•
Rating: "Down On The Upside" at a complete standstill.
Now that the '00s are about to conclude and I look back rather than forward, the classically rock releases, the ones that exclusively immerse themselves in their own waters, make me think that it's a lean time.
And so, after years of constant listening to the masterpiece (without any exaggeration) "Superunknown", I discover its successor, my current refuge album, a reference to the sounds and musical flavors that once were. Call it premature aging if you must, but I need little else to fill my musical days; it's enough to pop this blue disc with the faces of the band members into the player and sit on the old and comfortable chair of sounds that once were.
The sounds: these sounds are beautiful. Rich, polished, soft, they are the best possible attire for a multiform rock, starting with a vintage drum (Matt Cameron, now with Pearl Jam), leading to Kim Thayil’s psychedelic-aroma guitars, often underrated, and passing through the valve-sound bass of Ben Sheperd, continually winking at the seventies. Chris Cornell's voice continues with that refinement that characterized "Superunknown", bringing variety to the tracks, now caressing, now scratching, always maintaining the timbre that makes it recognizable among thousands.
In short, faced with a 2008 offering us (or forcing upon us) monolithic guitar riffs that play around in absolute stasis and cite the past without even remotely approaching it, (and here all fingers pointed at the recent Black Mountain release) I prefer to shelter myself in a release that twelve years ago was considered, rightly or wrongly, of little consequence.
To be honest, this is the fate that befalls those albums burdened by the oppressive monolithic shadow of a very recent (and glorious) past, and the examples are numerous: "In The Wake Of Poseidon" by King Crimson, Led Zeppelin's third, Portishead's self-titled, "Henry's Dream" by Nick Cave or "Ege Bamyasi" by Can just to name the first that come to mind. Expectations often become unsustainable, and what emerges has as a necessary condition to be disappointing, in many cases without the due and necessary depth.
In the case of this "Down On The Upside", which was accused of being excessively bloated after the already substantial softening of its predecessor, giving the not entirely correct impression of the group’s definitive sell-out to the Show Biz machine, to melodicism without bite.
As previously highlighted, the greatest virtue of the album is its variety, which is also the sign of the greatest possible distance from the turmoil of "Badmotorfinger"; the band now moves between intricate off-beats woven with a good dose of melody, ("Zero Chance", "Overfloater") balanced by brief forays into the territory of faster and more compelling hard rock ("Never Named") and the magnificence of openly anthemic tracks. ("Burden In My Hand", "Pretty Noose")
Not everything on the plate is appetizing, and so the will to overdo leads to episodes lacking bite like the post-rock mimicry of "Applebite" or the improbable shred on the banjo of "Ty Cobb", and to be honest, the tracks are definitely poorly placed in the lineup, generating long moments of boredom suddenly broken by the better moments. (among them, perhaps, "Never The Machine Forever")
In conclusion, I won't give a score, because I don't want to reassess anything; something is not good or bad based on how it’s discussed, but on this and that factor wisely married with taste and inspiration: maybe take it out of the drawer, give it a listen.
Perhaps like me you'll discover it with few wrinkles stiffening its features, which are still fresh and young, maybe you'll relegate it to that "grunge" that around that time was heading for its great cold spell.
