Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 05:55:24 -0500 Subject: SOMMS Digest - 19 Mar 1998 to 20 Mar 1998 There are 7 messages totalling 285 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Soundgarden's Later Stuff (2) 2. Kim's Place In History 3. 4. , Devilhead update, poetics (2) 5. Fwd: Soundgarden's Later Stuff To UNSUBSCRIBE from SOMMS, send email to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU with the following in the body of your message: SIGNOFF SOMMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 22:53:32 -0600 From: Kathie and David Subject: Re: Soundgarden's Later Stuff Cat wrote: > I was wondering if, since I'm probably a newer fan than most of > you, that I accepted DotU more. I sorta worked backwards, from DotU and > back. And I find myself listening to it more. What do you all think of > DotU, compared against their previous albums? I remember when the album came out being disappointed that so many people on the list ripped it. But....there are alot of people on here (at least there were back then) who love DOTU. I loved it from the first time I heard it - and I've been a fan for ages. Shortly after it came out I even did a poll on the list, I think it compared people who became fans before SuperUnknown and those who became fans after SU and what they thought of DOTU - because it seemed that those who liked SU hated DOTU. But that wasn't really the case. It didn't matter when people became fans. It did turn out that the majority of people who participated thought BMF was the greatest SG album ever. I, however, have a hard time placing value judgements like that on SG music, because the albums are all so different. I didn't care for SU when it came out, but now I like alot of songs on it. But, while BMF is without a doubt absolutely fantastic, I think DOTU is a masterpiece. Kathie ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 00:00:33 EST From: O6z6z6y Subject: Re: Kim's Place In History ^v^Sorry if this came through twice, but AO}{eLL killed me while I was sending.^v^ In a message dated 98-03-18 22:08:17 EST, you write: << Hello. Me and a friend were talking about guitarists and such and he thought that Kim Thayil was among the best guitarists in the history of rock and roll which admittedly took me aback for a second. I love Kim Thayil and he is talented as hell but I never really stopped and thought about if he was one of the greatest ever, like in the Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix level of guitarists. The more I think about it the more I probably agree with him but what do you all think? Do you think Thayil belongs in the upper stratosphere of guitars in the history of rock and roll and if so, why? -vince >> He is one of the best, but unfortunately will never be recognized as such. First reason was Soundgarden was much more than a one man show...no one stood out, but all were great and fuctioned like a very well oiled biological machine. The band Soundgarden overshadowed anything a single individual within did. Sure we can sit here and pick out a kick ass noodle Kim through in or a bangin drum smash with a thumpin bass that makes ya move or a vocal tap that brought a tear to your eye, but while contained in the entity that was Soundgarden that was exactly what they were...four coming together as one. Kim kicked ass, but so did everyone else and they all did it at the same time. The second reason is tied in with the first...they were never media friendly and as such there were few that actually gave enough of a fuck to examine the Soundgarden jugernaut...when they did it was Chris's well greased and toned pecs they zoomed in on. Media sucks, but they can make or break a legend. As far as who he's "up there" with I can see the Hendrix, but I'd also smack him right next to Ritchie Blackmore and Tony Iommi...I hear the darkness and heavyness in the Iommi vein mixed with Blackmore's structure and Hendrix's creativity. Just my opinion of course. L8r ~^v^OzzY^v^~ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 01:25:25 -0600 From: Bill Subject: >Hello. Me and a friend were talking about guitarists and such and he >thought that Kim Thayil was among the best guitarists in the history of >rock and roll which admittedly took me aback for a second. I love Kim >Thayil and he is talented as hell but I never really stopped and thought >about if he was one of the greatest ever, like in the Eddie Van Halen, >Jimi Hendrix level of guitarists. The more I think about it the more I >probably agree with him but what do you all think? Do you think Thayil >belongs in the upper stratosphere of guitars in the history of rock and >roll and if so, why? I say no... I would listen with enthusiasm to Page solo, but not to Thayil's. Soundgarden was really an entity more than the sum of its parts. I don't really consider any one of its members the *best* in his department in the universe. But I do consider Soundgarden's music to be that which has the most impact on me personally. Incidentally, I've always thought that Van Halen sucks. I realize that the stuff may be difficult to play, but I really think all that effort is going to waste... Later, Bill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 13:37:16 -0500 From: jenny grover Subject: , Devilhead update, poetics > a very well oiled biological