Superunknown

This is what straight men listen to, huh?

Some albums are great because they meant a lot at a specific point in your life. Some albums are just great. This one is both.

Chris Cornell had such a voice.

Chris Cornell is one of the greatest rock singers ever. This album has some of the best riffs of all time (Spoonman, Fell on Black Days). It's filled with metaphors about loneliness and depression (Black Hole Sun, Day I Tried to Live, Like Suicide). The album is filled with great, memorable choruses that have the staying power and melody of pop, without sacrificing the heaviness of the subject matter and genre of grunge. In my opinion, it's a top 4 grunge album with Nevermind, Dirt, and Ten.

Disclaimer: Can't be objective about this one. This is literally the first record I ever purchased. I just finished the new Chris Cornell biography Total Fucking Godhead... I'm a bit of a fan of this band. What a classic album! Love the sort of dark, evil psychadelia of this record. Huge riffs, Matt "Fucking" Cameron on drums with bizarre time signatures, and one of the all-time greatest rock voices... it just doesn't get much better. On my all time favorites.

S U P E R O V E R R A T E D

Absolutely essential grunge album. It will rock the fuck out of your soul from the first track to the last. Chris Cornell was an unparalleled talent and killer vocalist, a tremendous credit to the genre. This album is a stone cold masterpiece.

After Chris Cornell passed, my mom bought every Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog cd and it was the only music she would listen to, in the car and at home, for like two years. I moved out during that time

Lol, I don't know why everybody likes this album so much

I went into this thinking I liked Soundgarden more than I actually do. Quite boring to be honest. 3.33 average per track,

The 90's sucked and so do you.

I love Spoonman and Black Hole Sun, but otherwise this album is another example of mostly bland 90's mainstream rock. I just hate the 90's aesthetic, the chugga chugga guitars, the stereotypical singing style. That isn't to say it is bad, it just isn't something I want to listen to.

Knew the band name, couldn't have named a song they had made which is how I learnt they made Blackhole Sun. Otherwise, my standard complaint of this being way too fucking long. Could have cut 30 minutes from this and made a solid album since it gets really boring after a while.

Psych and prog infused grunge; this album was so formative to my musical tastes when I first discovered it back in freshman year of high school. I may not go back to Soundgarden as often as I did back in those days, and there is definitely some valid criticism here (particularly about it being a long and exhausting listen for one sitting) but this album could never be anything but a 5 for me.

Some good tunes on this album. However, I think a lot of the songs sound the same.

Soundgarden was my favorite of the grunge bands because of Chris Cornell (RIP) and his ridiculous vocals. Hits hard all around. Love it.

Is it perfect? Nah. Does it have Black Hole Sun and Spoonman on it? Yesh. Five stars. SPOOOOONMAAAANNNN

Okay, this is badass. Grimy and heavy and with a distinctive feel. This is great workout or writing music.

This album is full of jams. Sometimes I think I like Badmotorfinger better, but goddamn, this album fucking rules

Just phenomenal. Still so very good. R.I.P. Chris Cornell.

Before listening: If anyone asked me whether I like Soundgarden I would say yes. If they asked me how many songs I actually know, I would say, "Um, Blackhole Sun?". I think out of all the big 90s alt bands, I know Soundgarden and Alice in Chains the least. I was much more of an Audioslave fan in the early 00s than I ever was of Soundgarden. I'm looking forward to this album, although I must say that at the time of writing, I'm not really in a 90s mood. Nevertheless, here we go! After listening: I liked it, there was a lot of good songs here. But oh my God, so much filler. Songs were too long and there were too many of them. Chris Cornell's voice though ... There's a reason people rank him as one of the best vocalists of the era. Overall, still very good.

Initial Critique - Chris Cornell is a vocal god. A masterclass in 90's rock. Despite listening to many of the songs on the album as singles, had never listened to it as an album.

top tier grunge album

Not for me, but I bet Nickelback loved this record.

Chris Cornell is easily a top 5 rock vocalist of the last 35 years and this is one of the best albums of the decade. All the different time signatures really keep it interesting and it's killer track after killer track. Super badass.

A record I still own and I'm so not going to approach this objectively, haha. How could I, as I had scribbled a part of the "Fell On Black Days" lyrics on my bedroom wall? This was the shit then, it's still an equally important blip in music history now. I may not enjoy all 70 minutes of it, today, in one sitting but I can't bring myself to let this detract any .points from 5 stars.

The album in which the Grunge took so much of a presence that some consider this to not even be Alt-Metal & Grunge but only Grunge even when a huge majority of the songs show to be some sort of Alt-Metal. Still, Grunge is the main genre of the album and should therefore be the main focus point. Soundgarden had easily the best studio Grunge album. Sadly, or luckily (depending on how you view it), Nirvana had their legendary MTV Unplugged album released the same year. But the achievements that this album brought to the table make this an essential album even 30 years later. The album opens on 'Let Me Drown', a perfect example of the heavy and Stoner Rock inspired metal sound the band is so good at creating. It starts with loud and catchy layered guitar riffs and an incredible vocal delivery. The song just makes you want to headbang. It's an energetic and sonically perfect intro into the album. The next song 'My Wave' is much less Metal, even if it's still a very heavy song. Interestingly is this a much more psychedelic sound and I think the guitar pedal effects that is sometimes sprinkled throughout makes this really interesting. The chorus also works really well, it's just that I think that the song streches a bit too much near the end. It should've been cut to 4 minutes max as the last minute doesn't really add more to the song. 'Fell on Black Days' is one of the best known songs here and it most resembles the Grunge sound most people are familiar with through Nirvana. It's a really good songs but it doesn't really reach the edge that I loved so much with the opener. Compared to most of the album, this seems much more conventional and basic and I personally am not greatly interested with most of what the song does. With 'Mailman' they get back to the heavier sound and there is a lot of heavy and "sludgey" guitar on here. In return the song comes out much more interesting and formed than its predecessor but unlike that, this is feels a little stretched towards the end of it and there isn't much of a catchy "something" that makes the song stick. The title track 'Superunknown' follows with a very Hard Rock and Blues Rock inspired instrumentation that really drives the song and works much better as a point of focus. The vocals are killer and the chorus is simply epic. I absolutely see why this was chosen as the song to name the album after as it does summarize the album pretty neatly. 'Head Down' removes a lot of the heaviness and replaces it with a more psychedelic approach that works within the context of the time. The dreamy vocals and the washy guitars make this a noisy and dense but lovely and dreamy song that flows within itself. Even if I mainly prefer the more metal sounding songs on the album, this is easily one of the best they ever put out. The song that everyone knows, 'Black Hole Sun', shows an even more Neo-Psychdelia rooted sound than before and like before it works perfectly. It starts with the legendary and dreamy guitars and the melodic and surprisingly clear vocals that seamlessly blend into the chorus that is even better. Even if it's a basic opinion, this is the best song on the album or at least in the Top 3. The whole song works and feels much less streched than most songs here. I absolutely adore every second from the guitar solo, the slightly changed chorus in the second half, the background vocals and the general structure. The albums second half starts with 'Spoonman', a song that is much more complex in comparison to most of stuff you find on here. It has multiple, seemingly random, additions thrown in that make this together with the abstract lyrics a very weird but great listen. 'Limo Wreck' sounds like a very early Doom Metal song with the thick, slow and atmospheric guitar riff that goes the whole way through the song. It's dark, unsetteling and really feels like something Black Sabbath could've cooked up if they had Grunge back then. But the song suffers a little bit from a lack of focus near the end. With 'The Day I Tried to Live' was the albums lead single and is therefore another pretty well known song. And although I prefer it over 'Fell on Black Days', I have similar criticisms towards it. It doesn't interest me for the most part and feels too basic and average. Of course it has some great moments but they are not worthy. It's a good song but just nothing more. The short and not even 2 minute long 'Kickstand' is one of the few instances of a Punk sound that gets through. And although Punk isn't what they are used to do, it is a very solid song and is actually really interesting and does not feel like an Interlude at all. 'Fresh Tendrils' keeps a small amount of the Punk energy from before but turns it into a more Metal sounding track again. And unlike before, this doesn't work really well. It is still a good song but it feels very unfocused and unsure about itself. To my ears the song is either uninteresting or a little bit annoying. A really underrated song is '4th of July'. It is easily the most Doom Metal the album gets. It is heavy and dark and the slight hints of Psychedelia make this an even more atmospheric and anxious listen. A perfect blend of all genres they are capable of using. The short 'Half' that is another left-turn with the introduction of Raga-Rock (Indian Classical music inspired Rock) and hints of experimental parts. And although that might sound like it would derail the whole album, I think it works pretty good right before closing the album. And the album closes with the dark and depressive 'Like Suicide'. The title pretty much says what the song is about and it gets the anxious and suicidal feeling very intensely across and closes the album with another perfect song even if it is the longest one but this time it definitely needed that length. favourites: Black Hole Sun, Head Down, Like Suicide, Let Me Drown, Superunknown, 4th of July least favourites: Fresh Tendrils, Mailman, Fell on Black Days, The Day I Tried to Live Rating: light 9 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

