In light of the Black Hole Sun photograph, it feels fitting for Yea Forums to finally give the definitive take on this album
>How does it rank among rock albums or albums of the grunge era?
>What are its best songs?
>How was the songwriting and performances?
>How was the production?
>Does it work as a piece of art and making its statement?
For me, this is a five-star album. Soundgarden's finest hour, and among the top 3 rock albums of the 90's, this album successfully and artfully combines Soundgarden's Sabbath-leaning metallic inclinations with muscular, straightforward rock and psychedelic pop. Dark themes and imagery soak this record, but eschews macho bravado for wounded despair, especially evoked by Chris Cornell's wretched wail. Boosted by exceptional production that gives the band an epic sense of size and space, the songwriting on this album is the finest the band ever penned, with tracks ranging from muscular and kinetic tracks like Let Me Drown and Spoonman, sludgy and foreboding tracks like 4th of July and Limo Wreck, artful pop in Black Hole Sun and Fell on Black Days, and epic existentia in the title track and Like Suicide. Probably underrated in 2019 due to its now passe instrumentation, a seriously impressive album deserving of a listen by listeners of rock, metal, or even those who just like dark and alternative music.
Top tracks: >Let Me Drown >Black Hole Sun >Like Suicide
It's actually a pretty great album. Might become Yea Forumscore.
Caleb Moore
fantastic album, been listening to it ever since my dad played it for me as a kid. Really I like every song on the album except for half, but the standouts are Spoonman, Let Me Drown, Black Hole Sun and 4th of July. I think it's a masterpiece but I prefer Badmotorfinger most of the time.
Eli Davis
Some of the tracks on Badmotorfinger are so good. I can't imagine how good tracks like Outshined or Jesus Christ Pose would sound Badmotorfinger had the production quality of Superunknown.
Daniel Carter
underrated desu senpai sucks that Nirvana gets all the focus for grunge music
Easton Jenkins
I think the gritty unpolished quality of those tracks kind of works with the style of the album though
Isaac Price
based album desu
Dominic Myers
i dont eben care if this is guerilla marketing by the cornell estate this album rips
Angel Diaz
this desu. I prefer Superunkown, but wonder if I'd prefer Badmotorfinger if the production wasn't so awful. I seriously can't listen to that album these days - the compression makes it sound lifeless and gives me a headache
Evan Hall
good af when drunk
Jayden Reyes
Childhood is thinking Badmotorfinger or Superunknown are the best Soundgarden albums.
Not quite on the level of Nevermind, Siamese Dream or In Utero from that era but still a great album and definitely one of the best from around then.
It's bookended by a brilliant opener and a brilliant closer, and especially in retrospect, the latter is incredibly feelsy. Black Hole Sun and Spoonman are both great, but it's one of those albums where most of the other songs are better than the singles.
The Day I Tried To Live, Like Suicide, Fresh Tendrils and Let Me Drown are the standout songs.
Kayden Myers
The fake photo?
Grayson Roberts
SO GIVE UP TO GREED, YOU DON'T HAVE TO FEED ME
Leo Nguyen
Kim Thayill is pretty talented for a pooinloo.
Adrian Cooper
Im saving this thread because its the only thread on Yea Forums that actually attempts to review music
Joshua Nguyen
formerly gruck and fuck
Brandon Cox
It's a fuckin' 10 bros. Might be the best straight forward rock record I've ever heard. There is not one blemish on this entire thing. Not one. If I had to pick a least favorite track, I guess it wouldn't be Kickstand. But I still don't dislike it. Limo Wreck has gotta be my favorite. Easily the best album to come out of the Seattle scene of the 90's.
>How does it rank among rock albums or albums of the grunge era? It's generally seen as Soundgarden's magnum opus. But I will never rank the albums of the big four (+STP). Everything they put out during the 90's is a 10/10 for me.
Day I tried to Live, BHS, or 4th of July for me. Like Suicide is a close second. Same with Limo Wreck and Fresh Tendrils.
Why does everyone hate on Half? I think it's a pretty ingenious and creative little tune
Lucas Morgan
based
Bentley Gonzalez
In the context of the album its fun and a nice little break, on its own its kinda weak
How the fuck did they do that clanky, high bass on Fresh Tendrils? Sounds so fuckin slick
Carson Morgan
There were only a few albums of alt rock or 90s rock that really lived up to the 70s rock legacy. This one did.
Xavier Campbell
I'm listening again to grunge and industrial, and Soundgarden along with Nine Inch Nails are a fresh air in this era and age of music. So much raw material, yet polished in a way people could still listen to Closer, or Black Hole Sun on MTV and consider it a hit
I miss music and bands like these
Samuel Gomez
In terms of grunge albums I personally prefer Dirt, but Superunknown is a close second.
I always flip flop between The Day I Tried to Live and Fell On Black Days as my favorite. Like Suicide would round out my top 3.
Austin Cruz
it's got some bangers for sure, but i wouldn't rank it any higher than Ten or Dirt as far as quintessential grunge albums go. beats the shit out of Nevermind though.
Leo Evans
Man, a Cornell / Reznor collaboration would have been so fucking good
Not that unlikely either, they were touring together later in life (along with Death Grips, before Death Grips bailed on touring and their label for no reason after NLDW) so there was clearly some affinity for each other
Not in their prime unfortunately, but that would have been incredible. Much better than the Audioslave meme (though I must confess some good stuff came out of that, even if it was a step down from SG and RATM)
