So why is Soundgarden’s Superunknown on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
For a long time, Superunknown “suffered” a little bit in terms of my personal affection for it. The reason? Simple overexposure.
If you’re of a certain generation in the U.S., you’ll know how pervasive “Black Hole Sun” and, to a slightly lesser extent, “Spoonman” was on MTV and rock radio back in the day. 1994 was a year when alternative rock had long since captured “mainstream” attention and, further, all bands deemed as “grunge” were pounded into the ears of music lovers across the land.
Over the years, I’ve come to greatly appreciate Superunknown as a whole – it’s remarkably consistent, high quality rock music that spans between the ranges of alt rock, metal, and grunge.
While I have nothing “against” “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman” these days, it’s so easy for me to highlight other songs that I’m more partial to. “My Wave,” for example, has a great and crushing metal-y groove that happily stays in my head for days upon each listen. And dig how Chris Cornell’s voice is just spot on perfect for this style of music.
“Fell On Black Days” is slower, sludge-ier, and blues-ier in a wonderful way. And Cornell is just as adept at crooning on a slower, more emotional song as he is with more aggressive metal material.
The title track, “Superunknown,” could easily have become as big a hit as “Black Hole Sun” in my view. I absolutely love the chorus: dark yet somehow rollicking at the same time.
Alive in the superunknown*
First it steals your mind and then it steals your soul
* I’ll admit that I long thought that the lyric was “alone in the superunknown”!
Also see: Soundgarden – Down on the Upside: #545 of best 1,000 albums ever
Some stats & info about Soundgarden – Superunknown
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Metal, Alternative Metal, Alternative Rock, Grunge, Seattle Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Superunknown released? 1994
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #495 out of 1,000
Soundgarden’s Superunknown on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Soundgarden’s Superunknown that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
In my eyes, indisposed, in disguises no one knows, hides the face, lies the snake, and the sun in my disgrace.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.