Well, I’m guessing there’s no way now we’re getting Loud Love or (still my personal fave) Badmotorfinger, but I fuckin’ love this band. Great voice over an even better rhythm section. I could probably listen to an entire record of just Kim farting around with a wah wah pedal and be a happy camper. So I’m a little biased over here. This album though has always felt like a bit of a weird mix of tunes, (even when you just compare the singles) but I think it was the first thing I ever bought on CD and I really, really love the production. This shit sings through headphones. Soundgarden was at their best, imo, when they were trudging through the chugs and then just randomly would shift into some weird tinkly melody that somehow made the whole tune come together. This record has a bunch of those moments: “Mailman,” “Head Down,” “4th of July,” etc. But yeah… at the end of the day, it’s the “Black Hole Sun” record. There are worse legacies.

Nothing but bangers, a lot of distortion, reminding me of the roots of what rock is today.

drags on too long

A couple solid tracks and overall I like this group but after a while I'm like "when will it end?"

Mid

There are things I enjoy about this record. But it became a monotonous chore to get through. At 30 minutes, I would probably like it quite a bit more.

Overlong and mediocre. The style wasn’t terrible, but it got repetitive and a little grating. Not something I’d listen to in its entirety again. 2.5 rounded up.

Glorified singles band 2

There were some songs that I didn't hate.

This sounds like a garbage nickleback

Hated this from the get-go. Plodding grunge with few melodies, I can see how this might be intriguing live in a big arena, but listening to it was painful. Even “Black Hole Sun” which I always turn up and sing along to when it comes on in the car wasn’t as fun in the context of the whole album. I hate Pearl Jam as well, except for “Jeremy”.

This is just simply one of the great albums of all times and just highlights how underrated Soungarden were as a band. Let me drown and new wave are in your face rock, but even they cannot prepare you for the brooding beauty that is Fell on black days. This album manages to encapsulate grunge and the best elements of classic rock without ever sounding like cliched. As great and intense as Chris Cornell’s vocals and lyrics are, they are matched perfectly by the rest of the band. The video for Black hole sun is so iconic, it is difficult to hear the track without picturing it in my mind. That should not however suggest the song is anything other than great. However BHS is neither my favourite song or video from this album as both of those belong to the Day I tried to live, which is is quite frankly perfect. Spoonman manages to both be quite close to the original incarnation from the Singles soundtrack and fresh sounding.

Rock and fuckin ROLL

What a heavy hitter. For me, this is the peak album of the early 90s grunge era. It's got the heavy guitars. It's got the dark lyrics. Soundgarden really was at their peak right here. Matt kills the drum parts. Ben nails the driving bass lines. Kim lays down some real slick guitar riffs. Chris just gives it all on the vocals and holds down the rhythm.

Chris Cornell = Automatic 5. It's fair to say that seeing Temple of the Dog play at the kickoff show November 4th, 2016 in Phila. not many months before his tragic and untimely death was probably the best show I've ever seen-- and I've seen some good f******g shows. What a damned legend. This album rocks. Watch the Phila. show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OJAhB5Cark

My review of Grace by Jeff Buckley referenced how 1994 was the most incredible year for music (Portishead, Weezer, Beck, Jeff Buckley, Beastie Boys, Green Day, Live, Tori Amos, Cranberries, the list goes on) and Superunknown is part of what made 1994 incredible. Chris Cornell is one of the best male rock vocalists of all time, his range is ridiculous, and his voice is just raw power. Soundgarden may not be my favorite of the projects of Chris Cornell since I prefer Audioslave to the more heavy metal sound of Soundgarden, but his voice is nothing short of 5 stars every time.

Not sure how to describe this album and ive known it for most of my life. Very human of an album. Its a perfect mix of the grunge sound, hard rock ballads, psych sludge sound, heavy stoner riffs, and really catchy choruses. Chris Cornells voice is unreal with how talented it is.

