Soundgarden

It's rockin'. Cornell doesn't have quite the pipes he once had, but still sounds good.

S.D. wrote:

It's rockin'. Cornell doesn't have quite the pipes he once had, but still sounds good.

I thought that too. His voice sounds more gravelly. Guess that's to be expected though.

Bump for more album info...

Quote :

SOUNDGARDEN will add five bonus tracks to the Best Buy deluxe edition of its upcoming album, "King Animal". The cuts will be demo versions of the songs "Black Saturday", "Worse Dreams", "By Crooked Steps", "Bones Of Birds" and "A Thousand Days Before", all of which appear in finished form on the main 13-song album. "King Animal" is the first collection of all-new material from SOUNDGARDEN in 16 years, and first since the group reunited in 2010.

"King Animal" track listing:

01. Been Away Too Long
02. Non-State Actor
03. By Crooked Steps
04. A Thousand Days Before
05. Blood On The Valley Floor
06. Bones Of Birds
07. Taree
08. Attrition
09. Black Saturday
10. Halfway There
11. Worse Dreams
12. Eyelid's Mouth
13. Rowing

Demo versions as "bonus tracks"? Eh, that's kinda weak. They never sound that drastically different to me. They should've put 'Live to Rise' from The Avengers soundtrack on there too. Ah well, whatever.

Yea I think those bonus tracks are just stupid. I was going to get the deluxe version but why spend the extra money on songs that are already on the album.

I have an album of Soundgarden/Cornell demos that is actually pretty good. They're more stripped down/experimental and some I find more interesting than what ended on the albums. But yeah, generally I'm not a fan of demos as bonus tracks. Even worse are edited tracks as bonus.

I'll probably spring for the deluxe version.

I don't think omitting Live to Rise is any loss but Black Rain as a bonus track would've been nice. I really like that track and don't want to buy a compilation for one song

I'll get the regular version...the bonus demos will on some future comp anyway.

King Animal is by far Soundgarden's best album. I've never cared about the band before, but this album is incredible! I'm honestly shocked by how good it is! 2012 has been a great year so far.

I didn't care much for the single from this record...but if it's on Spotify I may listen and see what I think of the rest.

Really good album, they pick up nicely where they left off in 1996. The quirky rhythms, snake-like eastern tinged melody lines and gritty drop-D riffs are still firmly in place. The performances are very tight, with no evidence they've been on hiatus for 16 years.

Standout tracks: Non-State Actor, By Crooked Steps, Blood On The Valley Floor and Rowing.

Yea I thinks its a great album. I was a little disappointed with Down On The Upside, this made up for it.

The only real problem with Down On The Upside is that it's too long. Hack off a few of the weaker tracks and it's a pretty solid record.

S.D. wrote:

The only real problem with Down On The Upside is that it's too long. Hack off a few of the weaker tracks and it's a pretty solid record.

I totally agree. It seemed to start around that time when bands were getting a bit long-winded with the quantity of tracks.

I listened to Superunknown yesterday for the first time ever. I always steered clear of it because of "Black Hole Sun" (disliked it the first time I heard it, hated it the millionth time). That record is pretty good.

it's a pretty damn good album. sounds very natural & not forced at all. By Crooked Steps is probably my fave track.

mc666 wrote:

sounds very natural & not forced at all.

Agreed. One of those albums where the term "organic" applies. Listening to King Animal the first time made me realize I've missed Soundgarden more than I thought, nice to have them back.

Seeing as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and now Soundgarden have all released albums recently, I wonder if Nirvana would have too if Kurt Cobain were still alive.

And, considering the AiC situation, I guess they still could...

That would be weird. I really don't see that happening though.

I wonder how long it will be before the 2nd tier "grunge" (what a vague category) bands start doing new albums (assuming they haven't been for years, I have no clue)...Gruntruck, Screaming Trees, Hole, Mudhoney, etc.

Soundgarden was around pre-Grunge, having put out their first album a good 2 years prior to these other groups gaining national attention, so I have never included them in the "grunge" movement. The first time I saw them live they were opening for Danzig.

Soundgarden always had their own unique conception so I don't think they ever really sounded quite like anyone else. Their approach to rhythm alone sets them apart from many of their overly-simplistic contemporaries.

S.D. wrote:

Soundgarden was around pre-Grunge, having put out their first album a good 2 years prior to these other groups gaining national attention, so I have never included them in the "grunge" movement. The first time I saw them live they were opening for Danzig.

Soundgarden always had their own unique conception so I don't think they ever really sounded quite like anyone else. Their approach to rhythm alone sets them apart from many of their overly-simplistic contemporaries.

