25 YEARS AGO TOMORROW: I SAW VOIVOD, SOUNDGARDEN AND FAITH NO MORE AT THE "NEW" RITZ

It was an amazing show. I can't find my ticket stub (when I do, I'll replace this image with mine). But wow: it was $14.50.

This was around the time I started going to club shows as opposed to arena and theater concerts. I'd already seen Living Colour with de la soul (the first hip-hop act I'd ever seen live) at the "New" Ritz a few months earlier. That show is permanently etched in memory, and so is this one.

Where Living Colour had a lot of hype out of the gate - in large part because of Mick Jagger's involvement in the debut album, and their pretty commercial sound got them radio play pretty much out of the gate - this was a bit different. Voivod was a well-established band in the underground thrash metal community, but didn't have anywhere close to the mainstream recognition of bands like Slayer or Anthrax or even Suicidal Tendencies or Exodus. And despite the fact that they had a video on Headbanger's Ball (a cover of an early Syd Barrett-era, they weren't a band who people outside of the thrash metal community were aware of. I'd been familiar with them thanks to WSOU in New Jersey, which is where I discovered most metal bands that I enjoyed back then (including Metallica and Anthrax). But it was interesting that Soundgarden and Faith No More were opening for them, as neither band ever seemed to want to be classified as "metal."

Faith No More was the opening band, although within a few months, they'd eclipse both of the other bands, popularity-wise. I had their then-new album, The Real Thing, which was their first with frontman Mike Patton. Like Living Colour, they had really clean production, but they were seriously weird. Each guy seemed like he was in a different band: guitarist Jim Martin was definitely the metalhead. Keyboardist Roddy Boddum, for some reason reminded me of someone from a progressive rock band (years later, I'd hear his "other" band, Imperial Teen, and realize he was kind of a power pop guy, something that didn't seem to influence FNM at all). Drummer Mike "Puffy" Bordin was brutal, he seemed like he could be in an industrial band. Bassist Billy Gould was funky as hell and reminded me a bit of Flea sometimes, and Patton was more than a little Anthony Kiedis-like, although he was a better singer (and a better rapper). He was clearly the focal point of the band: the audience loved him, and he seemed to hate them, which made them love him more. (This didn't work as well when FNM opened for Metallica and Guns N Roses a few years later.)

So, they were a bit like the Chili Peppers, but this was 1990 and the Chili Peppers weren't at all popular. FNM released The Real Thing a month before the Chili Peppers released Mother's Milk, so it wasn't like they were jumping on some huge trend. And let's be honest: when you listen to a song like "Falling To Pieces," it's a lot more commercial than anything RHCP had done at that point. I'm listening to The Real Thing as I write this, and it's hard to imagine that it seemed so groundbreaking at the time, but it did. It was an exciting time for music: it felt like different kinds of music were combining in strange and cool new ways, and Faith No More (like Living Colour and Jane's Addiction, two of my favorite bands at that time) really embodied it. They weren't as orthodox about metal as the metal bands that I loved (Iron Maiden and Judas Priest) or the aforementioned thrash bands. They definitely didn't love the hair metal bands (and neither did I). This mirrored the way I felt about music. I still loved the same metal bands I always had loved, but it wasn't all I wanted to listen to. And I definitely didn't have much time for hair metal, and FNM didn't seem to either. They seemed to be a midway point between metal and "alternative" music that I was getting into, now that I was in college (notably the Cure).

Soundgarden were killer. This is notable, because I saw them many times after that, and they were rarely even good in concert, until after they reunited in the '00s. In 1990 they had something to prove, but they weren't really trying to win anyone over. It was more like they were trying to shove their music through your skull. It was really heavy - this was the Louder Than Love tour - but it was almost uglier than metal. It had nothing to do with thrash, it was more about old Black Sabbath. But there was another element to it, and I guess that was the Bauhaus/Killing Joke influence that the band would often cite. But anyway, they were stellar on the night I saw them. They were so abrasive, it would have been impossible to predict that they'd be at the center of the zeitgeist for a beautiful and scary moment, just a few years later. That everyone would try to sound like them, look like them, write song titles that sounded like Soundgarden song titles. They seemed so left of center at that particular moment, and if you loved them, it was like this secret thing. I guess fans of any underground band that later sold millions of records knows what I'm talking about. I was never mad about any of their success though: just like the world knew who Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were, I thought they should also know about Soundgarden. And for my money, no heavy band ever matured as powerfully as Soundgarden, but that's an essay for another time.

