
Badmotorfinger (1991)
Soundgarden
This is my good eye... The Devil says...
Soundgarden. The name conjures up many images. Most of these, thankfully, are good. Coming from Seattle during the late eighties, the band distinguished itself as one of intensity, anger, and, above all, pure rock. Including metal and more tribal influences, the band achieved commercial success during the 1990s after larger grunge acts like Pearl Jam and Nirvana became more popular. They are hailed as one of the "Big Four" of grunge, along with the two mentioned above and Alice In Chains. Their 1991 release, Badmotorfinger, illustrated not only their technical ability and songwriting prowess, but also helped pave the way for the grunge movement of the 1990s. This band also includes who I consider to be one of the greatest vocalists of all time, Chris Cornell. Regardless of the questionable content of some of his more recent solo work, the fact remains that he is one of the most impressive singers of all time. And this is a time when his voice was fresh. So prepare to be run-over. There's no avoiding this one.
The album kicks off with "Rusty Cage." One thing that immediately strikes the listener is the sheer pace of this band. Almost sacrificing chorus, verse, bridge, etc., the band instead runs through this first song like it was being chased by a runaway train. Moving beyond this opener to the second track, "Outshined," you begin to paint a picture of the voice of this band: the Immortal Chris Cornell. Using his five octave vocal range to outstanding effect, Chris belts out lyrics that illustrate the dark, grungy themes that were mainly the bands subject matter. And then it stops. The listener is instantly thrown into the dark groove of "Slaves and Bulldozers." Rhythm abounds as the band jams on a very slow groove for about seven minutes of sludgy guitars, and clear, crisp vocals. One almost instantly notices the rhythm section in this song: Matt Cameron on drums and Ben Sheppard on bass. Tightly winding the song together with a strong sense of flow, they drive this song forward, while Cornell's vocals soar high above. And then the guitar crunches in and out of the listeners attention with loud feedback and extensive riffing. Whereas Kim Thayil, the lead guitarist for Soundgarden, (rhythm guitar being provided by Chris Cornell) does some amazing solos, his groove with the rhythm section is incredible in this song. Then the listener is thrown into the pounding drums and terrifying feedback of "Jesus Christ Pose" and the band begins to sprint again. Words can't describe the pace of this song... It's wondrous to behold. Matt Cameron proves that he truly is one of the greatest modern drummers. In the interest of the rest of the review, I'll move on. The rest of the songs carry an incredible pace; this album never slows down from "Jesus Christ Pose" on. All fast. All grungy. All pissed. If an album could cause a CD player to throw off sparks, it would be this one.
One thing that keeps this album from being perfect is the originality. While good and creative in it's own right, it does sound very similar to the sound of the other bands of their area and time period. This album is much less creative than their later effort (Superunknown) and has much less variety overall. Not that this has to be a negative point. But comparatively, it just leaves something to be desired.
Overall, I'd say that this is one of Soundgarden's finest works (the other being Superunknown.) If you feel like popping in an album that kicks ass and takes names, you could do a lot worse than this one.
9.5/10
Nice job, though to me, it doesn't really read like a 9.5. Maybe that's just me. I haven't heard it so I can't judge.
ReplyDeleteKinda didn't wanna spoil everything, so I went through the first 4 tracks and described them. Judgement call, I guess.
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