My Amazon Reviews: Soundgarden "Telephantasm"

Minor Harvest
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The second "best of" release from Soundgarden was meant to correspond to a version of Guitar Hero. While the earlier "A-Sides" is a beefier collection, this CD pares down to 12 songs. Of course, you can splurge and jump up to the double disc that has live versions and B-sides. However, Soundgarden is a decent collection of one of the most influential of the Seattle bands, along with Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

Soundgarden mixed the sludgy hard riffs of Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin with the attitude of the Grunge period. Lead singer Chris Cornell is a world class frontman, whose vocal style ranged from a screaming wail to hushed psychedelia. Kim Thyall remains a terrific guitarist, with versatility that grew the longer the band existed. Soundgarden also followed the classic career arc; really good rock band starts indie (the Sub-Pop single, "Hunted Down"), start finding their chemistry ("Hands All Over" from "Louder Than Love") gel completely (the incredible "Rusty Cage" from "Bad Motor Finger") and then cut a classic for the ages (all the cuts from "Superunknown"). Then they begin to unravel (still great "Blow Up The Outside World") as they cut the swansong album. But they still cut three great hard rock albums, and one world class single/video in the swirling drone of "Black Hole Sun."

There are two bonus reasons to have "Telephantasm." "Birth Ritual" from the movie "Singles" is included, and the new song that brought Soundgarden to reunion, "Black Rain," is better than expected. Granted, a copy of "A-Sides" and "Superunknown" is likely all the Soundgarden you'll probably ever need, but for a best of, this single disc does the job.

    

My Amazon Reviews: Pearl Jam "Ten"

Once Upon a Ten
5 Out of 5 Stars

Pearl Jam's debut album, "Ten," helped to upend the state of American Rock and Roll. Coming off the remnants of several other noteworthy bands (most of all, Mother Love Bone) and recruited San Diegian singer Eddie Vedder, "Ten" stripped the fluff and posturing away from late 80's hair-metal and scraped it down to primal guitar and deep angst. Vedder gave this perfect voice, and guitarist Mike McCready stayed more inside the classic rock manual when it came time for guitar leads.

The result was an a album that resonated both the current rock lovers and the grunge crowd that was lusting for anything that gave of something that resembled Nirvana's grunge vibe. "Evenflow," "Alive," "Jeremy" and "Black" soon became established on radio and MTV, and the rest,as is often said, is history. That established, the most exciting thing about this deluxe remaster is the obvious care the band, producer Rick Parashar, bonus disc remixer Brendan O'Brien and other contributors put into this edition. The original album sounds as blistering as it always did, and the second disc rethinks the original while losing none of the impact. O'Brien reins in the echo/reverb, pushes Vedder more to the fore and makes things a bit cleaner. Disc one is like getting caught in a ravaging sandstorm, the remix is like getting a sand blaster applied in a precise location. Either way, you're getting pounded and laid bare.

The DVD is the MTV Unplugged performance of March 1992 (roughly when "Ten" was beginning to peak), and captures the band in all its anti-swagger glory. The DVD is also devoid of clutter and scraps, making it a more valuable watch. The scraps are in the main packaging, with articles about Mookie Blaylock (Pearl Jam's original name), lots of pictures, posters, passes, and plenty of Vedder's surprisingly good sketches. The deluxe version of "Ten" is exactly how a re-issue should be done; no waste and plenty of value, respectful to both fan and band.

 

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.