SOUNDGARDEN

This month Martin Cooper investigates the era-defining sound of early grunge innovators Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden.

- Martin Cooper

Soundgarden sits among an elite group of artists that have helped define music over the past 50 years. Where the likes of The Beatles, Hendrix and The Rolling Stones shaped the sound of the 60s (and music in general), Van Halen, Genesis and Queen did the same in the 70s, with U2 and Bon Jovi following in the 80s, it was Nirvana and Soundgarden that pioneered the grunge movement of the 90s, immediately heralding the demise of big-haired pop-metal.

If the 80s was the decade of decadence (as the Mötley Crüe compilation album says), the 1990s were given over more to reflection, introversion and, for want of a better word, ‘shoegazing’. This inevitably came with prices to be paid, and some of the grunge pioneers who are sadly no longer with us include Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Layne Stanley from Alice In Chains, and of course Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.

ABILITY RATING

✪ ✪ ✪ Moderate

Info

Key: Em

Tempo: 105bpm

CD: TRACKS 49-51