My #5 All-Time Favorite Album: Superunknown by Soundgarden

In the early 1990s the debate was on about which band was the best in the grunge subgenre of hard rock...was it Nirvana or Pearl Jam? By 1995 the answer was clear to me: neither, it was another Seattle-area band: SOUNDGARDEN, featuring one of the greatest singers ever in rock, Chris Cornell, along with lead guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd.  In 1994 they released their hallmark SUPERUNKNOWN, now my all-time #5 favorite album. I didn't know it at the time, though, being gradually treated to radio and video releases from it like Spoonman, My Wave, Fell on Black Days and Black Hole Sun.  Spoonman may have been the coolest video ever, My Wave was my "song of the year" for 1995 with its defiant message to meddlers everywhere, and Black Hole Sun...curiously played on radio as an adult contemporary song although it was probably the darkest on the album with a very scary accompanying video...contained the catchy (to me) line "Hang my head, drown my fear, till you all just disappear".  But I was still unaware of the album itself until visiting my sister Anita in 1994 and noting that my musically inclined nephew Greg owned a copy.  But even then, I wouldn't have heard it except for a quirky twist of fate: a couple of years later, while listening to one of Gainesville's more obscure AM radio stations (on 1390 kHz) play a succession of Doors albums in their entirety, suddenly they started playing Superunknown instead.  Buying the album, I took to it quickly...especially the first eight tracks...and have never looked back.  Superunknown is definitely Soundgarden's best work, combining a generally connected musical thread of their instrumental and singing styles along with some really complex arrangements to form something that they could never hope to match again.  But that's all right: the band came through with this one!  Along with the others are two deep tracks that resonated with me: Mailman and Fresh Tendrils...definitely NOT adult contemporary material.  The original album contained fifteen tracks...some later editions added another song, She Likes Surprises, at the end although I don't think it fit the album.  Superunknown bluntly discusses topics like death, depression, drug abuse and social disaffection, so it may seem a little over the top or disturbing to you...make your own choices, I say. Below are my rankings of Superunknown's original tracks according to my liking...

1 MY WAVE

2 MAILMAN

3 FRESH TENDRILS

4 SUPERUNKNOWN

5 HEAD DOWN

6 LET ME DROWN

7 BLACK HOLE SUN

8 SPOONMAN

9 FELL ON BLACK DAYS

10 THE DAY I TRIED TO LIVE

11 KICKSTAND

12 4TH OF JULY

13 HALF

14 LIKE SUICIDE

15 LIMO WRECK

Next week: a completely different-sounding album as my #4 all-time favorite...