Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Soundgarden released great albums 30 years ago

September 24, 1991 was a great day for music. 

30 years ago, Nirvana released their second album, Nevermind. 

The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their fifth album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. 

[UPDATE: I originally said Soundgarden released their third album, Badmotorfinger, on the same day — which is what Wikipedia said on September 24. But later, Soundgarden did a Facebook post admitting that they had caused the wrong info to be put on Wikipedia. It was scheduled to be released that day, but it was postponed to October 8, 1991 because the band insisted on changing the album's front and back covers. You can see the original cover art in their Facebook post.]

All three albums were commercial and artistic breakthroughs for those bands.

They're the kind of album you listen to straight through, not skipping any tracks, because each one feels essential, from the hits to the songs you might have forgotten about but are happy to hear when they come on (Nirvana's "Lounge Act," RHCP's "My Lovely Man," Soundgarden's "Somewhere"). 

Nevermind has been celebrated for bringing an entire genre into the mainstream and signaling an authenticity-driven reaction against synth-heavy '80s music, even though the album itself has been criticized (including by Kurt Cobain) for being too slickly produced.

Nirvana thought "Lithium" was the song that would break them into the mainstream. They never expected it to be overshadowed by you-know-what …

Two features of this song make it stand out as one of Nirvana's best. One is the lyrics, which were unusually clear for Cobain. "I'm so happy, 'cause today I've found my friends. They're in my head. I'm so ugly, that's OK, 'cause so are you. We broke our mirrors." There's so much you can read into that word, "ugly."

The other thing is Krist Novoselic's bassline. While the guitar part in the verse starts at the bottom and climbs upward, the bass starts at the top and descends. He wasn't a flashy bassist who drew attention to himself, but he gave extra attention to this song. He also does some tasteful noodling in the "I'm not gonna crack" section.




The chorus of "In Bloom" is brilliantly self-referential in mocking the whole idea of a band with fans, while being more lovable than that concept sounds. "He's the one who likes all our pretty songs, and he likes to sing along … but he knows not what it means …"




"Drain You" was one of Kurt Cobain's favorite Nirvana songs. I love how in the place where you might expect a conventional guitar solo, they instead do an eerie instrumental interlude with disorienting guitar noises and dissonances, culminating in a frenzied crescendo that leads back to the beginning. Grunge genius.




That same day, RHCP put out a 17-song funk masterpiece. "Give It Away" captures the essence of the band: gleefully sexual, deceptively simple, rhythmically infectious.




"Breaking the Girl" is an uncharacteristically acoustic Chili Peppers song with an electrifying percussion break (starting at 3:03). Chad Smith's propulsive drum beat gives a remarkable momentum to the song.




"Under the Bridge" is a haunting portrait of heroin addiction. I get chills when I hear the choir-like backing vocals start to sing: "Under the bridge downtown …" The beautiful interplay of the guitar (John Frusciante) and bass (Flea) at the end is worthy of comparison to George Harrison and Paul McCartney in the Beatles' "Something."




"Power of Equality" kicks the album off with an urgent note of social awareness ("American equality has always been sour"). The Chili Peppers' singer/rapper, Anthony Kiedis, was clearly self-conscious about this white band being indebted to many black musicians: "My lily white ass is tickled pink, when I listen to the music that makes me think." He makes an explicit call for racial harmony: "Death to the message of the Ku Klux Klan!" The song ends with an earnest lament:

People in pain, I do not dig it
Change of brain for Mr. Bigot …
Misery is not my friend
But I'll break before I bend
What I see is insanity
Whatever happened to humanity?

Soundgarden found their voice with Badmotorfinger, which kicks off with the frenetic "Rusty Cage."

"Slaves and Bulldozers" is a 7-minute epic that sounds like a fearsome machine, with staggering vocals by Chris Cornell.

"Mind Riot" is the relatively poppy side of Soundgarden.




"Outshined" defines the Soundgarden sound and attitude: powerfully heavy, and with a determination to get through life's dark moments.

Focus on the interlude that starts just before 3:00. On the surface, there's not much going on here — no key change, no guitar solo. But a gentle, introspective passage like this to contrast with the heaviness is the kind of thing that elevates a rock song, and distinguished Soundgarden from other bands of the time.

The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s (11-20)

Now we're in the top 20 best songs of the decade...

(Click here for the whole list so far, with a Spotify playlist.)


20. Black Pumas — "Colors"

They're new, and they're great. This song is from their 2019 debut album.




19. Tori Amos — "Shattering Sea"

What's so amazing about really deep songs?

(My blog tribute to Tori Amos.)




18. Beck — "Dear Life"

This feels like it could have been one of the Beatles' piano-driven songs by Paul McCartney, like "Lady Madonna" (which was already a retro song inspired by Fats Domino).




17. Kimbra — "Miracle"

You might not recognize Kimbra in this video (musically or visually) from her song in my runners-up list, "Come Into My Head," or from her guest appearance in Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know."

(Kimbra alone in the park.)




16. The Beach Boys — "That's Why God Made the Radio"

Jim Peterik, who wrote this gorgeous song with Brian Wilson and others, described its origins:

[Brian and I] were at an Italian restaurant and we were talking about radio and how great songs used to sound through the AM radio coming through your oval speaker on your Plymouth Valiant and I said, "Man, that was the best sound of all," and Brian said, "Yeah, that's why God made the radio." Of course, I wrote that down. He didn't realize how brilliant it was, or maybe he did, but that's when we wrote that song.

15. Grizzly Bear — "Sleeping Ute"

It's too bad there isn't a video for this song, which could have had a good video in a natural setting; the music is so evocative of exploring new surroundings.




14. Soundgarden — "Bones of Birds"

This is my favorite song from Soundgarden's last album before Chris Cornell's death at age 52.

(Here's a list of my 20 favorite Soundgarden songs, and my post about their commercial breakthrough album.)




13. Phantogram — "Same Old Blues"

One of the things that most interests me in music is a song's structure — the different sections and how they work together. Pop songs often have a predictable structure with a verse, then a pre-chorus, then the chorus as the catchiest part of the song, etc. I like how it's hard to label the sections of this song; no one part is the obviously catchy chorus that stands out from everything else, and yet it still feels like a pop song (albeit a dark one) with distinct, catchy parts.

(Album version.)

(Remix.)




12. Beyoncé — "Love on Top"

One chord elevates "Love on Top" above most pop love songs ("Honey honey, I can see the STARS all the way from here…"). A similar chord change is found in the chorus of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" ("They can feel it all OVER…"). But Beyoncé makes it all her own. On top of that, the series of key changes in this song is stunning. Beyoncé is one of the great singers of our time.

(Live.)




11. Owen Pallett — "The Great Elsewhere"

The first lines are a take-off of Edwin Starr's "War":

Talking

What's it good for?

Absolutely nothing!

<— 21 - 30

Top 10 —>

The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s (91-100)

10 years ago, I listed the best songs of the decade, 2000 to 2009.

Now I'm doing it again: the best songs of the decade that's coming an end, 2010 to 2019.

(Click here for the whole list so far, with a Spotify playlist.)

The rules:

• I'm using the traditional definition of "song," meaning it has to be sung — no instrumentals.

• The song had to be released in 2010 or later. No covers of old songs.

All the usual caveats apply: that this kind of ranking is inevitably arbitrary, that the list is based on my opinions and tastes, etc. For instance, I'm not a big hip-hop fan, so don't expect to see that genre well-represented here (though my 2000-2009 list did include a hip-hop song at #22).

Check out some of these other song lists for different perspectives.

I'll roll out 10 songs per post, counting down from 100 to 1, and I should have the whole thing up before Christmas.

Here goes!


100. The Lumineers — "Ho Hey"




99. Jukebox the Ghost — "Jumpstarted"

Remind you of anyone?




98. CHVRCHES — "Never Ending Circles"

I like how it sounds like the singer's breath is incorporated into the instrumental backing.




97. Vampire Weekend — "Unbelievers"




96. David Byrne & St. Vincent — "Who"

A collaboration by two wonderfully weird musical geniuses.




95. Soundgarden — "Been Away for Too Long"

Full disclosure, this video stars my second cousin, Ariane Rinehart.




94. The National — "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness"

The best song title of the decade?




93. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings — "I Learned the Hard Way"

Sharon Jones died in 2016, but her soul music lives on.

The song starts at 1:15 in this video.




92. Mumford & Sons — "I Will Wait"




91. The Zombies — "Chasing the Past"

It's still the time of the season for the Zombies.




