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Rating: The late 80s in Seattle represent a revolution in the music scene. One of the most significant bands of the period is undoubtedly Mother Love Bone, led by the charismatic frontman Andrew Wood. On March 16, 1990, Andy is found unconscious by his girlfriend Xana LaFuente; hospital care will be useless because a few days later Wood will die due to an accidental overdose. The event strikes the band hard, and they decide to dissolve out of respect for him after releasing only one major album, "Apple." Guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament, after a period of inactivity, decide to prepare a demo with the participation of former Love Chile guitarist, Mike McCready. From the Stone Gossard Demo, a singer from San Diego, Eddie Vedder, will derive the embryonic versions of three songs of the future Pearl Jam, initially Mookie Blaylock, namely "Once", "Alive", and "Footsteps". When Chris Cornell, lyricist singer and main composer of Soundgarden, writes two songs in memory of Andrew, "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and "Reach Down", Gossard, Ament, and McCready decide to record them for what was originally intended to be a solo EP of Cornell. However, during the studio sessions, the four, assisted by Matt Cameron, drummer of Soundgarden and later of Pearl Jam, record ten songs that merge into the album "Temple Of The Dog", a reference to "Man Of Golden Words" by Mother Love Bone. The album, released in 1991, sells very well thanks also to the subsequent grunge explosion by Mudhoney, Melvins, Nirvana, Screaming Trees, and of course, Pearl Jam.
Characterized by an outstanding interpretation by Cornell, the album opens with "Say Hello 2 Heaven", "Reach Down", and the single "Hunger Strike". The first track is a Mother Love Bone-style ballad entirely dedicated to Andy, characterized by unreachable high notes and an applause-worthy guitar solo. The second is an over 11-minute suite with alternating exclusively instrumental moments and a cappella parts where Cornell unfolds his voice, all enhanced by McCready's solo, which shows his great skill. "Hunger Strike" is instead a chorus repeated four times where the voices of Vedder and Chris blend, chase, and combat in a crescendo of pathos between vitriolic high notes and baritone parts on an increasingly insistent sound carpet. "Pushing Forward Back", which anticipates some of the sound characteristics of the future Pearl Jam, and "Call Me A Dog", a splendid ballad with southern hints and a tearjerking guitar solo in the coda, guide the listener towards another mainstay of the album, "Times Of Trouble". This is the "Footsteps" composed by Vedder for Gossard's demos and here dedicated by Cornell to denouncing the ease with which drugs can possess those in difficulty ("When the spoon is hot/ And the needle sharp/ And you drift away/ I can hear you say/ That the world in black/ Is upon your back..."). The album closes with "Wooden Jesus", a ballad characterized by sweet moments to other strong musical screams, "Your Savior", with increasingly fast guitar intertwines and an absolutely perfect rhythm section, "Four Walled Wall", prison-song with increasingly complex cacophonies and guitar dialogs, and "All Night Thing", perhaps the weakest track on the album supported by Cornell's voice and dedicated to the story of a night of sex.
This album is one of the greatest of all time, direct, moving, dedicated to the memory of a friend, written and composed without thinking of market logic and for this reason "true" and alluring. It is a mix of metal, glam, hard rock, and punk attitude, sharing with the "Seattle sound" the sincerity and urgency dictated by the need to play.
Not everyone loves it, however, and among them, unfortunately, is Kevin Wood, Andy's brother...
For Andy: "...Now I'm warm from the candle/ But I feel too cold to burn/ He came from an island/ And he died from the street/ He hurt so bad like a soul breaking/ But he never said nothing to me/ So say hello to heaven..."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Say Hello 2 Heaven (06:24)
Please, mother mercy
Take me from this place
And the long winded curses
I keep hearing in my head
Words never listened
And teachers all they never learned
Now I'm warm from the candle
But I feel too cold to burn
He came from an island
And he died from the street
He hurt so bad like a soul breaking
But he never said nothing to me
So say hello to heaven
New like a baby
Lost like a prayer
The sky was your playground
But the cold ground was your bed
Poor stargazer
She's got no tears in her eyes
Smooth like whisper
She knows that love heals all wounds with time
Now it seems like too much love
Is never enough, you better seek out
Another road 'cause this one has
Ended abrupt, say hello to heaven
I never wanted
To write these words down for you
With the pages of phrases
Of things we'll never do
So I blow out the candle, and
I put you to bed
Since you can't say to me
Now how the dogs broke your bone
There's just one thing left to be said
Say hello to heaven
03 Hunger Strike (04:06)
Well I don't mind stealing bread
From the mouths of decadence
But I can't feed on the powerless
When my cup's already overfilled
Yeah
But it's on the table
The fire's cooking
And they're farming babies
The slaves are all working
Blood is on the table
The mouths are all choking
But I'm goin' hungry
Yeah
I don't mind stealing bread
From the mouths of decadence
But I can't feed on the powerless
When my cup's already overfilled
But it's on the table
The fire is cooking
And they're farming babies
The slaves are all working
And it's on the table
Their mouths are all choking
But I'm going hungry (Going hungry)
I'm going hungry (Going hungry)
I'm going hungry (Going hungry)
08 Your Saviour (04:04)
People like you, I know myself
Walk in the shoes of somebody else
Whisper to me, my tragic fate
Whisper to me, my tragic end
But don't give me your savior
But don't give me your savior
People I choose, life on my own
Burn me your fuse, throw me your stones
Give me your brand, burn on my hand
Whisper to me, my tragic end
But don't give me your savior
But don't give me your savior
People I choose, I know myself
Lay my need out, give you my help
But you give me your blues
And you whisper my fate
But don't give me your savior
But don't give me your savior
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Other reviews
By cliffburton86
IT'S A MASTERPIECE!! A stunning album! At times dramatic. Angry yet delicate at the same time.
The singers give their all, creating a dreamlike atmosphere... An album categorically among the top 5 in the history of grunge music.
By il trucido
This is one of the most sincere and moving albums in music history: dedicated to the late Andrew Wood.
Music has nothing to do with technique or compositional talent, but what can elevate music to Art is only the emotion and sincerity with which it’s made.
By Cornell
The greatest album in the history of rock, 10 songs that could have been 10 singles.
'Reach Down'... can be considered one of the top 10 pieces ever written in the musical landscape of all time.
