RIP Chris Cornell

[MoonDust]

Also, I've never really discussed grunge music on here before, as I haven't really been a fan since my teenage years, so I'm surprised to see the amount of people on here claiming to be/have been big Soundgarden fans. At least he'll have somewhat of a legacy. Most folk I speak to either haven't heard of Soundgarden or don't like them.

[MoonDust]

Fucking hell, according to the Associated Press, the police are investigating his death as a possible suicide. And apparently he died "shortly after" a gig last night.

https://apnews.com/245d310dd969440a908b9fbe05d82c3c

Cornell died at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel, Woody said. He said Cornell's wife had called a family friend and asked him to check on Cornell; the friend forced open a hotel room door and found Cornell on the bathroom floor.

Fucksake.

[PaulTMA]

What a voice, and always so cool. RIP Spoonman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scj2qikidp0

Spoonman isn't dead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artis_the_Spoonman

[MoonDust]

I also found stuff like Bleach and Badmotorfinger and I just cherished them.

Ah Bleach. I used to love that album. For me it was one of those moments where you hear a band's most popular song (Smells Like Teen Spirit, in this case), get into the band, but then discover one of their albums (Bleach) which was way fucking better than Teen Spirit.

I played along to Bleach on my guitar a lot. Soundgarden was always too complicated for me, as I was shit, and Kim Thayil was ace.

[drummersaredeaf]

I found the Hyde Park footage about a month ago, which had been pro-shot and appeared from somewhere. I remember thinking that I was quite near the front and there's a chance I might be spotted. Right in the middle of JCP, there's me and my mate. It temporarily brought back a bit of that feeling of magic and hero worship that music gave me as a youth.

[gilbertharding]

...surprised to see the amount of people on here claiming to be/have been big Soundgarden fans.

I don't know. I wouldn't claim to be their biggest fan, but I was a huge Sub Pop fan, and had the first two albums (UltramegaOK and Louder than Love). I went off them a bit after that, so missed their biggest stuff (I don't even know Black Hole Sun, for instance).

I preferred Mudhoney, Nirvana... even Tad.

But I enjoyed those early albums, and they were there at the start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j4TXa6ky14

[sprocket]

[TAG]Drawing flies[/TAG]

Which I feel really bad about, because it's also my favourite Soundgarden track.

[Icehaven]

I've just nearly then not posted The Day I Tried To Live on fb as although it's one of my favourites I didn't want anyone to think I was trying to be funny. 

[im barry bethel]

I'd have said tighter and tighter would be more fitting

[checkoutgirl]

was due to see them at Reading 94, my first ever festival. Sadly Cornell was ill and pulled out, so I think Cypress Hill replaced them.

That's slightly weird in that I went to an open air gig in Dalymount Park in Dublin called Sunstroke 94 and me and my mate Paul went. It was my first ever festival type gig. Must have been 15 years old. There were loads more bands slated to be at the gig than showed up in the end. People were wearing teeshirts with Cypress Hill written on the back and Soundgarden were rumoured to be there. Paul wanted to see Soundgarden and I wanted to see Cypress Hill. Neither made an appearance unfortunately. We had to make do with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Helmet and Terrorvision.

Oh well. That's as close as I ever got to seeing Soundgarden, a half heard Chinese whisper that turned out to be bullshit in 1994. Cheeseburgers were a penny then.

[the ouch cube]

I've been cheesed off and out of sorts all day about this, but I don't think I can bring myself to re-listen to the albums as yet. Soundgarden were a fucking massive psychedelic mountain of a band, with the most perfect four-way interplay between the members, and Cornell's voice was so goddamn manly it'd put chest hairs on chest hairs' chest hairs.

[Camp Tramp]

I just had to skip Pretty Noose on my Spotify.

[JoeyBananaduck]

In case further confirmation were needed, sadly it was indeed suicide by hanging.

http://variety.com/2017/music/news/chris-cornell-dead-suicide-hanging-1202434191/

[drummersaredeaf]

Immediately prior to seeing it confirmed I'd spent an hour trying to bash out the chords and sing along to Blow Up The Outside World and couldn't articulate some of the lines for the lump in my throat they evoked.

He'd always played with very miserable imagery, but this comes as a huge surprise. I dread to think what was going through his mind.

[Mini]

Incredibly, he is the first performer of a Bond opening title theme to pass away.

Apart from Paul McCartney, obviously.

[Mr Brightside]

Apart from Paul McCartney, obviously.

Well, if he died in the sixties as is suggested, it was never the original Paul that recorded Live and Let Die in '73, so the lookalike what did it is still alive. Unless he also died and was replaced.

[Golden E. Pump]

I think he dies every year and a new one emerges from its burrow.

[Mini]

Well, if he died in the sixties as is suggested, it was never the original Paul that recorded Live and Let Die in '73, so the lookalike what did it is still alive. Unless he also died and was replaced.

Good point you made there. (You know you did, you know you did, you know you did.)

