Soundgarden was a band that was literally years ahead of its time -- they were doing the grunge thing YEARS before bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam hit the scene. In fact, it always takes me five or six years to get into their albums after they release them.... Several years after the band broke up, lead singer Chris Cornell teamed up with three former members of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave.

"Screaming Life/Fopp"

1. "Hunted Down" (2:42)
2. "Entering" (4:37)
3. "Tears to Forget" (2:00)
4. "Nothing to Say" (4:00)
5. "Little Joe" (4:31)
6. "Hand of God" (4:26)
7. "Kingdom of Come" (2:35)
8. "Swallow My Pride" (2:18)
9. "Fopp" (3:37)
10. "Fopp (dub)" (6:26)

A compilation of 2 early, obscure EP's the band did. Not sure if they preceded their first full-length album or not. Can't remember much about the music except that it's pretty trippy.

"Ultramega OK"

1. "Flower" (3:25)
2. "All Your Lies" (3:51)
3. "665"--instrumental (1:37)
4. "Beyond the Wheel" (4:20)
5. "667"--instrumental (0:56)
6. "Mood for Trouble" (4:21)
7. "Circle of Power" (2:05)
8. "He Didn't" (2:47)
9. "Smokestack Lightning" (5:07)
10. "Nazi Driver" (3:52)
11. "Head Injury" (2:22)
12. "Incessant Mace" (6:22)
13. "One Minute of Silence" (1:00)

Yes, it's really Chris Cornell singing on this album, even though it doesn't sound ANYTHING like him.... "Flower" and "Beyond the Wheel" established the sound they would make famous later; other songs, especially "Circle of Power" and "Smokestack Lightning", are played in an intense punk/hardcore vein. Overall, this album SOUNDS underground!

"Flower" (single)

1. "Flower" (3:25)
2. "Head Injury" (2:22)
3. "Toy Box" (5:39)

Just a CD single with an unrelased song ("Toy Box"). Nothing special...hell, it isn't even that rare.

"Louder than Love"

1. "Ugly Truth" (5:26)
2. "Hands All Over" (6:00)
3. "Gun" (4:42)
4. "Power Trip" (4:09)
5. "Get on the Snake" (3:44)
6. "Full On Kevin's Mom" (3:37)
7. "Loud Love" (4:57)
8. "I Awake" (4:21)
9. "No Wrong No Right" (4:47)
10. "Uncovered" (4:30)
11. "Big Dumb Sex" (4:11)
12. "Full On (reprise)" (2:42)

This was the first Soundgarden album I ever heard, and though I was intrigued by it at first, it took me a few years to really get into it, as usual. The songs "Hands All Over" and "Loud Love" have tremendous psychedelic power, and the heavy, pounding lyrics of "Big Dumb Sex" are simply classic: "I wanna FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK you!!!" (That part of the song was covered by Guns'N'Roses, on their Spaghetti Incident CD.) Oh yeah, I'd be remiss not to point out that Chris Cornell did the Temple of the Dog project sometime around this time...

Oh yeah, I also saw a promo single for "Hands All Over" which included a cover of the Beatles song "Come Together", and I'm kicking myself because I've yet to find that song on ANY other release yet! (Other non-album songs which I *have* located are "Birth Ritual" from Singles, and "Sub Pop Rock City" from Sub Pop 200.)

"Badmotorfinger/SOMMS"

Ahh...now this is THE classic Soundgarden album. The trilling guitar riffs of "Rusty Cage", the slow and pondering rhythm of "Slaves & Bulldozers", the psychedelic bombast of "Jesus Christ Pose", the anthemic dirge of "Mind Riot"...not a single weak song here! And to make it even sweeter, I found the INCREDIBLY RARE, OUT OF PRINT version which includes the bonus CD "SOMMS", featuring a trippy version of Black Sabbath's "Into the Void" with new lyrics (a poem written by this Indian guy named "Sealth", apparently.) In fact, the Badmotorfinger CD was totally scratched to hell, but I just replaced it with the copy I already owned...big deal, who's gonna notice? "Girl U Want" was originally done by Devo, in case you didn't know that...

Incidentally, "SOMMS" stands for "Satan Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas." Yes, that's a palindrome. :)

"Superunknown"

1. "Let Me Drown" (3:50)
2. "My Wave" (5:11)
3. "Fell on Black Days" (4:41)
4. "Mailman" (4:25)
5. "Superunknown" (5:06)
6. "Head Down" (6:08)
7. "Black Hole Sun" (5:17)
8. "Spoonman" (4:06)
9. "Limo Wreck" (5:47)
10. "The Day I Tried to Live" (5:19)
11. "Kickstand" (1:33)
12. "Fresh Tendrils" (4:15)
13. "4th of July" (5:08)
14. "Half" (2:14)
15. "Like Suicide" (7:01)

Another great album, although it took me a few years to truly appreciate it (as always...) "My Wave" is one of my all-time favorites, and "The Day I Tried to Live" is also particularly anthemic. This album's great to listen to while stoned off your ass...

"Spoonman" (single)

1. "Spoonman" (4:07)
2. "Fresh Tendrils" (4:16)
3. "Cold Bitch" (5:01)
4. "Exit Stonehenge" (1:19)

Another CD single with a couple unreleased songs...can't recall if I've even listened to this one.

"Songs from the Superunknown" (promo EP)

1. "Superunknown"--LP version (5:06)
2. "Fell on Black Days"--video version (5:26)
3. "She Likes Surprises"--international LP version (3:17)
4. "Like Suicide"--acoustic version (6:11)
5. "Jerry Garcia's Finger"--instrumental (4:00)

Promo CD with a few remixed songs (yes, "Fell on Black Days" is the MTv version with that hideous new guitar riff.)

"Down on the Upside"

1. "Pretty Noose" (4:12)
2. "Rhinosaur" (3:14)
3. "Zero Chance" (4:18)
4. "Dusty" (4:34)
5. "Ty Cobb" (3:05)
6. "Blow Up the Outside World" (5:46)
7. "Burden in My Hand" (4:50)
8. "Never Named" (2:28)
9. "Applebite" (5:10)
10. "Never the Machine Forever" (3:36)
11. "Tighter & Tighter" (6:06)
12. "No Attention" (4:27)
13. "Switch Opens" (3:53)
14. "Overfloater" (5:09)
15. "An Unkind" (2:08)
16. "Boot Camp" (2:59)

Well, this turned out to be Soundgarden's final album...ironically, I warmed to it immediately, instead of taking several years like I usually do, so maybe that was a warning sign that they were losing their edge? True, it DOES sound a lot like Superunknown...

"A-Sides" (compilation)

1. "Nothing to Say" (3:56)
2. "Flower" (3:25)
3. "Loud Love" (4:57)
4. "Hands All Over" (6:00)
5. "Get on the Snake" (3:44)
6. "Jesus Christ Pose" (5:51)
7. "Outshined" (5:11)
8. "Rusty Cage" (4:26)
9. "Spoonman" (4:06)
10. "The Day I Tried to Live" (5:19)
11. "Black Hole Sun" (5:18)
12. "Fell on Black Days" (4:42)
13. "Pretty Noose" (4:12)
14. "Burden in My Hand" (4:50)
15. "Blow Up the Outside World" (5:46)
16. "Ty Cobb" (3:05)
17. "Bleed Together" (3:54)

I know I've said this before, but it REALLY annoys me when greedy record companines release greatest-hits albums with one unreleased song...in this case, though, "Bleed Together" is a winner, and worth getting the album for it. And hell, Soundgarden's one of those rare bands where their "greatest hits" really ARE their best songs...

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