Easy, easy 5. Up there with some of my most listened to albums of all time and a shining example of top tier grunge. Love it

Chris Cornell is probably my favorite rock singer after Freddie Mercury, so talented and so much range. I just happened to listen to his collection this weekend, not knowing this album was upcoming (I was behind and stuck trying to decide on Sonic Youth so turned to Cornell). I know most call this album their magnum opus but I always wondered if it was really that good...despite the fact that Spoonman, My Wave, and The Day I Tried to Live are some of my all-time favorite alternative songs (the chords & guitar progressions & drumwork on all three...brilliant). I really got into music in college, mostly listened to radio and didn't own many albums in high school so I didn't own this. Even now I don't own it, even though I profess to be a late Soundgarden fan. I saw Jeremy's review and I feel the exact same way about Black Hole Sun. Maybe that's why I have these hesitations, like some of it is overplayed and overhyped. Nah. I have listened to it a fair number of times since college, but finally listening to it really intently here, it's awesome. Like my favorites, the other songs have awesome guitar work, humming basslines, solid percussion, Cornell's vocals (of course), and profound lyrics. Even the non-hits are great (e.g., Let Me Drown, Mailman, Fresh Tendrils, 4th of July). Shame on me for ever thinking this was less than amazing.

Having relistened to this album after having last listened to it over 20 years ago, it's incredible how current it still sounds. I remembered how heavy it felt back then, and I was afraid it would lose its magic in the current landscape of today's music. This is not the case.

Timeless classic.

RIP Chris Cornell - in his softer moments sounds a lot like Josh Homme, whose voice I adore. "Mailman" could be QOTSA song. Soundgarden have such a distinctive sound, different from what was going on in the 90s, it's not metal it's not grunge, it's not stoner rock. Really enjoy "Head Down" - sweet singing Obvs "Black Hold Sun" is an absolute classic. "Spoonman" driving rhythm is so great High 4 / 5

What a bomb album. Chris Cornell is the main star here with his incredible vocal performances, but the rest of the band does a commendable job creating that heavy, grunge-y sound throughout. Everyone knows 'Black Hole Sun' and 'Spoonman', but there's so much here to enjoy - 'Head Down', 'Superunknown', 'Fell on Black Days', 'Let Me Drown'. Yeah, really terrific. I would give it 4.5, but I'll round up to 5.

I really dig this. I like how it was heavy, but also clear what they wanted to get across and not overcrowded. Great songs, black hole sun is a classic obvi

Several solid songs. RIP Chris Cornell

Like the Pumpkins' album I saw earlier, this one was a staple for anyone in school when I was. It's a classic, and the songs are amazing. Kim Thayil's guitar sound is unique, and Chris Cornell's voice is unmistakable.

There's been a weird influx of latinx music in the past week after not getting any previous to that. Overall it was pretty cool, though I really hated the parade song (perhaps because I don't really enjoy actual parades either). Some of the other songs were a bit cloying as well. This works really good as a kids album, but I don't think that's how it was intended. It's fine, but I don't ever see myself coming back to it 3/5

love this album, have listened to it countless times

I like seeing the albums from grunge bands when they just got some real money for recording, but weren't yet the biggest band on Earth. Stuff like Nevermind, Dirt, and yes, Superunknown. Prior to this, Soundgarden had a pretty unique classic heavy metal and hard rock influence to their sound. You can tell from the virtuoso guitar passages and the stomping percussion. But on Superunknown, Soundgarden also bring something new. This album is immersed in a really surreal, ominous atmosphere that I can't really get anywhere else in grunge. It is tense and cold, and it is what keeps me coming back to Superunknown. And this atmosphere marries with Soundgarden's previous influences to create something wholly unique. Unfortunately, I don't think it can sustain this atmosphere for the full length of the album, and it kind of has to "wade in". Let Me Drown and My Wave are pretty great songs, but they take some time gaining speed before Fell On Black Days and Mailman show an example of what I think to be the album's best. Both of these songs are still heavy, and covered in rock influence, but they are utterly permeated by something sad and otherworldly. We have another small stumble on Superunknown, before picking back up again on Head Down, and the unlikely single, Black Hole Sun. It's such a strange, surreal, dark song, and it really proves that anything could be a hit in the '90s. Although, after it we get the album's most grevious mis-step. And it is sequencing Spoonman after Black Hole Sun. Spoonman is another single, and it *is* a great song, but it is jangly and bright and devoid of what I love most about this album. I think it can stay, but I think it should have been sequenced earlier. After Black Hole Sun, it really feels like we enter a descent into another world, but Spoonman is a hiccup that I think really interrupts the tone. And I know that my complaints sound silly and minute, but I *really* do love this album, and it's just these little things that keep me from calling it perfect. Although, on the second half here, I think it comes close. From Limo Wreck to Like Suicide, the promises set up by the first half of the album are fulfilled. The songs get darker and weirder and more immersive. I would like to highlight 4th Of July in particular, it is genuinely my favorite song here. It's just this dour, molten plod. It sounds like it's being beamed through a dimensional portal. It's a bonafide sludge song, and possibly the heaviest thing ever put on a multi-platinum album. Superunknown is fascinating and unique, and despite some hiccups, it's one of the coolest albums of the grunge era, delivering a sound that I still can't really get anywhere else.