I agree with all of that, but they were lumped into grunge, by virtue of time and location. Same way many a band was labeled "hair metal", even though they did not fit at all with that label.

I wouldn't call any of the big 4 of grunge, grunge, except Pearl Jam.

Alice in Chains, especially Facelift, was just metal to me. Dark and heavy. No solos, maybe, but still metal.

Nirvana, to me, was punk. Bleach came out well before grunge set in, and I would call that record punk. There was no good mainstream title for any of these bands...so grunge they were.

The samples on this aren't really moving me to run out and buy this. I guess I'm just too big of a fan of the UltraMega OK and Louder Than Love days. I did notice there is a 180 gram vinyl release of this so I'm tempted to go that route at least.

When Louder Than Love came out it was marketed squarely to the metal audience. Soundgarden was considered a "metal" band. Just as Nirvana and Alice In Chains were before they took off. I sometimes feel the whole "grunge" moniker was nothing more than the new marketing buzz term used to distance it from metal. Since the mainstream perception at the time was that metal was "dead".

jstate wrote:

When Louder Than Love came out it was marketed squarely to the metal audience. Soundgarden was considered a "metal" band. Just as Nirvana and Alice In Chains were before they took off. I sometimes feel the whole "grunge" moniker was nothing more than the new marketing buzz term used to distance it from metal. Since the mainstream perception at the time was that metal was "dead".

I could definitely see that being the case. AiC to me, especially, at that time did not register as any different than the other stuff I was listening to. I was into GNR, Crue, Metallica, Megadeth and Faith No More. So when I heard "Man in the Box", I didn't really view it as anything different. Metal. Just no solos, I guess.

I had friends in college who would make fun of groups like AiC and Soundgarden when I would play them at parties or on my radio show. "Headbanger sh*t" was a constant complaint. Of course not many years later then these same people were all about these groups. Always cracked me up. Nothing drastically changed outside of the acceptance/perception of these bands. Such is the benefit of mainstream success.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

jstate wrote:

When Louder Than Love came out it was marketed squarely to the metal audience. Soundgarden was considered a "metal" band. Just as Nirvana and Alice In Chains were before they took off. I sometimes feel the whole "grunge" moniker was nothing more than the new marketing buzz term used to distance it from metal. Since the mainstream perception at the time was that metal was "dead".

I could definitely see that being the case. AiC to me, especially, at that time did not register as any different than the other stuff I was listening to. I was into GNR, Crue, Metallica, Megadeth and Faith No More. So when I heard "Man in the Box", I didn't really view it as anything different. Metal. Just no solos, I guess.

What do you mean no solos? Jerry solos on every AIC record.

Troublezone wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

jstate wrote:

When Louder Than Love came out it was marketed squarely to the metal audience. Soundgarden was considered a "metal" band. Just as Nirvana and Alice In Chains were before they took off. I sometimes feel the whole "grunge" moniker was nothing more than the new marketing buzz term used to distance it from metal. Since the mainstream perception at the time was that metal was "dead".

I could definitely see that being the case. AiC to me, especially, at that time did not register as any different than the other stuff I was listening to. I was into GNR, Crue, Metallica, Megadeth and Faith No More. So when I heard "Man in the Box", I didn't really view it as anything different. Metal. Just no solos, I guess.

What do you mean no solos? Jerry solos on every AIC record.

Ok, no Vinnie Vincent-style solos. Or nothing that sounded that bombastic or whatever, like a metal solo.

ZombieHavoc wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

jstate wrote:

When Louder Than Love came out it was marketed squarely to the metal audience. Soundgarden was considered a "metal" band. Just as Nirvana and Alice In Chains were before they took off. I sometimes feel the whole "grunge" moniker was nothing more than the new marketing buzz term used to distance it from metal. Since the mainstream perception at the time was that metal was "dead".

I could definitely see that being the case. AiC to me, especially, at that time did not register as any different than the other stuff I was listening to. I was into GNR, Crue, Metallica, Megadeth and Faith No More. So when I heard "Man in the Box", I didn't really view it as anything different. Metal. Just no solos, I guess.

What do you mean no solos? Jerry solos on every AIC record.

Ok, no Vinnie Vincent-style solos. Or nothing that sounded that bombastic or whatever, like a metal solo.

I didn't know that soloing had to be fancy or "shred" only. I think he's played some pretty good bluesy stuff. (Love Hate Love) from Facelift had a cool BOC type solo. His playing is simple but efficient IMO.