major label, Louder Than Love, through A&M Records. The signing caused a rift between Soundgarden and its traditional audience. Thayil said, "In the beginning, our fans came from the punk rock crowd. They abandoned us when they thought we had sold out the punk tenets, getting on a major label and touring with Guns N' Roses. There were fashion issues and social issues, and people thought we no longer belonged to their scene, to their particular sub-culture."[4] After the release of the album, Yamamoto left to go back to college. He was briefly replaced by Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana, who appeared on the Louder Than Live video. However, Ben Shepherd was soon recruited as a permanent replacement.


[edit] Popular acclaim: 1991-1994

The cover of Badmotorfinger, released in 1991, the album which gave Soundgarden their first charting singles and launched them into the mainstream.The new line up recorded Badmotorfinger in 1991. Though successful, the album was overshadowed by the sudden popularity of Nirvana's Nevermind. At the same time, the focus of attention brought by Nevermind to the Seattle scene brought Soundgarden wider attention, allowing "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage" to find an audience at alternative radio and MTV. The band toured with Guns N' Roses to support the album, and later released the video compilation Motorvision which was filmed on that tour. The band also took a slot on the 1992 Lollapalooza tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Ministry, among others.

The band made an appearance in the movie Singles playing "Birth Ritual". The song appeared on the soundtrack album, as did a Chris Cornell solo song, "Seasons". The movie also featured the demo version of "Spoonman", a song which would appear on the band's 1994 album, Superunknown.

Superunknown was the band's breakout album, driven by the singles "Black Hole Sun", "Spoonman", "The Day I Tried to Live", and "Fell on Black Days". The songs on Superunknown captured the creativity & heaviness of their earlier works, while showcasing the more radio-friendly aspects of the group. Lyrically, the album was quite dark and mysterious, as much of it is often interpreted to be dealing with substance abuse, suicide, and depression. The album was also more experimental than previous releases, with some songs having a Middle-Eastern or Indian flavor, such as "Head Down" and "Half".


[edit] Down on the Upside and break-up: 1995-1997

Soundgarden in 1996.The band's final album was 1996's self-produced Down on the Upside. The album was notably less heavy than the group's preceding albums, and marked a further departure from their grunge roots. This album spawned several singles, including "Pretty Noose", "Blow Up the Outside World", and "Burden in My Hand". Soundgarden explained at the time that they wanted to branch out and explore other sounds. However, tensions within the group arose during the sessions, with Thayil and Cornell reportedly clashing over Cornell's desire to shift away from the heavy guitar riffing that had become their trademark.[5] Despite strong reviews, the album did not top its predecessor's sales.

Tensions continued to increase during the band's ensuing tour in support of the album. At the tour's final stop in Honolulu, Hawaii on 9 February 1997, Shepherd threw his bass into the air in frustration after suffering equipment failure, and subsequently stormed off the stage.[6] The band retreated, with Cornell returning to conclude the show with a solo encore. [7] On April 9, 1997, the band announced its disbanding. Soundgarden's final release, a greatest-hits compilation titled A-Sides, was released the following fall.


[edit] Post-breakup careers: 1998-present
Chris Cornell released a solo album in September 1999, Euphoria Morning. Together with the former instrumental members of Rage Against the Machine he later formed the supergroup Audioslave, which he subsequently left in early 2007. His second solo album Car

Soundgarden was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. Formed by Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, and Hiro Yamamoto, Soundgarden was one of the key bands in the creation of grunge, a musical style that developed in Seattle based around their record label Sub Pop. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label, but they did not achieve commercial success until Seattle contemporaries Nirvana and Pearl Jam popularized grunge in the early 1990s. Soundgarden achieved its biggest success with the 1994 album Superunknown which debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and yielded the Grammy Award-winning singles "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman". In 1997, the band broke up due to internal strife over their creative direction.

Contents [show]
1 History
1.1 Formation and early years: 1984-1986
1.2 First releases: 1987-1990
1.3 Popular acclaim: 1991-1994
1.4 Down on the Upside and break-up: 1995-1997
1.5 Post-breakup careers: 1998-present
2 Musical style and influences
3 Discography
4 Notes
5 Further reading
6 External links



[edit] History

[edit] Formation and early years: 1984-1986
Soundgarden was formed in 1984 by Chris Cornell (drums & vocals) and Hiro Yamamoto (bass), and was later joined by Kim Thayil (guitar). Thayil had moved to Seattle from Park Forest, Illinois[1] with Yamamoto and Bruce Pavitt, who would later start Sub Pop Records. The band named themselves after a wind-channeling pipe sculpture, "The Sound Garden," located in Magnuson Park, Seattle.[2]

Cornell originally played drums while singing, but the band enlisted Scott Sundquist to allow Cornell to concentrate on vocals. The band's first recordings were three songs that appeared on a compilation for C/Z Records called Deep Six. It also featured songs by fellow grunge pioneers Green River, Skin Yard, Malfunkshun, The U-Men and Melvins. In 1986 Sundquist left the band, to be replaced by Matt Cameron, who was the drummer in Skin Yard.


[edit] First releases: 1987-1990
KCMU-FM DJ Jonathan Poneman was impressed after seeing Soundgarden perform one night, later saying, "I saw this band that was everything rock music should be."[3] Poneman offered to fund a release by the band, so Thayil told him to team up with Bruce Pavitt. Despite being good friends with Thayil, Pavitt was not impressed by Soundgarden, but agreed since Poneman offered to contribute $20,000 in funding for Sub Pop. The band signed to Sub Pop, releasing the Screaming Life EP in 1987, and the Fopp EP in 1988. A combination of the two was issued as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990.

Though the band was being courted by major labels, in 1988 they signed to SST Records to release their debut album, Ultramega OK, for which they earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990. Their first music video, "Flower", was directed by Mark Miremont, and aired regularly on MTV's 120 Minutes. In 1989, the band released their first album for a