Soundgarden on 30 Years of ‘Badmotorfinger’, the ‘Weird Science Project’ that Has Become a Grunge Classic | Entertainment
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SEATTLE – It’s a rare feat for an Artist’s Weirdest Record to double its commercial breakthrough.
Soundgarden’s “Badmotorfinger” was born at the height of the MTV era, 30 years ago on October 8, two weeks after Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. By the time the First Wave group “grunge” released their wonderfully disguised fourth album in the fall of 1991, which drummer Matt Cameron calls a “strange science project,” Soundgarden had steadily dropped from the venerable label list. independent to that of a major group with a Grammy nomination to its name.
It’s easy to hear the call of rock radio in songs like “Rusty Cage” or “Outshined”. But the level of broadcast and attention from MTV that the singles “Badmotorfinger” received was new. In the mind of guitarist Kim Thayil, this level of commercial success was usually reserved for records that had “rounded edges” or were somehow “compromised”.
âI think the success probably focused us and our fans focused on the songs and the individual videos,â Thayil said. “We did not have [received] a lot of that before, so understand our record in terms of “Outshiné” and “Rusty Cage” [MTV], it took me a bit away from understanding the album as a whole. … I love the album so much when I take it out of the context of MTV’s Buzz Bin. “
“Badmotorfinger” would become Soundgarden’s most popular album at the time, and it was also his most sonically adventurous. (There’s nothing “compromise” in a trippy seven-minute slugfest called “Slaves & Bulldozers”.) And alternative chords – more captivating stuff more in keeping with the belly of ’80s rock than radio cuts. digestible.
âThere are some weird elements that the rock bands of the day, which were popular on MTV or the radio, didn’t really incorporate into their overall sound,â Cameron says. âBut this scene where we come from, this underground scene from the 80s⦠they incorporated some really weird aspects. We really liked Captain Beefheart and Pere Ubu and all that non-traditional post-punk or rock elements in these bands.â
Several weeks before “Badmotorfinger” and “Nevermind” hit shelves, Alice in Chains’ debut album went gold. About a month earlier, Pearl Jam released their now classic debut album, âTenâ. Collectively, these records helped catapult the nascent Seattle club sounds for years into pop culture consciousness, making our Upper Left town the rock ‘n’ roll capital of the world for quite some time.
Most importantly, they helped make authenticity a valuable trait in the mainstream of music emerging from the hair metal era.
“I hear a lot of joy in this music,” said Cameron, who would later join Pearl Jam. âThere’s just that feeling of discovery that you can certainly hear in music and I think that’s why it resonates with audiences – back then – and continues to resonate. As for ‘Badmotorfinger’, c ‘is such a true statement about who we were back then. When music is real, when art is real, it can certainly resonate with people. “
Despite all their common DNA in Seattle and their unmissable âgrungeâ grouping, each group was decidedly different. If Alice in Chains were the dark dark princes of Seattle, Nirvana its melodious punk agitators and Pearl Jam the rock-canon amalgamates with a voice of God, “Badmotorfinger” again singled out Soundgarden as sonic explorers ready to try anything (as long as it is). ‘was heavy), anchored in colossal grooves and the unmistakable moan of archetypal frontman Chris Cornell.
âSoundgarden is so free and so open to things, we had no prima donna weirdos or preconceived notions of who we are,â said bassist Ben Shepherd, who joined the band just before âBadmotorfingerâ. “We know that we are still in the process of defining ourselves and this record is part of that as well.”
Thayil names the new bassist as the “MVP” of “Badmotorfinger”, crediting Shepherd with triggering the band’s tinkering with alternate chords – one of the first things cited whenever Soundgarden’s music is reviewed. (It was also Shepherd’s idea of ââthrowing the gonzo trumpets on “Face Pollution,” something few heavy metal or hard rock bands did at the time.) In a way, it was a throwback to the band’s beginnings when “we were a little more angular and offbeat,” says Thayil.
At the time, Shepherd was just thrilled to be a part of the group.
The younger brother of Thayil’s former roommate, Shepherd was one of Soundgarden’s earliest fans, hooked from the moment he caught a first gig at the late Gorilla Gardens, back when Cornell was playing the drums. âI turned to all my friends and told them these guys were going to be great,â Shepherd says. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’ But they all agreed that Soundgarden stole the show that night. “
There hasn’t been a lot of show theft in the last 18 months ravaged by the pandemic, for Soundgarden or for anyone else. But in August, the three surviving members of Soundgarden took to the stage in Washington together for the first time since Cornell’s death in 2017. The trio joined Brandi Carlile at the Gorge Amphitheater for a mighty run through “Black Hole Sun” and “Badmotorfinger” cut “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” – songs the Home State heroes recorded together for a recent Record Store Day release.
“Brandi’s take on ‘Searching’ – I love this song, always loved it,” Thayil says, comparing it to the first time he saw Eddie Vedder sing with Pearl Jam or Cameron and Cornell play. with Temple of the Dog. “But all of a sudden she sang it and that shiver ran through my spine. After 20 or 30 years, I didn’t know this song had it in until Brandi sang it.”
The Gorge homecoming was only the second time the friends of Soundgarden have performed their songs together since Cornell’s death, following a tribute concert in Los Angeles in 2019, said. âWhen we played the tribute concert, it was really hard for me because I’m so used to going on stage with the guys. And not having Chris there, I barely managed to. go on stage or leave it. “
COVID-19 concerns aside, it looks like Gorge’s experience was a bit more upbeat for the kind bassist at Soundgarden. It was the first time Shepherd’s son had met “his uncle Matt” and had seen the guys play together. (The typically stoic 6-year-old said it was “mind-blowing”.)
“Do you know how when you ride a bike, no matter who you are or how old you are, does that make you a little kid?” Shepherd says he has reunited with his group mates. “It’s like that.”
It remains to be seen how much time the guys will spend making music together in the near future.
The fate of a potential new Soundgarden album, in preparation at the time of Cornell’s death, hinges on a lawsuit between the band and Cornell’s wife over the late singer’s vocal recordings. The group declined to discuss the lawsuit, citing the ongoing litigation.
âI think we’re definitely getting closer to making music together again,â Cameron said. “But our path to get to this point in our life is not straight at the moment, so we have to take a few detours before we get there.”
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