Soundgarden - A-Sides

The first Soundgarden album I ever owned was Down on the Upside, so I was a bit late to the party. I always remember wanting to like Soundgarden. They have a great name and they look exactly as crazy as I want my grunge bands to look. I can remember guys much cooler than I who owned Soundgarden T-shirts and had opinions on whether Superunknown was better than Badmotorfinger. So yeah, this is another band I sought out for coolness purposes.

I bought this CD on the black market in Cambodia because until that point, I only owned Down on the Upside on cassette. I wanted to know more Soundgarden and a singles compilation seemed like a good way to do it. Now here's the point where I knock Soundgarden a bit. Their early work was pretty much all the same. Until you get to "Rusty Cage" this album is a blur of samey sameness. So basically, Soundgarden didn't really hit their stride until Badmotorfinger. Because this compilation reflects albums that predate Badmotorfinger, you have to take a few points off. Once you hit the backside of this album, you're rolling in great grunge. If you buy this album, don't expect to be blown away by anything before track 8. Everything past that point is pretty much awesome, but everything before is fairly unremarkable.