[Dr Syntax Head]

Like Suicide is by far my favourite Soundgarden song. I can't tell you the amount of times that song has held me in it's embrace as I've stared into the abyss in my grunge days. I've been weeping like a fucking emotional all day. Really finding it hard to process. It surprises me because the death of anybody I don't know personally, family, friends etc doesn't really affect me on such an emotional level. I think it's because his music is part of my life. An extremely important one. Same happened when Layne Staley died.

I got into them through a surfer mate when I was getting into that. I kid you not we got into his VW Beetle (I am not bullshitting, it was 92 and I lived in Cornwall, every fucker had a Beetle) and he turns on stereo for the mountain tripping over riff of Room a Thousand Years Wide blasted out. Well that was the end of my metal days. I've not lost the love for grunge since.

Today has been a day of thinking about then. I'm sad for the loss of a hero but also the loss of my youth. Fuck I'm old.

[Dr Syntax Head]

He'd always played with very miserable imagery, but this comes as a huge surprise. I dread to think what was going through his mind.

I was talking to a friend earlier, another Seattle scene obsessive and he had a theory that maybe he'd been given a short time to live with an illness and he just thought 'fuck it'. I dunno. He was overthinking that maybe.

[Ambient Sheep]

I was never really into Grunge but Black Hole Sun was majestic.

Same here, and it was.  I'm ashamed to say -- especially given that I get the impression that it became a bit of a millstone to them like "Creep" was to Radiohead -- that I don't think I know any other Soundgarden tunes, but every time Black Hole Sun came on my MTV back in the 90s, I knew I was in for five minutes of brilliance.  I always meant to check out Superunknown as a result, but never did... I think in part because I read an interview where they said that it wasn't like any of their other songs.

I just put it on again, and it's as brilliant as ever.

RIP Chris.  Sorry I never got round to listening to more of your stuff.

[momatt]

I've just nearly then not posted The Day I Tried To Live on fb as although it's one of my favourites I didn't want anyone to think I was trying to be funny.

I just had to skip Pretty Noose on my Spotify.

Like Suicide is by far my favourite Soundgarden song.

I was looking through the Soundgarden discography last night, there are a ridiculous number of tracks about death and suicide aren't there.
Every single one would have made for a lovely (horrible) tag.

Also listened to Superunknown for the first time since the 90s.  A real classic-sounding album, didn't sound dated at all.

[Mr Brightside]

Possible asphyxiwank?

[the science eel]

Same here, and it was.  I'm ashamed to say -- especially given that I get the impression that it became a bit of a millstone to them like "Creep" was to Radiohead -- that I don't think I know any other Soundgarden tunes, but every time Black Hole Sun came on my MTV back in the 90s, I knew I was in for five minutes of brilliance.  I always meant to check out Superunknown as a result, but never did... I think in part because I read an interview where they said that it wasn't like any of their other songs.

I just put it on again, and it's as brilliant as ever.

RIP Chris.  Sorry I never got round to listening to more of your stuff.

I'm not a fan but I really like this early one. It's so much fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7mY-1VvLWc

[Glebe]

Shocked and saddened by this news... just one of those out-of-the-blue things that make you go "What?!"

I got into Soundgarden through my brother's copy of Louder Than Love... such great riffs and beautiful harmonics/droney stuff going on. Badmotorfinger is a classic... I had - still have, I think - tablature books for both albums. I actually never really got into Superunknown, but there's some top songs on there, although I could never really enjoy 'Black Hole Sun' because of that bad-CGI video that got infamously heavy rotation on MTV. Down on the Upside is a really underrated album, IMHO.

The band took themselves a little seriously at times, and they sometimes came off a bit self-righteous in interviews, but they've always seemed like pretty smart guys nonetheless. Cornell was one of rock's famous wailers... his vocals could be a little too Robert Plant-lite at times, but there's no doubt that the guy could sing. I like a couple of Audioslave songs, but I never got into his solo stuff.

'Searching with My Good Eye Closed'.

[3D]

I was talking to a friend earlier, another Seattle scene obsessive and he had a theory that maybe he'd been given a short time to live with an illness and he just thought 'fuck it'. I dunno. He was overthinking that maybe.

As you get older the "fuck it" temptation grows stronger. I don't think you even have to be depressed to decide one day to check out early.

[Shaky]

Wasn't a huge Soundgarden fan until Down on the Upside, which I absolutely loved/love. Brilliant, brilliant album. Cornell's later work lost me somewhat but it's really hit home today that he's no more. So sad, and bewildering to think that several of the big Grunge guns are now gone. Vedder next?

Not their best song, but had to give this a few blasts on the drive home earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rs9UbqU5DU

And can't skip this collab with Alice in Chains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWaalVRqY2Y

[greenman]

I'v never been a big grunge listener but Burden In My Hand from that era is an amazing vocal performance.

[Kane Jones]

So sad, and bewildering to think that several of the big Grunge guns are now gone. Vedder next?

I said something similar to my wife this morning; "Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland and now Chris Cornell. I bet Eddie Vedder's shitting himself."

[Glebe]

As you get older the "fuck it" temptation grows stronger. I don't think you even have to be depressed to decide one day to check out early.

Knock that on the head, mate. I'm in rough enough mood as it is today.