Soundgarden
Superunknown

THE REVIEW

Year of grace 1994. Soundgarden gifts their fans with the last truly shining pearl before their breakup: the wonderful, sublime "Superunknown". It is precisely in this work that the Seattle quartet reaches complete maturity, showcasing a new, much darker and gloomy sound compared to the more violent and fast (almost heavy) sound that had characterized the group up to that point, also introducing a (large) dose of melody that sometimes enhances the track (see "Fell On Black Days") or even makes it a little "cloying" (see the well-known ballad "Black Hole Sun", a song that everyone sees as the symbol of the group, which has never truly convinced me).

Opening the album is the first true masterpiece, "Let Me Drown", with its beautiful riff, a bit dark and a bit angry, that perfectly accompanies the wonderful vocals of Chris Cornell, a front-man with undeniable vocal talents. "My Wave" is another one of those songs that might be a bit too melodic for my taste, but it is certainly also a great composition worth noting. It is impossible not to mention "Mailman", the track that perhaps moves me the most among the 15 (many) on the album, very slow and sad, but with a "kickassbreakingeverything" riff (kudos to Kim Thayil, who has shown his great composing skills like never before in this album) and with Chris's devastating, hard, violent voice like never before, giving us masterful high notes. The title track is perhaps the album's most hard-rock song, while "Head Down" is certainly another pillar of "Superunknown", full of emotions, thanks to the turbulent drum rolls (by Matt Cameron) in the final phase and to a Cornell who invents a very particular vocal tone. The higher tempos are certainly reached in "Kickstand", a fast and energetic piece, but in "4th Of July" the atmosphere changes completely; it only takes Kim’s ingenious mindset, indeed, 2 chords, and I mean 2, to create a macabre and melancholic riff, that "carries" Chris's dark voice that perfectly interprets the piece, creating an atmosphere that is anything but positive. Also worth remembering are "Fresh Tendrils", "The Day I Tried To Live", and "Like Suicide".

What else is there to say about "Superunknown"? That perhaps this album somewhat represented a break from their grunge roots, if they can be defined as such, of Soundgarden, who responded in kind to those who labeled them as a "Led Sabbath" band, incapable of creating something with their own hands.