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Superunknown
Soundgarden
1994
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!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.
Soundgarden was my favorite of the grunge bands because of Chris Cornell (RIP) and his ridiculous vocals. Hits hard all around. Love it.
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.
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.
Nothing but bangers, a lot of distortion, reminding me of the roots of what rock is today.
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.
This album is full of jams. Sometimes I think I like Badmotorfinger better, but goddamn, this album fucking rules
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.
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
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.
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.
Este disco es más que un disco para mí, es parte una época. Desde el "Let me drown" pasando por las guitarras del "Head Down" y las míticas "Black Hole Sun", "Spoonman", "The day I try to live", "Kickstand" o "Like suicide". Puros noventa, puro sonido grunge.
Super underrated grunge album, one of the trendsetters of it's time. Plus Chris Cornell's voice is in another level
Super from beginning to end. This would have been a double album only a few years earlier. It certainly is on vinyl.
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
Beetje oneerlijke competitie want dit is wel een van de hoekstenen van de ontwikkeling van mijn muziekale voorkeuren. Geen slecht nummer op dit album!
Great album, already listened to audioslave but never Soundgarden. Will give this another listen
Okay, this is badass. Grimy and heavy and with a distinctive feel. This is great workout or writing music.
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.
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.
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
Possibly the second or third best grunge album of all time, depending on how I'm feeling about In Utero that day. Haters will say it's too long, and yeah they probably could have cut the song Half, but this is the rare hour-plus album I'll actively choose to listen to.
A sprawling, expansive grunge/stoner masterpiece. So much variety and depth with amazing song and riffs coming one after the other. Great singing and musicianship. Like a lot of long albums I can't help but feel it would have been better if it were shorter, I'm just not sure what I would cut.
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.
Really enjoy this album when I'm in the mood for some moody, grungy rock. Super unknown is a great song as well as black hole sun.
My haiku: My Wave, Spoonman best, Day I Tried To Live best too, How good is grunge rock.
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.
Superunknown was the first Soundgarden album I picked up. I had read an early review that said that it was going to be an amazing album, groundbreaking even. I was into Pearl Jam & Nirvana, they had broken right around college. But somehow Soundgarden had slipped me by when I was in college. When I did hear it back in March of 1994, my mind was blown. Listen to the original, not the remastered version (they boosted the volume too much, gah.). I go back and forth between my favorites on this album. Sure "Black Hole Sun" is overplayed, but there's a reason for that: it's a damn good song. I don't skip it when I listen to the whole album, but I don't listen to it by itself. They play songs with odd time signatures so flawlessly, it doesn't sound as clumsy as in other bands. I would steer clear from the Super Deluxe Edition version, only because the Demo & Rehearsal versions... like, how many times can you hear the songs in one sitting? I know fans of the band frown on this album, thinking of it as the "sell out," but honestly I think of it as a progression from their previous album. "Down On The Upside" is a fantastic album as well. Highly recommended.
GRUNGE. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES. In seriousness, I grew up refusing to believe the grunge era ever ended. Soundgarden are a foundation of this genre. Rest in Peace, Chris Cornell.
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
Is this really a 5 or am I giving it that rating because of nostalgia and it's really a 4? Who cares, this album is great. More polished and mainstream than Badmotorfinger and, thus, not my favorite but still really solid.
My favourite band, my favourite voice, I can't score this anything but top marks. I'd double it if I could. I saw Soundgarden a few times, including once a few days after this album release, a VIP show in London. It's still one of the best days of my life. The first track they played was Let Me Drown and I was in a state of awe from the first note. This is all perfect, everything about it. I am very biased, but music doesn't come much better.
This is probably the grunge masterpiece; the heavy metal White Album of the 90s. The song-writing is sophisticated, tuneful, heavy, and insightful. I know some critics (Christgau, for example) finds their lyrics asinine, but, by the measure of heavy metal lyrics, they are not stupid. Cornell's voice was rarely better, Thayill's playing inventive but less reliant on pure noise than on previous records, and Matt Cameron's drumming is best in class. His ability to make even a weird time signature sound like a straight four (until you listen closely) is masterful. Dynamic, tuneful, with classic rock influences that are not mere pastiche, I really think this is Soundgarden's masterwork (even if I have nostalgic preference for some o their other records). The best metal album of the decade, and certainly top 3 for the entire grunge oeuvre.
Goddamn I miss when rock and roll had some emotion to it. There’s equal parts emotion and power to everything happening. Cornell’s voice is next level and the production makes this an absolute favorite.
I love this record. It’s the peak of Soundgarden. The songs are their strongest and they really found themselves here.
Mix of Kurt Cobain inspired lyrics and poised get heavy guitar combined to create an unforgettable album. Favourite songs were Black hole sun and my wave.
Thoroughly enjoyed. Only listened to the singles off this album and never the whole thing.
Some amazingly heavy moments, and gets pretty trippy at points as well. Disorienting and emotive, but it feels pretty organic. I'm generally not a fan of Chris Cornell's singing, which puts me off a bit. This album features possible the best example of spoons-playing in rock, which has to give it bonus points.
Legendarisch album met de bekendste tracks erop: spoonman, fell on black days en black hole sun. Eigenlijk zou ik deze op LP moeten hebben
A seminal album in grunge rock. Soundgarden >> Pearl Jam Black Hole Sun, The Day I Tried to Live, Fell on Black Days, Spoonman, Superunknown
Never been a big SG fan and this album didn’t change that but I have a better appreciation for them now. Cornell has such a great voice. Black hole sun, Spoonman and Fell on black days are such classics, especially BHS (90s Seattle anthem). I actually really love Fell on Black Days; sounds like a Pearl Jam song (a bit reminiscent of softer nirvana songs too, I think)! My Wave, minus vocals, sounds like a Fugazi song! Stand out tracks: fell on black days, my wave, the day I tried to live and 4th of July.
More cool guitar work than I remember. Very cool 90s moods. Heavy, drop-tuned riffage. Black Hole Sun, Spoonman, and other SG hits on this one.
Na tapete leci czwarty album albumik bandy zwanej jako soundgarden pod tytulem supeunkown, jest to moje pierwsze podejscie do ich tworczosci, poza oczywistymi kawalkami, jak black hole sun, ktore staly sie hymnami muzyki rokowo alternatywnej, a dodatkowo byla hajpowana przez wszelakie stacje muzyczne pokroju mtv, gdy jeszcze leciala tam muzyka, a nie dzieje zycia ludzi bogatych i glupich, wiec chocby to daje wskazowki, ze album jest mocno popowym krazkiem w znaczeniu, ze plyta zostala tworzona z mysla o uzyskaniu jak najwiekszych zasiegow, ale rownie dobrze mozna to powiedziec co wiekszosci tworow w muzyce popularnej, a co za tym idzie na tej liscie, bo jednak muzyke tworzy sie glownie dla zysku, wiec sam album o brzmieniu rokowym w ktorym slychac mocne powiazane z grungem, hardym rokowaniem, czy nawet metalowymi rifowaniami, ale same brzmienie ciezko okreslic gatunkowo, bo poszczegolne traki byly stylizowane na roznych stylach, jak najbardziej rozpoznawalny black hole sun w swojej lini melodycznej mocno inspirowany jest tym co grali beatelsi, half wprowadza bardziej orgientalno wschodnie klimaty, czy nawet trak nagrany z pomoca grajka ulicznego, ktory operowal na lyzkach, stad nazwa spoonman, tresci przewijajace sie na plycie niosa ze soba dosc negatywne emocje, bo spiewanie o problemach, smutku, samobojach, ktorych tworca byl frontmen bandy chris cornell, ktoremu nie tak dawno udalo sie walnac tego samoboja ktorego tak prorokowal chocby na tym albumie, bo w 2k17 postanowil ze soba skonczyc, cos takiego nadaje wedlug mnie drugiego dna sluchanemu trakowi, bo pomimo swojej komercjalnosci, to jednak wylewal samego siebie na traki tworzac je, nie dziwne ze soundgarden jest stawiany czesto w porownaniu z nirvana, bo okres podobny i wywodza sie z tego samego nurtu, a podobienstwa slychac nawet na wokalu, ktory jest mocna strona plyty, plyta idealna na odsluch na doomersko/gloomerski nastroj, 70 minut rozlozone na 15 trakow sprawia, ze jest to przystepny odsluch, na plejke dodalem obok black holowego suna, ktory juz tam byl, fell on black days, the day i tried to live, no i najbardziej orginalny trak czyli spoonmana, nie spodziewalem sie cudow po tej plycie, a milo sie zaskoczylem
Dit is echt jeugdsentiment. Lang geleden dat ik de plaat in zijn geheel heb geluisterd. Erg goed en wat een sterke nummers.
Heerlijk, helemaal niet zo super onbekend. Meerdere keren geluisterd gisteren, dat was lang geleden..
Sounds like Soundgarden set out to make an album just full of bangers: heavy riffs, superb production, even Cornell's singing (God rest his soul) works well in this hazy grunge environment. Another 70 minute album makes it a bit overly long, but with songs like these you can't go wrong.
Finally, an album from the actual best decade instead of another album from the 70s. RIP Chris Cornell. What a voice!
Good album with some string singles. I'm more partial to Badmotorfinger myself, but it wasn't hard to get sent back into my 90s grunge phase with this one.
A sprawling, adventurous rock album full of hooks and luscious riffs. It sounds rich and gorgeous and Chris Cornell soars above it all with his incredible vocals. The brilliant, inescapable Black Hole Sun showed a new side of Soundgarden and Spoonman a fans favourite in their live sets but these are far from the only standout moments on the album. Yes it’s long, but it’s an effortless listen and always enjoyable.
Not an album I would've listened to if it weren't for this site, so I guess that's a good thing right off the bat! Can't say I'm a big fan of rock music, but I have heard of Soundgarden. Going through the album, some of the songs did feel same-y or generic, but if you think about it that's probably because a fuck ton of groups have imitated this sound afterwards, so it's not really a criticism of the group itself. Chris Cornell, the lead singer, didn't really strike me as particularly captivating or exceptional, but I still enjoyed listening to him. Favourite songs would have to be Head Down, Black Hole Sun (this evidently seems to be their most popular song according to Spotify, rightfully so in my opinion). Overall, 4/5, not my type of music, but I still enjoyed it and had a few songs to add to my personal playlist, not a bad day at all!
Ich muss Alben am Wochenende wieder ausschalten, die Arbeit tötet mich, ich hatte kaum Zeit mich hiermit auseinanderzusetzen, sehr düster, Texte sehr emotional, vor ein paar Jahren der perfekte soundtrack für mein Leben, black hole sun ist ein Klassiker.
Was such a big album, this album IS 1994. The constant comparison or association was always with Nirvana and Pearl Jam but there's a significant difference. Time signature changes, more variety in mood, power and melody. I was always in the minority in not getting or enjoying Nirvana at all, but this was different and far more enjoyable for me. I'd had trouble enjoying Soundgarden's previous albums as they were either too sludgy or screamy :) Chris Cornell reeled it in for this album and fit the songs perfectly, and most of the songs became more diverse and interesting. Highlights are definitely the big hits. One of the best rock albums of the era. 8/10. 4 stars.
Wasn’t a fan of all the songs but the album finished strong. Getting some zeppelin vibes from the last couple of tracks.
Disco imprescindible para entender el grunge y el rock de los 90. Impresionante y melódica voz.
A really good album with a terrific sound and a lot of metal feels to it. I’ll definitely listen to this again.
I somehow missed Soundgarden when they were huge in the 90s -- honestly have no idea how I missed them, but there it is -- and listened to some of their songs much later. Chris Cornell is legend, to state the obvious, and I do like him as a musician, writer, guitarist, performer, etc. Listening to this album today straight through for the first time, it's some really good rock music and even though the "Seattle sound" or "grunge" or whatever it might be called has been done heavily (these guys were on the early end of it, I think, but, man, that sound was everywhere for a while), this is good stuff.
Very very good grungy sounds, standout in Spoonman. A bit of a slog, but individually I think I would enjoy every song. Also not something I would put on all the time, but it is good stuff.
Really good still but I think I prefer badmotorfinger. The hits are all time on this one
Many many hits on this one. Spoonman, Fell on Black Days (favorite), Black Hole Sun. Great grunge milestone.
If Superunknown made the list, I wonder about Ultramega OK, Louder Than Love and Badmotorfinger because those albums are the perfect Soundgarden sound. Superunknown is good, but I remember when Spoonman came out thinking they overstayed their welcome. Nevertheless, Soundgarden represent the pinnacle of the NW Grunge sound (yeah, Nirvana is overrated and had Chris Cornell done what Kurt did around the same time they'd be more revered). 3.5/5.
I almost gave this album 5 stars just because it's been so long since I got an album with teeth. But, listening to this objectively, it's not a 5-star album. So many of these tracks sound exactly like each other. They're solid for all that, though. The album is full of energy and grit and attitude and I'm here for it.
A favorite from my youth - still sounds solid. Fave track - "The Day I Tried to Live", for sure. Although "Black Hole Sun" has a special place in my heart due to its availability as a karaoke option...
I went into this expecting to dislike it, but as it turned out, I rather enjoyed it. It's heavy, but it's tuneful. 3.5/5.
As joint pioneers of grunge, Soundgarden deserve their place in the history books but their version of the Seattle sound displayed their influences to a much greater degree than Nirvana ever did. You can close your eyes and imagine Black Sabbath in much of their music. It's all the better for it too
Needs to be listened to again but very enjoyable. Felt like I've heard it all already, but that could be the band wider influence
I little more than metal than grunge in sound, but this is the pinnacle of grunge culture with great lyrics covering all sorts of themes of social isolate and angst, and distinctive vocals by Chris Cornell. Stretch from "Fell on Black Days" to "The Day I Tried to Live" is perfect, with a range of heavier songs and some lighter pop songs suitable for all audiences. Starts off weak and I'm surprised "My Wave" was a single. "Kickstand" and "Fresh Tendrils" were generic. "Half" was an interest raga psychedelic song that doesn't fit in. "Head Down" is a personal favorite that I don't see mentioned too often; I just like the sound of it.
A powerful, industrial grunge album to kick off the list of 1001 albums. I haven't listened to much Soundgarden despite loving Audioslave.
Still rock but I am new to this kind of genre so I am unable to review it. Although it is clear it is somewhat pleasant to listen to.
I don't think I ever listened to this whole album, at least not while really paying attention. I loved listening to it now!
Surprisingly good! Not a huge grunge fan but the songs varied enough where it was enjoyable to listen to the whole album. Black hole sun Surprisingly isn't the best song either. Superunknown is a blast. And I don't think there is a bad track on this thing. Spoonman is probably my least favorite, but not a skip. Only not rating it a 5 because it didn't really surprise me in any way. It's a really good grunge album, better than I thought it would be. But still not transcendent out of its genre, like Smashing Pumpkins or exploratory like Violent Femmes, (which isn't grunge but they live in the same neighborhood of grunge)
First impressions- hard Rock group with pop elements Third track - shades of jeff Buckley Vocalist has metal vocalist chops Pretty interesting stuff going on in the rhythm instruments Black hole sun is a beautiful song Good stuff overall
Creo que es de mis discos favoritos de Soundgarden. Tienen el clásico 'Black Hole Sun', la brutal 'Superunknown' o 'Let me drown'. Me gustan mucho esas guitarras tan duras, hechas para desnucarte según las escuches en directo.
Classic nostalgia for me, my 14 year old self is headbanging. On a re-listen it's still quite good, but lacking a sense of progression to me. Stylistically cohesive but not necessarily progressing through any movement or dynamic shifts.
Listen sometimes I think grunge gets overrated but Soundgarden and Nirvana are always welcome in this dojo. Grunge is certainly better then the absolutely exhausting Brit Pop that was also popular in the 90s, and all that meandering Shoe Gazey stuff. This album rocks so hard and so good right from the outside. Cornell's vocals have always hit me just right. Black Hole Sun is an all timer, of course, but my money is on Spoonman for best of the album. If you aren't playing air guitar with Spoonman then you are literally not welcome in my home.
This album and band was unavoidable in the 90s with like 5 singles released off of it. its pretty solid, but overall cant give it a 5, so i will go with a 4
Mixed feelings on this album. I was a huge fan of Soundgarden from Louder Than Love on. Saw them 5 times. The first was in Houston at Fitzgerald's in 1989. Not a huge crowd. Cornell sounded like an avenging angel and was one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen. Perfect skin. It's too bad that his voice was ravaged in his later years. Superunknown came out and they played the album in its entirety on the radio in Austin, and I was pissed. It wasn't metal enough for me, but now with this listen, I can see why it was so popular in spite of Kim Thayil's Sonny Sharrock style soloing. I didn't realize at the time that people mellow as they get older and want to try new things.
Although at first I didn't love this as much as Badmotorfinger, which I reckon is their masterpiece, I ended up loving this as a reminder of my youth. Songs like Black Days and Black Hole Sun are now poignant, and given I loved King Animal, I reckon this holds it own.
Singer has great variety: he sounds smooth and pleasant in his middle range, but he's also got a ton of power and grit when he sings high. I mostly like it; there are a few times where he has an American twang that gets on my nerves a bit. I also like the way the album is produced/mixed. The bass is powerful but not overbearing. Definitely feels very 90s. A bit heavier than I expected from a band that's not really classified as metal. Sometimes I'm surprised that music with such heavy distorted guitars could have ever been top of the charts; these days you NEVER see heavy music on the top of the charts. I was gonna give a 3 since I probably won’t return much to this, but I was impressed enough to give a 4.
Sí suena mucho al los 90s. Chido, nada out of the ordinary, pero me la pasé bien. Fav: Black Hole Sun
I always associate this album with seeing them play at the Palace in Melbourne 1994. It was just over a month before Superunknown was released but I remember hearing a few tracks that night. It was the night grunge was well and truly over for me as the venue was packed with aggressive shirtless jocks sweat dripping from ceiling due it was so hot and the venue was so poorly ventialed. The sound was terrible and Chris Cornell dynamic frontman that he was struggled over the muddy guitars. So I never really got into this album. It was never a grunge album but beyond a few releases in the early days, few bands pegged with the tag were. This was metal to me. Really good metal but not what I actively listened to. Black Hole and Fell On Days are both amazing songs but Spoonman is generic Soundgarden and could well be Jesus Christ Pose MKII.
This is a jam, but just a bit too long for me. Would have been better if it was more condensed.
Hard to believe the number of major hits this album produced. "Black Hole Sun", "Fell on Black Days", "My Wave", "Spoonman". All hugely overplayed everywhere. But somehow their heavy, base-laden, screamy-lyric sound just does not work for me. Hard to argue with their success or influence though. B-
Solid album. I don't have any nostalgia towards this album but I still very much enjoyed most of the songs.
Classic grunge album. Definitely super nostalgic to me. Black Hole Sun is just an absolute classic. The album maybe could've done with a bit of trimming down though if I'm being honest.
Great sound - beefy guitars and drums. Nicely layered. Interesting meters without sounding smart-arsed. Hard to fault.
Awesome grunge staple. Chris Cornell has one of the best voices ever. Soundgarden in underrated compared to their grunge peers in my opinion.
Je m'attendais pas à ca, mais j'aime ce groupe grunge/rock, ca me fait beaucoup penser à Pearl Jam des bouts et j'adore. 4.90
Soundgarden was always my favorite of the Seattle bands. They were at the core of the whole alternative scene, but they also were more “musical” than some of their peers. Soundgarden was a band that both alternative and metal fans could appreciate. They were the total package for this kind of music - grinding, searing, wailing guitars, a kickin' rhythm section, a vocalist who could do almost anything he wanted to with his voice. Dark, powerful songwriting that dealt with struggles of the mind and struggles of the spirit. Songs that rocked out heavily, but were still musically gorgeous. This album embodies all of that. The sound is rich, layered, sophisticated, surprisingly melodic. It’s really beautiful to listen to without sounding overly polished or losing a bit or the band’s fire. This is an album that grows on you with repeat listenings, as all great albums do. As I listen to Superunknown now, which I listened to a lot when it came out, I’m struck by how lyrically dark it really was. I mean, a lot of music was at the time, so I didn’t really think much about it then. It’s painful to listen to Chris Cornell’s lyrics now without thinking about where his story would end. Cornell was a once in a lifetime talent, and I miss him. Fave Songs: Fell on Black Days, My Wave, Black Hole Sun, 4th of July, The Day I Tried to Live, Let Me Drown, Spoonman, Like Suicide
If You Know Someone in Crisis Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls are confidential. RIP Chris
I thought this was a pretty average grunge album. It had some nice moments that I connected with, but overall I found it a little dull and repetitive.
I'm not sure I was ever a big fan of Soundgarden. Cornell's voice is awesome, but aside from Black Hole Sun and Spoonman, I'm not sure how much I like this.
Soundgarden is obviously really good. Just not exactly my flavor. Fell on Black Days and Black Hole Sun can't be skipped, though.
The older I get, the faster this style gets old when I give it a listen. It was key pop of my heyday as a creature of my culture, masquerading as something non-mainstream. Black Hole Sun is an amazing song though.
Black Hole Sun just sounds very different to the rest of the album. Every song is a rock marathon... Must have a guitar solo to make the song 6+ mins. The guitar work is pretty incredible, but just gets redundant when every song does it. I love the drummer as well.
Personalmente me caga Soundgarden y Black hole sun me tiene hasta la madre... Fuera de eso no es un mal disco. He dicho!
Grunge can be good but most of the time it just sounds like monotonous noise where all instruments and voice get lost in a jumble of sounds. The notable exception on this album being of course Black Hole Sun, where the musical arrangement is noticeably more "pop"
yeah, i mean...i was there for the 90s. this is about how grunge sounded back then. nothing special about it, though, is the thing. just...there.
Good album, just not what I was feeling at the time. I think 3/5 is a bit harsh, but here we are.
It's fine, I guess? I don't think it's a masterpiece or anything like some reviewers seem to think, but it's certainly listenable. Maybe you had to be there, I don't know.
Another album that was really much too long for my liking, I can only take about 45 minutes of the machine I’m supposed to be raging against
Disappointed, was expecting more tunes like Black Hole Sun but only a couple of decent tunes for me. 2* would be harsh however
02/08 - Yesterday I worked on finishing up detail development in the Drum Storage building and setting up an area 1 RCP for the manufacturing building. Although im not one for metal music, I thought Soundgarden was definitely an exception with there cross-over metal/alternative sound. I actually really enjoyed listening to this album and had it on repeat for about half the day. My favorite songs were Black Hole Sun and Spoonman.
I really don't love soundgarden but I fully get the appeal after listening to this album! It was interesting and it had a really cool perspective, so I liked it.
As much as I love Chris Cornelll and his voice, listening reminded me how bloated this album. Interspersed with some brilliant tracks is quite a lot of dull songs. Still enjoyable but way down the list of albums I’d recommend for someone wanting to listen to Cornell
Some amazing tracks (Blackhole Sun remains one of my all time favourites) however it's overly long and a bit one note.
Sans déconner rien ne ressort. C'est pas désagréable hein, mais c'est... standard. pas un seul titre ne m'est revenu. Mais ça s'écoute bien. 6?
I like Soundgarden, but except for the hit "Black hole sun", I think this is a pretty normal grunge album. Reading the Wikipedia article, I realize the importance of the album for Soundgarden history, but the songs themselves are fine and nothing more, nothing special.
I thought I would (and wanted to) enjoy this more than I did but most of the songs didn't really grab me. Will give it another listen.
Nice heavy crunchy riffs and Cornell’s vocals are solid but it’s very repetitive and very not a good Audioslave. There, I said it!
I guess I'd never listened to any sound garden as I did not know Cornell was the singer. I also didn't know that audioslave is most of ratm. So I learnt a lot?
You can't argue with the fact that Chris Cornell has an incredible voice. And a handful of these songs are really engaging. But goddam, Spoonman just wipes it all out for me. Maybe that's because of my initial reaction to the song when I first heard it, which was "Is he singing about a guy who plays the spoons?" And it turned out he was. And it just seems too ridiculous to me - the song is so heavy, but it's about a guy playing spoons. Maybe it was even more ridiculous back in 1994, when there was so much heavy, serious music going on. I just couldn't dig it. Black Hole Sun holds up pretty well, though.
OMG. Dit album begint wel heel erg als een dchreeuwerige schoolbandje. De volgende nummers zijn muzikaal best aardig, maar ik blijf me een beetje irriteren aan het schreeuwerige van de zanger. Ik vind het nummer "Fell On Black Days" leuk, maar "Kickstand" bevalt me net iets meer vanwege de energie.
Great classic grunge album, with the classic Black Hole Sun. Not my type of music, a bit long-winded and I'm not a fan of Chriss Cornell, but great album non the less
As much as I love Chris Cornelll and his voice, listening reminded me how bloated this album. Interspersed with some brilliant tracks is quite a lot of dull songs. Still enjoyable but way down the list of albums I’d recommend for someone wanting to listen to Cornell
Been a minute since I listened to this. Solid rock record through and through, with plenty of experimentation (off time shit, odd tunings) to keep things interesting. I dunno how much I care about Chris Cornell as a vocalist but the music’s cool.
This album was almost superunknown ;) to me before listening to it today. Only really knew Black Hole Sun and Fell On Black Days. Must say it was a good listen. Had to take breaks as it's tough to listen in full in one attempt but the quality of songs on here is great. Especially liked the singles as well as some album cuts including Limo Wreck and 4th of July.
I've never really listened to Soundgarden but have always wanted to so I was quite looking forward to this. Aside from a couple of great tracks, though, this just sounded fairly generic (except Cornell's vocals, of course)
Solid 90s rawk, not super grungy but has all the classic elements of heavy distortion riffs, tons of toms, vaguely poignant lyrics, rock screams (CC's are pretty great though), and music videos with creepy bugs and other weird shit for good measure.
I had only ever heard black hole sun, but there are some bangers on here. Good for getting stuff done - nice and rhythmic but dark too.
This album was Superunknown to me. It should remain so. Well produced, but super generic. Again, listened in the car. I don't think I finished the album, so may revisit in the future with a better listening environment, but didn't stir any emotions.
whelmed. not under, not over. just flat out whelmed. veers a bit close to the one hit wonder album, but it's an ok album if you removed the hit. just ok.
Nije loš album, ima dobrih stvari. Black Hole Sun mi je ono okej pjesma, ima puno boljih stvari realno, al mi je draga zbog onog jednog komentara, zna Ivan o čem pričam. Dobar grunge album, početak mog priznat da je dosta dobro starto, prvih pet pjesama su mi i najbolje. Ostatak je just fine.
I was kind of disappointed by this, Chris is obviously amazing but the rest of the band sounds in the pocket but kind of bored?
in general not what I'd typically listen to but still, some gorgeous songs on this album
Liked the vocals, I don't care much for grunge. Still some great parts. Had only heard Black Hole Sun before this and really enjoyed it. Favorite Songs: Black Hole Sun, The Day I Tried to Live, 4th of July.
This was good, but all I could think was audioslave is better, not sure I'd listen to again because of how much I prefer audioslave. Chris Cornell is a legend though RIP
Enjoyed the listen, bit came off as a little generic. It's possible they pioneered that sound though >_< ???
Soundgarden passed me by in the 90s. Quite enjoyed this and would have liked it more at the time. Dece t bit of grunge rock though.
A very average album that lacked any highlights and suffers from a long length and messy sounding production/recording
None of these grunge bands for me can compare to the songwriting of Nirvana. The guitars and vocals are great, but not a single song leaves an effect on me.
I can't really get behind this album. It's rock, and I suppose in some way it might be catchy to some, but there aren't a lot of songs I've heard that I think I should go back and listen to. It's a shame that Black Hole Sun is the one that gets all the airplay, as it's not the best song on the album. Perhaps the most Top40 radio appropriate I guess. Overall, better 90s rock bands if that's what you're craving. 3 stars - it's ok.
If Nirvana is grunge's Michael Jordan, Soundgarden is the genre's Karl Malone. Their music is decent enough, maybe a handful of their songs hold up, but nothing legendary. This is probably as good as it gets for Soundgarden. Chris Cornell fronted bands with awful names. I hope that didn't add to his depression.
not sure how to feel; i liked "black hole sun" (incidentally their most popular song on spotify yikes) but i felt really disconnected from this album.
A bit hard to get through tbh, I just couldn't get through it, none of the songs stuck out to me, it just all blended into this semi-angsty 90s alternative soup that was too sludgy to get through.
Tried the first few songs, but never really caught on. Never really liked soundgarden to begin with...
I know this is a critically acclaimed album but I just don't see the appeal. It's all just shouting and non-stop heavy guitar with no nuance. 2 stars.
I like the songs individually, but as a whole album it's a bit much for one go. Although good background music, to be fair
Good at what it did, and I can appreciate Chris Cornell's voice. But its just not a style of music that I want to listen to much.
Grunge really is not my style. The edgy screaming vocals, the droning guitars, the same drums and kicks, just don't speak to me at all. 2/5.
I was bored throughout. For me, the grunge sound is cool for a couple of hit songs, but after a while it gets tiresome. And this was 75 minutes long, so for a long time I found myself just waiting for it to end. Many of the songs were not interesting at all for me.
I only really knew the two biggies from this platter (which are right next to each other); and I'd still be comfortable with that fact had I swerved this album, because I found it boring. Cornell was a great vocalist, true, but so much relies on that preternatural holler; otherwise, the paint box is a bit monochrome. Songs slide into each other without any change in mood or intent - only the subtly shifting tempi offer a clue to the listener. Dull
Prior to listening this album, the only thing I knew about this band was that the lead singer passed away (RIP Chris Cornell). Some of the songs weren't too bad, but I wasn't a huge fan of this album. 2/5 stars.
From the first song this isn’t doing much for me. Too noisy/loud, not actually sonically interesting. Second song is better, but still not sold on it. By song four it’s growing on me but still would never choose to listen to it
I believe this was the first CD I ever bought. I haven't listened to this album in probably 20 years and expected to enjoy listening to this now more than I did. I guess my nostalgia for other bands of the era doesn't apply to Soundgarden.
Soundgarden's fourth album released in 1994 to critical & commercial success, and is considered their breakthrough album. The grunge/metal/rock album was supported by 5 singles, two of which won Grammy's, and the album is certified 5 times platinum. Soundgarden evolved their early metal/punk music into something more "poppy" & mainstream for this album and it paid off. The lyrics are dark, and the music is heavy, but catchy. This is a great album.
Grunge = Nirvana + a wave of brown, murky mediocrity. Soundgarden = an average pub band + smack.
Not a fan. I respect their place in Grunge story but beyond Nirvana that whole sound is just a bland heap of sameness for me. Last gasp of over-testosteroned, warbly rockers who grew up watching too many Whitesnake videos in the 80s.
