Amazing as this may sound, but back when I first bought and
listened to
Superunknown, Soundgarden’s third major label release, I was
disappointed by it. To my ears, gone was a lot of the rawness and
unbridled energy that made their major label debut
Louder Than Love a favorite of mine when I discovered
alternative rock. I got tired of hearing songs like “Spoonman” and
“Fell On Black Days” on the radio.
But that was 1994, and this is today. After digging it out of
the Pierce Archives, I made a startling discovery: I was totally
wrong about
Superunknown. The album might have more of a bend towards
rock radio, but the energy is still there, if not the rawness. This
album truly deserved the greatness it earned.
The first single off
Superunknown, “Black Hole Sun,” brought a lot of Led
Zeppelin comparisons to Chris Cornell and crew. The song’s layers,
building from soft melody to a crunching chorus, is a thing of
beauty, demonstrating that the success this band had earned to this
point was no fluke. The riffs might have been Zeppelin-influenced,
but don’t you dare call them copies or rip-offs.
The energy level rarely lets up on this album. From the opening
cut “Let Me Drown” to the brief furiousness of “Kickstand” to the
melodic adrenalin rush of the title track, Soundgarden pull out all
the stops on this release, and challenge the listener to hang on
for dear life.
There are only two songs I really don’t like on
Superunknown – and ironically, they were both singles.
“Spoonman” is an okay track, but doesn’t rank in my book among the
best work that Soundgarden has ever done. (I also don’t think this
song was worthy of a Grammy for Best Metal Performance; the song,
to my ears, doesn’t fit the bill of heavy metal in the least, and
spoons don’t count as metal in this case.) The only other stumbling
block, “The Day I Tried To Live,” is an experiment gone wrong with
a power ballad. Oh, Soundgarden would get it right on “Blow Up The
Outside World” one album later, but this song is just a boat
anchor.
Still, two minor flubs don’t really distract from the power of
Superunknown. “My Wave” is a song that will challenge any
musician to keep up with the rhythms, and “Mailman” and “Head Down”
will please and excite you. The second side weakens just a little
bit, but cuts like “Limo Wreck” and “Like Suicide” help pull
everything together.
Superunknown is undoubtedly the album that broke Soundgarden
into superstar status, and for good reason. Many of the songs on
this album will eventually become true staples of the rock era,
especially when someone decides to do the eventual compilation
album of this era, Soundgarden will probably be one of the first
bands featured.
