Chris Cornell went the classic way of rock stars - in some hotel room in some God-forsaken city (Detroit) after a gig. Mysterious circumstances, but most likely the result of some bizarre magic fingers accident (OB Zappa).
I'm 'working from home' today while addressing some first world problems at my home. The heater in my hot tub has malfunctioned and I have a flake (OB Zappa again) coming to look at it.
So while I'm working, I'm listening to this:
Soundgarden - Louder Than Love (A&M 1989)
That's right kids, check out the price. In the old days before vinyl was a badge of hipster honor, one could pick up stuff in the used bins for real cheap. This one came in at $1.85 which made it an even $2.00 with sales tax.
But this shouldn't be about me nor my bargain record scores from the past.....
Soundgarden was one of the first 'grunge' bands. Never quite understood what that label meant. Probably from the style of clothing most young residents of the Pacific Northwest wore at the time. These guys were from an environment where it could be 40 degrees in the morning, 75 in the afternoon, then back to 40 in the evening. People dress in layers. For most young struggling bands, the layers didn't match. Hence the grunge 'look.'
But this shouldn't be about fashion either......
The sound here owes a lot more to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath than The Velvet Underground. Chris Cornell's vocal owe a lot to Robert Plant. The guitar player had a bit of a Tony Iommi/Jimmy Page sound. Still holds up today.
This was their first record and got the 'special label' treatment from A&M
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