Soundgarden
Down on the Upside

THE REVIEW

"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.