Soundgarden – Superunknown (Deluxe Edition) (1994/2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The 20th anniversary of Superunknown is a global priority and the band is very involved in the reissue celebration. Deluxe anniversary products features never-before-released bonus material and demos. As far as products, there is something for everyone from the hardcore, super fan to the teen who is just discovering Soundgarden’s music.

In 2014 we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Soundgarden’s massive album Superunknown which to date has sold 9 million albums worldwide and is certified five times platinum by the RIAA in the US. Both a critical and commercial success, in 1994 Superunknown debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts and earned the band two Grammys® for the singles “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman” in 1995. As relevant today as they were in 1994, the multiplatinum-selling Soundgarden continues to be in the Top 10 most played artists on Active Rock radio and the band’s top 4 most played radio songs – accumulating over 1 million in total airplay and 4 billion in total audience to date – are all from this very beloved album: “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” “Spoonman” and “The Day I Tried To Live.” In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and the 100 Greatest Albums of the Nineties.

Soundgarden’s finest hour, Superunknown is a sprawling, 70-minute magnum opus that pushes beyond any previous boundaries. Soundgarden had always loved replicating Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath riffs, but Superunknown’s debt is more to mid-period Zep’s layered arrangements and sweeping epics. Their earlier punk influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop and psychedelia. Badmotorfinger boasted more than its fair share of indelible riffs, but here the main hooks reside mostly in Chris Cornell’s vocals; accordingly, he’s mixed right up front, floating over the band instead of cutting through it. The rest of the production is just as crisp, with the band achieving a huge, robust sound that makes even the heaviest songs sound deceptively bright. But the most important reason Superunknown is such a rich listen is twofold: the band’s embrace of psychedelia, and their rapidly progressing mastery of songcraft. Soundgarden had always been a little mind-bending, but the full-on experiments with psychedelia give them a much wider sonic palette, paving the way for less metallic sounds and instruments, more detailed arrangements, and a bridge into pop (which made the eerie ballad “Black Hole Sun” an inescapable hit). That blossoming melodic skill is apparent on most of the record, not just the poppier songs and Cornell-penned hits; though a couple of drummer Matt Cameron’s contributions are pretty undistinguished, they’re easy to overlook, given the overall consistency. The focused songwriting allows the band to stretch material out for grander effect, without sinking into the pointlessly drawn-out muck that cluttered their early records. The dissonance and odd time signatures are still in force, though not as jarring or immediately obvious, which means that the album reveals more subtleties with each listen. It’s obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition.

Tracklist:
1-01. Soundgarden – Let Me Drown (03:52)
1-02. Soundgarden – My Wave (05:12)
1-03. Soundgarden – Fell On Black Days (04:43)
1-04. Soundgarden – Mailman (04:26)
1-05. Soundgarden – Superunknown (05:06)
1-06. Soundgarden – Head Down (06:09)
1-07. Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun (05:18)
1-08. Soundgarden – Spoonman (04:06)
1-09. Soundgarden – Limo Wreck (05:47)
1-10. Soundgarden – The Day I Tried To Live (05:20)
1-11. Soundgarden – Kickstand (01:34)
1-12. Soundgarden – Fresh Tendrils (04:16)
1-13. Soundgarden – 4th Of July (05:08)
1-14. Soundgarden – Half (02:14)
1-15. Soundgarden – Like Suicide (07:03)
1-16. Soundgarden – She Likes Surprises (03:17)
2-17. Soundgarden – Let Me Drown (Demo Version) (04:11)
2-18. Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun (Demo Version) (05:38)
2-19. Soundgarden – Half (Demo Version) (01:37)
2-20. Soundgarden – Head Down (Rehearsal Version) (05:26)
2-21. Soundgarden – Limo Wreck (Rehearsal Version) (05:42)
2-22. Soundgarden – The Day I Tried To Live (Rehearsal Version) (06:03)
2-23. Soundgarden – Like Suicide (Acoustic Version) (06:12)
2-24. Soundgarden – Black Days III (04:03)
2-25. Soundgarden – Birth Ritual (Original Demo Version) (05:50)
2-26. Soundgarden – Exit Stonehenge (01:21)
2-27. Soundgarden – Kyle Petty, Son Of Richard (04:06)
2-28. Soundgarden – Jerry Garcia’s Finger (03:24)
2-29. Soundgarden – Spoonman (Alternate Steve Fisk Remix) (05:21)
2-30. Soundgarden – The Day I Tried To Live (Alternate Mix) (05:26)
2-31. Soundgarden – 4th Of July (Instrumental) (05:13)
2-32. Soundgarden – Superunknown (Instrumental) (05:09)