I grew up in the "Eastside metal scene" in Seattle where that thing called "grunge" got started. (We never called it that. It was just metal to us.) These bands and players were all friends, although slightly older than me. (The difference between a 17-year old and a 21-year old is significant!) Chris was 2 years older than me, so this hits personally, both as a fellow metalhead from Seattle and that era, and as an approaching-50-year-old man. I find myself today, reminiscing and thinking of the old clubs and shows in Seattle... the Gorilla Gardens, Lone Star, Hotel Utah, The Vogue, The Central, and even RKCNDY. The noise... the smell of sweat and leather and spilled beer and Marlboro Reds leeching into the fabric covers on shitty old Peavy amps... practice spaces in old warehouses, walls covered in mattresses and egg cartons... and camaraderie. There wasn't a lot of strife or beef between bands. We all knew we were alone out here, forgotten in the top left corner of America, and we only had each other. Bands renting vans together and making weekend-long roadtrips down to SF to try and play for different audiences and get some visibility. Because Seattle was NOWHERE, man. Blasting back home, driving 16 hours all Sunday night, showing up late to work on Monday morning smelling of... leather, beer, cigarettes, and heavy metal. Fuck. Those were hard, scrappy days. But goddamn they were fun.
Soundgarden was one of the first bands I learned to play on guitar. Blow Up the Outside World is one of the songs that rings my soul. It reminds me of the dead-inside way I was during the war and the time soon after. I saw Soundgarden at Beale Street Music Festival last Sunday. Just 11 days ago. They were the band I wanted to see out of everyone. They put on a great show, they looked like they were having fun, and I'll never forget it. It was my first time seeing them after having wanted to for a long time, and now I guess it will be my last, even though I was hoping to see them this weekend in St. Louis too. Chris Cornell is one of the greatest rock voices ever. He stands peerless in many respects. When Scott Weiland died I felt like he had been living on borrowed time for a while, that he was too pained to be asked to continue on, and that release from this world was deserved after giving so much to everyone else. With Chris Cornell I'm more selfish. I'll miss his voice singing new songs, and it's harder. Proof of that is his cover of Nothing Compares 2 U.
Great cover of a great song. One of the few tunes I remember hearing for the first time. On that note, I love this Chris Cornell cover: For Johnny it gets pretty "metal" half way through.
One minute of silence please, then post some of your favourite tracks: Gun Hands All Over I mean pretty much all of badmotorfinger but ...
sounds_sound is visiting me from Vancouver. He jumped in my drums and I plugged in my guitar and just played an awful, but fun version of "Fell on Black Days." I dug Chris Cornell. Have since I was a kid.