I remember it was freezing that night, but I'm glad my brother and I went to the show; when we were there, it felt like we were seeing something special. All these years later, I know that we did. It's been amazing watching Soundgarden's comeback: their initial reunion tour was spectacular, their reunion album King Animal was way better than I could have expected and that tour was amazing as well. And I got to see one of Faith No More's reunion shows a few years back, and that blew my mind too. But I'm so glad I got to see both of them when I did.

BEST OF 2012 - TIE FOR #11

There were a lot of great albums that came out this year, and I'm not going to write an entry about each one that barely missed the top 10, but here's a roundup of what other records I liked in 2012. 

Bettye LaVette - Thankful N' Thoughtful: I've enjoyed everything she's done since her amazing 2005 comeback I've Got My Own Hell To Raise, which I thought was one of the most underrated albums of the '00s. Her label, Anti- Records, gives her room to make great records, and she's done it again.  There's lots of great songs here, including Dylan's "Everything Is Broken," The Black Keys' "I'm Not The One" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."

Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again: I talked and wrote about him early in 2012, and I was really looking forward to this record.  It doesn't disappoint, although I would say that it could use a few more upbeat songs.  Like Gary Clark Jr, the Grammys totally slept on Michael Kiwanuka.

Jamey Johnson - Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran: Jamey's last album, The Guitar Song, was my third favorite album of 2010.  This one didn't hit me quite as hard, but it's a bummer that it didn't get much attention in the press. Maybe because it's a tribute, and because it's all duets (Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson are all on the album).  But it's a really cool album, and has made me want to pick up a Hank Cochran collection.

ZZ Top - La Futura: Why didn't they work with Rick Rubin before this? It's a really really great album, easily their best since Eliminator.  The first single, "I Gotsta Get Paid" is a sort of cover of a obscure '90s hip-hop tune by DJ DMD (I'd never heard of him).  It doesn't come off gimmicky at all.  And it sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album.  It's such a shame that this didn't get too much lip service this year.

Green Day - Uno, Dos y Tre: Essentially a triple album released in three parts.  There's a little bit of fat, but not much.  This kind of has everything they do from punk rock raveups to over the top Broadway-like productions to ballads.

Soundgarden - King Animal: A really great comeback/reunion album... but not quite as good as their pre-breakup material.  Still, there are some amazing songs here, like "Non-State Actor" and "Taree."  But the best might be the weirdest:  "Rowing," which sounds like something that may have been born, oddly enough, in Chris Cornell's ill-fated collaboration with Timbaland on Scream: the song is built around a loop of Chris singing, and a very funky bassline by Ben Shepherd. It's actually become one of my favorite Soundgarden songs ever.

Alabama Shakes - Boys And Girls: They got a lot of buzz this year (and, I'm glad to say, a nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammys)... it's good to see a rock band getting that kind of hype, and these guys deserve it.  I like their album, I don't love it, but wow they have lots of potential.  And they were rockin' when they opened for Jack White earlier this year.

The xx - Coexist: a cool album to chill out to. I was turned on to it by a colleague from work.

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...: A lot of people put this high up in their year-end countdowns.  I liked it, but didn't love it.  Her last album, Extraordinary Machine, was probably my favorite album of 2005, and I thought it was one of the most underrated albums of the '00s.

CHRIS CORNELL'S "SONGBOOK" AND "THE KEEPER"

I saw Chris Cornell on his solo tour last year, and was blown away, so I was glad when I heard he was putting out a live Songbook album. Like Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell is making a good case for having parallel careers with a band, and as a solo acoustic troubadour.

The album starts and ends with brand new songs that he hadn't released before this. The first two tracks "As Hope And Promise Fade" and "Scar On The Sky" show that he still has lots of great songs in him. It's hard to imagine Soundgarden (or even Audioslave) doing "As Hope And Promise Fade." I would imagine this is the direction his solo career will go in.  He sings really honestly about some of his issues.  The line "You're never more than two drinks away from crying" kills me. "Scar On The Sky" sounds like it could be a classic Soundgarden slow tune. I just wonder: can he still write rockers?

The LP ends with "The Keeper," a studio track (not from the live performances) that he recorded for the film Machine Gun Preacher. It's an amazing song (I haven't seen the film) that somehow lost to Madonna's "Masterpiece" (cough) from a film she directed W.E. I like Madonna, but Chris's song is way better (and so is Mary J. Blige's "The Living Proof" from The Help).

Back to Songbook: most of the album is solo versions of Chris' songs from Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple Of The Dog and his solo records. He does great versions of these classics.  Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and "Fell On Black Days" sound even more black, and the Audioslave tunes are just as soulful, stripped of their (amazing, face-melting) arrangements.  I love "Doesn't Remind Me" and "Like A Stone." Of course, the Temple songs are incredible. And the album points out that Chris has had some great solo songs - and (sorry) that maybe his much-mocked Scream album would have been better with a producer other than Timbaland. I love lots of records that Timba has worked on, but I just don't think that that combo worked. Maybe someone like Flood or Danger Mouse could do a great, modern-sounding Chris solo record.

My only "complaint?"  Well, I would have loved to hear the Bruce Springsteen covers that Chris performed when I saw him: "Atlantic City" and "State Trooper." And the "bonus tracks" on the album are "different" versions of "As Hope And Promise Fade" and "Call Me A Dog," that aren't much different from the non-bonus track versions of those same songs, on this same album. But I'm not a negative guy, so I'll just hope for a Songbook Vol. 2.  But let's get that new Soundgarden record first!

SOUNDGARDEN IN NEWARK - BETTER THAN EVER!

First off, I have to thank Jeff Garden for reaching out and offering to let me use his photos.  Follow him on Twitter. Jeff captured some really cool pictures.

About two months ago, I asked "Do You Really Want To See Soundgarden Live?" It was a review of their recently released Live On I-9 collection, made up of recordings from their final tour. I saw them twice during that era - both times on the Lollapalooza tour. Their album, Down On The Upside, was my favorite LP of the year.  But seeing them live was a total disappointment and Metallica smoked them both times. I didn't know it at the time, but Soundgarden was hurtling swiftly towards breaking up. A few years earlier, I saw them on the Superunknown tour at the Armory in New York City, which was one of the worst gigs I'd ever seen. Of course, I'd seen some good shows too - notably when they opened for Neil Young and, before that, when they opened for Voivod.

In recent years, I've seen drummer Matt Cameron with Pearl Jam, and he's always tremendous (as he always was with Soundgarden).  I've also seen Chris Cornell, both with Audioslave and on solo tours. Those shows were better than most of the Soundgarden shows I'd seen. More importantly, Chris' voice held up incredibly well at those shows, which was sometimes a problem during the Soundgarden days (you can hear it on Live On I-9).  But that's all in the past: it was his recent solo acoustic show that convinced me that I had to see Soundgarden on this reunion tour.

It may be blasphemous, but I'll say it.  I think Soundgarden is a better live band now than in the '90s.  Everyone seems pretty clean, and also, I think the guys in the band appreciate their position now, where in the '90s, there seemed to be a bit of embarrassment involved in being part of a huge band. Ben Shepherd in particular seemed to hate playing in front of large audiences (which is odd, as he joined the band after Louder Than Love, when they were already on a major label).

The concert in Newark, at the Prudential Center, was incredible.  Chris sounded great.  Guitarist Kim Thayil is still an evil genius: he is the scariest sounding guitarist this side of Tony Iommi. Matt was amazing of course. And Ben didn't seem to mind playing to a huge crowd, his bass playing was enthused and menacing.   The setlist was almost all from 1989's Louder Than Love, 1991's Badmotorfinger and 1994's Superunknown. They played one song from their 1988 SST album Ultramega OK ("Beyond The Wheel," I would have loved to hear "All Your Lies"), nothing from their SubPop era, and only two songs from their final album, 1996's Down On The Upside.

They opened with a song I was really hoping to hear: Badmotorfinger's "Searching With My Good Eye Closed." It was a great way to start, it is one of their best, even though it never was a radio hit.  Not that they ignored the hits: they went right into "Spoonman" (they also played "My Wave," "Outshined," "Rusty Cage," "Burden In My Hand," "Black Hole Sun," "Fell On Black Days" and "Blow Up The Outside World").  But they eschewed some of their more well known songs for lesser known ones, which was a nice touch (although I was bummed that they didn't play "Let Me Drown," one of my favorites). They did pulverizing versions of some of their heaviest songs, like "Hands All Over," "Superunknown," "Room A Thousand Years Wide" and their most underrated tune, "Slaves and Bulldozers." But the thing that Chris' solo tour spotlighted is that he's also a great ballad singer, and that was happening in full effect with  "The Day I Tried To Live," "Burden," "4th of July," "Black Days" and "Like Suicide," they were all incredibly soulful.

