"Feel the Rythmn with your Hands....." (Superunknown - Soundgarden)

Member Name: alexlea88

Product:	Superunknown - Soundgarden
Date:	08/11/09 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simply put, the sound of a band at the top of their game

Disadvantages: A couple of songs stick out as not being up there with the vast majority

One of the first CDs I ever bought was the single of The Day I Tried to Live. I'm not sure how I heard it, probably on the ITV Chart Show on a Saturday morning (Christ we're going back a bit now). Anyway, one listen and I was hooked on Soundgarden.

I went out and bought Superunknown shortly afterwards and was totally blown away. I was already a fan of early nineties hard rock and had flirted with grunge in the shape of Nirvana, as had most of my friends, but Soundgarden, along with the Smashing Pumpkins offered something different. I think the best think I heard about Superunknown was that each song on the album had its own identity, but as a whole, the album was recognisable as the work of the same band. Maybe it's partly down to the individual song artwork on the inlay sleeve, but pretty much each song is amazing. Half and She Likes Surprises are the weakest of the bungs, but the album otherwise moves effortlessly from the up-tempo of My Wave and Let Me Drown to the grinding riffs of Limo Wreak and 4th of July, through the catchy Spoonman and Black Hole Sun and on the swirling, acoustic Like Suicide.

There's no getting away from the generally typical grungy misery, but it's done in such a well executed way, relying on quality lyrics and well thought out melodies to get the message across rather than playing on a blatantly negative sound like maybe Nirvana were guilty of at times.

The fact that it's still held in such high regard (albeit not widely known) even 15 years after its release is testimony of it's representation of a band in their pomp. Both earlier and later albums, although good in their own right, never quite managed to scale the highs reached by Superunknown. It should be on the 'must have' list of any rock fan.

Summary: A Rock and Roll Education