Louder Than Love

I don't know the names of the other band members, and I don't know the rest of their songs.

I don't know the names of any of their albums.

I know Black Hole Sun, and I know Spoon Man.

But because of a football video game I played when I was a kid, I do know this song that he sang on.

At the 37th Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

It has been certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in the United States.

Superunknown has been listed by several publications as one of the best albums of the 1990s and a quintessential grunge album.

album.

I guess the other thing was that those other bands that had already signed to a major label, they'd released records and they did okay, not great.

So I think also, you know, people didn't expect Nevermind would be this huge thing because Soundgarden's Louder Than Love hadn't done that as well as the majors hoped.

So I don't think there was that expectation.

And even DGC, it's funny, when that was coming out, the execs at DGC had hoped Nevermind might sell half as much as Sonic Youth's Goo, which sold 200,000.

But it just connected in a way others hadn't.

I would say the songs by then and the production, the sound.

I mean, certainly it's a stronger album than Louder Than Love, the major label debut.

Yeah, Black Hole Sun.

The debut, Ultramega OK, earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990, despite it having been released in October of 1988.

Their signing to major label A&M Records saw the release of their second album, Louder Than Love, one that saw Chris Cornell as the majority shareholder when it came to the writing.

This album was described in various publications as, "A step toward the metal mainstream" and, "A slow, grinding, detuned mountain of Sabbath/Zeppelin riffs and Chris Cornell wailing." It also saw the singles getting greater exposure on MTV's Headbangers Ball, and also further exposure on radio as a result.

Foundation bass guitarist Hiro Yamamoto left the band before the tour to support the Louder Than Love album began, citing his frustration about his own contribution, and instead deciding to return to college.

In his place, former Nirvana bass guitarist Joel Everman was recruited for the spot.

However, following the tour, he was moved on as the band felt he wasn't working out.

I think it actually helped, uh, shape what Soundgarden later became.

'Cause I feel if you listen to Louder Than Love album, which is prior to this, they were still not quite got their sound.

They had and they hadn't.

There was still a little bit of that metal influence.

It's an important album.

Yeah.

Did that sort of make sense? 'Cause I was listening to, like, Louder Than Love the other day, and I was like, there's good things on it, but it's just, it's not quite the Soundgarden that I think me and you-

Yeah

And I had not heard Soundgarden prior to that.

This Louder Than Love had just come out and my buddy's like, you're going to like this.

I'm like, oh, we'll see.

And they were so incredible.

It's just like track six.

Well, the hits from that record are the only ones I'm familiar with.

And if you listen to the hits, those songs are way different than, say, Louder Than Love, even way different than Bad Motor Figure.

So if the deep cuts or anything like the old stuff to people who aren't familiar, it probably would be fucking weird.

I won't die, you know? But, I mean, really, I had to think for a minute which Soundgarden album I wanted to have on my list as representation because I could have just as easily picked Bad Motor Finger.

I could have just as easily picked Louder Than Love.

Like...

They're so fucking good.