 |
In the early 90's Nirvana stunned us with Smells Like Teen Spirit and the Seattle bands came pouring in, and the 80's hair bands got shelved. My favorite bands from this new wave are Alice In Chains and Soundgarden (no disrespect to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I like them also, but to me Alice and Soundgarden are classic). Badmotorfinger came out and I was completely amazed by the lead singer's voice. Chris Cornell definitely had a set of pipes, most evident on Jesus Christ Pose but actually evident on everything that he sang on that album. Soundgarden then came out with a couple more albums. Superunknown was more radio friendly, although they lost some of their rawness that I found so refreshing on Badmotorfinger. Down On The Upside proved to be the end of Soundgarden (although it would be cool if they would reunite) because of the plummeting album sales; but I actually like Upside better than Superunknown. It's a more experimental album but I guess Soundgarden fans didn't appreciate what they had put together with this effort. But even before all of these mainstream albums, they put together a few much lesser known albums that had a lot of rawness to them, but they were unable to breakthrough to commercial success until Badmotorfinger. One of those albums is Louder Than Love which is most similar to Badmotorfinger if you had to compare it to one of their mainstream albums. It has a lot of hard hitting drudging riffs, although I like Badmotorfinger's sound a lot more. If these riffs had been played with Badmotorfinger's guitar sound, this album would be a classic (it's still a pretty good album, just not quite great). Also I like Ben Shepherd's bass playing better than Hiro Yamamoto's, although Hiro still does an admirable job, especially on Power Trip and No Right No Wrong, which aren't really that difficult, but they have a real cool bass groove. Every song on this album is very listenable, and they all fit together nicely. Full On Kevin's Mom is a good tune that kind of showcases Kim Thayil's lead playing that you don't get to hear as often with their other stuff. This song is more upbeat than the rest of the album. Pretty much everything else kind of drudges along kind of like Outshined. My favorite tunes on the album are probably Loud Love, which has a real cool guitar riff and Chris shows his awesome range; and I Awake which has kind of an odd off sound, but it definitely works with Chris's voice. Big Dumb Sex is a jab at the 80's hair bands. Ugly Truth is also an excellent opener, but like I said before, they're all pretty good; so it's hard to say which ones are best. I don't know what made Kim Thayil change his guitar sound between Louder Than Love and Badmotorfinger, but he definitely made the right choice. If he would've had that sound for Love, I think this would definitely challenge Badmotorfinger for being their best album. Nevertheless, it's a great album that Soundgarden and Chris Cornell fans will definitely love. If you're used to the way Chris sounds with Audioslave, you might not be as interested, but I'd still recommend it to you anyway. My favorite vocalists of all time are Ozzy and Chris Cornell, and Chris shows us why on this excellent album. Chris also shows his great songwriting ability by writing both the music and lyrics for seven of the twelve songs, and the lyrics on eleven of twelve. Chris Cornell shows why on this album he was in high demand, even after the demise of Soundgarden.Read full review
This album is the bridge between Soundgarden's early years as a crushing punk/metal crossover band, and their later years as a crushing hard rock grunge outfit. You will find no "Black Hole Sun" here. However, when you hear those guitar chords crash in at the beginning of the first song "Ugly Truth", you know that in that moment the 80's were officially over. Soundgarden is a much more dangerous band on this album than most others, and this translates to a raw, dark sound. One bludgeoning riff after another pummels you until the last track, which sounds like a joke on the whole G&R power-hair-metal style. Actually the song "Big Dumb Sex" is probably a better approximation of that parodical style. In the end, if you like Badmotorfinger, but are lukewarm on Superunknown, this is probably what you're looking for. Then try Ultramega OK, way darker, and more experimental.Read full review
Pros are the good stuff and cons are the bad stuff, I didn't see highlights
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I love sound garden this album is awsome from start to finish
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Wz able to find this Gem to replace mine that had grew leg's. Thank You Much!!!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in CDs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on CDs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
