Listening Party #20 / Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger // Weds 12th April, 8pm

Jonathangus · April 2023

TTony said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Anyway, thanks all for listening. Does anyone fancy doing one next week?

Whoever does whatever, I'll have to give it a miss next week.

Need a week off to recover?

TTony · April 2023

Jonathangus said:

TTony said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Anyway, thanks all for listening. Does anyone fancy doing one next week?

Whoever does whatever, I'll have to give it a miss next week.

Need a week off to recover?

Probably don't need a whole week

just busy next Weds.

Philly_Q · April 2023

MagicPigDetective said:

Ok, interesting experience... some reflection, I can see it might be a bit relentless on first listen! It might take a few listens to get into. Perhaps Superunknown or Down on the Upside would have been a better intro for the uninitiated... they're more varied, with Zeppelin and Beatles influences, give them a listen... or we can do a Superunkown listening party in the future

At the time, I thought Superunknown was a step up from Badmotorfinger... more musical diversity, more sophistication in the songwriting. Down on the Upside was a bit of a disappointment, more of the same but with slightly weaker songs.

Thirty years later, I think Badmotorfinger shits all over everything else they ever did. Never mind songs, feel the power. It's magnificent.

horse · April 2023

This is my fave Soundgarden album too. Quality tracks throughout, love the sound of it, and the vocals are different class.

I got temple of the dog after this and was at first disappointed it didn't have that same tone and heft. That soon became a big favourite too though.

Philly_Q · April 2023

horse said:

I got temple of the dog after this and was at first disappointed it didn't have that same tone and heft. That soon became a big favourite too though.

For a while I was trying to buy just about everything which came out of Seattle... I liked the Temple of the Dog album, can't remember if I bought it before or after the (related) Mother Love Bone album which also has some great stuff.

Kittyfrisk · April 2023

^ Remember going to see 'Singles' when it was first released in the US while staying with friends.
I was months ahead of the game when back in the UK, as there was no such thing as streaming back then...
Still a good soundtrack

Philly_Q · April 2023

^ Yeah, I bought that soundtrack album, although I hardly ever buy soundtracks. I think there were one or two exclusive tracks?

MagicPigDetective · April 2023

Singles soundtrack is good, far superior to the rom com film. Cornell's 'Seasons' is a superb Led Zep style acoustic song, and Soundgarden's Birth Ritual, which they're playing in the gig in the film... is heavy as fuck... could have easily been on BMF. There's an early verions of the Spoonman riff on acoustic heard during the film too.

MagicPigDetective · April 2023

I got well into the Seattle scene.. was a huge Nirvana fan first, then Soundgarden took over, Pearl Jam too of course and Alice in Chains. I'm also a fan of the Melvins (my forum name is a song of theirs), Tad, Screaming Trees. Temple of the Dog is superb, also Mad Season with Layne Stayley and Mike McCready.

Some good early Sub Pop stuff on their 100 and 200 albums:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6LdfMVHMRWUOsZsDaQ7VyY?si=36c4494226b54065

Kittyfrisk · April 2023

MagicPigDetective said:

Singles soundtrack is good, far superior to the rom com film. Cornell's 'Seasons' is a superb Led Zep style acoustic song, and Soundgarden's Birth Ritual, which they're playing in the gig in the film... is heavy as fuck... could have easily been on BMF. There's an early verions of the Spoonman riff on acoustic heard during the film too.

Agreed. Turns out there have been many more versions since then too... but at the time it was very new & fresh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singles:_Original_Motion_Picture_Soundtrack

Philly_Q · April 2023

One of my favourite bands from that period were on Sub Pop but they weren't grunge and they weren't from Seattle... Big Chief. Their guitarist Mark Dancey did the cover art for Badmotorfinger.

MagicPigDetective · April 2023

By the way, I’m going to see the Melvins in Manchester in June, will be my first time seeing them

EricTheWeary · April 2023

I’ve had Badmotorfinger on at times over the last week. I think that relentlessness does make it a difficult listen. Works better for me as the odd song here and there. I’m also drawn back to Rusty Cage as the best song on it which means it’s a bit downhill after the opener. However, lots of little surprises like the psychedelic influences, bits of sax, the Sabbath and Zep influences. Mind Riot sounds like Reef (other way round I suppose)!