Growing up on grunge and alt rock in the 90’s, I was very familiar with the hit songs on this album, but somehow this is the first time I’ve listened to the whole thing. I was impressed with just about every track and feel this is probably one of the best albums in the genre and has aged very well. Cornell was one of the greatest rock vocalists of his era, if not all time. My only complaints are that some of the tracks are a bit longer than they need to be…and the album as a whole could have been cut down just a bit. Overall it was a great listen.

Love it, haven't heard this album in it's entirety before I don't think but not really a duff track on it. Huge, but not too over the top sound, real energy. Absolute class drumming on the track Like Suicide- Matt Cameron really worked some sweat on that one....wow! Its a keeper for me.

One of the best grunge albums, full of emotions and big riffs. Chris Cornell is as impressive as ever, showing of his vocal abilities. The riffs are grand and range from punk/rock to doom/sludge. Lyrical themes are powerful, dark and perfectly convey the emotions of the 90s.

The angst was there, the guitar solos were so there, I just couldn’t quite give it a 5.

This was a terrific time. I love Chris Cornell's voice and the entire fabric of this album is woven through with his singing like gold thread through a tapestry. The whole thing is a touch long, which is why I was ready to move onto different sounds once it wrapped up.

I wasnt into it at first but from Head Down and onwards it was amazing. It made me think of how well this album would go together with the joining together of hands, not in marriage, but solely for the purpose of sating the fleshly desires of the soul. Indulging in lustful hedonism for no purpose other than to drown in pleasure for but a few moments, together. tldr: I want to fuck to this album

☝️☝️☝️ ⚠️Whiteboy on the mic⚠️ Exciting rethinking of rock ideas of both their past and present with inspired playing (particularly the drumming). Could’ve been shorter though

People say this is grunge but it feels glossier than that to me 🤷‍♂️ I dunno what to make of it really: Black Hole Sun is class but the whole thing is a bit long, a bit too earnest, a bit too shiny.

Feels like a 3.5 - lots of songs I really enjoyed, but the album was too long and a bit same-y towards the end. Would listen to some tracks again, but probably not the whole album

I would say I definitely liked this more than anything else I have heard labelled as grunge by this list. Either the genre is growing on me, I'm getting more of an ear for it, or this album is just better. I'm still not in love with the sound though. Certain songs will strike me (in this case "Let me Drown", "Fell on Black Days", "Black Hole Sun", and "Spoonman") but I seem to not like whole albums so far. I would even say I would prefer to not listen to all the songs I really liked in a row. Part of a bigger playlist with other styles on it put on shuffle, I think each of those would be a refreshing change of pace. However as a whole this definitely felt like a 3* to me.

No. 213/1001 Let Me Drown 3/5 My Wave 4/5 Fell On Black Days 4/5 Mailman 2/5 Superunknown 3/5 Head Down 3/5 Black Hole Sun 4/5 Spoonman 3/5 Limo Wreck 3/5 The Day I Tried To Live 3/5 Kickstand 3/5 Fresh Tendrils 3/5 4th Of July 3/5 Half 3/5 Like Suicide 4/5 Average: 3,27 Pretty good grunge record.

The production feels kind of compressed. The influence of Led Zeppelin is here, which in turn goes back to some delta blues sound. Black Hole Sun stands out from the rest of the songs. The album as a whole feels a bit underwhelming. The potential was there, just needed better producing.

It's taken me a while to revisit all this 90's grunge and give it a proper listen, because growing up in the 90's these songs were all over the radio and I was so sick of hearing Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, etc. that I actively avoided them for two decades. I'm glad to finally spend time with this Soundgarden record. I liked a lot about it, from Chris Cornell's vocals to Kim Thayil's guitar work. This album is considered a cornerstone of the grunge movement for obvious reasons. Two main complaints: 1) It's way too long of an album. With so little variety in the tracklist until towards the end, it feels bloated and a few of the songs blend together. There's no reason this thing should be over an hour long. 2) (And this is a deep dark secret I've harbored since I was a kid hearing this band all over the radio in the 90s) "Black Hole Sun" is such a boring ass song. It's tedious, it's repetitive, it's plodding...I think "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" has more lyrics. I hated hearing it on the radio when I was 10 and I hated hearing it as an adult. That being said, good album, worth a listen.