I tried to listen to it all m, I really did but I got to Limo Wreck and realised I was never going to enjoy it. Black Hole Sun is the high point for me but it stands far above all the other tracks in the album. I’m not averse to grunge, I was heavily into Pearl Jam back in the day, but this was just one long interminable dirge to my ears.
I've got this on right now and my hopes that it will end before summer comes are fading fast. As I listen I've tried to put myself into a "rock fan's" shoes, thinking about what it is the they might like about it, to eek out as much "enjoyment" as I can. I suppose Cornell had a decent David Coverdale / Robert Plant holler if you like that sort of thing; it's a riffarama too, of course, though the guitar tone is often teeth-curlingly unpleasant; and it's dynamically arranged. I'm aware that this is seen as a classic of its genre and I've no doubt it has many fans on Now Playing but, screech and bray though old Chris might, it's been hard work for me. In its defence, it did become quite interesting when Head Down and then Black Hole Sun took a psychedelic detour - though the latter starts much better than it ends - but now it's back to identikit whinge-rock. Meanwhile, I'm considering stabbing a biro into my thigh.
It’s not that the members of Soundgarden aren’t talented. They clearly are. Chris Cornell has a powerful, passionate voice with an incredible range. And bassist Ben Shepherd, drummer Matt Cameron, and guitarist Kim Thayil can thrash away with the best of ‘em. But there’s three things about 'Superunknown' that just put my teeth on edge: 1) The recording of the drums, the snare, in particular, has a thuddy sound as if too much air has been left out of the balloon. And Cameron flails away on them too much, as well. Less is more, Matt. Listen and learn from Ringo Starr. 2) Kim Thayil’s guitar leads are all speed and no finesse, mostly absent of any melodic sensibility. And sometimes its as if he’s purposefully playing off-notes. Avant garde? Perhaps. But it’s not particularly pleasant to listen to. 3) The (mostly Cornell) lyrics are relentlessly depressing. Worse still, unequivocally life denying. My god, when a poor bird flew into Cornell’s window, injuring itself to the point where he put it out of its misery by smashing its head with a rock, the only wisdom he was able to glean from it and share on the final song was: ‘She lived like a murder. How she’d fly so sweetly. She lived like a murder. But she died just like suicide.’ Nearly half the song titles read like a cry for help: ‘Let Me Drown,’ Fell on Black Days,’ ‘Black Hole Sun,’ ‘Limo Wreck,’ ‘The Day I Tried to Live,’ ‘Like Suicide.’ And the heavy, heavy downward doom chord progression on songs like ‘Limo Wreck,’ for example, just accentuates these terribly bleak lyrics. Again, these fellas are talented… but desolate. When African American blues musicians speak of the value of their music, it’s often surprising to folks unfamiliar with the genre. The blues, they claim, are not intended to rub salt into an already open wound. On the contrary, the blues are about healing, an easing of the tension and anxiety that is the Black American experience, an expression of the hope and strength of voices who refused to be silenced by oppression. The purpose of the blues is to lift up the blue. This is very different from what’s going on both in the sharing and receiving of the songs on 'Superunknown.' And that’s what makes this recording a potentially dangerous and deadly LP in the wrong ears. It might have been interesting to engage Chris Cornell in a discussion about this, what value he thought his music might have on a fraying American culture. But, on May 18, 2017, at the age of 52, he killed himself by hanging.
I didn't get all that much from this, Black Hole Sun by far my favourite that has a different sound from their heavier stuff. To be fair there's only a handful of grunge bands I like
I came into this feeling like I kinda didn't like Soundgarden, but I was mostly basing this off of a dislike of Black Hole Sun. Besides, I've listened to some podcasts lately talk about what the music scene was like in their time—I was a little too young for them—and how influential they were, and I thought, okay, I'll give them a fair shake. For a little bit there, at the beginning, I thought maybe, just maybe, I was getting it. I thought, yes, this is emotional and strong and *I'm getting it*. ...Problem is, usually when you want to convey emotion, you have an emotion in mind. "Noise" is not an emotion; but eventually, I realized that's what I was being given. The rock was too aggressive to be melancholic, but not aggressive enough to be angry. It's right in a vague middle ground that says "I want to be heard but I don't actually have anything to say." So now I am, in fact, feeling an emotion, which is "pissed off at Soundgarden", because these angsty, entitled, self-indulgent creeps decided we needed to hear this whiny, single-note noise for over *an hour*? No. You're not as important as you think you are. Take your rambly 6-minute-long songs and get over yourselves. And stay out of my birthday, too. You picked the wrong day to mess with me.
That was refreshing to hear it after so many years... how I miss the '90s.
Fyeaah