Sunday, April 12, 2009

SOUNDGARDEN - ENDED ON THE UPSIDE

I've been listening to a lot of Soundgarden lately. Chris Cornell has been on his latest solo tour, and even though I didn't get tickets to see him in NY or NJ, I've been listening to Soundgarden anyway. They were awesome.  I've always sort of thought that they got better with each album up until Superunknown, and then their swan song, Down On The Upside was almost as good but not quite. I may have to amend that though, having listened to both albums this weekend, they are both awesome. 

One of the cool things about the band is that they were one of the few heavy bands that evolved with each record, and seemed to be making age appropriate records to the end without watering down or pandering. I don't think that their hit singles did either: they were honest, and they were great. There's lots of people hoping that Soundgarden will reunite, and I guess I'd love to see them in concert again (although I never thought they were a great live band back in the day). But I wonder if they could approach the greatness of their albums if they did a full on reunion. 

2 comments:

Wandering Jew said...

hmmm, Ill have to give the band more of a chance, I love him solo, but just havent found the pull of the band...

B. Ives said...

thanks for your comment Wandering Jew, Soundgarden were one of the best bands of all time. I suggest starting with Superunknown, then Down On The Upside. After that, Badmotorfinger, which is a bit more metal. But possibly the best thing Chris Cornell has ever done is the Temple of the Dog album.