81 - 90 —>

25 years ago today: Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails

1994 was a great year for me because that's when I started really discovering and learning to play music, around age 13. And 25 years ago today, March 8, 1994, was a great day for music, because that's when Soundgarden released Superunknown, and Nine Inch Nails released The Downward Spiral.

These weren't just some of the better records by a couple heavy, alternative bands of the mid-'90s. They were that, but they were something more. Listening to them now brings us back to a time when a rock band could be massively successful while daring to break out of formulas and challenge listeners.

Here are 5 highlights from each album.

"Spoonman" is the first Soundgarden song I ever heard, so to me it will always feel like the essence of Soundgarden and the starting point for the band, even though it was the 8th song on their 4th album. I love the jarring juxtapositions of different keys and time signatures.

The song was about a California- and Seattle-based street performer, Artis the Spoonman, who’s seen and heard performing in the video. He’s the only person we see in motion; the band members are shown only in photos.




Chris Cornell said:

It's more about the paradox of who he is and what people perceive him as. He's a street musician, but when he's playing on the street, he is given a value and judged completely wrong by someone else. They think he's a street person, or he's doing this because he can't hold down a regular job. They put him a few pegs down on the social ladder because of how they perceive someone who dresses differently. The lyrics express the sentiment that I much more easily identify with someone like Artis than I would watch him play. . . .

I think we were fairly smart with "Spoonman" in that you really don't see us that much in the video. You see various pictures of us, but it's not quite the same as having us in your living room all the time. We're trying to maintain some degree of mystique about Soundgarden, I guess. I remember back when I was a kid, long before MTV, and the only way to see my favorite bands was to go to their concerts. It was an incredible experience. MTV has helped a lot of bands, but they've also helped rob a lot of groups of that special mystique. It's tough when you can see a great rock band on TV one second, then hit the clicker and be watching a soap opera or a sitcom the next. That's what rock and roll has become for some people.

"Fell on Black Days" seems to peel off the heavy outer surface of Soundgarden and reveal something more contemplative underneath. After Chris Cornell died at age 52, it was hard to hear him sing, over and over again: "How would I know that this would be my fate?"




Within one week after Chris Cornell's death in 2017, I listened to Soundgarden's last 4 albums straight through, then listed my 20 favorite Soundgarden songs. I wrote:

I . . . felt overwhelmed by the ocean of extraordinary material — relentlessly innovative and challenging, often jagged and angular, mostly heavy and dark, occasionally with gentle or bright spots, but never tranquil, always disturbed and searching for something better.

I ranked "The Day I Tried to Live" their #2 song, and their best from Superunknown. Cornell explained what he meant by the song:

It's about trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive, which I've always had a problem with. It's about attempting to be normal and just go out and be around other people and hang out. I have a tendency to sometimes be pretty closed off and not see people for long periods of time and not call anyone. It's actually, in a way, a hopeful song. Especially the lines "One more time around/Might do it," which is basically saying, "I tried today to understand and belong and get along with other people, and I failed, but I'll probably try again tomorrow." A lot of people misinterpreted that song as a suicide-note song. Taking the word "live" too literally. "The Day I Tried to Live" means more like the day I actually tried to open up myself and experience everything that's going on around me as opposed to blowing it all off and hiding in a cave.

"Black Hole Sun" is by far the band's best-known song, which can make it hard to listen to with fresh ears. The song has a clear Beatles influence: the verse sounds like the chords could have been written by Paul McCartney and the vocal melody by John Lennon. Soundgarden's lead guitarist, Kim Thayil, once said:

We looked deep down inside the very core of our souls and there was a little Ringo sitting there. Oh sure, we like telling people it's John Lennon or George Harrison; but when you really look deep inside of Soundgarden, there's a little Ringo wanting to get out.

"Head Down" (written by the bassist, Ben Sheperd) is an engimatic departure from the usual hard rock of Soundgarden. Acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and drums intermingle in delightfully unexpected ways.




After Nine Inch Nails debuted in 1989 with the relatively accessible Pretty Hate Machine, then put out a sledgehammer of a record with the Broken EP in 1992, The Downward Spiral was a relevatory merging of the poppier and heavier elements of NIN, with a more exquisitely pieced-together production. The concept album about a suicidal man starts out with the hard-driving "Mr. Self Destruct," sounding not far from Broken. But then the second song, "Piggy," lets us know this is not just another Broken. The eerie synth tones floating over a cool-jazz rhythm section, providing the incongruous backdrop for the singer's obsessing over how "nothing can stop me now," sound like nothing we had ever heard before from NIN.



