Hehe, note why I did. Not because it is great, but because it emphasizes the time signatures. It puts the change in composition of albums in simple, stark, terms.
I’m not a fan of metal and I totally agree with you. Ride The Lightning is still my fave Metallica album. I have never understood the love for the Black Album.
Same. I’m listening to it today. Such a fantastic album.
Speaking of the album discussion, beyond the composition, lyrics and popularity, sometimes music binds you to a time and place in your life. Superunknown does that for me. I can close my eyes and be back in that place and see my friends faces again.
Why is it some music can do that, but the vast majority just becomes something akin to trivia, “oh I remember that song/album/artist.”
Regardless of everything else, Badmotorfinger and Superunknown are superb 1-2 punches to the gut. They defined my 20s.
Louder Than Love was the last of Soundgarden’s “street” albums.
I thought Audioslave straight-up sucked.
And I’m sad that I’m in a world that no longer has Chris Cornell in it.
I couldn’t get into Audioslave. That might have had to do with not really liking the singles released but probably more, not liking Rage Against The Machine (and maybe I was holding a tiny grudge for Soundgarden not existing anymore at that point!).
The Black album was too much of a departure for me (Master Of Puppets is my favorite Metallica album) and though it had a few excellent songs, I feel it was forgettable, overall. I stopped listening to them after that and I was a big fan. Favorite concert of all time: Metallica and Guns and Roses double headlining show at Giants Stadium, NJ but only for the Metallica portion, they were just incredible.
And what I would give for …And Justice For All with audible bass!!!
Speaking of bass… Cornell was an amazing vocal talent but he had a band that could hold their own - Ben Shepard’s playing on Superunknown is pretty inventive. That album was just well recorded overall.
Great interview!
You’ll be pleased to know that such a thing exists! Some enterprising fans remixed the individual tracks from the Guitar Hero version of the album, and while the result goes a little far, it’s still the version of the album I reach for. It’s called “And Justice for Jason,” I’m sure a little Googling could help out interested parties. ;)
People bitch about …And Justice For All’s buried bass mix, but, um, it wasn’t as if Newsted was doing anything interesting in the first place, just following along with the guitar for the most part. I can’t remember any great fills or anything. It reminds of the Metalocalypse episode where Swisgar admits that he sneaks back in to the studio and just overdubs Murderface’s bass parts (and Toki’s too, but only after he sits on his hands to make them fall asleep).
That is true, but the album just sounds so thin. Even if he’s doubling Hetfield’s parts, the album could use more heft in the low end.
I’ll have to look for that remixed version. Surprise such a thing exists and Ulrich hasn’t put a stop to it.
I have that remixed version. The YouTube link once had a download link for each individual track as mp3s; not sure if that’s there any more. I listened to it once, actually heard the bass, shrugged my shoulders, and never played it again. All I heard was tenor guitar. There was never any ass to …Justice
I agree with this
I’m normally gungho on the technical as well but Louder than Love captures the raw energy of their live set. I saw them on Badmotofinger tour and even though Badmotorfinger is technically superior, Louder than Love captures a lot of Soundgarden’s live set at the time and I was already full on sold out when Badmotorfinger came out. Hands All Over, Big Dumb Sex and the title track rocked so fucking hard. I admit that my preference for this is colored by personal experience. I love all of Soundgarden’s material but I like them the most when they are punching me in the face. My favorite track is Beyond the Wheel from that 1st album. My second favorite is Outshined as it was my divorce anthem and my third is Ty Cobb because … fuck you all!.. and the banjo. Ty Cobb is also my personal proof that the band never sold out.
August 91 - I saw Smashing Pumpkins free at a little club called Emo’s on the Gish tour
October 91 - I saw Nirvana at The Vatican in Houston when Nevermind had been out only a month. It was an old movie theater and the band’s management had totally underbooked their band and was trying to get them out of their commitments because Nevermind was blowing up. This was the night after (maybe 2) Kurt got in the fight with the stage hand at Tree’s in Dallas- a seminal moment in music history to say the least.
Soundgarden in April 92 was still my favorite show of that period.
Kurt (and subsequently Corgan) was the guy in the news but Cornell and Thayil were our guys. Soundgarden was a band for people who knew what was really up.
I love the Thayil-Corgan interchange in the Superunknown era Spin article.
This is the only version of AJFA I listen to anymore. Love the bass lines. Similarly, the Guitar Hero mix of Death Magnetic is superior to the album version since they clipped it to hell.
Sounds much better with some bottom…but wish the record label would just remix and remaster the album; sounds too boomy without much definition. But it sounds like he’s just doubling the guitar parts which is a shame. Geddy Lee should rewrite and record new parts :)
And to bring Cornell and Co. back into the conversation, that Spin article was great and I didn’t know Corgan was so annoying (I imagined it but didn’t have confirmation).
Sorry for quoting myself but it was the night after the Tree’s incident (43:25 for the fireworks). Read the first comment for the story from the concert promoter.
This is pretty cool: