My Amazon Reviews: Soundgarden "Superunknown"

Super

5 Out of 5 Stars

Soundgarden hit their peak on 1994's "SuperUnknown." The powerful howl of Chris Cornell matched the tortured guitars of Kim Thayil song for song in what was, to my ears, the best hard rock of the 90's. The album also contains the band's sole hit, the psychedelic swirling bad trip of "Black Hole Sun." Mixed with the group's fascination with sludgy, Black Sabbath riffing and Led Zep kick, "SuperUnknown" became the band's magnum opus.

It's also a magnum bummer that manages to be cathartic. "I Know I'm headed for the bottom," snarls Cornell in "Mailman," "But I'm riding you all the way." Similar sentiments inhabit "Let Me Drown," "Like Suicide" and "Fell On Black Days." The speed/power of the title track and "Spoonman" balance things effectively, but it's still hard not to get sucked into the miasma of it all. Like both disease and cure, "SuperUnknown" keeps the fine line cuttingly sharp, and the band never managed to walk this tightrope again.