In the meantime, I press play again, "Pretty Noose" plays once more, and smiling, I think no more of it.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Pretty Noose (04:11)
I caught the moon today
Pick it up
And throw it away all right
I got the perfect steal
A cleaner love
With a dirty feel all right
Fall out and take the bait
Eat the fruit
And kiss the snake goodnight
Common ruse dirty face
Pretty noose is pretty hate
And I don't like what you got me hanging from
Let your motor race
Pick it up
And get this mother gone
Out from and far away
The wooden stake
This thing has got me on
Diamond rope silver chain
Pretty noose is pretty pain
And I don't like what you got me hanging from
Common ruse dirty face
Pretty noose is pretty hate
And I don't care what you got
I don't care what you need
I don't want anything
And I don't like what you got me hanging from
02 Rhinosaur (03:14)
Standing with my enemies
Hung on my horns
with haste and reverie
killing with charm
only happy when you hurt
only deadly in a swarm
only healthy in the dirt
only empty in your arms
I play,I'm sick and tame
drawing the hordes
I wait,and show the lame
the meaning of harm
the skulls beneath my feet
like feathers in sand
I graze among the graves
a feeling of peace
only bending when you break
only feeding when you're cold
only healing when you ache
only feeling when you don't
03 Zero Chance (04:18)
I think I know the answer
I stumbled on and the world
fell down
and all the sky went silent
cracked like glass and slowly
tumbled to the ground
they say if you look hard
you'll find your way back home
born without a friend
and bound to die alone
I'm thinking of your highness
and crying upon the loss
I've found
and on the plus and minus
zero chance of ever turning this around
why doesn't anyone believe in lonliness
stand up and everyone will see your holiness
why doesn't anyone believe in lonliness
stand up and everyone will see your holiness
they say if you look real hard
you'll find your way back home
born without a friend
and bound to die alone
04 Dusty (04:34)
I think it's turning back around
And I think I like it
I think it's turning back around
Though I don't know why it is
I think it's turning back on me
I'm down on the upside
I think it's turning back on me
Now I'm the good ride
And nothing's gonna put me out
It's backing down and under
I'm down on the upside now
It's turning back around
Turning back around
I think it's coming on the wind
Just like you said it
I think it's coming on the wind
And I'm gonna let it
I think it's turning back on me
Everything's easy
I think it's turning back on me
Everything's real to me
05 Ty Cobb (03:05)
I'm sittin in a magic hat
with smoke and mirrors
and tire rubber fires
watch me disappear
What made it slow you down
sucking on a ball and chain
another motherfucker goes down the drain
hardheaded fuck you all
Just add it up to the hot rod death toll
Sick in the head
sick in the mouth
and I can't hear a word you say
Not a bit, don't give a shit
I got the glass,I got the steel
I got the love to hate
All I need is your head on a stake
hardheaded fuck you all
Just add it to the hot rod death toll
06 Blow Up the Outside World (05:45)
Nothing seems to kill me
No matter how hard I try
Nothing is closing my eyes
Nothing can beat me down
For your pain or delight, no
And nothing seems to break me
No matter how far I fall
Nothing can break me at all
Not one for giving up
Though not invincible, I know
I've given everything I need
I'd give you everything I own
I'd give in if it could at least be ours alone
I've given everything I could
To blow it to hell and gone
Burrow down in and
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Someone tried to tell me something
Don't let the world bring you down
Nothing can do me in before I do myself
So save it for your own and the ones you can help, no
I've given everything I need
I'd give you everything I own
I'd give in if it could at least be ours alone
I've given everything I could
To blow it to hell and gone
Burrow down in and
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Want to make it understood
Wanting though I never would
Trying though I know it's wrong
Blowing it to hell and gone
Wishing though I never could
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
08 Never Named (02:27)
I had a dog he was a mix
he loved me like a God
But I was just a kid
the kind mother likes
Now I'm big like the sky
and I'm down-sized inside
I'll put this all to rest
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
I'm getting all depressed
I'm just a baby that looks like a boy
I got my father's sense
and my big brother's pants
and I look like a man
and I feel like an ant
just a speck on the ground
growing like a weed
a fleck of a seed
I'll put my hand in flames
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
feels like I'm born again
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
and I'll keep hanging from your hair
and I'll keep playing in the sand
Just as long as I can
09 Applebite (05:09)
No one can save
The pure of the brave
No one can save them at all
Grow and decay
Grow and decay
It is only forever
Loosely or tightly
Everything fits
Even the wrist on your arm
Grow and decay
Grow and decay
It is only forever
10 Never the Machine Forever (03:36)
I can't live when it lives
It won't live if I die
Machine has no heart to give
Heart it takes could be mine
Come on
Come down
Come out from where you hide
Follows me down the river
Shadows me through the sky
A sideways glance in the mirror
Stalemate machine in a tie
Come on
Come down
Come out from where you hide
Get up
Get off
Get on with your life
Forever means all is not seen
Never means forever brings everything
I fashion will and desire
Always I and I survive
Mercurial mind the fire
Ferrivorous direction and drive