Reverend · April 2023

MagicPigDetective said:

I got well into the Seattle scene.. was a huge Nirvana fan first, then Soundgarden took over, Pearl Jam too of course and Alice in Chains. I'm also a fan of the Melvins (my forum name is a song of theirs), Tad, Screaming Trees. Temple of the Dog is superb, also Mad Season with Layne Stayley and Mike McCready.

Some good early Sub Pop stuff on their 100 and 200 albums:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6LdfMVHMRWUOsZsDaQ7VyY?si=36c4494226b54065

I've got a nice little CD boxset of that.

I like the first few Soundgarden albums but the later stuff bores me almost as much as playing live seemed to bore the band in 1992. I liked BMF a the time because of all the Wino references in the riffs but stuff like Hands All Over and Flower were probably their best songs

Never got into Much of the bigger grunge bands. Pearl Jam are kinda meh, but the Green River album was great. First few Tad albums were killer,

Reverend · April 2023

MagicPigDetective said:

By the way, I’m going to see the Melvins in Manchester in June, will be my first time seeing them

My first time seeing them was Reading 1992. Watched more of them than Nirvana

Greatape · April 2023

theatreanchor said:

Choice album. Probably their best.

Yes. Better than Superunknown imho.

I'm also a fan of Louder than Love.

Greatape · April 2023

Philly_Q said:

One of my favourite bands from that period were on Sub Pop but they weren't grunge and they weren't from Seattle... Big Chief. Their guitarist Mark Dancey did the cover art for Badmotorfinger.

I've got that album.

I was due to see the Superunknown tour in Cardiff....which they cancelled due to Cobain's suicide.

I bought way too many grunge-adjacent albums in the early to mid nineties... Anyone remember Paw?

Creed_Clicks · April 2023

A bit of pre SG BMF trivia. Hiro played with a band called Truly, The album "Fast Stories... From Kid Coma" is well worth checking out.

Philly_Q · April 2023

Creed_Clicks said:

A bit of pre SG BMF trivia. Hiro played with a band called Truly, The album "Fast Stories... From Kid Coma" is well worth checking out.

Got that one! I'd completely forgotten about it though, until you mentioned it.

Creed_Clicks · April 2023

Philly_Q said:

Creed_Clicks said:

A bit of pre SG BMF trivia. Hiro played with a band called Truly, The album "Fast Stories... From Kid Coma" is well worth checking out.

Got that one! I'd completely forgotten about it though, until you mentioned it.

Both their albums aren't bad. I managed to get a physical copy of Kid Coma, but the other one is on Spotify. Opening song is cracker.

MagicPigDetective · April 2023

EricTheWeary said:

I’ve had Badmotorfinger on at times over the last week. I think that relentlessness does make it a difficult listen. Works better for me as the odd song here and there. I’m also drawn back to Rusty Cage as the best song on it which means it’s a bit downhill after the opener. However, lots of little surprises like the psychedelic influences, bits of sax, the Sabbath and Zep influences. Mind Riot sounds like Reef (other way round I suppose)!

Glad you gave it a listen, it's interesting to hear the reactions of those who are new to it.. I've listened to it hundreds of times so it's difficult to imagine listening to it from the outside.... though I'm still hearing new things in it! The odd bit of weirdness or psychadelia or feedback really does add to the the atmosphere of the record.

I like the early stuff a lot, some great songs like... Flower, Beyond the Wheel, Hunted Down, Sub Pop Rock City etc. Ultramega Ok suffered a bit from the production with too much reverb. I'm a big fan of Louder than Love (Hands all over, Loud Love and Get on the Snake especially), but to me BMF was a big step up, a big part being Ben Shepherd's input. Cornell was also in a rich vein of form, with this and Temple of the Dog, the death of Andy Wood must have been a factor in this.

