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1991’s
Badmotorfinger
was
Soundgarden’s third album, and a bold
step forward after 1989’s jagged Louder
Than Love broke from the underground.
Badmotorfinger cemented the band’s popu-
lar lineup including bassist Ben Shepherd.
Guitarist Kim Thayil explored alternate
guitar tunings, while drummer Matt
Cameron propelled prog-influenced odd
time signatures to twist songs like
Shepherd’s “Face Pollution.” Singer Chris
Cornell howled his way into the hearts of
millions on the fatalistic “Outshined” and
built the defiant “Rusty Cage” that even-
tually leaped genres with a bracing roots-
rock reinvention by Johnny Cash. The
chaotic single “Jesus Christ Pose” features
Cameron’s complex and urgent percus-
sion. Although the song’s fiery rhetoric
criticized charlatans exploiting religion
for gain, it was considered sufficiently
controversial to be banned from MTV air-
play. Cornell’s siren wail on “Slaves &
Bulldozers” gives Robert Plant a run for
his money as rock’s premiere siren vocal-
ist. The reissue is enhanced with a lenticu-
lar cover.
1994’s Superunknown could practically
have been a greatest hits album on its
own, replete with charting singles like the
melancholy “Fell on Black Days” and
dervish
riffs
of
the
clattering
“Spoonman,” in addition to memorable
album cuts like the lurching, two-ton
grind of “Mailman” and churning
“Kickstand.” Thayil’s time-twisting riff
introduces the relentless charge of the title
cut, while his dissonant, detuned guitar
on “4th of July” trawls such heavy sludge
that it would sound like the LP is playing
at half-speed if not for Cornell’s keening
vocal. The psychedelia twisting through
Shepherd’s “Head Down” leads into
“Black Hole Sun” with Cornell’s lilting
vocal and Thayil’s watery guitar.
Shepherd’s Eastern-influenced “Half”
suggests sitar and tabla in an arrangement
that features neither. Listening to
Cornell’s “Like Suicide” is a persistent
reminder of the beloved singer’s tragic
end. Other album highlights include the
brooding but guardedly hopeful “The
Day I Tried to Live,” and the unstoppable
odd-time headbanger “My Wave” featur-
ing Shepherd’s wah bass.
Down on the Upside didn’t match the
sales of the prior two albums, but
Soundgarden’s first self-produced effort
found the band full of confidence and cre-
ativity. The punk rock snarl of “Ty Cobb”
is offset by the unusual addition of
Cornell and Shepherd’s mandolin and
mandola. “Blow Up the Outside World”
fused John Lennon’s trippy Beatles day-
dream “Dear Prudence” and the heavy
metal thunder of Black Sabbath. With ter-
rible hindsight, Cornell’s weighty lyrics
seem even more like dire revelations from
a troubled mind and talented artist who
spoke from the depths of his soul.
“Nothing seems to kill me, no matter how
hard I try,” he sings. “Dusty,” on the other
hand, contained shards of optimism. “I
think it’s turning back around, and I think
I like it,” sang Cornell. The singer reflect-
ed upon his childhood during the revela-
tory “Never Named” and “Boot Camp.”
Shepherd’s deft bass countermelody
underpins Thayil’s slashing guitar during
“Burden in My Hand.” Cameron pro-
duced another master class in a compli-
cated but unerring groove on songs like
Thayil’s feral “Never the Machine
Forever” and heady “Switch Opens,” in
addition to writing the haunted tension of
“Applebite.” Upside did represent an
overall sonic shift from its predecessors.
Although Thayil’s guitars are stacked into
iron-clad tapestries on songs like “Pretty
Noose,” the mixes unmistakably empha-
sized melody and Cornell’s clarion vocal
above six-stringed fury.
It would take another 16 years until
Soundgarden returned with King Animal.
These three reissues are reminders that
the band was already rock and roll mon-
archs who ruled during the ‘90s.
– Jeff Elbel
8 Badmotorfinger
9
Superunknown
7 Down on the Upside
THE REPLACEMENTS
Dead Man’s Pop
(Rhino/Warner Music)
Dead Man’s Pop arrives in time for the
30th anniversary of the Replacements’
Don’t Tell a Soul. The centerpiece is the
album in its original form as mixed by
producer Matt Wallace. Many ‘Mats fans
have read Trouble Boys: The True Story of
The Replacements, Bob Mehr’s unflinching
biography about the contentious sessions
with the loose cannons from Minneapolis
that eventually produced the album,
beginning with ill-fated tracks at
Bearsville Studios with producer Tony
Berg. Don’t Tell a Soul was ultimately
mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, with results
24 illinoisentertainer.com octoberr 2019
that some considered too slick for the infa-
mously tarnished rockers. Hindsight helps
a lot here. While Wallace’s mix is worth-
while listening for any fan, releasing Lord-
Alge’s mix was the right decision overall.
But on the 30th anniversary? Absolutely.