Right, here we go, day 1! Solid start to the journey, avoiding some of the more controversial albums on the list that will go down better once I’m settled into the routine. Having heard a few individual songs from this record before, I was relieved when I saw it as album 1 and dived in with a fair amount of anticipation. And for the most part was not disappointed. The highs here are high, “Black Hole Sun” and “Let Me Drown” being in my top 2. I just feel that it went on a bit too long with a run time of 70 minutes, maybe cutting a few of the tracks would have been beneficial. That being said, I can see why it’s regarded as one of the defining albums of its genre and would be one I’d like to return to in the future. Overall, I’ll go with 3.5, but that might increase over time. Looking forward to what the next 3 and a bit years will bring!

The best song on this album is definitely “Black Hole Sun” and they knew it while recording this. 5/10

HEY DUDES, DO YOU LIKE HARD MUSIC THAT ALSO MAKES YOU GET HARD Wikipedia lists this as Grunge but this is 100% Butt Rock for me. I only know "Black Hole Sun" which was everywhere at the time and still has a lasting legacy but... overall this is the music of my middle/high school days. Feels like I'm way past this. But, it's competent at what it's doing and I don't begrudge anyone who likes it. I think it's mostly down the vocals, just too monotone.

Your listening experience may vary, but mine was: "This is boring" "Wait, was that a Beatles reference?" *Dramatic Lip Syncing Performance* "Black Hole Sun. Won't you come?" "Wait, was that ANOTHER Beatles reference?" "This is boring"

The foundation of grunge, though you can hear the other influences so clearly. I’m not a big fan of grunge and all these songs sound the same to me — muscle and testosterone. Good hooks, but they’re all hook, with no space to reflect and contemplate between the riffs. Still, Soundgarden influenced pop rock for a decade, which is impressive and probably led to something interesting. As an album, it’s just too 2-dimensional. It’s a 2.

This sounds like what some dude would blast at full volume in his Impala after he just gay bashed a kid outside a bar in the mid 90s.

My cat - when she hasn't been fed for five minutes!

Won’t waste a second listening to this again. Despised it and everything it stood for back in the 90s. Snap out of it! Oh me oh my…whoas me 😖

Awful, awful music. I only persisted with this for Black Hole Sun - hardly the cheeriest of tunes. I'm proud of my musical prejudices. Ultimately I know I am right. You always need some Roll with your Rock. No soul, no ta.

A masterpiece!

Gets an extra star even if it's a bit too meandering and overlong. RIP man, great voice and a proper rock singer who made not one, but two bands great.

Bom rock, vou escutar mais a banda

Now this is what I’m talking about! Very glad to finally expose myself to some more Soundgarden

Cornell's voice is magic and I wish he were still around today. Got the privilege of seeing him live once before he passed, and the sure was incredible. So many classics on this album that was released when I was 10 years old. I remember recording some of these songs from the radio onto a cassette.

I listened to this for my individual project and really dug it. It has a grungy rock kind of crooning feel. I saved two songs, Black Hole Sun and The Day I Tried to Live and i still regularly listen to them cause they're such a good time.

It's probably not a 5 in the cold light of day but I really enjoyed it

One of my favorites of all time

fuck yeah dude

This one isn’t catching me off guard, as I own this album on CD and have listened to it many times. It’s not my favorite Soundgarden album, that would be Badmotorfinger, but it’s probably my second favorite of theirs. I didn’t really dig the grunge movement as a whole because, much like every popular style of music, the record industry floods the market with inferior clones until they destroy said genre. However, I did love Soundgarden and Alice in Chains more than the other grunge acts. Probably because, much like the really good grunge acts, they weren’t grunge. As I’ve said before, Nirvana isn’t Pearl Jam, which isn’t Soundgarden, which isn’t Alice in Chains, yet they’re all classified by ignorance as grunge. Listening to Soundgarden now fills me with not just nostalgia but melancholy, as you are reminded of Chris Cornell’s suicide and the loss of a true talent. Nirvana, AIC, and Soundgarden, none of those bands made it out unscathed. And you might as well include Pearl Jam, as that band wouldn’t have formed if Andy Wood hadn't overdosed. Both Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were in Mother Love Bone with Wood, and that band was already starting to buzz and build momentum by the time Wood died. It's all just sad. So, after now being fully depressed, Super Unknown was probably the most evolved Soundgarden record as it was heavy, as their previous albums were, but it also showed growth and diversity of styles. It’s 16 songs and an hour and ten minutes long. Remember when you could just sit and listen to an album for that long. And I mean, just sit there and soak it in, no phones, no TV, nothing. I enjoyed reading while listening to music, so I guess I was still multitasking. I really loved studying while listening to Badmotorfinger. It got me A’s on all kinds of tests in college. Track 1 is Let Me Drown and it starts with a great riff. Soundgarden were riff monsters. I always looked at them as the Led Zeppelin of the Seattle scene. Vocals are on point as always. Matt Cameron, who also drummed for Pearl Jam for decades, is such an underrated drummer. His drum sound is incredible. Looking at the five singles from the album, this could end up being a perfect album. I haven’t listened to it in a while, but I remember the singles being huge in 1994. Track 2 is My Wave, and it was one of those singles. This sounds like Zeppelin to me. And like Zeppelin, Soundgarden was known for using weird or off-kilter time signatures. This song isn’t in your normal 4/4 time, it’s 5/4. I love bands that can get you to groove to weird time signatures. Tool are the kings of that. Track 3 is Fell on Black Days, and it’s a sad song and a harbinger of things to come, it would seem. It’s about being on top of the world and then the next minute you fall into black days. Nothing goes right, and everything seems useless. “Whatsoever I've feared has come to life And whatsoever I've fought off became my life Just when everyday seemed to greet me with a smile Sunspots have faded, now I'm doing time Now I'm doing time” Much like Alice in Chains, looking back at the lyrics of Soundgarden can be crushing. The guitars on this song are so good. Kim Thayil was a genius for riffs and weirdness on the guitar. Track 4 is Mailman, and I don’t remember it right off the bat, but it’s HEAVY. Oh, after looking up the lyrics, it seems Cornell wrote this song about an employee who hates his boss, and it pushes him to violence. Yikes. Man, it’s so slow and thick. It’s like molasses. I love this song. Cornell isn’t really getting crazy with the vocals, it’s just straightforward. Thayil again has these guitar squeals that you’d think would be nails on a chalkboard, but they work well with the song. “I know I’m heading for the bottom and I’m riding you all the way.” Track 5 is the title track, Superunknown, and I can hear a Beatles influence in this song. Cornell harmonizing with himself is like angels singing. Thayil plays almost an old-fashioned guitar solo. This is a very psychedelic song. Track 6 is Head Down, and one of my favorite songs on the album. It starts out with some acoustic guitar, and then it’s joined quickly by electric guitars. This song was written by bassist Ben Shepherd, and it’s about life or society trying to make you conform or live as they would have you live. After Soundgarden broke up, Shepherd ended up broke and essentially homeless before they reunited. He had quit the music business and become a carpenter’s assistant. Track 7 is Black Hole Sun. It’s the big hit of this album and the band’s career. The song was on the charts all over the world, and the video was groundbreaking, psychedelic, and creepy as Hades. It seemed MTV played it nonstop. Cornell said he wrote the song in about 15 minutes. The song is about depression and being disillusioned with life, but Cornell also said it was one of those songs where the wordplay in the lyrics was more important than any meaning. It’s brilliant. Track 8 is Spoonman, and this song just rocks. This was the first single off the album, and it charted well as no one had heard any new stuff from the band for a couple of years. The song is about a street artist who played the spoons. The song even includes a breakdown to allow the Spoonman to have a spoon solo. It’s wild. Cornell really shows off his upper register on this song. Cameron’s drumming meshes well with the Spoonman’s percussion. Track 9 is Limo Wreck, and I don’t remember it right off. Okay, now I do. As soon as the guitar came in with that crazy riff with the harmonics, if I’ve even gotten the right term. Then the song slips into this evil, foreboding Black Sabbath-like riff. It sounds like it could have been a riff from Sabbath’s first album. The guitars are on point in this song. I’m finding myself really loving the songs that could never be hit singles. Track 10 is The Day I Tried To Live and this song always kind of filled me with dread. At least the title and the opening before we get into the main riff. This was the second single off the album. Again, the song has a weird time signature, as a measure of 7/4 pops up regularly throughout the song. Now, I don’t know much about music, but I know if the time signature of a song isn’t a normal one, like ¾ or 4/4, it makes it hard to find a groove or to dance to. But for nerds like me, it’s fun because you know something’s off and it’s a puzzle to try to track it down. I digress. The song is about trying to live each day and stay out of your depression and isolation. Kind of a fake it until you make. “Singing, one more time around (Might do it) One more time around (Might make it) One more time around (Might do it) One more time around (I might make it) The day I tried to live, yeah.” One more time, and he might break the depression. It’s more of a hopeful song, really, though it still fills me with dread. Track 11 is Kickstand, and I don’t remember the song just by the title. It’s their short punk song on the record. Barely over a minute and a half long. The song is about how bike riding helped lift Cornell’s spirits after he lost friends due to drug overdoses. What was going on in the Seattle area in the 70s and 80s? I’m sure every big city has its issues, but the bands coming out of there in the late 80s and 90s end up like pro wrestlers in that era, dead at an early age. Maybe it was just that drugs were more readily available? The weather being more cloudy and rainy? Something caused a whole wave of depression in those bands. To further digress, there's a book called Murderland written about the glut of serial killers in the Northwest. The book looks at the area's smelters that were putting out lead, copper, and arsenic into the air through their smokestacks. The author didn't draw a direct correlation, but investigated the matter and provided examples. End of digression. Track 12 is Fresh Tendrils, and the song is about addiction and the shame that comes with it. Cornell had his own issues with drugs. Another great, but sad song. This album is full of impactful music. Track 13 is 4th of July, and you talk about heavy. It reminds me of the Alice in Chains’ song Sludge Factory. It’s thick, slow and heavy. The song is about an LSD trip Cornell had where he thought he was dying. Cornell’s singing on this is excellent. He’s using both his low and high registers. It makes for a great contrast. The guitar solos remind me of Queens of the Stone Age. Another non-single that I love. Track 14 is Half, and the song has a Middle Eastern feel to it. It’s just over two minutes. The song was written and sung by Shepherd. It’s a weird, psychedelic palate cleanser before the last song, a bonus track. Track 15 is Like Suicide, and the song isn’t about suicide. It’s about falling so deeply in love that you begin to kind of lose yourself or your identity. Cornell wrote the song after performing a mercy killing on a robin that flew into a window at his home and was suffering. This is a great song and could have been a big hit, I think. It’s not a riff-heavy song. Cornell sings his ass off. I may need to rethink my favorite Soundgarden album, as this album is perfect. There’s not one bad song, or even a mediocre one. I generally think most 15-song albums that last over an hour are bloated, but there’s no bloat on Superunknown. I think this album is a must-listen. It’s musically and lyrically solid, and while you hear the band’s influences throughout the album, the songs are all Soundgarden’s.

