Aug
11
2010
That’s right, you heard it here first (or maybe you didn’t) but Grunge-rockers Soundgarden are finally back together after 12 long years apart that has seen Chris Cornell deliver a number of mediocre Audioslave albums along with the band from Rage Against The Machine, not to mention his last two downright disappointing solo albums.
Back in their day, Soundgarden were one of the most impressive and original bands in the Grunge family tree, with Cornell’s eye-openingly impressive vocal range, and their ever-haunting melodies against the backdrop of hard-hittingly heavy or gut-wrenchingly-sweet-yet-slightly-twisted rock-metal music.
The disappointment I felt for their demise had been tinged with hope, as Cornell’s first solo album was simply immense, and showed the absolute best of Cornell’s incredible voice.
This turned to excitement as he teamed up with Rage Against The Machine sans Zack to form Audioslave, but the excitement was short-lived as they quickly turned out to be a backing band for Cornell’s now-starting-to-creak vocals, as oppose to a “band” in the traditional sense of the word.
With the news last year of Rage reforming and two disappointingly poor solo albums, it was only natural that Cornell would return to his own roots for shelter against the onset of old age, and one can’t help but think that is a case of the too-big-for-his-own-boots band-deserter / ‘slave-dictator / failed solo artist, desperately crawling back to the camp he deserted all those years ago with his tail between his legs in the hope of finding his old form once more.
We can but hope, but the “new album”, “Telephantasm: A Retrospective” is a mere compilation of old material with a single “unreleased track” (read “track that wasn’t good enough for the albums the first time round”) to appeal to the fans that already own all of their studio albums, so we’ll have to wait and see whether Lollapalooza and their other new concert dates will have the desired rejuvenating effect on a band that were so groundbreaking in their time, or whether the years have been unkind to Kim Thayil and the rest of the band or if Cornell has stipulated that he’d only a part of it if he gets to write all of the music (and of course claim the financial benefits associated with being the sole songwriter), as was the case with Audioslave, where Cornell declared that he “didn’t want to be Rage Against The Machine’s new vocalist” and refused to allow the others in the band to write any of the songs.
I’m actually quite surprised at myself for seeming so cynical about this reunion, having been such a huge fan of Soundgarden and Cornell’s “Euphoria Morning” solo album, but once bitten (Audioslave), twice shy (his later solo albums), three times and pity the fool?
It is my sincere hope that they prove me wrong and show me the badmotorfinger, but I’m not holding my breath and for now it’s all superunknown.
Muso
Thanks to Wikipedia for the heads-up…
On January 1, 2010, Cornell alluded to a Soundgarden reunion via his Twitter, writing: “The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!” The message linked to a website that features a picture of the group performing live and a place for fans to enter their e-mail address to get updates on the reunion. Entering that information unlocks an archival video for the song “Get on the Snake,” from Soundgarden’s second studio album, 1989′s Louder Than Love. The press has speculated that the band would be headlining festivals such as Lollapalooza, and the Reading & Leeds Festivals in the UK, although no official confirmation was issued by the band. On March 1, 2010, Soundgarden announced to the people who signed their e-mail subscribers that they are re-releasing an old single “Hunted Down” with the song “Nothing to Say” on a 7″ vinyl released on April 17 only at Record Store Day. Also, they released “Spoonman” live at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego, CA from 1996.
Rumors that Soundgarden could headline Lollapalooza were confirmed on April 5, 2010. The band announced on their website that they would play on August 8.
It was reported that the band had been rehearsing in Seattle in recent weeks as a precursor to their first confirmed reunion performance at Lollapalooza.
On April 15, 2010, it was announced that Soundgarden would play its first show since 1997 the following day at the Showbox at the Market in the band’s hometown of Seattle. On April 16, an email went out to random Soundgardenworld.com newsletter subscribers with a link to purchase tickets. The show was billed under the pseudonym ‘Nudedragons’, an anagram for Soundgarden. Tickets sold out in just 15 minutes. In addition, a contest was posted on the Soundgarden twitter page, giving one fan a chance to win a ticket to the show.
Billboard confirmed that on August 5, 2010, Soundgarden would play a precursor to their Lollapalooza show in Chicago’s Vic Theater. Tickets were only available to members of Soundgarden’s fanclub at Soundgardenworld.com.
Telephantasm: A Retrospective, a new Soundgarden compilation album, will be packaged with initial shipments of the Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock video game set for release on September 28, 2010. This is the first time a retail music CD has been packaged with a video game, and is one week before the same CD is available in stores on October 5, 2010. Expanded versions of Telephantasm consisting of two CDs and one DVD will be available for sale on September 28, 2010. A previously unreleased Soundgarden song—”Black Rain”—will debut on the Guitar Hero video game and appear on the compilation album. “Black Rain” hits rock radio August 10, 2010.
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