Give us another mix so we can hear differ-
ent details and imagine how things might
have gone differently for the star-crossed
group. Wallace’s “Talent Show” mix is less
treated than Alge’s. Drummer Chris Mars’
tempo track is in place from the beginning,
keeping time for Paul Westerberg’s rhythm
guitar intro. More of the vocal interaction
between Westerberg and bassist Tommy
Stinson is audible, as is the debauched
chatter during the breakdown. “Where is
the opium?” someone asks. Slim Dunlap’s
crunchy roots-rock lead guitar changes
sides in the headphones and gets boosted
during the outro. There’s the prominent
and dubious banjo part in the song’s final
third, which Wallace featured but Lord-
Alge left buried and only audible in the
fade-out. And then there’s Berg’s rough-
hewn demo from Bearsville, hinging upon
a faster tempo and a different version of
the familiar guitar riff. Add that to the live
version recorded at the University of
Wisconsin and released initially on the
1989 promo EP Inconcerated Live, and
you’ve got four different points of perspec-
tive on several songs from Don’t Tell a Soul
– five if you also bring your original copy
to the listening party. “I can already tell
we’re better than last time,” says
Westerberg after playing “Talent Show”
second in what becomes an increasingly
sloppy set. There are similar comparisons
to be made for other tracks like “I’ll Be
You,” where Wallace features Dunlap more
prominently. Of all the essential tracks, the
stripped-to-essentials mix on the Stones-y
roots-rocker “Achin’ to Be” is the leading
example where Wallace’s mix may have
better served the song than Lord-Alge’s
spacious sound. Wallace’s basic treatment
of ragged rocker “I Won’t” also rings true
to the Replacements’ aesthetic, even as
Stinson’s bass intro is swapped for crunch-
ing guitars and Westerberg’s lead vocal
goes AWOL during the coda. Just about
any fan can be glad that the Bearsville ver-
sion of “Achin’ to Be” and the anemic syn-
thesizer arrangement of “I’ll Be You”
weren’t considered definitive. The 20-song
We Know the Night collection of Bearsville
recordings and other demos is notable for
unreleased tracks including hard-luck tale
“Portland” (featuring the “It’s too late to
turn back, here we go” hook that eventual-
ly landed in “Talent Show”), the caffeinat-
ed punk of “Wake Up,” and a later trio of
songs that find the band reveling in the
studio with Tom Waits. “Lowdown
Monkey Blues” is a howling acoustic blues
number with Westerberg and Waits trad-
ing off-the-cuff verses over Stinson’s lop-
ing bass foundation. Westerberg stops after
flubbing the first line of country crooner “If
Only You Were Lonely” and asks Stinson
for help remembering. “What do I look
like, the dictionary?” the bassist replies. It’s
the band’s ramshackle attempt at some-
thing like the Rolling Stones’ “Sweet
Virginia.” The track never achieves liftoff
but offers flashes of brilliance and insight
into Westerberg and Stinson’s chemistry.
Westerberg, Stinson, and Waits all sing
“We Know the Night.” “I love that song,”
says Waits after a take. The Complete
Inconcerated Live is expanded from 1989’s
Inconcerated Live 5-track EP to include the
complete 29-song live show from Madison,
Wisconsin on June 2, 1989. As hinted earli-
er, it’s not a conventionally “good” per-
formance, but this is the ‘Mats we’re talk-
ing about. Those who never got to see the
band on a stellar night or a night as drunk-
en hacks can at least have the bar set for
what a real gig would be like with their
heroes. Botched lyrics, false starts, stran-
gled vocals, and crappy rhythm guitar –
they’re here, warts and all. But you can
also hear the devil-may-care attitude and
spontaneity that fueled the band’s legend.
Westerberg complains about the tuning,
the monitors, the lights, and his own per-
formance. At one point, he runs down a
missed riff after a song and tells Stinson
that they can get it right at the next gig. In
any case, the crowd is with the band
through thick and thin, singing along with
the ragged glory of “Here Comes a
Regular” during the encore. Westerberg
even throws in an improvised verse of
insults for a heckler. The Replacements
were torn and frayed on the best of days,
and beloved by many for it. Despite the
album’s initial inability to convince either
diehard fans or the general population,
Westerberg’s matured songwriting for
Don’t Tell a Soul is pretty brilliant, and the
album probably serves the band better in
memory than it did in real-time. Dead
Man’s Pop provides a deep dive into the
band’s last grand flash in 1989 before dis-
integrating with 1990's All Shook Down.
– Jeff Elbel
7
IMMORTAL BIRD
Thrive On Neglect
(20 Buck Spin)
Local metal band Immortal Bird mixes
subgenres so well that the genius of it is
almost indescribable. On its sophomore
release, Thrive On Neglect, the female-front-
ed foursome’s savage and eclectic brand of
metal combines the best parts of
black/sludge/post/crust and grind metal
to satisfying results. Its seven ferocious
tracks are decorated with sharp, angular
riffs, piercing melodies, complex instru-
mentation, and aggressive vocals courtesy
of Rae Amitay. Her scathing barks full of
conviction makes her one of the best
screamers in the genre. Opener “Anger
Breeds Contempt” is the perfect start to the
album with its pounding ferocity and
vicious instrumentation. The rest of the
tracks deliver the perfect balance between
aggression and groove spanning several
genres. With a robust production and a
perfect 37-minute runtime, Thrive On
Neglect will give fans a good reason to get
on board with what Immortal Bird has to
offer.
- Kelley Simms
8
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