This is one of the easiest fives I’ll ever give. "Superunknown" has everything I love about rock music - heavy, catchy riffs; incredible vocals; incisive lyrics; powerful drumming. But it also throws in Eastern influences, odd time signatures, and unexpected arrangements. I love it. There is a run of songs from "Fell on Black Days" to "The Day I Tried to Live" that is absolutely unmatched. Eight straight bangers. Incredible. It's like a mini-greatest hits in the middle of a regular album. I am so tied to this music, my friends.......The first time I ever kissed a girl, I was very much in love with her, I was 15, and finally, after months of flirting and talking and will-they-won't-they, we kissed, on an hours-long bus ride in the November cold, and it was the best thing that had ever happened to me, but I knew she was going to destroy me emotionally, and the entire time we were making out I had the pre-chorus to "Mailman" in my head - "I know I'm! Headed for the bottom!" She did indeed wreck me emotionally. And I'll always love that song. FIVE STARS

I know they’re not underrated, but they certainly deserve to be at the forefront of Grunge conversations. Chris’ voice is unique and unbelievably powerful, but even without the music is dynamic and raging, melodic and complex.

<3 Chris Cornell

Fantastic album. Soundgarden at the top of their game.

SI señor. Gracias Chris por todo. ME gusta el sonido, el arriesgarse. muy noventoso, oscuro. CLaramente biased de Cornell

One of the best of all time

bias but genuinely a 5 very dynamic and great production. I can see an argument for a 4 as sometimes it is a little flat. I think 5 is fair thou.

Amazing

No one sings like you anymore, Chris Cornell.

5000/10

Duh.

Absolute banger. May be the best grunge album ever.