Soundgarden
A-Sides
[A&M;]
Rating: 7.5
Remember in April of 1997 when grunge finally died? Yeah, it was when
Soundgarden broke up. You have to admit that 10 years was longer than
this band needed to be around, but since they were only world famous
for five of them, it was never what one could call 'overkill.'
This A-Sides disc compiles all of their hit songs (excluding
"My Wave"). And it's chronological, babe. It starts off with "Nothing
To Say," "Flower," "Loud Love," "Hands All Over," and "Get on the Snake,"
songs that will only be recognized by diehard fans and the cool crowd
that saw them live "before they sold out." Not surprisingly, this first
handful of songs sounds infinitely better than most of their later music.
It's harder, rougher and it has some real personality. The Led Zeppelin
influence is also much more blatent in this phase.
Moving onto Badmotorfinger- era Soundgarden, I remember 1991. It
was the year Guns 'N' Roses came to Minneapolis on their Use Your Illusion
tour with Soundgarden opening. Now, I didn't go to that show (I'm proud
to say), but I knew people that did. They told me about this awful opening
band that they couldn't boo off the stage fast enough. Were they talking
about Slash's Snakepit? Fuck no; that'd have been an awesome perception
to their bandana- covered brains. They were talking about the future of
grunge music: Soundgarden. A year later, everyone owned Badmotorfinger
and Guns 'N' Roses took second stage permanently.
1993. Soundgarden releases Superunknown and almost exactly one
month later, Kurt Cobain kills himself. The two incedences weren't connected,
though, and "Black Hole Sun" became the most overplayed song of the year on
modern rock radio according to Billboard figures. It was probably the most
overplayed video on MTV, too. I have that fucking video memorized. This
was the album that really launched Soundgarden's career into full speed.
They were releasing singles off this record for like a year and a half after
its release. Those are Alanis numbers, baby.
Of course, by 1996, grunge was damn near dead and buried, save for a few
one-hit wonders here and there. It was over. Gone. But these guys still
released Down on the Upside to critical indifference. It spawned
its share of hits, but would never prove to be as successful as Superunknown.
I think they knew it was over. A-Sides includes a new song, "Bleed
Together," which was recorded during the Upside sessions. What this
song does in terms of airplay will clearly determine the path of the upcoming
Pearl Jam record. If it's a hit, Pearl Jam has a chance. If not, they're
goin' down with the ship. Let's see what happens.
-Ryan Schreiber