NIN is virtually a one-man band consisting of Trent Reznor in the studio, but the frenetic drums that disrupt the jazz vibe of "Piggy" are the only time he played real drums on the record. A different drummer gives an amazing performance of the song in this live video.


"March of the Pigs" is so heavy you might not notice that most of the heavy parts are in 7/8 time (so you can steadily count to 7 and keep following the beat — except when he throws in an extra beat). The heaviness subsides into a rare moment of brightness on this otherwise bleak album: "And doesn't it make you feel better? . . . And everything is all right."




"Closer" is probably the most famous NIN song, even though one of the main words in the chorus had to be muted when it was played on the radio. (Here's the unedited version of the video — I can't embed it on the blog because it has fleeting artistic nudity.)




"The Becoming" uses disturbing noises to evoke "this noise inside my head."




The 13th song, "The Downward Spiral," describes the suicide. Then the album comes to a close with the slow, stark "Hurt," a song of staggering emotion. The most often quoted lyrics are probably the first lines, about self-harm. I prefer to focus on the hopeful last verse, where the singer (the ghost of the man who just killed himself?) looks back at his life:

If I could start again
A million miles away
I will keep myself
I would find a way

And wow, the combination of music and video on that last line . . . !




I remember having a conversation with two friends of mine who were both big NIN fans, and one of them commented that NIN is so depressing. The other friend and I immediately and almost in unison responded that we don't feel depressed at all listening to NIN. Precisely because Trent Reznor is working through so many negative feelings so intensely, his music can be profoundly energizing in a way that can make cheerful music seem beside the point. ("And doesn't it make you feel better?")

In my post on my favorite Soundgarden songs, I quoted Chris Cornell expressing a similar sentiment: "I’ve always liked depressing music because a lot of times listening to it when you’re down can actually make you feel less depressed." I'm sorry he couldn't find that kind of uplift on the terrible night when he killed himself right after Soundgarden played its last concert.

But I'm glad NIN is "still right here," playing famously great live shows after a remarkable 30 years, keeping some of the most strangely beautiful music of 1994 alive.

My 20 favorite Soundgarden songs

In the week since the death of Chris Cornell, the great singer/songwriter/guitarist of Soundgarden, I’ve listened to the band’s last four albums straight through: Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994), Down on the Upside (1996), and King Animal (2012).

I knew I’d be reminded of old favorites and hits, and that I’d rediscover some more obscure songs I’d forgotten. And yet I still felt overwhelmed by the ocean of extraordinary material — relentlessly innovative and challenging, often jagged and angular, mostly heavy and dark, occasionally with gentle or bright spots, but never tranquil, always disturbed and searching for something better.

So here are my 20 favorite Soundgarden songs, with the first letter of the album each song is from in parentheses, e.g. Badmotorfinger = (B). (And yes, I did listen to some of their other songs, but I found that all their highlights are from these four albums; their earlier work feels unripe, not like the band we love.)

I have to say, this makes a pretty great playlist — the equivalent of a double album, with the two discs being 1-10 and 11-20.

1. Outshined (B)

2. The Day I Tried to Live (S)

3. Spoonman (S)

4. Black Hole Sun (S)

5. Somewhere (B)

6. Fell on Black Days (S)

7. Slaves and Bulldozers (B)

8. Burden in My Hand (D)

9. My Wave (S)

10. Bones of Birds (K)

11. Superunknown (S)

12. Mind Riot (B)

13. Rusty Cage (B)

14. Pretty Noose (D)

15. Jesus Christ Pose (B)

16. Dusty (D)

17. Been Away Too Long (K)

18. Head Down (S)

19. Taree (K)

20. Black Saturday (K)


“I’ve always liked depressing music because a lot of times listening to it when you’re down can actually make you feel less depressed.” — Chris Cornell

(Photo of Chris Cornell by Marina Coelho.)

Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger turns 25

Soundgarden released a great album, Badmotorfinger, 25 years ago today.

My favorite song on the album is "Outshined." When I made a list of "the 40 greatest grunge songs," I ranked "Outshined" #3. I wrote:

I can't think of a more brilliant musical expression of raw testosterone than this.