Come on
Come down
Come out from where you hide
Get up
Get off
Get on with your life
Forever means all is not seen
Never means forever brings everything
Get up
Get off
Get on with your life
Now I see myself clearer
Why time I visualize
I spy device in the mirror
Checkmate watch machine die
11 Tighter & Tighter (06:06)
Shadow face
Blowing smoke and talking wind
Lost my grip
Fell too far to start again
A sudden snake
Found my shape and tells the world
Remember this
Remember everything is just black
Or burning sun
And I hope its a sweet ride
Sleep tight for me
Sleep tight for me I'm gone
Warm and sweet
Swinging from a windows ledge
Tight and deep
One last sin before I'm dead
A sucking holy wind
Will take me from this bed tonight
And bloody wits
Another hits me and I have to say goodbye
And I hope it's a sweet ride
Here for me tonight
Cause I feel I'm going
Feel I'm slowing down
12 No Attention (04:26)
I've got war on my mind blood on my hands
And love on my head
So open your hands open your mouth
Let it be said
You know I've got it mad in my mind
Don't waste my time it's not going to change
So say what you want spit it out loud
Into my face
And I'll pay no attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
They're gonna tell you where to walk
When to smile and just what to say
They say have your own fun
Make your own mind
And don't make no waves
But if you got a handful of change
Don't throw it away it's gonna come
So say what you want, suck all my
Suck on my brain
And I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
They're gonna tell you where to walk
When to smile and just what to say
They say have your own fun
Make your own mind
And don't make no waves
But if you got a handful of change
Don't throw it away it's gonna come
So say what you want, suck all my
Suck on my brain
And I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
13 Switch Opens (03:52)
Hey you slaves go hang your owners
Draw your names among their ashes
Lay your children on their thrones
Gather 'raound and fall right down
Here at sundown nothing is when
Everything is all right
Switch opens
Opening around and let's the garden rise
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Hey you patients
Where's your surgeon?
Left you with your
Insides open
With your hearts out
On the table
Gather 'round and fall right down
Feel the air now
Stumbling and wander in the moonshine
Switch opens
Opening around and let's the garden rise
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
14 Overfloater (05:08)
Come on in and take me on an override
Been stuck inside and up all night at Dave's
Now trouble's far away, and mother in her cage
And nothings gonna pinch this nerve of mine
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
Close the door and pull the shades
And climb the walls
Feel medicine heal the lines of age
I'm here and now I'm gone
I'm there and far beyond
And nothing's gonna pinch this nerve of mine
Nothing's gonna pinch this nerve of mine
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I'm on the wire over and higher
Over the pretense over the (spire) why
On and connected
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating
Alone, lone, lone, lone
Alone, lone, lone, lone
Alone, lone, lone, lone
Breathe and take in and gently blow it on
Drink it down and swallow hard and gaze
Hold the potion up
Stare your shadow down
Remember to forget and then rename your shame
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I'm on the wire over and higher
Over the pretense over the (spire) why
On and connected
I'm overfloating now
Alone, lone, lone, lone
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating
Alone, lone, lone, lone
15 An Unkind (02:08)
We see the vipers of distance
Crawl into our lives everyday
Breeding our Eden's of hatred
Pathetically stupid and unkind
We couldn't look a saint in the eye
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
Marching in lines of contradiction
Forgetting the history we make
Loving our hangmen as the penultimate joke
We lack the Moses . . . to look
A saint in the eye
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
16 Boot Camp (02:59)
I must obey the rules
I must be tame and cool
No staring at the clouds
I must stay on the ground
In clusters of the mice
The smoke is in our eyes
Like babies on display
Like angels in a cage
I must be pure and true
I must contain my views
There must be something else
There must be something good
Far away
Far away from here
Far away
Far away from here
Far away
Far away from here
Far away
Far away from here
And I'll be here for good
For good
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By 3poundsoflove
Down on the Upside turns out to be far more substantial than critics had to say.
If you have loved this band, or the future evolutions of the good Cornell, you will easily admit to yourself that this is an album to bring, hidden from the eyes of the narrow-minded, to the deserted island.
By StoneAgeWoof
"Down On The Upside reflects all of this, acting as the finale of both the most intense season of the decade and one of the bands that best represented it."
"An album that is qualitatively uneven but overall acceptable as the concluding chapter of their artistic journey and probably of the entire Seattle scene."
By FabbioAW
‘Down On The Upside’ offers many points for reflection and had the potential to be Soundgarden’s magnum opus.
It is an album capable simultaneously of exhausting and elevating the mind.
By Ynamusic
The most splendid thing about the album is, in my opinion, Cornell’s voice, dazzling and gritty, complete with that bold attitude that made the most arrogant faces of rock envious.
Music also lends itself to being a particularly truthful mirror of our society, explaining it much more clearly than a newspaper snippet could do.
