Soundgarden enters the countdown as the second band from Washington, just five spots above fellow state residents Queensrÿche. They are generally considered among the grunge movement's founding fathers, and while there may be some truth to that, I think it's at least as much to do with their relationship with other Seattle-area bands and entrance to the scene on Sub Pop Records as with their musical style, which in my opinion could just as easily be described as heavy metal - perhaps with progressive and/or doom leanings. Their debt to 70's metal juggernaut Black Sabbath is certainly discernible and difficult to refute, although their punk origins are as well. Like other area bands of the time, they eschewed flashy guitar solos in favor of a rawer sound. But Soundgarden also favored downtuned guitars, odd meters, heavy drums and more vociferous lyrical content and delivery than their compatriots.
To me, 1991's Badmotorfinger came out of nowhere, like a lot of the Seattle output around that time. I had never heard of Soundgarden, and suddenly they (although less-so than Nirvana and Pearl Jam) were all over the place. I was working in a record store at the time, and picked it up after hearing the below single, "Outshined". The bulk of the song is super heavy... it sounds like it's tuned down about a fifth and the bass drum on the kit sounds enormous - powerful and sinister. It opens with the main riff in 7 and goes straight into the verse over it. Vocalist Chris Cornell really sounded unlike anyone else, and in a good way. After two verses, we hear a bridge to the chorus at 1:19, which is over an equally heavy slow 4-feel and ends with a cool hemiola-backed repetition of the song title back into the main 7-beat riff. The form to this point repeats a second time, after which an unexpected groovy, softer interlude at 3:31 leads back into one more statement of the chorus (with an extra-tasty surprise extension at 4:41) and out. Hard to believe it's been 23 years since "Outshined" came out. To me, Badmotorfinger and 1994's Superunknown stand the test of time and remain excellent albums, classics, all these years later.
To me, 1991's Badmotorfinger came out of nowhere, like a lot of the Seattle output around that time. I had never heard of Soundgarden, and suddenly they (although less-so than Nirvana and Pearl Jam) were all over the place. I was working in a record store at the time, and picked it up after hearing the below single, "Outshined". The bulk of the song is super heavy... it sounds like it's tuned down about a fifth and the bass drum on the kit sounds enormous - powerful and sinister. It opens with the main riff in 7 and goes straight into the verse over it. Vocalist Chris Cornell really sounded unlike anyone else, and in a good way. After two verses, we hear a bridge to the chorus at 1:19, which is over an equally heavy slow 4-feel and ends with a cool hemiola-backed repetition of the song title back into the main 7-beat riff. The form to this point repeats a second time, after which an unexpected groovy, softer interlude at 3:31 leads back into one more statement of the chorus (with an extra-tasty surprise extension at 4:41) and out. Hard to believe it's been 23 years since "Outshined" came out. To me, Badmotorfinger and 1994's Superunknown stand the test of time and remain excellent albums, classics, all these years later.
