Amazon.co.uk: Superunknown: Soundgarden: Music

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Track Listings

1. Let Me Drown

2. My Wave

3. Fell on Black Days

4. Mailman

5. Superunknown

6. Head Down

7. Black Hole Sun

8. Spoonman

9. Limo Wreck

10. Day I Tried to Live

11. Kickstand

12. Fresh Tendrils

13. 4th of July

14. Half

15. Like Suicide

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

The very super 'Superunknown', 1 Nov 2006

By	Patrick Garrett "'paddy'" (Galway, Ireland) - See all my reviews

With the emergence of alternative rock in the early nineties came a sequence of exceptionally talented bands from the Seattle area of Washington State. Each of these giants of grunge produced at least one album with which they sealed their place in the most exalted plains of rock history; for Nirvana it was `Nevermind'; for Pearl Jam, `Ten'; for Alice In Chains, `Dirt'; Screaming Trees, `Dust' and in 1994 Soundgarden fulfilled their great potential with the release of `Superunknown' .

Soundgarden first gained worldwide exposure with `Badmotorfinger' in 1991 but with the world-beating success of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron were cast as grunge's underachievers. When the quality of their new album was quickly realised, this title was forgotten of.

I first bought this album in 1999 and though I listen to it less than I did seven years ago, I am still astonished by the feat the band pulled off with `Superunknown'. The word masterpiece is wildly overused these days but `Superunknown' is a diverse yet perfectly measured album and yes, it is a masterpiece (at sixteen tracks and 70 minutes, an epic masterpiece).

The record roars into life with `Let Me Drown'. Such a title may impress upon observers that the track typifies the misery and nihilism that grunge often came to represent. It is not miserable though; it is fearlessly, unstoppably upbeat and the track sets the tone for the rest of the album. If I had to choose one quality of `Superunknown' that affects me most it is how uplifting the album is. In these songs, and especially in Cornell's lyrics, there are no easy answers in life. The songs don't ask you to be optimistic; they confront you with your discomfort and demand that you enjoy the exhilaration of living. `My `Wave' and the title track are other great examples of this; do whatever you want, it's your life. It is the kind of philosophy Cornell has continued on into his lyrics for Audioslave although I don't think they have found a better medium then on this album for Soundgarden.

There is a darker side of `Superunknown'. On his excellent solo album, Cornell named a track `Preaching the End of the World' and this is just what he does on `Limo Wreck' and the classic single `Black Hole Sun'. It is also the theme of `4th of July', a description of the apocalypse based on Nostradamus' prophecy that the world would end on the fourth of July. It is a wholly compelling track with Cornell's vocals forming into an eerie Gregorian chant and Kim Thayil's guitar solo soaring high above the destruction and devastation.

Though the extremities of these songs caught the imagination of millions, I find that there is a subtlety to Soundgarden's music that makes them so accessible. Tracks like `Fresh Tendrils' showcase this but for me the most masterful song on the album is called `Fell on Black Days'. It starts inconspicuously enough with the chugging of some closely layered chords and Matt Cameron's irresistibly persistent beat. By its end the song has reached two crescendos (if you count another stunning guitar solo) and left the listener fully redeemed. Redemption is a feeling that one can associate with `Superunknown' (`Like Suicide' may appear to be about someone "finishing" his girlfriend with another brick but I think it symbolizes the sense of freedom finally felt after the breakdown of a relationship. That's just my opinion though).

Another striking thing about the album is the volume of input by the whole band. All four members collaborated or contributed songs to the project (the sublime, Eastern-flavoured `Half' is a product of Ben Shepherd's eccentric talent).

The album closes with the slight but brilliant Beatles-esque `She Likes Surprises'.

Though `Superunknown' has sold over five million copies in the last decade or so, I cannot recommend it enough. It is a glorious example of the potential of hard rock.

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