'Live on I5' is the follow-up to Soundgarden's celebrated 2010 reunion.
It's an album of road recordings taken from their tour along the USA's I5 back in 1996. In fact, their first proper release for several years and their first ever live album.
Our view of the world changed in the nineties and naturally, inevitably, so did the musical culture.
17 tracks, and no matter that Soundgarden were in the vanguard of grunge juggernauts that eventually crushed the eighties' melodic rock bandwagon, there's no denying the overwhelming bass note thunder, the nineties' paranoia, the cold, earthy chords and melodic, hard rock crescendos that litter this "greatest hits live" ensemble.
Much of
'Live on I 5' flirts with Led Zeppelin and Cream greatness. A thrilling flood of amped up guitar power threatening to engulf a raucous audience, or rather, several raucous audiences.
In 1996, the band was cresting an immense wave of popularity. Thousands of new fans and converts rushed to see a seminal rock band at the peak of their power.
Kim Thayil's loose knit, thick cut riffage leads and everyone else follows.
Chris Cornell stamps his roaring frontman authority all over biggies, '
Spoonman', '
Outshined' and '
Ty Cobb'.
That said, Ben Shepherd's spookily plaintive, Beatle-esque '
Head Down' from the
'Superunknown' album and closers
'Black Hole Sun' and '
Jesus Christ Pose' catch the band in full flight, intensifying rather than just regurgitating the studio versions.
Like Soundgarden or not, there's no denying their impact.
New album due out soon.
Style: Contemporary Rock
Rating: 8/10Posted by
Brian - Sunday, March 20, 2011
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