Superunkown I love dearly, and is probably my favourite album of all time.... it's a totally different beast from BMF. Less relentless with more changes of mood and pace... more melancholy reflecting Cornell's state of depression for certain.. the production is magnificent. The production on BMF is spot on for where the band was at the time, go for the jugular, huge bass sound, though the drums sound a bit flat to me compared to how they sound on Superunkown. Matt Cameron is a beast of a drummer.

Down on the Upside, yes I was slightly disappointed at the time, but it has grown on me over the years, though I'm not that fussed about the punkier tunes on it. Overfloater and Tighter & Tighter are my highlights.

What I love about Soundgarden is how they evolved over time and how their albums reflect that. I appreciate all their phases, even King Animal... some of if is great, if not all. Btw there is talk that the dispute with Cornell's widow might be resolved and they can finally get on with finishing and releasing the songs they were recording before his death.

MagicPigDetective · April 2023

Greatape said:

Philly_Q said:

One of my favourite bands from that period were on Sub Pop but they weren't grunge and they weren't from Seattle... Big Chief. Their guitarist Mark Dancey did the cover art for Badmotorfinger.

I've got that album.

I was due to see the Superunknown tour in Cardiff....which they cancelled due to Cobain's suicide.

I bought way too many grunge-adjacent albums in the early to mid nineties... Anyone remember Paw?

I was lucky to catch them at Reading 94, 95 and on the Down on the Upside tour in 96... (and 2012.... and Audioslave once)
but I had a ticket to see Nirvana at Aston Villa Leisure Centre.... in 94, it was cancelled for obvious reasons. I was at Reading 93, I managed to miss seeing Nirvana who were there in 92, I was obsessed with them at the time.

Paw's first album Dragline, is a great album, seems to be largely forgotten these days.

EricTheWeary · April 2023

MagicPigDetective said:

EricTheWeary said:

I’ve had Badmotorfinger on at times over the last week. I think that relentlessness does make it a difficult listen. Works better for me as the odd song here and there. I’m also drawn back to Rusty Cage as the best song on it which means it’s a bit downhill after the opener. However, lots of little surprises like the psychedelic influences, bits of sax, the Sabbath and Zep influences. Mind Riot sounds like Reef (other way round I suppose)!

Glad you gave it a listen, it's interesting to hear the reactions of those who are new to it.. I've listened to it hundreds of times so it's difficult to imagine listening to it from the outside.... though I'm still hearing new things in it! The odd bit of weirdness or psychadelia or feedback really does add to the the atmosphere of the record.

I like the early stuff a lot, some great songs like... Flower, Beyond the Wheel, Hunted Down, Sub Pop Rock City etc. Ultramega Ok suffered a bit from the production with too much reverb. I'm a big fan of Louder than Love (Hands all over, Loud Love and Get on the Snake especially), but to me BMF was a big step up, a big part being Ben Shepherd's input. Cornell was also in a rich vein of form, with this and Temple of the Dog, the death of Andy Wood must have been a factor in this.

Superunkown I love dearly, and is probably my favourite album of all time.... it's a totally different beast from BMF. Less relentless with more changes of mood and pace... more melancholy reflecting Cornell's state of depression for certain.. the production is magnificent. The production on BMF is spot on for where the band was at the time, go for the jugular, huge bass sound, though the drums sound a bit flat to me compared to how they sound on Superunkown. Matt Cameron is a beast of a drummer.

Down on the Upside, yes I was slightly disappointed at the time, but it has grown on me over the years, though I'm not that fussed about the punkier tunes on it. Overfloater and Tighter & Tighter are my highlights.

What I love about Soundgarden is how they evolved over time and how their albums reflect that. I appreciate all their phases, even King Animal... some of if is great, if not all. Btw there is talk that the dispute with Cornell's widow might be resolved and they can finally get on with finishing and releasing the songs they were recording before his death.

Not new to me but I probably hadn’t listened to it since the 20th century!

MagicPigDetective · April 2023

EricTheWeary said:

Not new to me but I probably hadn’t listened to it since the 20th century!

New and returning listeners!

EricTheWeary · April 2023

Rusty Cage gets a mention in the latest David Bennett video, from 5:40

https://youtu.be/BVvSjkVgBW4

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Listening Party #20 / Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger // Weds 12th April, 8pm

Comments