769. Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994)

Track Listing

1. Let Me Drown
2. My Wave
3. Fell On Black Days
4. Mailman
5. Superunknown
6. Head Down
7. Black Hole Sun
8. Spoonman
9. Limo Wreck
10. The Day I Tried To Live
11. Kickstand
12. Fresh Tendrils
13. 4th Of July
14. Half
15. Like Suicide
16. She Likes Surprises

Review

Superunknown is a very long album, too long. Smart editing would have been a good idea here, not all the tracks need to be here, and nearer the 40 minute mark would have made for a better album. As it is it becomes very hit and miss indeed.

As such, despite good single tracks it fails as an album. If you are doing an epic album you'd better be sure that every single track is worth the listener's time, if it isn't it just drags along the listener waiting impatiently for the next good one.

The influences here, more than from their Seattle contemporaries, are obviously from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but they do venture into other musical genres and the experiments can at times be interesting. Still none of it is that amazing, even if I do have a soft spot for Black Hole Sun.

Track Highlights

1. Black Hole Sun
2. My Wave
3. Spoonman
4. Like Suicide

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Superunknown was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and reached high positions on charts worldwide. Five singles were released from the album: "The Day I Tried to Live", "My Wave", "Fell on Black Days", and the Grammy Award-winning songs "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun", the latter two of which helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The album has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA in the United States and remains Soundgarden's most successful album.

Black Hole Sun, one of the most emblematic videos of the 90s: