Date: Sat, 10 May 1997 02:00:01 -0400 Subject: SOMMS Digest - 9 May 1997 to 10 May 1997 There are 19 messages totalling 597 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. No mail? 2. DUOTU - FOR ATTENTION: Jan (Ms-Client) from Holland and Kimberly McClure from Hawaii 3. Impressions: Superunknown 4. We're back 5. Mistake alert! 6. superunknown (2) 7. Mesa, Arizona ahow 8. Superunknown (3) 9. viva las vegas 10. 11/13/96 playing again and again 11. RS article 12. The US/BMW discussion (2) 13. You didn't like "Let Me Drown"? 14. Nickelback 15. The hidden scream in "Mary Reilly" ** To UNSUBSCRIBE from SOMMS, send a message to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU ** with the following in the *body*: ** ** SIGNOFF SOMMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 02:49:51 EDT From: seth Subject: No mail? I've received tons of complaints about people not getting list mail -- all I can say is that I'm working on it. Of course, you probably won't get this one either, so never mind. :) seth ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 18:28:25 +0930 From: Carolyn Hanel Subject: DUOTU - FOR ATTENTION: Jan (Ms-Client) from Holland and Kimberly McClure from Hawaii Sorry to bother the list with this, but I'm having trouble replying = directly to Jan & Kimberly - through the list is the only way. Sorry, ladies - but I have reserved my last DUOTU CD-pack for the first = person who emailed me. I only have the one CD-pack but got several = responses! :-( Cheers, Carolyn the Most Friendly I'm just sitting on a chair, wearing a smile........Violent Femmes ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 10:05:46 -0500 From: MICHAEL APPLE Subject: Impressions: Superunknown Date sent: 9-MAY-1997 09:59:44 I first got into SG when my brother gave me a copy of Badmotorfinger. In '94, I was one of the first people in line for a copy of Superunknown. I had only heard "Spoonman" and I had thought it was awful. But I loved Soundgarden's first album, so I thought that there would be something better on it. Immediately, I was attracted to "Black Hole Sun" and I kept telling all my friends that it was going to be their biggest hit. I mean, just listen to it. There's so much emotion in it, and the lyrics are really powerful. That guitar hook is really wonderful too. It took a little while for me to figure it out on my guitar. Then, as I listened to the album a few more times, I came to really like the other songs as well. "4th Of July" remains my favorite song off of Superunknown, with "Black Hole Sun" a close second. (I don't care what people think about BHS. It's still a good song.) I also came to really enjoy "Spoonman" and I play it all the time to warm up on guitar and stretch my vocal cords. (The vocal are outstanding on it.) I still think that Badmotorfinger is Soundgarden's best album, though. Superunknown was hyped up too much. Badmotorfinger is the pinnacle of ten years of experimentation. Who would have guessed that you could experiment on every song on an album and make every song sound like a million bucks? Later, Michael Apple ************************************************** Pale in the flare light The scared light cracks and disappears And leads the scorched ones here And everywhere, no one cares the fire is spreading And no one wants to speak about it. - "4th Of July", Soundgarden ************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 10:16:28 EDT From: seth Subject: We're back It looks like there was a temporary problem with the server on which the list now resides, but I've been informed that mail is once again flowing, and you should receive everything from the past 2 days at some point today. Sorry for the inconvenience, seth ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 10:23:45 -0500 From: MICHAEL APPLE Subject: Mistake alert! Date sent: 9-MAY-1997 10:22:12 Oops, I referred to Badmotorfinger as Soundgarden's "first" album. What I meant to say was that it was the first Soundgarden album I heard. Please don't go medieval and burn down my house or anything, please. I like Louder than Love and Ultramega OK (not to mention Screaming Life and Fopp) as much as the next SG fan. I just goofed. :) Later, Michael Apple ************************************************** Pale in the flare light The scared light cracks and disappears And leads the scorched ones here And everywhere, no one cares the fire is spreading And no one wants to speak about it. - "4th Of July", Soundgarden ************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 07:48:12 -0700 From: Dave Subject: Re: superunknown Vince Varkey wrote: > > I had a question. This one goes out to any of the people who got into SG > from listening to Badmotorfinger or anything previous: What were your > initial reactions to Superunknown when it first came out back in 1994? > Were you initially disappointed at how different it was compared to their > earlier works or was it the total opposite? > > Thanks for playing. > > -vince I got into Soundgarden after I traded a Guns and Roses (yeah I liked Guns and Roses who didnt) cd for my causins Badmotorfinger cd back in 1992, he had the Somms double cd so it wasnt a big deal to him. I kinda got into sg slowly but shirley ;), anyways after that sg became my fav band. Now flash forward to Jan 1994, Im watching an mtv show called rock videos that dont suck, and then they played Outshined cool I thought, this was the first time I ever seen it, then after its over the host at the time john sencio says something about the upcomming new album entitled superunkown, and then gives us a number to dial to listen to some soundclips from the album. I didnt call btw. So anyways Im waiting and months pass, andits time for the new album to come out, so I decided to buy it the first day it came out, and I did, it cost 18 bucks!!, that was like the most i ever paid for cd. Anyways i get home give it a listen and a listen and a listen. For some reason it did catch on at first. I liked spoonam right away and let me drown, but the slower stuff didnt catch on. hmmm. Well to make a short story long after 2 weeks it became my fav cd. After my failed attempts it grew on my more so than ever, soundgarden became my fav band again and the cd struck me as brilliant. Every song from start to finish became listenable, all of the songs well maybe not "half" could have been singles. I guess it was the time, 1994 was a strange year I guess, with the new wave of punk rock going on, and I was in 10th grade. But that was the year of soundgarden. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 10:24:30 -0500 From: Vince Varkey Subject: Mesa, Arizona ahow If anyone out there has the Mesa, Arizona show on tape, please contact me privately. Thanks. -vince ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 12:25:31 EDT From: seth Subject: Superunknown First impressions are a difficult thing to overcome. My first exposure to SG's music was Badmotorfinger - it was this album that completely changed the way I saw music and artistry and credibility. Superunknown was conveniently released right after I started working on the website. Knowing that Badmotorfinger would be near impossible to outdo, I went out and bought the new record. I hated it. They open with Flower on UOK, Rusty Cage on BMF, and then this Let Me Drown crap on SU? I don't know what it is, but that song just grated against my senses and was a horrible first impression, which overshadowed my reaction to the rest of the album. I still was never into SU as much as I was into BMF and UOK, mainly because I couldn't listen to it all the way through. It was easy enough to skip Let Me Drown, but having to get up again to skip My Wave, Superunknown, Spoonman, and Kickstand was too much of a pain in the ass. Whereas BMF is a record where 10 out of 12 songs are absolutely amazing and the other two are great, SU is a record where there are a handful of songs that just crush me (read: 4th Of July, Limo Wreck, Head Down, Mailman, etc.), and a bunch of songs that get on my nerves. SU went under-appreciated. Until DOTU was released. Now, instead of reminiscing about the good ol' BMF says, my roommate and I reminisce about the good ol' SU days. SU has made its way into my regular rotation, and the songs that were so annoying before are much easier to swallow now. BMF, almost impossibly so, seems even better. DOTU just gathers dust. seth ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 12:40:40 -0400 From: Carol Carson Subject: viva las vegas Hey Sommsters, DustyGrrl (thats me) will be in Las Vegas next week (woohoo!). Im wondering if theres any of you Somms people there. Anybody there? Carol ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 13:51:52 -0400 From: Paul Faraguna Subject: Re: Superunknown It is truly amazing how different people can listen to the same thing and come away with completely differing opinions on what they heard. Were it not for SU I might not be a SG fan today. My first exposure to them was thru BMF. I bought it after reading several favorable reviews upon it's release. After listening to it a few times I'm sorry to say I wasn't blown away by it. I thought it was "OK". I didn't listen to it much after that. When SU came out, I went out and bought it as a B-day present for a friend who was a big fan. We listened to it together and I was TOTALLY blown away by it. So much so that I went home that evening and listened to BMF. For some reason it sounded different. I got my own copy of SU and soon I could not go a day without listening to BMF and SU. Soon I was in search of their entire catalog. I now feel BMF is their absolute masterpiece, probably one of the best rock albums ever recorded. I think SU is a very close second in their catalog. I can't explain why I felt the way I did at first about BMF and why SU changed all that for me. But I still think that SU is very very close to being as good as BMF. Oh well...Vive le difference! Paul ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Superunknown Author: saperl@mit.edu at dbnaccip Date: 5/9/97 12:25 PM First impressions are a difficult thing to overcome. My first exposure to SG's music was Badmotorfinger - it was this album that completely changed the way I saw music and artistry and credibility. Superunknown was conveniently released right after I started working on the website. Knowing that Badmotorfinger would be near impossible to outdo, I went out and bought the new record. I hated it. They open with Flower on UOK, Rusty Cage on BMF, and then this Let Me Drown crap on SU? I don't know what it is, but that song just grated against my senses and was a horrible first impression, which overshadowed my reaction to the rest of the album. I still was never into SU as much as I was into BMF and UOK, mainly because I couldn't listen to it all the way through. It was easy enough to skip Let Me Drown, but having to get up again to skip My Wave, Superunknown, Spoonman, and Kickstand was too much of a pain in the ass. Whereas BMF is a record where 10 out of 12 songs are absolutely amazing and the other two are great, SU is a record where there are a handful of songs that just crush me (read: 4th Of July, Limo Wreck, Head Down, Mailman, etc.), and a bunch of songs that get on my nerves. SU went under-appreciated. Until DOTU was released. Now, instead of reminiscing about the good ol' BMF says, my roommate and I reminisce about the good ol' SU days. SU has made its way into my regular rotation, and the songs that were so annoying before are much easier to swallow now. BMF, almost impossibly so, seems even better. DOTU just gathers dust. seth ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 16:02:36 -0400 From: "Steven Russell Jr." Subject: 11/13/96 playing again and again Hey List... It's here...and you won't be disappointed... Those of you that know what I'm talking about...get in touch. My last final is monday... s. - "I said maybe....i really don't want to know how your garden grows...cuz i just want to fly" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 13:53:47 -0700 From: Andrea Pinto Subject: Re: RS article >Despite a major promotional push, the album sold only 2.3 million copies Only 2.3 million. Double-platinum. I didn't know that was a bad thing... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 14:48:00 PDT From: "Harris, Court V." Subject: The US/BMW discussion I am really enjoying the discussions about the records that opened our eyes to SAG... I started listening to SAG when a friend brought over a copy of what I later found out to be a bootleg of a show that SAG did in Seattle in 1989 (I don't know where). At the time, I was into death metal and really heavy metal, so SAG at the time was playing songs that are on Screaming Life/FOP and LL. After my fascination with Slayer and the liked died off around junior year in high school (1990), I snagged a beat up cassette of LL. from a friend, and I was amazed. The heavy bass, erratic yet masterful percussion, and the killer rives along with Cornea's velvet thunder was pretty much audio sex. AMOK was the same. Ben's playing far outclassed Hire's, and the rest is history. With BMW, I was hypnotized by that whole album. Slaves, Rooms...wide and Drawing flies are my fad tracks, but the rest of the record is incredible. I agree with the guy who said it is one of the best rock albums ever. I think BMW defined the heavy part of the Seattle music scene in the late 80s and early 90s, and introduced it to the rest of the country (I am not taking anything away from the other bands from the era...) I just want to voice my opinion on what I consider artistic growth before I go on. I don't think I know of one good artist who is content to simply reproduce the works that they have "mastered," in any media. Yeah, the corporate rockers of the last decade and the dinosaurs that won't die kept the cookbook hits coming, but look at their fates. The live on as mere images of buttock on MTV specials or have a budding acting career in B movies. They weren't artists in the sense that SAG and other great bands are/were. As individuals, maybe the guys from Poison were artists (I doubt it?), but as a band they