Soundgarden | Telephantasm

A&M Records (2010)
By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER  |  October 5, 2010
3.5 3.5 Stars

1010_soundgarden_main

Aside from an unfortunate crop of John Graham art making the cover look like one of those three-wolf-moon T-shirts, Telephantasm is a solid retrospective for a Seattle metal band who got wrapped up in flannel, became an MTV staple, and left the game before ending up like Nirvana or, worse, Pearl Jam. Go with the two-disc deluxe edition for nuggets like the jittery "All Your Lies" from the mid-'80 Deep Six compilation, the brutally steady bass-and-lead-guitar duel of "Birth Ritual" from the Singles soundtrack, and "Room a Thousand Years Wide" — the Sub Pop version. There's plenty for the "Black Hole Sun" sect, some of it made up of live or alternate mixes, among them a ferocious "Jesus Christ Pose" from a gig in 1993 and a raw "Get on the Snake" recorded at the Whisky four years prior. Chris Cornell's range-defying voice remains the pre-eminent instrument, shredding "Outshined," "Rusty Cage," and "My Wave" over the distinctive plow of sludge from his bandmates. New track "Black Rain," a retooled outtake from the Badmotorfinger sessions, makes a powerful case for Soundgarden's moving forward, provided there's more grunge like it clogging up the cannon.

Related: Dar Williams | Many Great Companions, Clinic | Bubblegum, Brite Futures | Dark Past, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Music Reviews, Guitar Hero,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   THE SOFT MOON | ZEROS  |  October 24, 2012
    Feeling disassociated, darkened, distressed, or just plain different this fall? Don't fret or suffer like the only hope out there for getting lost musically is by listening to early Depeche Mode or jumping on the Kraftwerk revival bandwagon.
  •   BAT FOR LASHES | THE HAUNTED MAN  |  October 18, 2012
    It's no myth that artists tend to struggle with the dreaded second-album slump, but less clichéd and much more real is the third-album choke — especially when previous releases are so critically acclaimed.
  •   THE WALKMEN FILL IN THE GAPS  |  October 10, 2012
    Nothing on the seventh Walkmen release is remotely as jarring as their 2004 masterpiece, "The Rat," a song that had frontman Hamilton Leithauser howling over frenetic guitars and a wildly crashing drumbeat.
  •   FRIGHTENED RABBIT READY TO EMERGE  |  October 02, 2012
    It's always annoying when a band is touted as "the next big thing," especially when they've been around pumping out great stuff for years and then suddenly everyone is talking about them like the stork dropped them off that morning — see Bon Iver winning a Best New Artist Grammy this year, five years after their debut came out.
  •   THE SOUND QUALITY OF CASPIAN  |  September 25, 2012
    Bands looking to create a BUZZ should take note of Caspian.

 See all articles by: MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER