Soundgarden

1984-1986. Formation and early years

The origins of Soundgarden are from The Shemps, which played in Seattle in the early 1980s ^[10] and included bassist Hiro Yamamoto and drummer / singer Chris Cornell . After Yamamoto left, the band took Kim Tayil as the new bass player ^[10] . Tyil at that time moved to Seattle from Park Forest with Yamamoto and Bruce Pavitt , who later organized Sub Pop Records. ^[11] Cornell and Yamamoto continued to communicate with each other, and after the collapse of The Shemps, they started jamming together, and eventually Tyil joined them ^[10] .

Soundgarden (Rus. "Sound garden", "garden of sound") was formed in 1984 by Chris Cornell ( drums , vocals ) and Hiro Yamamoto ( bass ), which was then joined by Kim Tayil ( guitar ). The group was named after the art and music street installation The Sound Garden , which made dark sounds from the wind.

At first, Cornell played drums and sang at the same time, but then drummer Scott Sandquist taken into the group and Cornell was able to focus on vocals. The group recorded two songs that were included in the Deep Six compilation of the independent label C / Z Records , which also included songs by Green River , Skin Yard , Malfunkshun , The U-Men and The Melvins .

In 1986, Sandquist left, and Matt Cameron , the drummer from Skin Yard, was taken in his place.

1987-1990. First Releases

The group signed a contract with Sub Pop, where they released two mini-albums: Screaming Life ( 1987 ) and Fopp ( 1988 ). In 1990, these releases were reissued as a compilation of “Screaming Life / Fopp” .

Although the group had major major labels in 1988, they signed with SST Records to release their debut album, Ultramega OK , for which they were nominated for a Grammy in the category "Best Performance in Metal Style" in 1990 . Their first video clip “Flower” was filmed by director Clint Soulier and regularly appeared in the program “120 Minutes” on MTV . In 1989, the band released their first major label album, Louder Than Love , on A&M Records . After the release of the album, Yamamoto left the group and returned to college. He was briefly replaced by Jason Everman (who had recently left Nirvana ), who appears on the Louder Than Live concert video in , but soon Ben Shepherd takes this place and ends the changes in the composition of the group.

1991-1994. Popularity growth

The new line-up recorded the album " Badmotorfinger " in 1991 . Although he became successful, he was in the shadow of the unexpected overpopularity of Nirvana 's Nevermind album. At the same time, Nevermind’s focus on the Seattle scene attracted more attention to Soundgarden, which allowed Outshined and Rusty Cage to find listeners on alternative radio and MTV. In support of the album, the group toured with Guns N 'Roses , and then released the video “ Motorvision ” with recordings from this tour. The band performed at the 1992 Lollapalooza Traveling Festival along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers , Pearl Jam , Ministry and others.

Superunknown ( 1994 ) was a breakthrough supported by the singles Black Hole Sun, Spoonman, The Day I Tried to Live, and Fell on Black Days. The songs of this album preserved the creative approach of the band's early works and at the same time sounded closer to the radio format. Lyrics of the album are painted in gloomy and mysterious colors, many songs touch on the themes of cruelty, suicide and depression. Many songs have a Middle Eastern or Indian flavor, such as “Fell on Black Days” and “Half”, the last one features bass vocals by Ben Shepherd.

Also 4 tracks: Kickstand, Superunknown, Outshined and Rusty Cage entered the soundtrack for Road Rash in the 3DO version in 1994 (later the game with the same soundtrack was released on PlayStation and PC).

Down on the Upside and Decay (1996-1997)

After a world tour in support of Superunknown , the band began working on what would be their last studio album in 15 years. The group decided to produce the record itself ^[12] . However, tensions within the group reportedly arose during sessions between Tyil and Cornell, allegedly at odds over Cornell's desire to move away from heavy guitar riffs, which became the band's hallmark. The band's fifth album, Down on the Upside , was released on May 21, 1996. The album was noticeably less heavy than the previous albums of the group, and marks a further departure from the grunge roots of the group. The album spawned several singles, including Pretty Noose, Burden in My Hand, and Blow Up the Outside World. Pretty Noose was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1997. Although critics reacted favorably to the album, its sales did not exceed the previous ones.