fucking sucked. Back to SAG... The transitions from the FOP/SL/AMOK sound to the LL. sound to the BMW were marked in the music and the lyrical content. I enjoyed each of these albums because I was able to follow the band as they matured both musically and personally. It only made sense that the music would change as the members changed. US was a drastic change for me from BMW, and it took a while to adjust to it, partially because there was a 3 year lag between albums. However, to date, US is my fad album. Like Seth said, there are some tracks on there that are not as moving as others, but I don't believe they were made for airily (I hope not...) 4th of July makes me unconscious when I hear it. Who knows, I get in grooves where I only like AMOK or LL. It'll change tomorrow... DOTU is a great album, but the breakup has jaded its appeal to me for awhile I am afraid. Applebite speaks to me, and so does BUTOW. The rest of the songs are cool, but I have a bad taste in my mouth from all of the bullshit I have been hearing since the breakup. On a side note, did anyone see Hater last weekend at the Showbox? Who is the drum tech that jumped in during the middle of the set and played? I was waiting for the red headed guitar tech to pick up Ben's Gretsch and start in. A good set in general. Valis was less impressive. If you are not at work where you are forced to use a computer on a day like today, I pity you for not being outside in the nice weather in Seattle. Court ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 18:17:50 -0400 From: Rebekah Henderson Subject: Re: The US/BMW discussion SAG???? Who is SAG???? Soundgarden is SG. BMW??? BMW is a car. BMF is Badmotorfinger. It's not Fop, it's Fopp. It's not LL. It's LTL (Louder Than Love) Who is Cornea????? Is that a woman?? Their lead singer is Chris Cornell. Hire?? As in employment??? Their ex-bassist is Hiro Yamamoto. AMOK?? As in someone is running amok??? I think you mean UMOK (Ultramega OK). US??? As in the United States??? They have an album called Superunknown (SU). Are you sure you're on the right mailing list??? I am completely and thoroughly baffled by your post. Rebekah At 02:48 PM 5/9/97 PDT, you wrote: >I am really enjoying the discussions about the records that opened our eyes >to SAG... > >I started listening to SAG when a friend brought over a copy of what I later >found out to be a bootleg of a show that SAG did in Seattle in 1989 (I don't >know where). At the time, I was into death metal and really heavy metal, so >SAG at the time was playing songs that are on Screaming Life/FOP and LL. > After my fascination with Slayer and the liked died off around junior year >in high school (1990), I snagged a beat up cassette of LL. from a friend, >and I was amazed. The heavy bass, erratic yet masterful percussion, and the >killer rives along with Cornea's velvet thunder was pretty much audio sex. >AMOK was the same. Ben's playing far outclassed Hire's, and the rest is >history. With BMW, I was hypnotized by that whole album. Slaves, >Rooms...wide and Drawing flies are my fad tracks, but the rest of the record >is incredible. I agree with the guy who said it is one of the best rock >albums ever. I think BMW defined the heavy part of the Seattle music scene >in the late 80s and early 90s, and introduced it to the rest of the country >(I am not taking anything away from the other bands from the era...) > >I just want to voice my opinion on what I consider artistic growth before I >go on. I don't think I know of one good artist who is content to simply >reproduce the works that they have "mastered," in any media. Yeah, the >corporate rockers of the last decade and the dinosaurs that won't die kept >the cookbook hits coming, but look at their fates. The live on as mere >images of buttock on MTV specials or have a budding acting career in B >movies. They weren't artists in the sense that SAG and other great bands >are/were. As individuals, maybe the guys from Poison were artists (I doubt >it?), but as a band they fucking sucked. > >Back to SAG... The transitions from the FOP/SL/AMOK sound to the LL. sound >to the BMW were marked in the music and the lyrical content. I enjoyed each >of these albums because I was able to follow the band as they matured both >musically and personally. It only made sense that the music would change as >the members changed. US was a drastic change for me from BMW, and it took a >while to adjust to it, partially because there was a 3 year lag between >albums. However, to date, US is my fad album. Like Seth said, there are >some tracks on there that are not as moving as others, but I don't believe >they were made for airily (I hope not...) 4th of July makes me unconscious >when I hear it. Who