First it steals your mind and then it steals your... your POLL: SUPERUNKNOWN

This is my favorite rock lp. Probably my favorite drumming on a rock record too.

Love how how his vocals go past red on Mailman when he sings "RIDIIIIING", like they just cranked it over the top to give it that hair-splitting crackly edge.

Def Cornell's best vocals on this album.

"but it also sounded really muddy"

Nah, this has always been my go to record for testing speakers/headphones. Its exactly how I want my big budget rock records to sound. For how much is going on underneath, there is plenty if distinction and space imo. The vocals aren't overly prominent, which was probably hard as Cornell was at his peak. Badmotorfinger sounds really tinny though, could stand a re-master.

xp

His vocals are perfect. Not many that could/can do the things he does on this record. Hard to even pick like one song that stands above another, as far as vocals go.

some dude otm in this thread, even down to his love for Fresh Tendrils. Love the intro on that, and the coda, and the bass, and that little horn stab when it kicks back in after the breakdown.

So many details on this album, I still get genuine excitement when I settle down to listen to it.

"fresh tendrils" is my favorite soundgarden song. it's so knotted up in itself you can lose track of it.

Ya it starts like its just gonna be this simple kick/snare/riff/bass thing but then it just kind of goes off in all these tangents and rhythm switches. Kind of teases at a major guitar solo at the end too.

Yeah, it's like the definitive deep cut, really great getting to know it slowly. Love the "If-it-sits-upon-your-tongue" part.

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

this thread has inspired me to crank superunknown on the way to work this morning. no big deal, i do this every couple of weeks or so anyway tbh.

my place was beneath you, but now i am above.

think day i tried to live might have nudged ahead of head down and limo wreck these days

spoonmaayuunnnnn

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

Mailman and Limo Wreck are so massively heavy

4th Of July achieves supreme heaviosity too.

Yeah those octaved vocals are a great touch

Limo Wreck was the jam in summer 94

4th Of July achieves supreme heaviosity too.

― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:27 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah those octaved vocals are a great touch

― Neanderthal, Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:29 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM!

the guitars on 4th of july sound like they've been steeped in a bbq smoker for several weeks

Also OTM

This album is so well sequenced.

Choosing a favourite track on this is difficult, today I would have chosen 'My Wave'... could be different if you asked me tomorrow, though.

My Wave is a rhythmic delight. they should use it in high school music classes.

Absolutely! Not just the 5/4 verses, but that little breakdown section after the first chorus. Wonderful stuff.

yeah, it's kind of fun remembering this was a 'hit' on modern rock radio (at least in my town) for a while in the early 90s. granted, nowhere near played as much as Spoonman or Black Hole Sun, but it was cool hearing a song this off-kilter on the radio.

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

The first dude I ever crushed on could play "Fell On Black Days" perfectly. Sigh.

that and Spoonman were some of the earliest songs I learned on guitar

honestly that album is a helluva lotta fun for a home rhythm guitarist.

oh god there's a cankles post from another thread that i am so tempted to post right now xp

hah just caught this thread and immediately played 4th of July on Spotify

"just caught this thread revive ahem...."

otm, perfect timing for another listen, been a couple months.

I love the licks in the title track.

Deluxe edition!

when the main riff returns in the middle of "Fresh Tendrils" I can practically hear the arena crowds cheering.

looking forward to combing through the bonus tracks and seeing if there's anything interesting or fun in there. wish i could catch one of the shows where they're playing the album.

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994. Music hasn't really changed too much in the last 20 years, other than technologies and distribution.

well Cornell's hair

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994 but Soundgarden made an amazing album that was basically grunge Zep.

yes!! fresh fucking tendrils!!

― forkshighwaytopoopon (some dude), Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, June 30, 2013 5:58 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, July 2, 2013 9:29 AM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's crazy when you think about how much music changed between 1974 and 1994 but Soundgarden made an amazing album that was basically grunge Zep.
--some dude

by 1994 the Beatles influence is starting to creep in

fresh tendrils you might say

i still find it so hard to hear this as music, like it short-circuits and i just hear 1994+ on endless repeat. for thayil's riff monster reputation a lot of the guitar parts are surprisingly thin! but the writing and the giant space-filling drums and vox make it so you don't even really focus on exactly what the guitars are doing.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/soundgarden-dive-back-into-superunknown-with-aggressive-new-york-gig-20140603

someone tell me if the bonus tracks on this are worth the investment - it is hells of expensive!

i think head down is my favourite track on this now - that fusion of androgyny and heaviness is just heaven

yeah "Head Down" is amazing. Ben Shepherd-written songs always showed a really interesting side of the band.

The vocal production on Head Down is extremely inventive, the way you don't get a hint of the Cornell roar till it comes in as backing vox in the last verse.