All About Soundgarden

The earliest incarnation of the band that would become Soundgarden was the local (and short lived) cover band the Shemps. The original lineup consisted of Hiro Yamamoto on bass, local Seattleite Chris Cornell on drums and Kim Thayil's roommate Matt Dentino on guitar. Hiro would later quit the band, being replaced by Thayil. After the Shemps broke up, Hiro and Chris (who had since become roommates) decided to form a band together with Thayil. Originally featuring Chris singing and playing drums, the kit was eventually taken over by Scott Sundquist briefly before he was replaced by the legendary Matt Cameron.

Soundgarden went on to record the Sub-Pop classics Screaming Life and Fopp, quickly inspiring many of the bands and musicians who would become the faces of the "Grunge Movement." After their first full length, Ultramega OK, was released on the Greg Ginn-founded SST label, they signed onto A&M, where they stayed the rest of their career. They released the first grunge album on a major label, Louder than Love, but shortly after original band member Hiro Yamamoto decided to quit and return to school. After a brief stint with Nirvana's former guitarist Jason Everman, Ben Shepherd became the permanent replacement. In 1991, the breakthrough year of grunge, three legendary albums were released by the three biggest Seattle bands. Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten and of course, Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger. Then in 1994 their legendary album Superunknown was released, which would sell over 5 million copies worldwide. Featuring the hits Black Hole Sun and Spoonman it became an instant classic.

Unfortunately, shortly after the tour for their final album, Down on the Upside, Soundgarden shocked fans around the world when they announced they would be breaking up on April 9, 1997. The reasons behind their breakup are still unknown today, although some of the band's last performances suggest internal conflict, possibly stemming from the always short tempered Ben. With a long, incredible and legendary 13 year career, Soundgarden will always be one of the greatest hard rock bands ever, as well as my personal favorite band of all time.

Chris Cornell - Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitar; Drums very early on: Chris Cornell is one of the greatest vocalists ever. He possesses a huge range, amazing emotion, great versatility and unbelievable power. He is an excellent lyricist with mastery of the metaphor, and one of the greatest rock songwriters ever. The mastermind behind most of Soundgarden's songwriting (although Soundgarden has a lot more input from the other members than most people realize), his amazing and intricate songwriting on Superunknown make it the most complex album in their discography and very easily the best album of the 1990s. Sadly, Chris Cornell died by suicide May 18, 2017 after a concert in Detroit.

Kim Thayil - Lead Guitar: Kim Thayil isn't an over the top guitarist with supreme technical skill and jaw dropping solos, but he remains a very good player and my personal favorite member of the band. His early Soundgarden writing (he wrote almost all of the first SG tunes), while not as complex as Cornell's songwriting, is full of great riffing and creative solos. He also wrote several later songs which are all great, like 'Limo Wreck', 'Never the Machine Forever', 'Superunknown' and 'Kickstand'. Some of his solos ('Tighter & Tighter', 'Like Suicide', 'Spoonman') are unrecognized classics. Not to mention he's possibly the coolest looking guitarist ever!

Hiro Yamamoto - Bass Guitar from 1984 to 1989: Not an exceptional musician, but his bass work is solid and he has written some of Soundgarden's best early work with songs such as 'All Your Lies', 'Nazi Driver' and 'I Awake'.

Jason Everman - Bass Guitar from 1989 to 1990: He doesn't appear on any studio material with Soundgarden or Nirvana (although he's the major figure of the Bleach cover), he only played with the band during the 'Louder than Love' tour. No one likes him.

Ben Shepherd - Bass Guitar from 1990 to 1997: By far the best bassist of Soundgarden's three, he is an underrated bassist who has some excellent bass lines in songs such as' The Day I Tried to Live' and 'Burden in My Hand'. Ben is also probably coolest member of Soundgarden to watch live, he plays with his bass strap lower than anyone I've ever seen, and has a tendency for flipping out and spitting on audience members. He'd also prove to be the 2nd greatest songwriter within the band. His writing includes 'Half', a strange little tune but the PERFECT introduction to the amazing closer 'Like Suicide', the experimental and excellent 'Head Down' and the high energy 'Ty Cobb', which served as the band's final single (making "hard headed, fuck you all" their musical epitaph).

Scott Sunquist - Drums early on: Very little material with Scott drumming exists, such as the songs on 'Deep Six'. Not much to say about him.

Matt Cameron - Drums 1986 - 1997: What can you say about Matt Cameron, a brilliant drummer and musician. His sense of rhythm, use of ghost notes, technical skill and mastery of odd time signatures make him one of the best drummers in rock music. He's also a great songwriter who's written what is one of my favorite Soundgarden songs, 'Fresh Tendrils', along with such greats as 'Rhinosaur', 'Mailman' and 'Limo Wreck'.