They also played "Black Rain," their "new" song from last year's career spanning collection Telephantasm, (a song I thought was kind of eh, it's an outtake from Badmotorfinger, and deserved to be an outtake). Chris mentioned that they are working on a new album, and at this point, I'm really looking forward to hearing it.  Although I haven't loved too many of Chris' songs on his post-Audioslave solo albums, I thought part of the problem was that he didn't have a Kim Thayil with him, calling him on it when he's writing beneath his abilities.  Meanwhile, Matt has developed as a songwriter with Pearl Jam (writing or co-writing "Evacuation," "You Are," "Unemployable" and "The Fixer").  Kim has been in semi-retirement, I'm sure he has some great riffs built up after all these years.  You always have to manage your expectations, but I am definitely optimistic about one of my favorite bands ever re-activating. I hope to see and hear more of Soundgarden in 2012!

(P.S. I got there too late to see the openers, Coheed & Cambria, but if you saw them, please tell me how they were in the comments).

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: LOLLAPALOOZA TURNS 20

Longtime No Expiration readers know that once a week (usually on Wednesday morning at 9 am ET) I go on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SiriusXM's OutQ channel. This week, we  moved my day to Friday. You can listen even if you aren't a subscriber: get a free online trial subscription here.

Last week, Perry Farrell announced this year's Lollapalooza festival, and it turns out that this year the franchise turns 20 (although it was dormant for a few of those years).  Some of my favorite bands ever have played the festival (check out a fun timeline here) and so I figured I'd talk about what a few of them are doing tomorrow.

Of course, I have to talk about Perry's group, Lollapalooza's first headliners, Jane's Addiction. When I last wrote about them, they'd released a live DVD from one of their last shows from their reunion tour, their only one to feature original bassist Eric Avery. By the time the DVD came out, Duff McKagan replaced him, and had already left the band. Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio played bass on the album, he also co-wrote songs and co-produced. But he's not in the band, and now it looks like they're back with Chris Chaney, who played with them in the early '00s.  Their next album, The Great Escape Artist, comes out in August, and the first song, "End To The Lies," is out now.  I don't know if I dig it yet.

I have yet to write about the great Pearl Jam box set, which includes remastered versions of Vs. and Vitalogy (both with bonus tracks), a live album recorded April 12, 1994 at the Orpheum in Boston and (on cassette!) a copy of the radio show they did when Vitalogy came out, which featured performances by them, as well as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Mad Season and The Fastbacks.  I'll write more about that later.

Tres Mts, who I wrote about last night - that's the supergroup featuring Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Mike McCready, King's X frontman Doug Pinnick and Fastback Richard Stuverud.

Eddie Vedder, meanwhile, releases his second solo album, Ukelele Songs, later this month, and I have the first song, "Longing To Belong."

The Beastie Boys released Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 this week, I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet.  What up, Amazon? I will certainly write about it after I get it.  I know people want to know about it: a post I did in late 2009 is one of my most popular posts lately.

Green Day just released a live album, Awesome As Fuck. Check out my cousin Kyle's guest review.

The new live Soundgarden compilation, Live On I-5, which I just wrote about.

And Tom Morello's latest song as The Nightwatchman, "Union Town," which makes me proud to be a fan. Dig the video, and get the Union Town EP when it comes out digitally next week. The Nightwatchman's next full length, World Wide Rebel Songs, comes out later this summer.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE SOUNDGARDEN LIVE?

I've been listening to Soundgarden's newly released Live on I-5 lately.  It's a collection of performances from their final tour from 1996.

I'd seen Soundgarden a number of times, starting with their Louder Than Love tour in 1990 (they were opening for Voivod, and Faith No More was first on the bill). That was probably the best Soundgarden performance I'd ever seen. I saw them open for Neil Young, Guns N Roses and headlining shows as well. I saw them on the Superunknown tour playing the New York Armory, one of the worst shows I've ever seen, mostly because it was the worst sounding venue I've ever been to.

On their last tour, also in '96, I saw them twice on Lollapalooza. They were touring for their last album, Down On The Upside, which I loved. But they just weren't that good. Ben Shepherd was looking like he'd rather be anywhere rather than playing to tens of thousands of people a night. And Chris Cornell's voice was sounding pretty awful. On record, especially on Superunknown and Down On The Upside, his vocals were incredible. Listening to him live, he was straining.  Those shows were a few months before the ones recorded here.

So, QUESTION 1: Would this really be a "live" album, or would Chris go in and doctor his vocals. Peter Gabriel did this on live recordings on the Genesis box set Archive 1967-1975, but his voice was so different all those years later, it was obvious that he'd done it, and it pissed fans off.

