Soundgarden - Superunknown (Review: Dan)

Like everyone else, I haven't finished last week's albums on time. Soundgarden was the one I wanted to listen to first but for reasons unknown it has taken me over the week-long limit to get round to it. Hopefully next week I will be up to date for the new albums.

So, Soundgarden. Soundgarden are a band that have a lot of intrigue surrounding them in my musical universe. Lead by Chris Cornell, one of my favourite vocalists, they are bound to give me some enjoyment. I hadn't even heard a lot from the band - just 'Spoonman' and 'Black Hole Sun'. And even this was down to the game Rock Band. In fairness, I had heard 'Black Hole Sun' previously, but I had never paid it it's deserved attention until I was forced to sing it.

Soundgarden were also to be my first real experience of 'grunge' music - a genre that I've never really understood. However, I feel that Superunknown has successfully cleared things up for me.

Superunknown kicks off with the impressive 'Let Me Drown'. Musically, it's very different to most of what I've listened to in the past, and I like it. Cornell showcases his vocals, which impress me as they always do.

I have to say though, I think that his vocal 'style' is a bit boring. By this, I mean that there appears to be no diversity in what he can do. He has a great voice, but I just get the impression that he doesnt like to explore with it. The vocals that he puts down on Superunknown sound, to me, very similar to what I hear on Audioslave and even what I have heard of his solo works. The first verse from 'Fell on Black Days' was where I really noticed this - I listened to this song all the way through from there absolutely convinced that I had heard it before on the album Audioslave.

Still, the music is something that I found refreshing and exciting, and it did help me enjoy the whole album a lot more, as it isn't filled with the same old Tom Morello solo (as much I think he is a sensational guitarist, there is only so much I can take of the noises he makes). It's a very slow paced album, I thought, but with a lot of power in it. I liked this, it made a really great listen.

I was also a bit disappointed that Black Hole Sun and Spoonman were probably my favourite two tracks on the record. This isn't to say that they aren't great tracks; they are. But it's always nice when there are one or two tracks that just jump out at you - they're something different, powerful and you can only sit back and appreciate it. Sadly this album just didn't have that.

There are a lot of great tracks on here, and it's a really good record but without any album-defining tracks it all seems the same to me. This is one that I'll be keeping in my collection though, as there are several tracks that I thoroughly enjoyed. I guess that really I was just hoping to see a different, more youthful side to Chris Cornell.
3/5.

Personal Highlights:
[3]Fell On Black Days
[4]Mailman
[7]Black Hole Sun
[8]Spoonman
[10]The Day I Tried To Live

Dan.