Chris Cornell and Soundgarden seemed to be on a roll following
the release of their 1989 major-label debut
Louder Than Love. Consumer interest in this band began to
really grow, even if they weren’t getting the kind of airplay that
they were destined to get. Following the promo-only disc
Louder Than Live, many of us who had discovered this band
were asking, “What are they going to do for a follow-up?”
The answer came in 1991, with the release of
Badmotorfinger. The album marked two changes for the band:
the debut of bassist Ben Shepherd (replacing Hiro Yamamoto) and a
more thought-out, pre-meditated attack on some of the songs. While
this move might have confused a few of us (including myself) at the
time, what this was doing was beginning to steer us toward the
sound the band would embrace on albums like
Superunknown.
For the first part of the album, vocalist Cornell, Shepherd,
guitarist Kim Thayil and drummer Matt Cameron continued in the same
path that they had followed on
Louder Than Love, the only major difference being that the
listener wasn’t alway being hit with a sonic guitar attack at all
moments. But the energy and power that we had come to expect was
most definitely there.
If anything, downplaying the guitar a little bit actually was
beneficial for Soundgarden. Songs like “Slaves And Bulldozers” are
given the chance to build from a mild rumble to a full-force kick
in the crotch in the choruses. Hearing Cornell hit the switch
vocally from mild-mannered vocalist to the pained shouts is a
wonder to behold, and makes me wonder if his contributions to the
whole grunge scene of the ’90s were underappreciated.
The powerful attack continues with songs like “Rusty Cage,”
“Outshined” and what I believe was the first single “Jesus Christ
Pose”. However, by the end of the first half of the album, you know
that something is about to change for Soundgarden. Exhibit “A”:
“Somewhere,” a song that concetrates more on the rhythms rather
than the power. Don’t think for a moment that this is a throw-away
song, but it does throw the listener for a momentary loop.
The second half of
Badmotorfinger is a little more difficult to get through,
simply because the band seems to be stuck between gears for most of
it. Tracks like “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” and “Drawing
Flies” seem to be polar opposites of each other, yet they share the
same compact disc. They’re good efforts, but they left me
scratching my head, wondering what Soundgarden was up to.
Of course, once you’ve listened to the album a few times – and
especially since the release of
Superunknown and
Down On The Upside – the moves heard on this half of
Badmotorfinger are understandable. Soundgarden seemed to
know what the rest of us would soon learn: grunge was a passing
fancy, and they wanted to be known for more than being a
Seattle-based band. To do this, they had to progressively shift
their style.
Badmotorfinger was that gradual shift.
If you’re a music collector, you will want to search out the
extremely-limited two-disc set of
Badmotorfinger, which includes the mini-album
Satan Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas (or
SOMMS, as it’s better known in the Soundgarden circles). I
once had this disc, but wasn’t very enamored of it, so I ended up
selling it on eBay. The live version of “Slaves And Bulldozers”
didn’t quite have the power that the studio version harnessed; this
song can also be found on the now out-of-print
Badmotorvision home video. For the most part,
SOMMS seemed to be a bit of a throwaway, including a cover
of Devo’s “Girl U Want”. Of course, if you’re a diehard Soundgarden
fan, this is one of the Holy Grails you’ll be searching for.
Badmotorfinger is occasionally a confusing listen, but in
the end, it seems like it was the natural next step for Soundgarden
to take with their career. And it’s still as powerful as a punch to
the face.