ANSWER: I am fairly sure that no 2011 doctoring was done. Listen to "Searching With My Good Eye Closed," he is straining, big time. His vocals on the studio version is, like, superheroic.  Live, he just couldn't cut it. He sounds similarly messy (and not in a good way) on lots of other songs.  I would love to get a live Soundgarden album from the late '80s or earlier '90s.

That leads me to my second question: given that this was the last time Chris sang many of these songs with a rock band (although he has done lots of Soundgarden with Audioslave and on his solo tours)... is this live album a terrible advertisement for their upcoming tour (many of the dates were announced earlier today)?

MY ANSWER: on its own, this live album doesn't really make a great argument to see the same band, 15 years later. We know Matt Cameron is still an amazing drummer, due to his many of years with Pearl Jam (he still is in Pearl Jam, BTW). Kim Thayil has seemed to be semi-retired since Soundgarden packed it up, but I bet he hasn't lost his serrated edge on guitar. I wonder about Ben Shepherd.  Back when he was younger, as is the case with lots of the bands of that era, he had an attitude about playing to large crowds.  All these years later, lots of those guys have had to return to their day jobs.  There have been stories that Ben wasn't in great financial shape (he clarified a bit after one magazine's sensationalistic take on his situation), I wonder if he will appreciate his good fortune now. But Chris Cornell would be the real question mark.

And you know my take on that: I saw Chris do a stunning solo acoustic show a few weeks ago, it was truly incredible. And while there is a big difference between doing a solo acoustic show and playing with Soundgarden, I think his is clean, clear and ready to rock.

So my final answer: I'm getting tickets.  I think you should also.

CHRIS CORNELL AT THE WELLMONT - AWESOME

Chris Cornell’s local solo acoustic concerts – two at New York City’s Town Hall and one at Montclair’s Wellmont Theater – sold out almost instantly. When I went to a ticket re-sale site, the cheapest seats were twice as much as the list price. I decided to take the gamble – I’ve seen some great performances by Chris (notably on his tour for his 2007 solo album Carry On, and with Audioslave on Lollapalooza in 2003) and some that weren’t so good (most of the Soundgarden shows I saw). 

I’m glad I spent the bucks, tonight’s show blew me away. It was a great mix of Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog and solo songs, and a couple of incredible covers, including two Bruce Springsteen Nebraska-era tunes. 

The show was over two hours, but he only played four Soundgarden tunes – probably because he’ll be playing them in July, when the band finally tour. 

He opened with the great Audioslave song “Be Yourself,” and then went into “Ground Zero,” from his most recent (and much-maligned) solo album, Scream. Scream, of course, was slammed in large part because it was produced by Timbaland, and while I thought it was an interesting idea, it just didn’t work. Timbaland treated Chris like any other singer in his assembly line of hitmakers, and a lot of the songs just sounded forced. But “Ground Zero,” and the other Scream tunes, "As Hope And Promise Fade" (a B-side) and "Scream," came off a lot better stripped down of the huge arrangements. I'd love to see an acoustic version of that album ("Long Gone" is definitely a great song). 

He played lots of "hits" (Soundgarden's "Fell On Black Days," "Burden In My Hand" and "Black Hole Sun," Audioslave's "I Am The HIghway," "LIke A Stone") all of which took on a new life without the hugely muscular bands that he played with on those songs.  There were also lots of fan favorites, Temple Of The Dog's "All Nite Thing," "Call Me A Dog," "Say Hello 2 Heaven," his Singles solo tune "Seasons," and "Sunshowers" from the film Great Expectations. And some really unexpected selections, like Soundgarden's "Mind Riot" from Badmotorfinger (inspired by the first Gulf War) and Audioslave's "Wide Awake" from their final album Revelations (inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina). Back in the Soundgarden days, Chris seemed not to enjoy being onstage, and while he has always been really charismatic, he was never what you'd call "warm." Seeing him tonight was an altogether new experience: it was fun listening to him talk about the songs, and discuss politics a bit. I remember reading that when he hooked up with the Rage guys to form Audioslave, one of his conditions would be that it wasn't a political band. But it seems that maybe he was influenced by his former bandmate Tom Morello, he was getting a bit political at points, which I'm totally cool with. At some points, he seemed as engaging as Eddie Vedder on a good night, or even Bruce Springsteen. And speaking of... 

