History Music / Soundgarden

The band is often recognized as one of the Big Four of Grunge (along with Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PearlJam and Music/AliceInChains), though they didn't become widely successful until the genre fully took off with the release of Nirvana's ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' and Pearl Jam's ''Music/{{Ten|PearlJamAlbum}}''. However, their 1994 album ''Superunknown'' is similarly considered a masterpiece of the movement.

* ImportantHaircut: Cornell cutting his hair around the time of ''Superuknown''. He grew it back out when the band reformed.

* AlbumTitleDrop: ''Down on the Upside'' has one in "Dusty." Chris said he wanted to put that name to the song, but Ben Shepherd had already baptized it as "Dusty".

->''"Black hole sun,\\

Won't you come?"''
-->-- "'''Black Hole Sun'''"

* Scott Sundquist: drums (1985–1986)

[[folder:Discography:]]

[[folder:Members]]
!! Last known line-up
* Chris Cornell: Vocals, occasional Rhythm Guitars, previously Drums
* Kim Thayil: Lead Guitar
* Ben Shepherd: Bass
* Matt Cameron: Drums

!! Other former members
* Scott Sundquist (Drums)
* Hiro Yamamoto (Bass)
* Jason Everman (Bass)
[[/folder]]

Sadly, the reunion came to a sudden and tragic end in 2017. Chris Cornell was found dead on May 18 of that year after a concert in Detroit, Michigan, from what was later ruled a suicide allegedly fueled by years of drug and alcohol abuse alongside struggles with depression. The band ended for good a year later as a result.

Soundgarden was a UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} {{Grunge}} / AlternativeMetal band formed in TheEighties and popular in TheNineties. Their name comes from a sculpture in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}, "A Sound Garden". The band was recognized as one of The Big Four of Grunge (along with Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PearlJam and Music/AliceInChains), though they didn't become widely successful until the genre fully took off with the release of Nirvana's ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' and Pearl Jam's ''Music/{{Ten|PearlJamAlbum}}''. Their 1994 album ''Superunknown'' is considered a masterpiece of the movement. Their music is largely characterized by {{Epic Riff}}s, Music/ChrisCornell's distinctive voice, complicated arrangements that highlight the band's instrumental proficiency, and common usage of UncommonTime, producing a sound many reviewers have described as being Music/LedZeppelin [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] Music/BlackSabbath.

The group broke up in 1997 due to [[CreativeDifferences internal conflict]], leaving Cornell to form the SuperGroup Music/{{Audioslave}} with the former members of Music/RageAgainstTheMachine, and later a solo career with polarizing results. Cornell also co-wrote "You Know My Name" with Music/DavidArnold for the ''Film/JamesBond'' film ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''. His music at that time veered into a more pop / hip-hop-oriented direction, causing much backlash among the fanbase. Cameron currently drums for Pearl Jam and has since the Yield tour (he wasn't involved with the Temple of the Dog reunion mentioned below). Thayil played with Music/JelloBiafra and [[Music/{{Nirvana}} Krist Novoselic]] as the "No WTO Combo" after the Seattle riots of November 1999, and contributed to Music/DaveGrohl's side-project Probot. Shepherd recorded a solo album, ''In Deep Owl'' (which Cameron also played on), but it didn't see the light of day until 2013.

Sadly, the reunion came to a sudden and tragic end in 2017. Chris Cornell [[DrivenToSuicide hanged himself after a concert in Detroit, Michigan]] on May 17, allegedly fueled by years of drug and alcohol abuse. The band ended for good a year later as a result.

* AlbumClosure: ''Ultramega OK'' ends with "One Minute's Silence," a "cover" of Music/JohnLennon and Music/YokoOno's "Two Minutes' Silence".

* [[ClusterFBomb/{{Music}} Cluster F Bomb]]:

* CrucifiedHeroShot: "Jesus Christ Pose" has several, mostly from Cornell as he's singing. There's also multiple shots of both a scantily-clad woman and a metal skeleton on a cross.

* MurderBallad: "Burden in My Hand" is one about a man killing his former lover in the desert (but with some regret)

* {{Bowdlerize}}: One of the songs done for Creator/TheBBC's Friday Rock Show was Music/{{Fear|Band}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLV-ne2bvjM "I Don't Care About You", changing the chorus from]] "I don't care about you! [[PrecisionFStrike Fuck you!]]" to "I don't care about you! No way!".

* PrecisionFStrike:
** Right before the solo in "Gun", Cornell says, "Fuck it up!"
** The songs mentioned under ClusterFBomb above double as a PrecisionFStrike in contrast to the rest of the band's catalog - the two along with "Gun" are the only three by them which use the F-Bomb. (and even if their released version of [[Music/{{Fear}} "I Don't Care About You"]] is {{Bowdlerize}}d, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrK0L0ed8y8 when performed live]] the Precision "Fuck You!"s are intact).
** Also found on "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEaT447uW8M Kyle Petty (Son Of Richard)]]", doubled up with "shit" for good measure.
* {{Remaster}}: ''Screaming Life[=/=]Fopp'', ''Ultramega OK'', ''Badmotorfinger'', and ''Superunknown'' have received remasters, most of which have been packed with demos, live versions, and other unreleased material.

[floatboxright:
Related Acts:
+Temple of the Dog (Cornell and Cameron)
+Music/PearlJam (Through both TOTD and Cameron)
+Music/{{Audioslave}} (Cornell)
+Hater (Shepherd and occasionally Cameron)
+Wellwater Conspiracy (Cameron)
]

[[AC:Core line-up:]]
* Chris Cornell: Vocals; previously played drums until the band hired Scott Sundquist to play drums, allowing him to focus on just singing. He also contributed rhythm guitar to their songs later.

* Ben Shepherd: Bass; replaced Hiro Yamamoto and Jason Everman[[note]]Also former rhythm guitarist for Nirvana[[/note]] in 1990.
* Matt Cameron: Drums; replaced Sundquist.

[[AC:Discography:]]

* WordSaladLyrics

** Let’s be real, take away the utterly awesome riffs from the song and “Spoonman” would come across as a novelty tune given how the song really has no deeper meaning than [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a guy who likes to play spoons]].

** Let’s be real, take away the utterly awesome riffs from the song and “Spoonman” would come across as a novelty song.

Soundgarden was a UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} {{Grunge}} / AlternativeMetal band formed in TheEighties and popular in TheNineties. Their name comes from a sculpture in Seattle, "A Sound Garden". The band was recognized as one of The Big Four of Grunge (along with Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PearlJam and Music/AliceInChains), though they didn't become widely successful until the genre fully took off with the release of Nirvana's ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' and Pearl Jam's ''Music/{{Ten|PearlJamAlbum}}''. Their 1994 album ''Superunknown'' is considered a masterpiece of the movement. Their music is largely characterized by {{Epic Riff}}s, Music/ChrisCornell's distinctive voice, complicated arrangements that highlight the band's instrumental proficiency, and common usage of UncommonTime, producing a sound many reviewers have described as being Music/LedZeppelin [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] Music/BlackSabbath.

* CoverVersion: "[[Music/JohnLennon Two Minutes]] [[Music/YokoOno of Silence]]" (as "One Minute of Silence"), with tongue firmly in cheek. (Cornell joked that the band "appreciated the Lennon arrangement so much".) Taken a bit more seriously, "[[Music/TheBeatles Come Together]]", "[[Music/{{Devo}} Girl U Want]]", "[[Music/TheRollingStones Stray Cat Blues]]", "[[Music/FearBand I Don't Care About You]]", [[Music/HowlinWolf "Smokestack Lightnin'"]], a version of "[[Music/BlackSabbath Into The Void]]" with lyrics from Chief Sealth, and "[[Music/BodyCount Cop Killer]]".

* BadassBiker[=/=]AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Parodied in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTaVHM6HGuQ "By Crooked Steps"]], directed by Music/DaveGrohl, where it's a gang that rides ''Segways.''

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally a 5 ("Head Down") to 7 ("Face Pollution", "Outshined"). "Black Hole Sun" and the gentler tracks of ''King Animal'' are arguably a (high) 3. A few other tracks like "Jesus Christ Pose", "Slaves & Bulldozers", and "4th of July" arguably reach an 8.