Soundgarden

Certain Songs #2395: Soundgarden – “A Thousand Days Ago”

July 1, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: King Animal
Year: 2012

. . .

I remember being kind of sad and surprised when Soundgarden broke up in 1997. With the exception of Pearl Jam, they seemed to be the Seattle band with the fewest amount of internal problems: solid lineup, no overt drug issues, still making great music.

But bands are delicate balancing acts in the best of times, and at some point Soundgarden got unbalanced enough that — after a disastrous final straw gig in Honolulu — they broke up in April, 1997, each member going in a different direction. Chris Cornell started a solo career as well as teamed up with the Rage Against the Machine guys to form Audioslave, which I liked way more on paper than in actuality; Ben Shepherd & Kim Thayil did studio work for various people and Matt Cameron became Pearl Jam’s first drummer to not die of spontaneous combustion, bizarre gardening accidents or choking on someone else’s vomit.

Certain Songs #2394: Soundgarden – “No Attention”

June 30, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Down on the Upside
Year: 1996

. . .

A terrific deep cut up on the backside of Down on the Upside, “No Attention” wasn’t a single or anything like that, but it showed again that Soundgarden could take their hard rock roots, shuffle them around a bit, and come up with something cool and new while still acknowledging those roots full force.

So, if “Outshined” reminded me of Black Sabbath, “Head Down” The Beatles and “My Wave,” Led Zeppelin, then “No Attention” is a pure Aerosmith homage. It easily could have fit just fine on either Toys in the Attic or Rocks. So not just Aerosmith, but fucking great Aerosmith.

Certain Songs #2393: Soundgarden – “Burden in My Hand”

June 29, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Down on the Upside
Year: 1996

. . .

But my favorite song on Down on the Upside was Chris Cornell’s dynamic “Burden in My Hand.” And in fact, except for “Superunknown” and “Head Down,” it’s my favorite Soundgarden song, period.

“Burden in My Hand” starts with just Chris Cornell singing over a couple of guitars, one of which I swear to god is a piano, except nowhere in the credits is there any mention of a piano, so I guess it has something to do with the jauntiness of the guitars, even without any real drums.

Certain Songs #2392: Soundgarden – “Blow Up The Outside World”

June 28, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Down on the Upside
Year: 1996

. . .

OK, so Soundgarden didn’t fully abandon psychedelia or big pop hooks for Down on The Upside, as was evidenced by the album’s centerpiece, the suitably massive “Blow Up The Outside World,” which had both in in spades.

Another master class in how to balance quiet verses with loud choruses, “Blow Up The Outside World” starts off with a mid-tempo Matt Cameron beat, relatively quiet guitars from Chris Cornell & Kim Thayil, and Cornell in his crooning mode, singing about fending off the slings and arrows of life.

Certain Songs #2391: Soundgarden – “Ty Cobb”

June 27, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Down on the Upside
Year: 1996

. . .

The fifth and final studio album of the initial phase of Soundgarden’s career, Down on the Upside, came out in the spring of 1996, and it’s one of those records that I associate with a specific place and time in my life. In this case, it was the transition from Art & Science, the first web digital agency I ever worked for, to the much larger and more stable Organic, where my first assignment was to build out a special 1996 Olympics website for a little shoe company in Portland called Nike.

Certain Songs #2390: Soundgarden – “Kickstand”

June 26, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Superunknown
Year: 1994

. . .

The first song tracked for Superunknown was one of the shortest songs that Soundgarden ever recorded, coming in at just 1:34, a reflection on one of their other great influences – the Ramones. That said, I’m not sure that — leather jacket iconography aside — any of the Ramones were mountain bike riders, especially since they were so associated with New York City.

Certain Songs #2389: Soundgarden – “Spoonman”

June 23, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Superunknown
Year: 1994

. . .

The first single from Superunknown, “Spoonman” was probably an indication that things were going to be slightly different on their new album: it was a supercharged slab of heavy-ass funk, full of stops and starts and asides. It also had kind of a weird origin story, as inside Seattle as you could possibly imagine.

Certain Songs #2388: Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”

June 22, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Superunknown
Year: 1994

. . .

So let’s clear something up: “Black Hole Sun” — by far and away the most popular song Soundgarden ever recorded — was not a hit. Not a pop hit, anyways. Was it a rock radio hit? Absolutely: it topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and was #2 on their Alt Rock chart. Was it played on MTV? All the fucking time. Hell, it was even a pop hit in the U.K., making it to #12. Just not here in the States: despite being released as a single and everything, pop radio just didn’t bite, and it didn’t even chart.

But nearly 30 years later, it sure feels like it was a massive hit, doesn’t it?

Certain Songs #2387: Soundgarden – “Head Down”

June 21, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Superunknown
Year: 1994

. . .

I’ll confess that I bought Superunknown as a CD — it was 1994, fer chrissakes — but had I purchased it as a vinyl, I would have come to the conclusion that side two was one of the greatest sides of music on any metal album ever.

That’s despite the fact that it only has three songs. But any side of music that leads off with “Superunknown” and ends with “Black Hole Sun” is going be a contender, especially when it has the monster deep cut “Head Down” connecting the two.

Certain Songs #2386: Soundgarden – “My Wave”

June 20, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Superunknown
Year: 1994

. . .

Superunknown is the record that changed everything for me when it came to Soundgarden.

Before it, I’d heard only a few songs on the radio or videos on MTV. Afterwards, I knew that I needed to explore their catalog to see what else I’d missed. But you know what? Let’s let 1994 Jim set the scene, here’s the opening paragraph of the review I published in Kade Magazine in July, 1994, just seconds after I moved away from Fresno.