Maps of Music

Superunknown (1994)

Where the lyrics of Superunknown take you, and where it was really made.

The title came from a misreading: Chris Cornell read the video title Superclown as Superunknown and kept the new word.

Key places

Recorded at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle (1994)

Recording site Bad Animals Studio — Recording sessions for the album ran from July to September 1993 at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington. Resident engineer Adam Kasper assisted producer Michael Beinhorn during the sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Superunknown: fourth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden
• Released 8 March 1994 through A&M Records
• Produced by Michael Beinhorn and the band
• Soundgarden's breakthrough album, bringing them international recognition
• Keeps the heaviness of earlier releases while showing a wider range of influences
• 15 songs, about 70 minutes long

Background

• Work began after touring for the previous album, Badmotorfinger (1991)
• After two albums with producer Terry Date, the band sought a new collaborator
• Chris Cornell said the members gave each other more artistic freedom than on earlier records
• Kim Thayil said the band spent far more time on recording the songs than on writing and arranging them

Recording

• Sessions ran from July to September 1993 at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
• Bad Animals' resident engineer Adam Kasper assisted Beinhorn; he later produced the band's following albums
• Songs were recorded one at a time: drums and bass first, then Cornell and Thayil added their parts
• The band experimented with drum and guitar sounds and used layering for an expansive production
• Before tracking the vocals for Black Hole Sun, Beinhorn had Cornell listen to Frank Sinatra
• Sessions paused for a ten-day US tour opening for Neil Young
• The band hired Brendan O'Brien to mix the album, since Beinhorn felt they needed a fresh pair of ears
• Bassist Ben Shepherd remembered the mixing as the fastest part of the record

Cover

• The cover art is known as the Screaming Elf
• It is a distorted photograph of the band members by Kevin Westenberg, placed above a black and white upside-down burning forest
• On 25 May 2017 Westenberg posted the full photo from the cover on his Instagram account for the first time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto.
• The band named itself after A Sound Garden, a wind-channeling pipe sculpture in Seattle.
• Scott Sundquist joined on drums in 1985 so Cornell could focus on vocals; Matt Cameron replaced him in 1986.
• Soundgarden was one of the pioneers of grunge and released its first EPs through Sub Pop.
• The band signed to SST Records for Ultramega OK (1988), then to A&M Records, becoming the first grunge band on a major label.

Members

• Kim Thayil: lead guitar.
• Chris Cornell: lead vocals, rhythm guitar (died 2017).
• Matt Cameron: drums, later also a member of Pearl Jam.
• Ben Shepherd: bass, joined in 1990.

Career

• Badmotorfinger (1991) helped bring grunge into the mainstream.
• Superunknown (1994) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and won Grammy Awards for "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman".
• The band broke up in 1997, reunited in 2010, and released King Animal in 2012.
• After Cornell's death in 2017, the band disbanded again, performed occasional reunions, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's J. D. Considine was impressed by the range and said that at its best the album offers a more harrowing depiction of alienation and despair than In Utero
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times credited the band with trying to break heavy-metal genre barriers
• David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called it a hard-rock milestone
• Ann Powers of Blender said it stands as Soundgarden's masterpiece
• Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said it was easily the band's best album, though its lyrics lacked substance
• Q described it as heavy rock with more measured moments

Reappraisal

• Received universal acclaim from music critics
• In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Steve Huey wrote that the album was consciously styled as a masterwork
• The A.V. Club said the album both redefined and transcended grunge
• Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell said the band referenced it for the sonics and mood of Slang
• Ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Grunge Albums list in April 2019
• Listed by several publications among the best albums of the 1990s

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 310,000 copies in its opening week
• Also topped the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand charts
• Sold 2.5 million copies in 1994 and closed the year as the 13th best-selling album of 1994
• Certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA in the United States
• Certified 3x Platinum in Canada and Australia, 2x Platinum in Sweden, Platinum in the United Kingdom, and Gold in the Netherlands and Italy
• Nominated for Best Rock Album at the 37th Grammy Awards
• Spoonman and Black Hole Sun each won a Grammy Award

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Behind-the-scenes footage of the band tracking and mixing Kickstand was shown in the Sound episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
• Chris Cornell took the title from a video he misread as Superunknown instead of Superclown.
• Soundgarden won two Grammy Awards in 1995.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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