Awhile ago, I reviewed Audioslave which means that this next review is way overdue. Up next on the chopping block is the band Soundgarden. I remember way back in the day like when computers with CD-roms first came out I had a program called Encarta and I remember looking up rock music and Soundgarden came up and you could hear a 30 second clip. Anyway, here we go……
Screaming Life/Fopp- this is actually an EP and not an album but it is the first “album” from Soundgarden. Both Screaming Life and Fopp are actually two separate EP’s but were later combined. The sound on both of these is rough and you can tell it’s a band that hasn’t quite sonically matured yet. Overall, not a bad way to start things off and I give these both 8/10
Standouts: Hand of God, Hunted Down, Sub Pop Rock City, Fopp
Ultramega OK- well let’s see, this one starts off with kind of a Sabbath meets grunge sound but then sort of veers off into psychedelic territory. Now I hadn’t really heard much of this album but if you are new to this band and have heard their hits and are expecting Chris Cornell’s usual vocal sound then you won’t find much of that here. This record has songs that are psychedelic, hard rock, punk, and metal. Overall, a very interesting but good debut and I give it 9/10
Standouts: Flower, Circle Of Power, All Your Lies
Louder Than Love- so this one ditches the psychedelic and punk sound that was present on the last album and goes for a metal meets grunge sound instead. In fact I’d say that it is more of a metal album than an actual grunge album. This is a classic album and should definitely be listened to. Chris Cornell has such a great voice and it fits very well with the music but again if you are expecting his vocals to sound like they do on later albums, then you will be let down. A definite classic that gets a 10/10
Standouts: Hands All Over, Full On Kevin’s Mom, Ugly Truth
Bad Motorfinger- well let’s see here. I mean if you haven’t heard this album then stop right this second and listen to it. I mean this is such a great and classic album that I can’t say enough about it. I mean even Johnny Cash covered a song from this record so that should say something. While the last album was more metal than grunge, this one is the opposite and is definitely one of the best grunge albums period. I give this another 10/10
Standouts: Jesus Christ Pose, Face Pollution, Holy Water
Superunknown- this one here was my introduction to Soundgarden. I remember getting a radio and listening to 96.7 The Bus and Y 107 and they would always be playing songs off this record. It’s not as “grunge-y” as the last record but it’s definitely another classic record that should not be skipped. I don’t know it doesn’t quite have that aggression/power as the Bad Motorfinger but it’s still great. Anyway, I give it another 10/10
Standouts: Let Me Drown, Kickstand, Fresh Tendrils
Down On The Upside- so earlier in my introduction I had mentioned hearing about 30 seconds of them on Encarta. Well the song Burden In My Hand was the song that was on there. I even remember when my grandparents lived in their house with a pool, they had cable and I was always watching MTV and they were playing the video for that song constantly. Ah the good old days. I really miss those days too. But enough of that. The album itself is a very underrated record. It feels like they put too many songs on here and if they remove maybe about 4 or 5 of them then it’d be much better. Unfortunately this would be the last record for about 13 years. I give this one 9.5/10
Standouts: Never Named, Dusty, Ty Cobb
King Animal- well it’s the first record after 13 years of being apart. So how is it? Well if I’m being honest, it’s a bit of a let down. It starts off great and in fact, the opening track seems to pick up right where they left off but after that, it sort of seems to go in a downward spiral. It’s just kind of bland and it’s really nothing special. I’m not saying it’s a bad record because there are bands who have made albums after long periods of time and those are so much worse. But this one I don’t know I just couldn’t really get into it as much which is too bad considering this would be the very last record that Chris Cornell would make before his death. I hate to do this but I give it 2/10.
Standouts: Been Away Too Long
It’s really too bad that Chris Cornell couldn’t tackle his demons and get the help he needed because he was really a great singer and frontman. I really wish I could have seen them live because I’ll bet a lot of these songs sounded great live. This is going to be another one of those tough album rankings so here goes.
Album Rankings:
- Bad Motorfinger
- Louder Than Love
- Superunknown
- Down On The Upside
- Ultramega OK
- Screaming Life/Fopp
- King Animal
Sinister Reviews 