machine. Mmmm.... couldn't have put it better myself. :) Now, here's some Devilhead news. Whether or not Ben will be playing with them is anyone's guess. If anyone goes to this, let me know what went down. > DEVILHEAD will be headlining a show at the Colorbox on April 9th in the > Pioneer Square District of Seattle. Also on the bill is Funnel Cake > and Glass Chunk. > Cover Charge is $5.00 And on the subject of poetry, Raine challenged us a while back to write a poem about SG using only words made out of the word Soundgarden. It really is fun and a good exercise in creative thinking. I recommend trying it. I haven't seen anyone else's but here's mine: soundgarden under a red rose a dear one sang grand-- sugar and sea-- nouns drone and soar. god's snare rends ground asunder. onan's urges groan. anger and sun sear sand dunes. dogs run and drag guns around-- send us reason, urge us on, drug us! dread gores us. sun and reason end-- sore, undone, sudden. no one sang, our dens sodden. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 13:48:36 -0600 From: Ugly Truth Subject: Re: Soundgarden's Later Stuff I got into Soundgarden relatively late, around the Superunknown time, although i loved off Jesus Christ Pose as soon as I heard it. Compared against any of their albums(ESPECIALLY Badmotorfinger) Down on the Upside SUCKS!!!! Not one song on the entire album made me feel, inspired any passion in me, or made me want to smash something. ;o) I unfortunately didn't get to see them in concert until the Down on the Upside tour, and although they played a VERY good show, it would have been MUCH better for me had they played more of their old stuff. I'm not saying the album is awful or anything, just compared to the kick ass other stuff, Down on the Upside is INCREDIBLY lacking in.......? And i'll go on a mini-rant here, so you can stop reading at any time :^ People have always accused me of not being a "true" Soundgarden fan just because i don't love off every note any of them ever played. Please. So what if i don't like an album of theirs? This doesn't make me any less of a fan at all. Me not liking some songs doesn't change the fact that the songs i DO like inspire such passion and feeling in me that it's overwhelming. Being a fan is putting in an album, for the first or hundredth time, sitting on your bed and being absolutely blown away by what you hear. Its going to a show and getting so incredibly high off of the energy of the music that you feel like you're in another world and you're never going to come down. I like Soundgarden for the MUSIC, not for them(and it's true that they are nice guys, but even if they were assholes i'd still listen to them). If they decided to get back together and become a Vanilla Ice cover band, I'm sorry but I would be disgusted. But there ARE people out there who would listen to it and LIKE IT(or at least pretend to) just because Soundgarden is doing it. Gimme a break. Whoa. I've gone through this rant so many times before its getting boring. Sorry, i've run out of steam(or maybe that's a blessing). -The Imposter Ugly Truth ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 18:18:07 -0500 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?S=F6ren?= Franson Subject: Re: , Devilhead update, poetics At 01:37 PM 3/19/98 -0500, sleeveless wrote: >And on the subject of poetry, Raine challenged us a while back to write >a poem about SG using only words made out of the word Soundgarden. It >really is fun and a good exercise in creative thinking. I recommend >trying it. I haven't seen anyone else's but here's mine: > >soundgarden > >under a red rose a dear one sang >grand-- sugar and sea-- nouns drone and soar. >god's snare rends ground asunder. >onan's urges groan. >anger and sun sear sand dunes. >dogs run and drag guns around-- > >send us reason, urge us on, drug us! > >dread gores us. >sun and reason end-- >sore, undone, sudden. >no one sang, our dens sodden. > >Jen This one I REALY liked! Good job! Soren ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 16:41:19 EST From: Nothng2Say Subject: Fwd: Soundgarden's Later Stuff This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_890343679_boundary Content-ID: <0_890343679@inet_out.mail.aol.com.1> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII --part0_890343679_boundary Content-ID: <0_890343679@inet_out.mail.aol.com.2> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline From: Nothng2Say Return-path: To: denise@PROMOBILITY.NET Subject: Re: Soundgarden's Later Stuff Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 16:40:53 EST Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In regards to DOTU: How can the same band that does "Ty Cobb" Do "Zero Chance" or "Boot Camp"? I love this album since I got it that first day in May 1996. That album defined my Summer. Perhaps because it was somewhat experimental is the reason for some people's dissapointment, but that's what Soundgarden has always been about. You all may find it a shame that this "experimental" step was their last. But like I said about the diversity of their styles on ONE album, how can one band do this? To borrow a phrase from a reviewer of A-Sides "In a word Soundgarden." Matt --part0_890343679_boundary-- ------------------------------ End of SOMMS Digest - 19 Mar 1998 to 20 Mar 1998 ************************************************