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Avg: 3.5 (195 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1988
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Commercial Alternative
- Label: SST Records / The Orchard
They loved/hated hard rock — and created a grunge classic.
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We Say...
As far back as 1988 Seattle quartet Soundgarden were being primed as the Next Big Thing — they'd even signed to A&M before releasing this album on SST, and songs like "All Your Lies" already sounded like the future. The Stooges, the MC5, and local neo-punk-metal gods the Melvins (check "Beyond the Wheel") are in the mix, and that cool factor made the band's overtly Zeppelin/Sabbath sounds palatable to indie rockers. The band's love-hate relationship with classic hard rock would define grunge and pioneer the metal/indie fusion that birthed an entire era of mainstream rock. The best moments of Ultramega OK resolve the brainy and the fist-pumping, like Kim Thayil's convulsive stop-start on "Flower" and Chris Cornell's air raid siren impression on "Beyond the Wheel." Favoring the riff over the song (a habit the band would eventually outgrow), Ultramega OK might be crude and uneven in a way later Soundgarden albums were not, but as rock music blueprints go, it's hard to fault.
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They Say...
The best expression of Soundgarden's early, Stooges/MC5-meets-Zeppelin/Sabbath sound, Ultramega OK is a dark, murky, buzzing record that simultaneously subverts and pays tribute to heavy metal. At times, the band and its recasting of over-the-top '70s hard rock seem smirky (Hiro Yamamoto's ridiculous vocal on "Circle of Power"; a "cover" of John Lennon's "One Minute of Silence"); a few, like the cover of "Smokestack Lightning," really do sink into turgid metal silliness. But the best moments are startling fusions of classic metal, punk rock, and psychedelia of the fuzz guitar variety, plus the local flavor of Green River and the Melvins. The difference was, Soundgarden were better songwriters, and their feel for memorable riffs and hooks lends greater power to both the rockers and the creepy, dirge-like slow numbers. It's a shame the album as a whole isn't more fully realized, because when separated out from the filler, the numerous highlights show why Soundgarden had such an enormous impact on the development of grunge. It may not be quite as complex or consistent as some of Soundgarden's later albums, but Ultramega OK is easily the best document of grunge's early, pre-Nirvana days.
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| 01. |  |
Flower |
3:25 |
|
| 02. | |
All Your Lies |
3:51 |
|
| 03. | |
665 |
1:37 |
|
| 04. | |
Beyond The Wheel |
4:20 |
|
| 05. | |
667 |
0:56 |
|
| 06. | |
Mood For Trouble |
4:21 |
|
| 07. | |
Circle Of Power |
2:05 |
|
| 08. | |
He Didn't |
2:47 |
|
| 09. | |
Smokestack Lightning |
5:07 |
|
| 10. | |
Nazi Driver |
3:52 |
|
| 11. | |
Head Injury |
2:22 |
|
| 12. | |
Incessant Mace |
6:22 |
|
| 13. | |
One Minute Of Silence |
1:00 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 42:05 Total Length
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Credits
- Soundgarden - Producer // Soundgarden - Main Performer // Soundgarden - Art Direction // Soundgarden - Design // Matt Cameron - Drums // Drew Canulette - Producer // Drew Canulette - Engineer // Chris Cornell - Bass // Chris Cornell - Guitar // Chris Cornell - Vocals // Katherine Miller - Art Direction // Katherine Miller - Design // Kim Thayil - Guitar // Hiro Yamamoto - Bass // Hiro Yamamoto - Vocals // Lance Mercer - Photography // Lance Limbocker - Engineer // Gardener - Photography
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