Soundgarden

The performance, and even raison d'être, of most so called supergroups has always been questionable but back in 1991 Temple Of The Dog bucked the trend with their one and only album. Whilst the motives surrounding the formation of groups such as Asia, The Travelling Wilburys, Atoms For Peace and Them Crooked Vultures etc may have been sincere musical ventures, it remains that without exception they all amount to far less than the sum of their incredible parts would suggest. Temple Of The Dog however, a group conceived out of grief, are a one off oddity that managed to form, unite over a common purpose and deliver a great album as a consequence. 

The eponymous debut album by Temple Of The Dog was a curiosity even back when it was released, and to this day remains one of the more interesting Rock collaborations just waiting to be discovered by the uninitiated. The ten track record is a tribute album that is both fitting and fantastic, never mawkish and entirely sincere and honest. After the tragic death of Mother Love Bone lead singer Andrew Wood from a heroin overdose, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell was inspired to float the idea of recording new material with members of Mother Love Bone. The material Cornell had written formed the basis for the Temple Of The Dog record with Chris Cornell recording with MLB members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. The lineup of the new band was then substantially increased still further with the addition of singer Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready and drummer, Matt Cameron. 

Continue reading: Album Of The Week: The 30th Anniversary Of Temple Of The Dog By Temple Of The Dog.

Throughout music's history regardless of genre, an immensely small number of names have managed to immortalise themselves with iconic songs. Fewer names still have earned an eternal fanbase thanks to an entire record and the band's that do are now hailed as some of the greatest musicians of all time. Bands such as The Beatles, Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, The Prodigy, Metallica and others have stayed in peoples minds and playlists long after their prime thanks to creating timeless records.

But a band's breakthrough, landmark and iconic record isn't always their best album. In some rare cases, a megastar band will release a record that fails to outshine their other albums, despite being undisputedly superior. This article will comb through the discography of several 'legacy' bands and identify the most underrated and overlooked records they ever released.

Dire Straits - Making Movies

Continue reading: Ten Underrated Rock Albums By Iconic Artists

With the first anniversary of the tragic death of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, fellow rockers Alice In Chains decided to pay tribute to the late frontman with two covers performed at Rock On The Range festival last week. Indeed, it was a moving moment for the many Soundgarden fans in the crowd.

 Alice in Chains at Download

The grunge group played Soundgarden's 1987 debut single 'Hunted Down' and 'Boot Camp' from 1996's 'Down on the Upside' at the event in Columbus, Ohio on Friday (May 18th 2018), exactly one year after Chris committed suicide in the bathroom of his Detroit hotel room. 

Continue reading: Alice In Chains Remember Chris Cornell With Moving Soundgarden Covers

With 2017 comes another painful loss of a great musician. Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell has tragically passed away, leaving behind a grunge legacy that will last for generations to come. Soundgarden was one of the most loved bands of the 90s, and here are ten tracks that prove just why that was.

Soundgarden's 10 best songs

1. Black Hole Sun - Their first number one on the US Mainstream Rock chart and the song that won them won of their two Grammys, for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995. It was from their hit fourth album 'Superunknown' and is now arguably their most famous song. Chris Cornell previously said that he wrote it in 15 minutes, not thinking that anyone would be interested. It sure showed him!

Continue reading: The Ten Soundgarden Songs You Need In Your Life

Nile Rodgers was working on music with Chris Cornell before he passed away.

The Chic legend has paid tribute to his close friend after learning the 52-year-old rock star had suddenly died on Wednesday (17.05.17), hours after he performed with his band Soundgarden in Detroit, Michigan, and said while they had a great musical bond, the 'Black Hole Sun' hitmaker was more than just his collaborator as they shared a very ''personal'' relationship.

Speaking to BANG Showbiz about the sad news at the 62nd Ivor Novello Awards - sponsored by PRS for Music and BASCA - at London's Grosvenor House on Thursday (18.05.17), Nile said: ''Our friendship was based on mutual respect of our musicianship, but we were actually friends. Sure I would go to his concerts but we used to spend a lot of time together hanging out together in restaurants, talking about the state of the world, clothing, music, what's your favourite movie. We were much more friends as regular people than we were musical colleagues.''

