? I'm a little on the fence about that one. It does stand out on the album. "4th of July" is my favourite from Superunknown - that grinding guitar sound, the sick doubled vocals. Josh wrote something about it once, I believe, which prompted me to buy back the album a couple years ago. Badmotorfinger has held up a bit better for me though.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Fresh Tendrils was my favorite from Superunknown. Actually I think I liked everything on there except Spoonman, Black Hole Sun, and the title track. There's also lots of great stuff on Badmotorfinger. I really hate Black Hole Sun though.

― Kris (aqueduct), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

What album was "Outshined" on? I like that one.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh right, "Head Down". I actually had forgotton all about "4th of July" and "Fresh Tendrils" both of which were very sharp pieces. One thing I always dug about Soundgarden was how they had songs that were in odd time-sigs but were still very catchy and pulsating and organic-feeling (like "Spoonman" and "Fell On Black Days").

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I never liked "Black Hole Sun" and what made things worse was that at the time it always seem to get played all the time off of the jukebox at the bar where I worked. It also has a shitty video.

"Fell On Black Days" is a much better low key song by Soundgarden.

I personally like them much more when they get into zep-prog-goth mode like "Hands All Over", "Outshined" or "Let Me Drown".

― earlnash, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

great song. i liked the video, too. those big, creepy smiles freak me out to this very day.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

booo to "black hole sun",
but yay for the superunknown ablum as a whole
i'd agree with nick's picks for songs

― dyson (dyson), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I quite liked it when I first heard it, but that led to me buying Superunknown, which is crap, so for that a resounding DUD.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic, especially if you pair it up with "Blow Up the Outside World" for that junior-high-era flashback experience.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Superunknown is not a dud, goddammit.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Unassailable truths (cough):

"Black Hole Sun" is the worst song on _Superunknown_, and it's awesome (tho not as awesome given how overplayed it became) (and the digitally enhanced smiley bits of the video are horrible). There's an unnecessary pause between verses of "Fell on Black Days" that totally disrupts the song, man. Ben Shepherd llllllovas need that _Hater_ album. _Down on the Upside_ has high highs and low lows - the low happens around that song about the snake and sweet ride that sounds like Chris is goofin' on a Jim Morrison lyric book. _Badmotorfinger_ could stand to be less sludgy, and it's at its best when it gets weird. I wish I knew what happened to the Chris Cornell I once adored unt loved. (Not a truth, but important nonetheless.) The single/s off of the _Temple of the Dog_ album are pretty shite (as opposed to ugly shite), but if someone could turn "All Night Thing" into a Hall & Oates song (or if the Chris Cornell that sang "Seasons" recorded new vocals for the track) (or even if Cassandra Wilson gave it a whirl, though that seems too obvious), it'd be awesome. Nostalgia bites you on the ass when you least expect it.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:20 (twenty-two years ago)

It's Freedom Rock. Well, turn it up man. Lord, I was born a ramblin' man.... you can go your own wayyyyy.... in a white room, with black curtains...

― maria b (maria b), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

"Outshined" is on Badmotorfinger, Sean.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the verses of Black Hole Sun. If the whole song was just those verses and maybe a much, much more subdued version of the chorus then it would be fantastic.

I'm sure there was a period during 1994 when the video was actually impressive. It just looks daft and strangely shoddy now.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 22:07 (twenty-two years ago)

After listening to both albums today I can say that Badmotorfinger not only slays Superunknown but is also great from start to finish. That breakdown in "Face Pollution" is fab.

The BHS video sucks, yes.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 23:53 (twenty-two years ago)

dud. Overlong, but better than most Soundgarden.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 10 April 2003 00:07 (twenty-two years ago)

not quite classic but far from dud. video schmideo, chlymideo susussudio.

― Neudonym, Thursday, 10 April 2003 00:24 (twenty-two years ago)

limo wreck, kickstand and half are other tracks from superunknown that didn't get enough respect.
badmoterfinger is also classic for diferent reasons, but anything before that i found chris's voice way too cock-rock-ish.

― dyson (dyson), Thursday, 10 April 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

And it's not cock-rock on Badmotorfinger?

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 10 April 2003 05:26 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, but to a much, much, maaaawwwwwwwch lesser degree.

― dyson (dyson), Thursday, 10 April 2003 05:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Fair enough. I'm a huge Led Zeppelin fan and I think that is what initially attracted me to Soundgarden. I mean, it was like Robert Plant with a better voice, so I always thought that was cool.

When I was in my huge stoner phase in high school, Louder Than Love was on constant rotation. In some no doubt homoerotic fixation, I had posters of Cornell up in my bedroom.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 10 April 2003 05:41 (twenty-two years ago)

And here I am wearing my Badmotorfinger tour shirt too...

Mimi Goese's version is spiffness. Best song they ever did might have been the Chris Cornell solo vocal/electric guitar live version of "Mind Riot," however.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 April 2003 05:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha Ned I've got a "Total Fucking Godhead" t-shirt. I once - once - wore it to high school on a dare and I got away with it (i.e. I didn't get kicked out of school).