About an hour into the show, he strapped on a electric guitar and played a familiar riff. When he sang "New Jersey Turnpike..." people went nuts.  He covered the Nebraska era classic "State Trooper!" And funny enough, it was the most Soundgarden-y moment of the night, and even veered on being Sonic Youth-ish. He looped his riff and started soloing over it, and then just played with feedback for a while.  It was intense and totally awesome. And that wasn't enough Springsteen for him, he closed the show with another Nebraska tune, "Atlantic City." Unbelievable.  Who even knew he was a fan? 

There were a few other covers: Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" (which was funny, I remember the guys in Soundgarden claiming that they weren't influenced by Zeppelin at all, which sounded hard to believe... and "Thank You" kind of makes up for Chris' "Whole Lotta Love" debacle with Santana), John Lennon's "Imagine," MIchael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Mother Love Bone's "Man Of Golden Words." 

I remember last time I saw Chris, thinking how much pressure his band must be under to be able to play like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam (on the Temple songs) and Rage Against The Machine (in the Audioslave songs). To me, it makes much more sense for him to tour solo acoustic, and I hope he does more of this between Soundgarden albums and tours, if they are in fact back as a semi-full-time thing. 

I have to mention Chris' opening act, William Elliott Whitmore. Amazing. Do yourself a favor and check him out. Right after he finished, I went right downstairs and bought his album (for $20!  But I had to have it).  I'll be writing about him more in the future, I think. 

SOUNDGARDEN ON SPIN

Soundgarden is on the cover of the new issue of Spin. I remember years ago Spin put them on the cover with the snarky headline "Soundgarden Kills Grunge Dead." I always got the impression that Spin didn't quite approve of them: they were a bit too manly, a little too tough seeming, and Chris Cornell was a bit too "rock god." They were probably much more comfortable with Nirvana (and even moreso with Mudhoney and Dinosaur Jr.). It's weird to see them on the cover again, but I'm glad to see it.  Spin has gotten some bad press for the story's slant. They refer to bassist Ben Shepherd as being "homeless," when what he really said is that he moved out of his house that he shared with his girlfriend. He seemed more "in-between" homes than "homeless," but you know how the media likes to play this stuff! He actually responded to this on Soundgarden's new website.

Other interesting things about the story were that the band claimed that Chris Cornell's tweet announcing that "school was back in session" referred to the fact that the band were planning on reactivating thier fan club and the band was going to have an online presence, not that they were actually reuniting. Also, that the band has to work around Matt Cameron's schedule with Pearl Jam. The band's ex-manager (and Chris Cornell's ex-wife) Susan Silver, who still manages Alice In Chains, was interviewed as well, which made it seem like more than the usual puff piece.  The article hints that at least one member really could use the money (Shepherd, he kind of says it himself), and Silver points out that Cornell wanted the reunion because his solo career wasn't going anywhere. Yes, she's his ex-wife, and they had a bitter divorce, but it's a tough point to contest. But at least they're not Stone Temple Pilots - who Matt Cameron kind of made fun of towards the end of the article ("They're just painful.")

The article kind of asks, as I have on twitter, why the band have made very few announcements - two club gigs and Lollapalooza, but no tour. That's really what I want to know, when can I see the band! It's hard to imagine that this will be something that results in new music although Cornell seems to toy with the idea of recording just one new song. And it's hard to imagine that music would approach the greatness of Soundgarden. I don't think they need to record new music - Chris is in a different place now.  I just would love to see them one more time.  My favorite Soundgarden show was from maybe 1990, it was Voivod, Soundgarden and Faith No More, Soundgarden were promoting Louder Than Love, they had something to prove and they were incredible. It was the original lineup, with bassist Hiro Yamamoto. After that, I saw them at Lollapalooza, with Guns N Roses, and with Neil Young (and a headlining show at The Armory in New York City which may have been one of the worst concerts I've ever seen, mainly thanks to the venue). But they were never as good as that first time. Maybe some members fell too hard into drugs.  But I think this time around, it could be the best Soundgarden show ever.  That's what I'm hoping for, anyway.

SOUNDGARDEN RETURN TO THE STAGE

On Friday night at the Showbox in Seattle, Soundgarden returned to the stage for the first time since 1998.  Rolling Stone has the setlist - it seems like it was a great show, with songs from their entire career, from their debut SubPop single "Hunted Down" to songs from their final album, the classic Down On The Upside. I can not wait to see this show. I feel like some people in the media are being dismissive of this tour, and also Faith No More's. But then again, the media seems excited about Pavement's reunion.  Talk about revenge of the nerds! Sorry, that was mean.

