Soundgarden

One of the first bands to come out of the Seattle grunge scene (and one of the earliest to sign with Sub Pop Records), Soundgarden parlayed gloomy metal riffs, surrealistic psychedelia, and punk into platinum with a trilogy of popular albums released in the '90s. After graduating high school in Illinois in 1981, musicians Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto, as well as fanzine editor (and later Sub Pop founder) Bruce Pavitt, moved to Olympia, Washington, where they planned to attend college. When this did not pan out, the three each ended up in Seattle, attracted by its nascent music scene.

After playing in cover bands, Yamamoto joined his roommate and sometime drummer Chris Cornell in his new band. Thayil signed on, and they called themselves Soundgarden after a noisy pipe sculpture in a Seattle park. The addition of drummer Scott Sundquist in 1985 (he was replaced by Cameron in 1986) freed Cornell to front the band. After contributing two songs to a local compilation, they signed with the new Sub Pop label. Their two EPs, Screaming Life (1987) and Fopp (1988), attracted major-label interest. But the band decided to stay true to their indie roots, signing to SST for their debut album Ultramega OK.

For Louder Than Love (#108, 1990), the band signed with A&M. The higher profile of a major label increased sales and helped the band garner a Grammy nomination. Yamamoto left the band in late 1989 to go back to school (in 1994 he joined Truly) and was replaced by Jason Everman, who had previously played with Nirvana. Everman was soon replaced by Hunter “Ben” Shepherd in early 1990.

The sales of Badmotorfinger (#39, 1991) were helped by “Outshined” being chosen as an MTV “Buzz Clip” and a spot opening for a Guns n’ Roses tour (they were invited by Axl Rose, a longtime fan). In 1991 Cornell and Cameron, along with members of Pearl Jam [see entry] were part of Temple of the Dog, a tribute to the late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. In 1993, during a break from Soundgarden, Shepherd and Cameron released an album with their side project Hater, a band which also included Andrew Wood’s brother Brian. Cameron, Shepherd, and McBain resumed their collaboration in 1997 under the name the Wellwater Conspiracy (in which Cameron and Shepherd were originally billed as Ted Dameron and Zeb, respectively).

Superunknown (1994), debuting at #1, emphasized Cornell’s emotional lyrical content and Soundgarden’s newfound stylistic flourishes. The album spawned the band’s breakthrough track, “Black Hole Sun,” which propelled them into the pop mainstream. Cameron even performed the song with the Seattle Symphony and experimental keyboardist Wayne Horvitz. In 1994 “Black Hole Sun” won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, while another Superunknown song, “Spoonman,” won for Best Metal Performance.

The musical evolution started on Superunknown became even more pronounced on Soundgarden’s followup, Down on the Upside (#2, 1996). Produced by the band, the album attempted to balance Cornell’s trademark tortured lyrics (“Nothing seems to kill me no matter how hard I try”), metal energy, and increasingly complex arrangements and melodies. Despite its initial success with the #1 Modern Rock hits “Burden in My Hand” and “Blow Up the Outside World,” the album wasn’t as popular as its predecessor. Subsequent touring was rumored to be rife with the kind of internal tension that had plagued the album’s recording.

In April 1997 Soundgarden announced that they were disbanding. Explanations offered at the time included Shepherd’s increasingly antagonistic onstage behavior, as well as divergences between Thayil, who wanted to stick to metal, and Cornell, who would have preferred to explore new directions. While Cameron joined fellow grunge survivors Pearl Jam, Cornell released a solo album, Euphoria Morning (#38, 1999) in which he was free to display his love for the Beatles and his pop sensibility. In 2001 Cornell began recording with Rage Against the Machine.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)