History Music / Soundgarden

* {{Bowdlerize}}: One of the songs done for Creator/TheBBC's Friday Rock Show was Music/{{Fear}}'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!".

* 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/{{Fear}} 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]]".

[-[[caption-width-right:338:L-R: Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Music/ChrisCornell, Ben Shepherd]]-]
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* BadassBeard: Kim Thayil's WizardBeard. Chris also wore a goatee for most of the band's run.

** Kim Thayil probably counts aa well.
** Is it any coincidence that they did a song called "Jesus Christ Pose"?

* IntercourseWithYou: "Big Dumb Sex", a parody of [[UnusualEuphemism such lyrics]] present in HairMetal (unfortunately, [[MisaimedFandom it became popular with them anyway]] due to Music/GunsNRoses).

* SurrealMusicVideo: The video to "Black Hole Sun" featuring a StepfordSuburbia filled with {{stepford smiler}}s whose faces twist and contort (using VisualCompression) to form [[SlasherSmile massive grins]] and gigantic eyes. As you can imagine, this quickly crosses far into the UncannyValley. Eventually, as the lyric goes ("till you all just disappear"), the world of the video gets sucked up into a literal Black Hole during a storm.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally a 5 ("Head Down") to 6 ("Let Me Drown", "My Wave"). "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.

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Ben Shepherd sings "Half", and his predecessor Hiro Yamamoto did so in "Circle of Power".

** The video for "Jesus Christ Pose" may also count.

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 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.

* Ben Shepherd: Bass; replaced Hiro Yamamoto in 1990.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: Chris Cornell was ''made'' of this.

Sadly, the reunion came to a sudden and tragic end in 2017. Chris Cornell [[AuthorExistenceFailure 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.

* SurrealMusicVideo: The [[NotableMusicVideos highly notable]] video to "Black Hole Sun" featuring a StepfordSuburbia filled with {{stepford smiler}}s whose faces twist and contort (using VisualCompression) to form [[SlasherSmile massive grins]] and gigantic eyes. As you can imagine, this quickly crosses far into the UncannyValley. Eventually, as the lyric goes ("till you all just disappear"), the world of the video gets sucked up into a literal Black Hole during a storm.

On January 16, 2019, the surviving members reunited for a tribute concert, "I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell", which featured the likes of the Music/FooFighters, Music/{{Metallica}}, Music/PearlJam, and Music/PeterFrampton.

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 [[AuthorExistenceFailure committed suicide 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.

On January 16, 2019, the surviving members reunited for a tribute concert, "I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell", which featured the likes of the Music/FooFighters, Music/{{Metallica}}, Music/PearlJam and Music/PeterFrampton.

[[AC: Core line-up:]]

[[AC: Discography:]]

* ''Superunknown'' (1994), the band's breakthrough and biggest success, going straight to #1 on the charts. Contains their biggest hits "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman". Cornell didn't like working with producer Michael Beinhorn because of his obsession with capturing the perfect sounds (commenting that by the time they had recorded a song they'd already rehearsed it to death), but admitted the sound created by him and engineer Brendan O'Brien played a part in the album's success.

** His roar at the end of "Jesus Christ Pose" and the prechoruses and choruses of "Slaves and Bulldozers" have to be heard to be believed.

* UncommonTime: The band claims that most of their examples of this ("Rusty Cage", "Spoonman", etc. etc. etc.) were actually ''accidental'' -- for example, they didn't realize that the verses in "Spoonman" were in 7/4 until they were done writing the song. The explanation was that they just went along with Cameron's grooves without consciously thinking about what time signatures they were in.

* DrivenToSuicide:
** "Blow Up the Outside World" makes mention of this with the line "Nothing seems to kill me, no matter how hard I try".
** A sad RealLife case in Chris Cornell, who was found dead in his bathroom after a show.

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

!!Black Hole Tropes :

* LongRunnerLineUp: Even if the band is not so active nowadays given Chris and Matt have busy side projects, the current quartet completed 10 years together: 1990 (Ben joined) to 1997 (breakup) and since 2010.

* 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]]", "Smokestack Lightnin'" by Music/HowlinWolf, a version of "[[Music/BlackSabbath Into The Void]]" with lyrics from Chief Sealth, and "[[Music/BodyCount Cop Killer]]".

* PopStarComposer

!!Soundgarden provides examples of:

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 successful until the genre fully took off with the release of Nirvana's ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' and Pearl Jam's ''Music/{{Ten}}''. 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.

[[caption-width-right:338:L-R: Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Music/ChrisCornell, Ben Shepherd]]

On January 16, 2019, the surviving members reunited for a tribute concert, "I Am The Highway", which featured the likes of the Music/FooFighters, Music/{{Metallica}}, Music/PearlJam and Music/PeterFrampton.

On January 16, 2019, the surviving members reunited for a tribute concert, "I Am The Highway", which also featured the Music/FooFighters, Music/{{Metallica}}, Music/PearlJam and Music/PeterFrampton.

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

Soundgarden is 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 successful until the genre fully took off with the release of Nirvana's ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' and Pearl Jam's ''Music/{{Ten}}''. 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.

Sadly, the reunion came to a sudden and tragic end in 2017. Chris Cornell [[AuthorExistenceFailure committed suicide after a concert in Detroit, Michigan]] on May 17, allegedly fueled by years of drug and alcohol abuse, leaving the future of the band - and the in-progress session for their seventh album - in doubt.