Soundgarden- Wicked or S***?

I like Soundgarden' Superunknown album (Black Hole Sun and Spoon Man)

Don`t like soundgarden

I like their two last albums so much, I think Superunknown is a milestone in rock, one of the very last examples of original rock in the 90's. If you notice, they had a peculiarity: their songs were 90 % odd time signatures!!! I really like that. And the band shines in many places, Chris Cornell with incredible voice and skills, Kim Thayil on guitars, Matt Cameron an awesome drummer. I agree that they're not really grunge. Some friends of mine even consider them METAL!!!

I think that grunge is not a music genre after all....These bands had clearly many differences..From Alice in chains to Soundgarden and from Mudhoney to Pearl Jam...It's modern hard rock actually with a different point of view..I think it's great...But what's sad is that you see bands today that haven't realised that it's all gone now..If you don't evolve something it's going to die...That's what happened in my opinion..But anyway who am i to judge...Soundgarden are great ,propably the most metal-influenced band (that supposed to play grunge) from Seattle....

Or to outobscure everyone, Malfunkshun

I like Alice in Chains, but I can't stand Soundgarden.

This is a perfect example of how genres can confuse and distort.  The term "grunge" came about to describe hard rock music that came out at a particular time (late '80s-through-early '90s) by bands who looked the part as much as sounded like it.  Initially, "grunge" was a label put on everything heavy that wasn't heavy metal.  Typically they were in the Seattle scene, but not necessarily.  These guys wore flannel, had sideburns... played in jeans and Chuck Taylors instead of tight leather pants and makeup... grunge.  There *was* a conscious effort by many of these bands to distance themselves from the increasingly silly, uncool and artistically bankrupt genre of heavy metal.  Soundgarden basically *were* heavy metal, except for their image.  Asking why people don't "play grunge" anymore is pointless, because grugne isn't really a musical genre.

Neil Young was considered the "godfather of grunge" because he also played heavy music (with Crazy Horse) that wasn't heavy metal.  Heretofore unclassifaible bands like Sonic Youth were considered a part of the grunge movement by association, although they aren't considered grunge in hindsight.   

In my own opinion, Soundgarden made one really good album (Superunknown), Alice in Chains made none, Mudhoney made several, Stone Temple Pilots made none, Pearl Jam made two and Nirvana made one.  And don't forget Dinosaur Jr, whose first four albums are really good, IMO.  Gotta love the sludgey cover of that Peter Frampton tune.    

yargh wrote: This is a perfect example of how genres can confuse and distort.  The term "grunge" came about to describe hard rock music that came out at a particular time (late '80s-through-early '90s) by bands who looked the part as much as sounded like it.  Initially, "grunge" was a label put on everything heavy that wasn't heavy metal.  Typically they were in the Seattle scene, but not necessarily.  These guys wore flannel, had sideburns... played in jeans and Chuck Taylors instead of tight leather pants and makeup... grunge.  There *was* a conscious effort by many of these bands to distance themselves from the increasingly silly, uncool and artistically bankrupt genre of heavy metal.  Soundgarden basically *were* heavy metal, except for their image.  Asking why people don't "play grunge" anymore is pointless, because grugne isn't really a musical genre. Neil Young was considered the "godfather of grunge" because he also played heavy music (with Crazy Horse) that wasn't heavy metal.  Heretofore unclassifaible bands like Sonic Youth were considered a part of the grunge movement by association, although they aren't considered grunge in hindsight.    In my own opinion, Soundgarden made one really good album (Superunknown), Alice in Chains made none, Mudhoney made several, Stone Temple Pilots made none, Pearl Jam made two and Nirvana made one.  And don't forget Dinosaur Jr, whose first four albums are really good, IMO.  Gotta love the sludgey cover of that Peter Frampton tune.

You should really check out Temple of the Dog ... IMO it's THE brilliant grunge album. It's not really grunge to me, it toys with many genres ... but I guess that considering the time it was released and the artists that participated, I guess you could call it grunge.

Love Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Mother Love Bone and Temple of the Dog. I have quite a few Pearl Jam albums as well, but hardly ever listen to them anymore as the band ran out of ideas after No Code.

I was lucky enough to get to see Soundgarden live during their last European tour, they played in Oslo about 6 months before they split up. Awesome concert

Fair enough, but if you ever see "Sap" (and especially the track "Brother") around give it a listen - it might be an acoustic EP (I can't remember offhand), but it's far, far better than their pretty dire acoustic album, I guess because they were specifically written for acoustic guitars.