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 10 April 2003 05:49 (twenty-two years ago)

i dont see whats so bad about Black Hole Sun, especially against their other tracks - i did like 'em 10 years ago

as for the video - yeh it was quite impressive at the time, for the visual richness etc., creeped me out a lot. wouldnt say its particularly dated or shoddy really, just the equivalent of the big budget fx-laden shock-rock vids of today

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 10 April 2003 09:09 (twenty-two years ago)

the big budget fx-laden shock-rock vids of today

e.g. System Of A Down's 'Aerials' which has a freaky looking kid with opular slanty eyes giving it the whole gangsta schtick

so how old is Chris Cornell now? he looks pretty dam good in the new Audioslave video 'Like A Stone' - and the track itself sounds a little similar to the latest Roots track 'The Seed' i notice, but Tom Morello HAS just totally transformed into some amusing amalgamation of Carlos Santana and The Edge, bless 'im

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 10 April 2003 09:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I loved the Steve & Eydie version too,much better than the dreary original.

― Paul R (paul R), Thursday, 10 April 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Song's OK. Video used to bother me enough to make me wanna turn off the TV.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 10 April 2003 12:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I found it alright the first few listens back when it was turbopopular, but it wasn't really a great song by any stretch of the imagination.
Is it just me, or is that one of the most atrocious guitar solos of the 90s?

― Øystein Holm-Olsen (Øystein H-O), Thursday, 10 April 2003 13:08 (twenty-two years ago)

the Moog Cookbook version is best

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 10 April 2003 13:38 (twenty-two years ago)

It's good. The whole superunknown album really busted soundgarden out of there sabbath-zeppelin love they had which was for the better.

But still.

Superunknown >= Badmotorfinger > Audioslave

― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Friday, 11 April 2003 04:27 (twenty-two years ago)

i remeber when blackhosun came out poeple (much music people - so barely human people) called it 'the next stairway to heaven' i'm still not sure what was meant by it.

― dyson (dyson), Friday, 11 April 2003 05:06 (twenty-two years ago)

i meant to type blackholesun there.

― dyson (dyson), Friday, 11 April 2003 05:07 (twenty-two years ago)

"blackhosun" sounds like the name of a bad-ass samurai

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 11 April 2003 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

It's actually the name of the next Rush Hour sequel.

This song is way too long, I feel like it is eating my brain.

― Ally (mlescaut), Friday, 11 April 2003 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

As mentioned above; it's repetative chorus kills it -- and -- "Half" is the albums truest gem.

― christoff (christoff), Monday, 14 April 2003 15:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Dud. I really liked Soundgarden at the time, and thought this one was considerably disappointing.

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

classic

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Tuesday, 15 April 2003 03:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked it a lot the last time I heard it, but that was like 2 years ago.

― Dan I., Tuesday, 15 April 2003 05:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh but I still have the feeling that if I heard it now I'd like it (don't know why I don't just go dig the CD out ha I shouldn't pretend I don't have it).

― Dan I., Tuesday, 15 April 2003 05:50 (twenty-two years ago)

ten years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdzYhV5bOs

― goole, Thursday, 6 June 2013 15:46 (twelve years ago)

BHS fits into the category of pretty good song not quite good enough to survive the amount of exposure it's had. The guitar tone on the verses is lovely.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Thursday, 6 June 2013 15:55 (twelve years ago)

got in a (minor) car accident circa 1996 while changing the station to get away from this song.

― tylerw, Thursday, 6 June 2013 15:57 (twelve years ago)

If we're looking at just this record, Blow Up the Outside World was better.

― "Turkey In The Straw" coming from someplace in the clouds (Sparkle Motion), Thursday, 6 June 2013 15:57 (twelve years ago)

So was My Wave.

― hashtag sizzler (Phil D.), Thursday, 6 June 2013 16:03 (twelve years ago)

lol ilm

― goole, Thursday, 6 June 2013 16:03 (twelve years ago)

just rushing to post that

― sleepish resistance (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 6 June 2013 16:10 (twelve years ago)

I love BHS's guitars and melody and overall feel, but on My Wave and Spoonman the rhythm section just gets into such cool shit. The bass/drums breakdown on Spoonman is all-time for me.

― hashtag sizzler (Phil D.), Thursday, 6 June 2013 16:12 (twelve years ago)

As Ned says upthread Mimi Goese's cover is lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gfey7YwuqQ

― MaresNest, Thursday, 6 June 2013 16:21 (twelve years ago)

I love BHS's guitars and melody and overall feel, but on My Wave and Spoonman the rhythm section just gets into such cool shit. The bass/drums breakdown on Spoonman is all-time for me.

― hashtag sizzler (Phil D.), Thursday, June 6, 2013 4:12 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Totally agree. I love this song, but there's definitely songs on Superunknown which highlight the rhythm section better!

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Thursday, 6 June 2013 16:32 (twelve years ago)

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