Maps of Music

Ultramega OK (1988)

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

The title was a joke about the finished sound: the band liked the songs but was disappointed in the production.

Key places

Dogfish Mobile Unit, Seattle (1988)

Recording site London Bridge Studio — The album was recorded in spring 1988 with the Dogfish Mobile Unit in Seattle and in Newberg, Oregon. Only the city is known here, so the pin marks the city centre, not a building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ultramega OK is the debut studio album by the American rock band Soundgarden
• Released on October 31, 1988 by SST Records
• Follows the EPs Screaming Life (1987) and Fopp (1988), both released on Sub Pop
• Contains elements of psychedelic rock, hard rock, heavy metal and hardcore punk
• Its first full-length release
• 'Flower' was the only single released from the album

Background

• Soundgarden signed with SST after the two Sub Pop EPs
• Supported by a US tour in spring 1989 and a European tour from May 1989, the band's first overseas tour
• Guitarist Kim Thayil conceived the title as a joke, according to Chris Cornell
• Cornell later called the producer choice a huge mistake
• Jack Endino began remixing the album around the same time, but the project was put on hold

Recording

• Recorded in spring 1988 in Seattle, Washington, and Newberg, Oregon
• Producer Drew Canulette was not used to the sound the band wanted
• The band's own 1988 recording credits name the Dogfish Mobile Unit in Seattle and Newberg
• Mixing took place at Dogfish Studio in Newberg and Pace Studio in Portland
• The remix project resumed in 2014 and was completed in 2017

Cover

• Cover art photographed by Lance Mercer, showing a black and white picture of the band

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

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

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

• Cornell said the production was not what the band was after and that it hurt them critically
• The album's sound was seen as a departure from what the band wanted to present

Reappraisal

• AllMusic staff writer Steve Huey wrote that the album may not be as complex or consistent as some of Soundgarden's later albums
• Huey called the album the best document of grunge's early, pre-Nirvana days
• Steve Huey of AllMusic also said the album is the best expression of Soundgarden's early sound
• In a 1995 interview, Cornell admitted the producer had a negative effect on the album
• Cornell said the album should have been one of the best records the band ever made

Records

• Nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1990 Grammy Awards
• Sales of 220,000 copies, according to the French Wikipedia entry
• Original 1988 release on SST Records

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

Trivia

• Three songs on the album were recorded as jokes or parodies by the band
• The songs 665 and 667 parody the idea of Satanic content in rock music
• On the original version, 'Smokestack Lightning' segued into a distorted excerpt from Sonic Youth's 'Death Valley '69', a tribute and parody; the excerpt was removed from the 2017 reissue
• The closing track 'One Minute of Silence' is a cover of John Lennon's 'Two Minutes Silence' with Yoko Ono's part excluded, so no instruments are played
• 'Circle of Power' was one of the few Soundgarden songs written without Cornell, and it is the only one where Hiro Yamamoto sings lead vocals
• The video for 'Flower', directed by Mark Miremont, aired regularly on MTV's 120 Minutes

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

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