Superunknown
Soundgarden
Superintense, Superunlikely, Superfantastic
Green River was the first Seattle grunge band—its EP Come on Down, considered by some to be the hallowed blueprint of the sound, appeared in 1985. Nirvana was, of course, the all-time grunge sales champ. But by a long mile, the most musically adept band to emerge from the scene was Soundgarden.
Give Superunknown thirty seconds and you will understand why. The opener, "Let Me Drown," plunges listeners right into the eye of a storm—or a gamer's alternative-reality dun-geon—where everything gets swirled around and rearranged. The hiccuping rhythm feels like a panic in progress, the kind that gets your adrenaline rushing as options narrow. Atop that foundation come cascading waves of guitar that are the band's killer app: Through the magic of multitracking, Kim Thayil sets demanding étude-book exercises against kalei-doscopic textures, yet plays everything with the brutal heavy hand of a metal god.
With that drama unfolding behind him, singer Chris Cornell doesn't have to do much. But on the urgent "Let Me Drown" and throughout this record, he uses his voice as another instrumental texture—check out the superintense "Mailman," where the payoff line "I know I'm headed for the bottom, but I'm riding you all the way" is delivered in a tone of deliberate, almost sadistic menace. Cornell sounds like he's settling scores, railing at forces far more mighty than he, an impression enhanced through studio effects: At the song's peak, his voice reverberates like it's bouncing around a vast canyon.
Similar thrills await on each of the fifteen tracks of this masterwork, as the band discovers endlessly interesting ways to pump Cornell's torments to a grand epic level. Sometimes these involve a guitar-symphony attack that resembles Physical Graffiti–era Led Zeppelin. And sometimes the backing is more elemental, closer to grunge. And though a few tunes do explore the pet grunge theme of alienation, many more offer dark, bracing musings on life and death. These are transmissions from a superfantastical subterranean world that's far from the fashionable and the trendy. And this record is the only way to go there.
Genre: Rock
Released: 1994, A&M
Key Tracks: "Let Me Drown," "Fell on Black Days," "Superunknown," "Limo Wreck"
Catalog Choice: Badmotorfinger
Next Stop: Metallica: Master of Puppets
After That: Temple of the Dog: Temple of the Dog
Book Pages: 726–727
Share this page:
Bookmark on co.mments 
Bookmark on del.icio.us 
Bookmark on Digg 
Bookmark on Facebook 
Bookmark on Google Bookmarks 
Bookmark on Ma.gnolia 
Bookmark on MisterWong 
Bookmark on NewsVine 
Bookmark on RawSugar 
Bookmark on Reddit 
Bookmark on Spurl 
Bookmark on SphereIt 
Bookmark on StumbleUpon 
Bookmark on TailRank 
Bookmark on Wists 
Bookmark on YahooMyWeb
Comments:
#1 from Darren Leary, West Detpford, NJ - 11/25/2008 7:18
Just listened to this today as a matter of fact. The titlt track, Fresh Tendrils, and Like Suicide are the hidden gems that this super rock group recorded on this album. Hopefully, we will see a reunion one day (Maybe after Chris is done playing with Timbaland) Just kidding, I actually like the record Scream a lot, great song!
#2 from Eps, Victoria - 10/04/2010 8:13
How could you possibly like Scream? At any rate, it’s great that Soundgarden is back together now. Who knows, maybe they’ll even surpass this masterpiece with over a decade’s experience since their last effort.