Continue reading: Nile Rodgers Was Making Music With Chris Cornell

There's tragedy for the music industry as it's announced that grunge legend Chris Cornell has passed away suddenly at the age of 52 while on tour this week. The cause of death is yet to be announced, but it was most certainly an unexpected and harrowing turn of events.

Chris Cornell performing in Manchester in 2016

The former frontman of seminal Seattle grunge band Soundgarden died yesterday (May 17th 2017) while in Detroit following a show at the Fox Theatre. The band were due to perform at Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio tomorrow night (May 19th) and they had a string of other North American dates with the last being Rocklahoma Festival on May 27th.

Continue reading: Chris Cornell Remembered: Soundgarden Legend Dies Suddenly In Detroit

A 25th anniversary edition of Seattle supergroup Temple Of The Dog's self-titled debut album has been released today (September 30th 2016). The new collection pays tribute to their 1991 album, which also happens to be the only album they ever released. They are also due to tour the US this Fall.

Temple Of The Dog re-release their first album

Re-visit grunge masterpiece 'Temple Of The Dog' this year as the band of the same name celebrate their work 25 years later. The band is a collaboration between Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready (and, occasionally, Eddie Vedder) from Pearl Jam. The group also included drummer Matt Cameron, who's known for playing in both bands. The new version of the record has been mixed by Grammy winning producer Brendan O'Brien, who has also worked with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam in the past. 

Continue reading: Soundgarden And Pearl Jam Supergroup Temple Of The Dog Celebrate 25th Anniversary With Re-release

Nirvana remains to be one of the best things to come out of Seattle

Seattle has one of the most legendary music scenes in America so it's only right that we delve into their record collection as Budweiser Made in America festival quickly approaches.

Budweiser Made in America is all for musical diversity, celebrating the different subcultures of sound in all cities be it the country twang of Nashville, the superstar pop of LA or the Motown domination of Detroit. That's why Budweiser have put their heads together to release this series of nationwide music documentaries ahead of the festival, to cement that important ideology of variation and musical freedom.

Continue reading: The Sound Of Seattle: Budweiser Made In America See How Music Has Changed In The Noisy City

Soundgarden will perform their classic album 'Superunknown' in its entirety at the iTunes Festival at South by Southwest next week. To celebrate the record's 20th anniversary, the band will take to the stage at the Moody Theater on Thursday March 13 in an event streamed live via the iTunes store.

Soundgarden are heading to the South By Southwest Festival

The announcement comes after A&M Records and Universal Music Enterprises announced plans for a reissue of 'Superunknown' to hit shelves on June 3. A 2-disc deluxe edition will feature the remaster and 16 demos, rehearsals and b-sides - 10 of which have never been released before.

Continue reading: Soundgarden To Perform Seattle Grunge Classic 'Superunknown' At SXSW

Soundgarden broke up before the Millennium even hit, and while the world has changed dramatically, in reuniting for the brand new album King Animal; Soundgarden really haven't. King Animal is a classic rock album and despite not having deviated much from their '90s form, it still sounds relevant. 

The band spoke to Rolling Stone about reuniting, their past and their future. Front man Chris Cornell agrees that the music they're making is worth while for the contemporary audience. "After 15 years, we can reassemble and again prove that we are a vital band that has something to say about rock music that other people don't and we deserve to be making music that's heard on an international stage," he said. Of course, to be found on an international stage after a 15 year hiatus, you've got to have some loyal fans, and that they do. Cornell, in fact, gives their music to the fans. "The interpretations belong to the people who listen to them. The fans own the records and listen to them and love them. It becomes the soundtrack to some part of their lives and we don't control that." He said, "To me that's what's exciting about what we do. You create this little Frankenstein monster of a song or an album and then it wanders off around the world, going "Arrrrgggh, fire," and does whatever it's gonna do - murders the townspeople, whatever. I can't stop it."

Consequence of Sound also interviewed Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, whose musical ethos mirrors Cornell. "[When we broke up] what I failed to recognize was that individually we might be showing interest in other subgenres of popular music, but there is a collective way that we respond and communicate musically that is probably always going to be Soundgarden."