knows, I get in grooves where I only like AMOK or LL. > It'll change tomorrow... > >DOTU is a great album, but the breakup has jaded its appeal to me for awhile >I am afraid. Applebite speaks to me, and so does BUTOW. The rest of the >songs are cool, but I have a bad taste in my mouth from all of the bullshit >I have been hearing since the breakup. > >On a side note, did anyone see Hater last weekend at the Showbox? Who is >the drum tech that jumped in during the middle of the set and played? I was >waiting for the red headed guitar tech to pick up Ben's Gretsch and start >in. A good set in general. Valis was less impressive. > >If you are not at work where you are forced to use a computer on a day like >today, I pity you for not being outside in the nice weather in Seattle. > >Court > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 18:26:58 -0400 From: "Lori S. Bingel" Subject: superunknown I got into SG through BMF and although I bought Superunknown shortly after it's release, it took me a while to get into it simply because I wasn't spending a lot of time with it. Later that summer I started listening to it in my car all throughout the day and it eventually grabbed me and sucked me in. Everytime I hear that CD I hear something new and interesting. Because I didn't fall in love with it immediately, it is always fresh for me. /Lori ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 19:31:32 -0500 From: MICHAEL APPLE Subject: You didn't like "Let Me Drown"? Date sent: 9-MAY-1997 19:28:52 You didn't like "Let Me Drown", Seth? Wow. That song really drew me in the first time I listened to SU. For me, it was "Spoonman" and "My Wave" that threw me off. I have it on cassette too, so it wasn't like I could skip over any tracks either. You know, cassette is probably the best format anyway, since you HAVE to listen to every song on the album (or waste time fast forwarding.) Plus it has sides. Too bad CDs don't have sides. I miss sides. :( Later, Michael Apple ************************************************** Pale in the flare light The scared light cracks and disappears And leads the scorched ones here And everywhere, no one cares the fire is spreading And no one wants to speak about it. - "4th Of July", Soundgarden ************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 20:08:40 -0400 From: ARIE ELMALEH Subject: Nickelback Hey everyone, I was reading the April edition of ACCESS magazine (a free Canadian mag), and on page 8 in the first paragraph, it talks about a band named Nickelback. They are referred to as 'sort of a Soundgarden Jr.' Has anyone heard of them? Are they good? Later everyone, Michelle ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 20:56:07 -0400 From: Carol Carson Subject: Re: Superunknown In a message dated 97-05-09 13:53:49 EDT, you write: << SU has made its way into my regular rotation, and the songs that were so annoying before are much easier to swallow now. BMF, almost impossibly so, seems even better. DOTU just gathers dust. seth >> DOTU is gathering dust at my place too. Its not hard enough. I enjoy so much the hardcore riffs, those fierce, yet loving, soothing melodies, and Chris SCREAMING HIS GUTS OUT on BMF. And since I wore out one SU tape (yea I have a walkman) and Im on my second, its just kinda sitting there too. BMF BMF BMF! All night long! Carol ;) DustyGrrl DustyGrrl is off on vacation. Anyone who's emailing me for trades, etc. I wont be able to respond for at least a week.....have fun. bye bye now.;) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 21:57:56 -0400 From: Rebekah Henderson Subject: The hidden scream in "Mary Reilly" Oh yeah!!! You know that little thing you click on in the Alive in the Superunknown CD+ where it sounds like someone screaming really low and then it sounds like another voice coming in and it gets really high (normal) and then it's just one person and it sounds like Chris????!!!! Well, I just got finished watching the movie "Mary Reilly" (and it was actually pretty good!) and at the end of it when Mr. Hyde was turning back into Dr. Jekyll, he was screaming and some really gross (cool!) stuff was happening to him, the same scream that's on the CD+ is in that movie!!!!! I'm not making this up and I was completely coherent through the entire movie!!! I'm telling you to watch it or fast forward to the end and listen!!! It's the same scream!! Has anyone else seen this film??? Oh my God!! I think the movie came out after the CD+, but it could have been filmed before. I don't know, but it's unbelievable. You will recognize it too!! May Soundgarden be with you. Rebekah ------------------------------ End of SOMMS Digest - 9 May 1997 to 10 May 1997 ***********************************************