But anyway, I've seen Chris Cornell over the years in Soundgarden, Audioslave and on a solo tour. The last time I saw him, he was solo, and it was the best performance I'd ever seen from him (with the possible exception of a 1989 Voivod/Soundgarden/Faith No More concert). He was clean, and healthy, and it was awesome. Matt Cameron is amazing, of course, I've seen him in Pearl Jam many times over the years, including a marathon show on Halloween. I'm sure Kim Thayil is still an awesome guitarist, and hopefully Ben Shepherd has lost the attitude: out of all of them, he really seemed to dislike playing to large audiences the most. Well, I am totally psyched to see this show.

LOLLAPALOOZA 2010: SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, LADY GAGA

Well, the rumors were true. Soundgarden, Green Day and Lady Gaga are headlining Lollapalooza this year (August 6-8 in Chicago's Grant Park). I am pretty sure this is the first show that Soundgarden has announced, and it is appropriate as they are one of the only bands (along with Tool) to be a Lolla headline act more than once (in 2991 and 1997), Also on the bill: Arcade Fire ,Social Distortion, Jimmy Cliff, the Black Keys, Devo, Cypress Hill, The Drive-By Truckers, and many more.  Find out more at the festival website.

SOUNDGARDEN 7" FOR RECORD STORE DAY

Just got an email saying that Soundgarden will be putting out two of their early songs, "Hunted Down"/"Nothing To Say" as an orange vinyl 7" for Record Store Day, which is April 17, 2010.  Soundgarden also is offering a live download of "Spoonman" from their 1996 tour.  In the email, they point out that they recorded a bunch of the shows from that tour but haven't mixed them yet. Cool stuff.

LOLLAPALOOZA RUMORS: SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, GAGA

This year, Lollapalooza will take place, as usual, in Grant Park in Chicago on August 6-8. The rumored headliners are Green Day, Soundgarden and Lady Gaga. Pretty cool lineup: Green Day and Soundgarden were both Lollapalooza main stagers back in the '90s. And I think that in her own way, Lady Gaga kind of fits in. Although if I were going, I would stay until the last note of Soundgarden and Green Day rang out. I would not, however, brave a parking lot traffic jam for Lady Gaga (although I'd be curious to check out her live performance).

SOUNDGARDEN: BACK IN 2010 (*NOT* A RUMOR!)

Over the summer, there were lots of rumors of a Soundgarden reunion. Kim Thayil went to one of Chris Cornell's concerts. And Kim, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron (along with Tad Doyle of Tad and Cornell's former Audioslave bandmate Tom Morello) did a three song set of Soundgarden songs on the Seattle date of Morello's Justice Tour.

But last night, Chris Cornell tweeted that "The 12 year break is over & school is back in session," and provided a link to the band's new website.

There's no other details that I know of, but I can't wait to see them live. They were actually not a great live band, especially towards the end, but the last time I saw Chris Cornell, a few summers ago, it was the best performance I'd ever seen by him. Clean and sober suits him, and I have high  hopes that Soundgarden in 2010 will be a powerful live experience. I wonder how this affects Matt Cameron's status in Pearl Jam.

HOLY CRAP: PEARL JAM'S GUEST LIST

Pearl Jam don't really need special guests joining them onstage, they are powerful enough on thier own. That said, they've recently had some pretty awesome special guests. Ben Harper has been opening for them lately, and joining them every night for "Red Mosquito," from No Code. At Austin City Limits, Perry Farrell joined them for Jane's Addiction 's "Mountain Song." Jerry Cantrell has joined them recently for "Alive" and The MC5 's "Kick Out The Jams." But the other night in LA, Chris Cornell joined them for the Temple Of The Dog classic "Hunger Strike." Wow. What's more is that, supposedly, Soundgarden 's Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd were backstage, and they hung with Chris and Matt Cameron after the show. WOW. Earlier this year, 75% of Soundgarden reunited, but I think this is the first time the four of them have been together since the band broke up. It would be great to see them together again, although I doubt it would be a full-time thing. I wonder if Matt Cameron could balance being in both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden?

LOLLAPALOOZA - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

I'm talking the '90s version of Lollapalooza, here. I respect the fact that they've totally redefined the festival for a new decade, but playing Lollapalooza doesn't really mean what it used to. From 1991 - 1997, they featured some of the coolest alt-rock and hip-hop artists, plus other artists like Metallica and George Clinton, and managed to avoid having the more clone-y bands like Bush, Stone Temple Pilots and Candlebox on the tour, although it would have been really easy to sign those bands up.

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about three Lollapalooza veterans who have new albums out: Pearl Jam, Living Colour and Alice In Chains. But I thought I'd offer a separate post about the whereabouts of some of the other artists:

Jane's Addiction: their summer tour was mind blowing. The went into the studio to re-record two songs from their debut, with Trent Reznor producing, but I have a hard time seeing them do a new full-length album. I bet they'll continue to tour, while pursuing seperate projects.

Nine Inch Nails: toured with Jane's this summer - they were also incredible. After the tour, Trent did a few last NIN club dates and said that that was it. I think this is kind of like what Trent's hero David Bowie has done - left something really successful behind, but he can access it whenever he wants. Bowie "retired" the Ziggy Stardust persona, but still performs songs from that era if he feels like it.

Ice-T: His personality is almost bigger than his music, and he is most visable as an actor these days on Law & Order: SVU.

Henry Rollins: Like Ice-T, most people know who he is, but they probably couldn't name many of his songs. He just got a role on the Sons Of Anarchy show, he hosts his own IFC talk show and does spoken word tours.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: working on a new album!

Ministry: Al Jourgenson has retired the band, but one of his other bands, The Revolting Cocks. The catch is, he doesn't tour with RevCo anymore but is a special guest on select dates.

Ice Cube: still makes music, but is a much bigger force in film than music these days: he's not just an actor, he directs, produces and writes.

Soundgarden: still broken up! Chris Cornell continues his solo career, and Matt Cameron has been Pearl Jam's drummer for over a decade now.

Primus: one of my favorite bands ever. They broke up in the late '90s and reunited a few years later. I don't think they'll ever do another album, but they'll probably tour here and there. Les Claypool is a very active solo artist, he's also directed a film, written a novel, and is starting his own wine label.

Fishbone: They still tour, but singer/sax player/stone cold entertainer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher are the only original members left. Rocky George from Suicidal Tendencies also plays in the current lineup, but there are rumors of a reunion of the originals.

Tool: They toured this summer, and are supposedly going to do a new album. Maynard's main priority is his winery in Arizona, and he's sort of deactivated his other band, A Perfect Circle, but he still has his solo project, Pussyfier.

Rage Against The Machine: I think they will exist as a touring band, I don't see them ever making a new album. Tom Morello is really into his new group, Street Sweeper Social Club, and I think he will continue to do acoustic music as The Nightwatchman. It's been over a year since Zach de la Rocha released his EP with One Day As A Lion, I don't know what's up with that.

Smashing Pumpkins: Still around, it's Billy Corgan and whoever he hires. He also plans to work with other projects.

The Beastie Boys: have been reissuing their catalog, and waiting for Adam Yauch to recover from throat surgery.

A Tribe Called Quest: occasionally perform, but Q-Tip mainly focuses on his solo career now

Green Day: one of the biggest bands in the world!


Hole: kind of like Billy/Pumpkins, Courtney Love says she is Hole, and has hired a new version of the band. But she needs to chill.

MORE SOUNDGARDEN STUFF

A while ago, I wrote about how Chris Cornell was talking about a Soundgarden box set. Kim Thayil talked to Rolling Stone about the same thing - and the possibility of a reunion.

SOUNDGARDEN: B-SIDES, BOX SET AND...

Chris Cornell tells Rolling Stone that he and the other guys from Soundgarden have been talking ... about putting out a collection of B-sides and maybe a box set. He says that a reunion isn't out of the question. You have to admit, they quit while they were on top, and not many bands do that. And new songs probably wouldn't have the power that the old ones did. Still...

KIM THAYIL WENT TO CHRIS CORNELL'S SHOW

Yeah, the other night Chris Cornell played Seattle, and tweeted that Kim Thayil showed up (although, sadly, didn't jam with Chris). I found this picture at Blabbermouth. Of course, Kim recently did get his Soundgarden on when he played a few tunes with Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron along with Tad Doyle of Tad at Tom Morello's Seattle stop on his Justice tour. I wonder what this will lead to...

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. 

CHRIS CORNELL ON THE SOUNDGARDEN SEMI-REUNION AND THE TRENT THING

The Washington Post has a good interview with Chris Cornell, where he talks about how his new album Scream has been received, as well as his reaction to Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron playing Soundgarden songs with Tad Doyle of Tad ("it was a cool thing for them to do") and the possiblity of a Soundgarden reunion ("you never know.") And Trent Reznor's slamming of Scream ("kind of childish.")