After the less-than-stellar debut albums of Ultramega OK and Louder Than Love and the admittedly excellent Badmotorfinger, Seattle alternative metal band Soundgarden fully established their excellence with the 1994 masterpiece Superunknown.
Released by A&M Records, it soared to the top of the Billboard 200 and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Yet for some reason, Soundgarden never reached the upper echelon of metal, grunge, or even Seattle music. With the album’s 30th anniversary this year, I decided to bring the record to light and give it the love it so truly deserves.
With 70 minutes and 15 tracks, there’s no shortage of excellent tracks on Superunknown. One thing that should be noted about Soundgarden is their wide range. “Kickstand” and “Fresh Tendrils” are pure shredding metal, whereas “4th Of July” and “The Day I Tried To Live” are much more slow and dramatic.
Of all 15 of the tracks, three stand out. “Fell On Black Days” is a massive and powerful monologue about a man who one day simply wakes up with a crushing sense of dread. Overpowering depression flecked with hopefulness, a monstrous third song.
Another strong contender for Superunknown’s top spot is the ever-enjoyable “Spoonman.” A tribute to the iconic street artist Artis the Spoonman disguising a scathing commentary on show business, “Spoonman” rocks HARD. A fun as hell main riff into an explosive solo by Artis himself, it’s almost impossible to top track 8.
“Almost” doesn’t mean “completely,” though. The best song on Superunknown has been talked about endlessly. It’s slow, it’s surreal, and it really isn’t about anything in particular. You know it, you love it, “Black Hole Sun” certainly isn’t underrated in the same way the rest of the album is.
When people talk about Soundgarden, 90% of the time they’re talking about “Black Hole Sun,” and for good reason: it’s truly magnificent. A sweeping epic filled with psychedelic imagery, Chris Cornell’s sonorous voice, and Kim Thayil’s distorted and slow guitar all come together to form Superunknown’s magnum opus.
Outside of “Black Hole Sun,” though, Soundgarden isn’t discussed all that much. Part of this is because they never really conformed to a single genre. Are they metal? Are they grunge? Are they alt? The non-conforming nature of the band, while making for some of the most unique music of the 90s, doesn’t work great for their public image.
Another element working against them is just how excellent the 90s were for music. In the metal scene, Metallica, Megadeth, and Pantera were dominating with raw volume. Alt rock was under the power of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, and (for better or for worse) Weezer. As for grunge, well, nobody was going to beat Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Soundgarden to me really stands out exactly for this reason. They don’t have a solid style. “Jesus Christ Pose” isn’t the same as “Limo Wreck,” and “Overfloater” isn’t even close to “Rusty Cage.” All of their songs and albums are so different, and if you don’t like one there’s probably another out there. For the hard metal lovers in the crowd, “Gun” and “Superunknown” are prime examples. For the emotional, “Outshined” and “Blow Up The Outside World” are slow, deep, and monumental. And if you’re looking for over an hour of any type of music you can imagine, Superunknown is right there and waiting.
