Soundgarden and Chris Cornell – A Testimony
It
was late 1991 or early 1992 – memories fade and I used to drink a bit – when I
had The Encounter.
All
I remember was it was cold. We [names deleted to protect those guilty by
association like Gary Harris] had gone to the record store to fetch some new
tunes. The radio was digging on some new sound out of Seattle [Seattle??!!??]
tentatively being labeled “Alternative” [I ask again – if it’s selling millions
of records, what is it “Alternative” to, the “Mainstream”?] or “Grunge.” A
couple bands I’d heard I was less enthused about like Nirvana [still not a fan]
and the girls had picked up the soon to be overplayed Pearl Jam’s Ten.
But I was looking for something specific. I’d recently had my ears perked up by
another band. There was this powerful chugging riff, almost like a bulldozer
pushing dirt around or pushing the trash in and then smashing down the pile in
in the landfill. Or a steam shovel taking bites out of the earth and then
dropping the tonnage into giant dump trucks to be hauled off somewhere.
Basically heavy as fuck. [In fact Heavy as Fuck would have
been a good title for this record.] The vocals on this were kinda grungy but
then they suddenly soared to a throat shredding level. It was wince inducing –
this guy is going to have a short career singing like THAT – but exhilarating
at the same time. The other thing that grabbed me was the lyrics: “I can’t get
any lower but still I feel I’m sinking… I’m looking California but feeling
Minnesota… “ Yeah man, preach on.
This
isn’t Anthony Kiedis and his sigh inducing [according to my companions]
washboard abs hopping around swirling that hair. This isn’t that homeless
Evenflow dude sleeping on a pillow made of concrete. This was something darker
– some beast from deep in Puget Sound, coal dark and bigger than a dozen
whales. The kind of beast that knocked heavily laden cargo ships out of
shipping lanes and played chicken with oncoming oil tankers.
The
song was Outshined, the band was Soundgarden and the vocalist was
Chris Cornell.
What’s
funny is that the first Soundgarden song I’d heard hadn’t moved the needle too
much – Rusty Cage. I mean it was good but it didn’t grab you by the
balls and all. But Outshined? That coal dark beast pulled me right
on down and didn’t let go. So there I was searching for the source of this
wonderful tune and I was introduced to Badmotorfinger. BMF was
an entry to something that would be – continues to be – subtle as running into
a brick wall and yet still has some thoughtfulness behind it.
We
went back to the casa and put out new purchases in – luck of the multidisc
player brought Soundgarden out first. Beyond Outshined there was the
even sludgier Slaves & Bulldozers. [Jesus God that guy’s voice!] Jesus Christ Pose. The
pseudo-psychedelic Searching With My Good Eye Closed. Room A Thousand
Years Wide. Holy Water. Damn. DAMN!
Pearl Jam played out next – yes, it’s a good record, still a good record! – but I was hooked into the Soundgarden thing. BMF was one of those albums that got in the tape deck in the truck and didn’t come out. I did go back and check out 1989’s Louder Than Love but… I don’t know, it didn’t do much for me. When Temple Of the Dog received a push from A&M in the summer of ’92 [It had been released in April ’91, six months before Pearl Jam and BMF and had sold squat], I got that, along with the Singles soundtrack. Seasons from Singles was a different side – acoustic and spare and just was wonderful. [Cornell appeared in the movie as well as a bystander when Cliff destroys Janet’s car.] Because of the relation to Temple and Soundgarden, I had also got the soon favorited Mother Love Bone compilation.
In ’94 Spoonman from the soon to be released Superunknown hit the air. And boy was I disappointed. It’s still not one of my favorites. But I bought Superunknown anyway. Fears allayed. Superunknown was not always as heavy as BMF. Somehow the band found a way to be heavyish but not sludgey. One could hear the layers instead of being buried under one solid wall of sound if that makes sense. The new textures must have worked because the record sold 2.5 million copies that year and ultimately some 6 million [so far]. That and the unlikely hit of Black Hole Sun.
’96 and another disappointing [ish] lead track, this time Pretty Noose – it grew on me but still not a great first single. Down On the Upside is as different album from Superunknown as that album had been to Badmotorfinger. It’s certainly more experimental with varying textures. Six of the songs clock in near or shorter than 3:30. There are parts I certainly like more than others but it’s a pretty enjoyable record for me.
Soundgarden survived another year then ground themselves to a halt. I was shocked that they were just quitting but what could one do? They would come back with the not unpleasant King Animal in 2012. In between those records I lost Chris Cornell – well after his first solo record Euphoria Morning. I didn’t get Audioslave – I mean I’m pretty sure I bought it and listened to it but it didn’t appeal to me. Thayil, Cameron, Shepherd and Cornell made a trio of incredible albums. But aside from that, I am a words guy. So there’s a lot of appeal in the lyrics Cornell was throwing down along with his amazing voice.
I don’t know why last Saturday I suddenly had the urge to dig back into Soundgarden. I did for a couple days, now it bites at me again late this Saturday eve / Sunday morn. I threw together a 78.25 minute Soundgarden car CD in about an hour leaving out surprisingly little of my favorites. One of the last sings is the last cut on Superunknown, a “little ditty” [as Ed Voyles used to say] called Like Suicide. One can guess it’s not a HAPPY song. Not many in the catalog are but this is actually the tale of Cornell having to end the misery of a bird that had flown into his window. If one pays attention to such things [and I just said I do]. Great line: Bit down on the bullet now / Had a taste so sour / Had to think of something sweet / Love’s like suicide…
Given Cornell’s ending it’s more poignant, but the capper is the last stanza: She lived like a murder / How she’d fly so sweetly / She lived like a murder but she died / Just like suicide.
Five years and it still smarts. But thanks for the music, Chris.