Friction continued during the ensuing tour in support of the album. At her last performance in Honolulu in February 1997 , Shepherd broke loose due to hardware problems, threw his bass into the air and left the stage. The group stopped performing, Cornell completed it with solo songs. On April 9, 1997, the group announced its dissolution. The latest release, a compilation entitled " A-Sides, " became a bestseller that fall.

1998—2009

Chris Cornell released his solo album Euphoria Morning in 1999, and later formed Audioslave with former members of Rage Against the Machine . The second solo album was planned for 2007 . In 2007, the band split up and Cornell released a solo album.

Matt Cameron immediately redirected his efforts to the Wellwater Conspiracy side project . Then he worked for a while with the Smashing Pumpkins group, there were even rumors that he would replace Jimmy Chamberlain . In 1998, he sat at the drum set of Pearl Jam on a tour in support of the album “ Yield ” and subsequently became a regular member of the band.

Kim Tyil teamed up with Dead Kennedys former vocalist Jello Biafra , former Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic and drummer Gina Maynwall for one concert, performing under the name No WTO Combo (a company outside the WTO ) during the WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle on December 1, 1999 . Tayil later performed guitar parts for Steve Fisk 's 2001 album “999 Levels of Undo”, and also for the 2004 album “ Probot ” by side project of Dave Grohl .

Ben Shepherd toured with Mark Lanegan and participated in the recording of the much-delayed second album of the group Hater in 2005 . He also occasionally appears on Wellwater Conspiracy albums.

2010. Reunion, Telephantasm, Cornell's Death, Second Break, One-Time Concert and Disbandment

On January 1, 2010, on the microblog of the vocalist of the group, Chris Cornell, on Twitter and on the official website of the group, a message appeared about the reunion of Soundgarden in its classic composition ^[13] . The band’s new website was also opened, where after registration, fans could watch the archived video for the song “Get on the Snake” from the album “Louder Than Love”. March 1, 2010, site subscribers received a message about the re-release of the old single “Hunted Down” on vinyl. Also on the band’s website appeared a live version of the 1996 song “Spoonman” available for download from a concert in San Diego.

Rumors that Soundgarden will perform at the American Lollapalooza festival as headliners were confirmed on April 5, 2010. The band announced on its website that they would play at the Chicago festival on August 8. At the end of December 2010, the group went to the studio for joint jamming and in early 2011 announced the recording of a new album. March 22 released the first live album of the group "Live on I-5" , which contains recordings from the concerts of the group in support of the album Down on the Upside 1996.

On November 13, 2012, the group released the first studio album in sixteen years - King Animal .

On November 15, 2013, drummer Matt Cameron announced that he would not perform with Soundgarden in 2014 due to a tour of support for the Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt album ^[14] . On March 16, 2014, Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails announced a joint North American tour with Death Grips opening act ^[15] . Former Pearl Jam Drummer Matt Chamberlain replaced Cameron at concerts in South America and Europe on March 27, 2014 ^{[16] [17]} .

On October 28 of that year, the band announced a three-disc box set, Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path . It includes rare and concert recordings, as well as unpublished material covering the entire history of the group. It also included previously released songs, "Live to Rise," "Black Rain," "Birth Ritual," and a new version of the song "The Storm", recorded by the group before Cameron came to the 1985 demo recording . Like the original, this version was produced by Jack Andino ^[18] .

In 2015, Tyil said in several interviews that the group could start working on a new album ^{[19] [20]} . In August of that year, Cornell also expressed hope ^[21] . On January 19, 2016, The Pulse Of Radio announced that Soundgarden had returned to the studio to work on a new album ^[22] . On July 14 of that year, bassist Ben Shepherd and Cameron announced that the group had written “six solid songs” for the new album, and there would be more in August ^[23] .

On May 18, 2017, Chris Cornell was found dead with an “neck expander,” according to his spokesman, Brian Brambury. Cornell was in his room at the MGM Grand Hotel / Casino in Detroit , after Soundgarden performed at Fox Theater ^[24] . From the very beginning of the investigation, the death of the singer was called by the local police "possible suicide." This was based on unspecified details in the room where his body was discovered ^[25] . Subsequently, the Wayne County Medical Inspectorate confirmed the cause of death as hanging suicide ^[26] . Nevertheless, Cornell’s widow, Vicki wondered if he had committed suicide intentionally ^[27] , and said that the drug Ativan , which her husband used, could lead to suicide. She commented: “I know that he loved our children, and he would not harm them by deliberately taking his own life” ^[28] .

After that, the group canceled the remaining performances of their tour ^[29] , including performing as headliners at the Rock on the Range and Rocklahoma festivals , which were supposed to take place at the end of the month ^[30] .

In September 2017, Matt Cameron told Billboard that he and the other surviving members of Soundgarden had not yet decided on the band's future after Cornell's death. He commented: “I don’t think we are ready to say anything other than this. Kim, Ben and I are well aware of the pain our fans are experiencing, and we definitely feel the same way. But we value privacy very much, we still experience our grief in our own way. But we, of course, think about our fans and love them very much. ” ^[31]

In September 2018, guitarist Kim Tayil told Billboard that he and the other surviving members of Soundgarden are still not sure about the band's future. He commented: “We often turn to the history of rock and often exchange opinions on how other groups acted in this situation, not just making a plan, but simply discussing how they coped with similar situations and who came out with dignity to deal with their future in music, or how some were clumsy or rude. We think of such things. We try not to go too deep into such conversations, but a lot of things come up after a couple of bottles of beer ” ^{[3] [32]} . A month later, Cameron complained to Rolling Stone that the remaining members of Soungarden "will surely try to do something together." Bassist Ben Shepherd added: “On a personal level, we have not even had the opportunity to spend time together, the three of us. Now our wounds are healing, after which we will think about the next step. ” ^{[3] [33]}

In an October 2018 interview with the Seattle Times , Tyil said it was unlikely that surviving members of Soundgarden would continue the band. He explained: “I do not know what is possible or what we will consider in the future. Most likely nothing [important]. The four of us were one. There were four of us, and now there are three of us, so there is little left to strive for except to analyze the past at the moment (working with the catalog). ”Tayil also said that he did not exclude the possibility of continuing joint activities with Cameron and Shepherd ^{[4 ] [5]} .

In January 2019, the surviving participants reunited at a memorial and charity concert hosted by Cornell's wife, Vicki, in the Forum arena in Los Angeles . Members of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog , Audioslave , Melvins , Foo Fighters and Metallica sang Cornell songs from different periods of his career. Taylor Momsen , Marcus Durant , Brandy Carlisle and Taylor Hawkins performed Soundgarden songs such as “ Rusty Cage ”, “ Flower ”, “ Outshined ”, “ Drawing Flies ”, “ Loud Love ”, “ I Awake ” and “ Black Hole Sun. " This was their first and only performance after Cornell's death ^[34] .

25 июня 2019 года The New York Times Magazine назвал Soundgarden среди сотен исполнителей, чей материал, как сообщается, был уничтожен во время пожара в Universal Studios Hollywood 2008 года ^[35] .

Последний состав

• Ким Тайил — соло-гитара, бэк-вокал (1984—1997, 2010—2019)
• Мэтт Кэмерон — ударные, бэк-вокал (1986—1997, 2010—2019)
• Бен Шеферд — бас-гитара, бэк-вокал (1990—1997, 2010—2019)

Former members

• Хиро Ямамото — бас-гитара, бэк-вокал (1984—1989)
• Ким Тайил — соло-гитара, бэк-вокал (1984—1997, 2010—2018)
• Крис Корнелл — вокал (1984—1997, 2010—2017) , ударные (1984—1985) , ритм-гитара (1985—1997, 2010—2017)
• Скотт Сандквист — ударные (1985—1986)
• Джейсон Эверман — бас-гитара (1989—1990)

Временная шкала

• 1988 — Ultramega OK
• 1989 — Louder Than Love
• 1990 — Loudest Love ( EP )
• 1991 — Badmotorfinger
• 1994 — Superunknown
• 1996 — Down on the Upside
• 2012 — King Animal

• Официальный сайт Soundgarden
• Soundgarden на www.peoples.ru
• Неофициальная страница Soundgarden
• Soundgarden Live Guide (unavailable link from 09/02/2013 [2175 days] - history , copy )
• Soundgarden at Encyclopaedia Metallum