I love the way all the instruments and vocals move together on "Show me the power child, I'd like to say / That I'm down on my knees today" — like a machine with perfectly synchronized interlocking parts.

Focus on the interlude that starts just before 3:00. On the surface, there's not much going on here — no guitar solo or key change or anything. But a gentle little passage like this, in a song that's otherwise anything but gentle, is the kind of thing that elevates a song, and distinguished Soundgarden from 99% of grunge bands.

The album begins with the relentless "Rusty Cage":




The band will be releasing two special editions of the album next month:

The 2-CD package and the “Super Deluxe” version both include studio outtakes and live cuts, most of them previously unreleased. In all, the “Super Deluxe” contains 109 tracks (79 of them previously unreleased) in addition to two DVDs, capturing a 1992 concert at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre, and the band’s 1992 Motorvision home video.

Here's an extended version of "Slaves and Bulldozers," from a concert after they reunited a few years ago:

And the top 5 grunge songs are...

3. Soundgarden — Outshined

I can't think of a more brilliant musical expression of raw testosterone than this. I love the way all the instruments and vocals move together on "Show me the power child / I'd like to say / That I'm down on my knees today" — like a machine with perfectly synchronized interlocking parts.

Focus on the interlude that starts just before 3:00. On the surface, there's not much going on here — no key change or guitar solo or anything. But a gentle little passage like this, in a song that's otherwise anything but gentle, is the kind of thing that elevates a song, and distinguished Soundgarden from 99% of grunge bands.




(Click here for song #2.)

(Click here for the whole list.)

The 40 greatest grunge songs (25-21)

(Click here for the whole list.)


25. Hole - Violet

From the band's unlistenable first album to their immaculate second album (which this song is from) is probably the most extreme, sudden improvement I've ever heard from any band. Gee, it's almost as if Courtney Love had someone else helping her out with the songwriting for the second album.




24. Blind Melon - No Rain

This isn't technically "grunge," but it fits in with the era. And I couldn't make a list of songs from the '90s without including this.

Don't make fun of bumblebee girl!

All I can do is just pour some tea for two, and speak my point of view...




23. Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

It's hard to even hear this song for what it is since it's been so overplayed. The labyrinthine nine-chord progression of the verse is a rarity -- more akin to the Beach Boys' "Don't Talk, Put Your Head on My Shoulder" or the Beatles' "Because" than the average song from the '90s. These guys were really on a whole other level from most bands.

And isn't this the creepiest video ever?



Speaking of creepy, there happen to be two songs on this list called...


22. Stone Temple Pilots - Creep

Acoustic grunge. Taking a lyrical cue from Paul McCartney, Weiland laments his own inadequacy.




21. Radiohead - Creep

This is such a great little early '90s alternative-rock track, with its soft/loud formula and marketable alienation. Who would have ever thought the band that became famous through this song would go on to the staggering innovation and artistic achievements of its later works? Classic moment: the guitar noise right before the chorus. When I asked AskMetafilter for help with this list, one person said: "Ahem. Radiohead were never grunge." So I guess you think this song ... doesn't belong here?



UPDATE: IM response: "nice to have the 2 creeps together"

>>> Go to #20-16 >>>

The 40 greatest grunge songs (30-26)

(Click here for the whole list.)


30. Sonic Youth - Kool Thing

Pure rock 'n' roll.




29. Beck - Loser

You might say this is hip-hop as much as it is grunge, but I'm including it because it defined the era with its self-effacing refrain. Oh, and it was the song that got me interested in music in 7th grade.




28. Temple of the Dog - Hungerstrike

What could be more perfectly grunge than Soundgarden's Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder both singing lead in the same song?




27. Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs

Yeah, I know: Nine Inch Nails is "industrial," not "grunge."

But this is a special case. They took the unusual step of not using the album version of the song for the music video, but instead just shooting a live performance on a bare studio floor and using the audio from that performance. The result is as grungy as NIN gets.

7/8! 7/8! 7/8! 4/4!




26. Shudder to Think - X-French T-shirt

This band unfortunately never really made it, probably because their music was just too dissonant, too asymmetrical, too disorienting. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I believe this song was the closest they came to mainstream success. I love the unpredictable melody and the "Hey Jude"-like song structure.



If you like this kind of thing, I highly recommend the album Pony Express Record.

>>> Go to #25-21 >>>