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Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
http://www.tbs.com/video/conan.jsp?oid= … arethisUrl
If you look around you can find "Hunted Down" as well.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
I gotta say, I watched the show last night, and I thought their performance was 100%, start to finish, absolutely awful. Huge disappointment.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
I didn't like... any of it. I can't even specify beyond that. The crowd's reaction was entirely justified. It was irritating, unrelenting, Cornell just wailed on high notes without any musicality or articulation. The lyrics were completely unintelligible, and the band wasn't crisp enough to make sense of the song to an audience that hadn't heard it before.
I didn't rock and it didn't make sense. It was hard to follow without being dynamic at any point. I have to expect that they're dead on arrival in terms of mainstream attention if that's how they choose to present themselves.
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
It's a cluster fuck. Even the die hards are starting to bail out. I think they prematurely pulled the trigger on the reunion and are having second thoughts. It's been really low key, and when they do speak about it, it's never good news. They said they weren't recording anything and have admitted a tour is unlikely, which brings up a question.....
Then why in the hell did you reunite??
Hardcores on the main SG site are starting to call it a "cash grab", but I disagree. If it was a cash grab we'd see a bunch of tour dates and they would be pushing Black Rain/Telephantasm much harder than they currently are. I think they don't want to do it anymore and are just going through the motions as they obviously have obligations to promote this a bit and are waiting for the smoke to clear until disbanding again.
Fans need to stop whining for a tour. It's not happening. Everyone needs to put all their eggs in one basket and that's the infamous B Sides album. If we don't get that album while they are still together, we're never gonna get it.
Performing Hunted Down was moronic. No one gives a fuck about that song. To add insult to injury, with performances like this they are rebuilding their reputation as a mediocre live band and like CC said, this generation will walk away from it immediately.
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
Well that sucks. I haven't really been following their comeback too closely (probably because it's been so low key) but I was really psyched about this. I was really hoping they'd be one of the monster bands from my youth that could just start right in where they left off and show everyone how it's done. Fuck's sake- can't any of my heroes transcend the bullshit? Axl? Kim? Please?
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
Well smoke, in alot of ways it really holds true to the old saying - "you can never go back". Seriously, other than maybe Aerosmith in the mid-to-late 80's what reunion/reboot after a hiatus/bad albums/disbanding as ever really grabbed the scene by the balls again? It rarely happens.
People said for years that a Led Zeppelin reunion would be huge, and they got together with Jason Bonham for a show, and despite the fact of the press it got, it never really manifested into the huge unified worldwide circle jerk people claimed it would be for years. People thought Dave going back to VH would be legendary one day, it happened, and only the VH diehards and a few casuals really woke up to don their Van Halen Women and Children First t-shirt to relive their childhood for one night.
I think the same thing will sadly happen for a GN'R if and when it ever happens. It'll be big, but they'll never ever rule the world again and most likely will have to learn to work together again, just like SG are doing right now, and seemingly struggling HARD to do.
Alot of bands from the 90's are experiencing this right now. Although interest has been there for new shows and new albums from artists like AIC & STP, in alot of ways their return has been underwhelming for many. Artists like SG are seemingly imploding due to it being "work" again like it was when they first started and not done with relative ease, and groups like Faith No More just gave up on trying to do a reunion tour worldwide, because no one gives a fuck outside of 10 geeks who still call Album of the Year their shining achievement.
I disagree with James on the point that SG have lost interest so they are giving up. They "may" have, but "if" they have it's because they are working again. SG is not GN'R or Metallica, or really even AIC. They've been away for so long, they are going to have to work to make SG something again. None of them seem to be willing to do that. I think they want it - only if it's easy.
I honestly think they tried to make it into something. I think they wanted a full-blown worldwide reunion tour to commence, and they found out a cold hard truth - no one really gives a shit. The interest just isn't there.
It can't be easy, if interest is average to minimal. Frankly, no one cares. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock backing Telephantasm & Black Rain to be their big selling point, was like Rock Band 2 letting Shackler's Revenge and new GN'R be there selling point. They were both DOA.
Another thing that absolutely destroyed them was... correct me if i'm wrong... is Telephantasm as Best Buy exclusive? Because I have traveled all over Florida, and i've only found Telephantasm in Best Buy stores (not Wal-Mart, not Target, not K-Mart, not anywhere), and even in BB the 2-disc edition costs $27 fuckin' dollars!!! And at the music stores, the rare independent or a mall FYE, they are even more at $35.
Who's gonna fuckin' pay that? Telephantasm should've been in every Wal-Mart with a 2-disc set and a DVD, for $11.88. This is how you sale CD's these days. Take a note from AC/DC, KISS & The Eagles...
It's just a sad day in alot of ways. Truth be told, it's probably the definitive death of Soundgarden if they don't pick up momentum and quick. At least from 1997-2009 they had the hope of "reunion". Now they've tried that, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Cornell is too content in his solo career, and a failed SG reunion because of lack of interest will be the official eulogy.
This is the end, unless they shove their fists down our throats and fast. But I doubt it. Just watch that video, they are all half-assing it, and Chris & Kim look like they'd rather be anywhere else than in SG.
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
Yeah- no one's really ever done it. Aerosmith is the exception, and they had to change fundamentally to get there. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want SG to start writing with Desmond Child and pumping out love songs. 
VH was a perfect example- I'm so stuck in my frame of reference that I'm shocked when the world doesn't sit up and take notice of a band like that reuniting. But then, the band itself poisons their own comeback with the various bullshit moves the brothers like to pull.
Out of the big names of the 90's era, AIC, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, SG- I've always thought SG was the most kickass and fresh. My hope was that they would know going in what it would take to shock the world into attention. As others have pointed out, it just seems like they're being WAY to passive about the whole thing.
I guess I just keep hoping that someone that I grew up with as an (anti-)rock god could come back and prove that they could do it in any era. I'm tired of seeing legacies squandered. To be honest, I don't even care if they take the world by the balls, but it would be nice. However, some new, kickass, relevant music is absolutely mandatory.
This, by the way, is why I love John Paul Jones so much. I didn't fully appreciate how awesome he is until I watched him perform live with Them Crooked Vultures. They're not as appreciated as I feel they should be, but the music is there, and it's awesome.
On the other hand, I'd almost prefer disbanding to bands that put out nothing but pop bullshit (see Aerosmith post-Pump).
Re: Soundgarden Perform "Black Rain" on Conan
I honestly think they tried to make it into something. I think they wanted a full-blown worldwide reunion tour to commence, and they found out a cold hard truth - no one really gives a shit. The interest just isn't there.
The interest is there. The reunion news was everywhere, the two club dates sold out in minutes, and they got more attention than Lady GaGa at Lollapalooza.
The problem is that the interest isn't in a greatest hits album. Thayil made a good point about needing to reintroduce the band to the public, which is why Telephantasm morphed from the B Sides collection to a standard hits package. Radio doesn't play them anymore, stores not filled with their discography, and you cant go to to the mall and buy a Soundgarden shirt. So while a "reintroduction" may have been warranted, it could have been accomplished much easier with a fresh album. This musical climate doesn't care about your great music from 15-20 years ago. They want a current hit.
Telephantasm was a mistake. What they should have done was rerecord killer B sides with hit potential like Kyle Petty, Kareoke, Fresh Deadly Roses, etc. and some of those covers and made that the new album. Kareoke may be 16 years old, yet it sounds like he's describing the current music scene to a tee. That song is probably a hit. Instead, we get Black Rain tied to a hits collection.
I highly doubt they ever had visions of a world tour. They hated touring, and its what led to so much of the tension. This was basically a killer studio band that toured because they had to. Before the reunion, last time these four guys shared a stage was when Ben threw his bass at someone, ran off stage, Kim and Matt followed, Cornell finishes the set with an acoustic guitar and then runs backstage to knock Ben's lights out. Thayil also made comments a few months before the breakup about not really giving a shit about the casual crowds in attendance and simply considered it money exchanging hands.
Doesn't sound like a band looking to tour Timbuktu anytime soon. 
They may have had the right idea on getting back together, it was just implemented wrong. To add insult to injury, they only had ONE shot at this. They cant kill it and then five years later say, "hey, we're reuniting!". This is last chance saloon.
One of the problems(probably the MAIN problem) is Cornell and Cameron don't even need the reunion. Cameron will be Pearl Jam's drummer until he drops dead, and Cornell is in the position to do whatever he wants. The other two are virtual shut ins.
Another thing that absolutely destroyed them was... correct me if i'm wrong... is Telephantasm as Best Buy exclusive? Because I have traveled all over Florida, and i've only found Telephantasm in Best Buy stores (not Wal-Mart, not Target, not K-Mart, not anywhere), and even in BB the 2-disc edition costs $27 fuckin' dollars!!! And at the music stores, the rare independent or a mall FYE, they are even more at $35.
It wasn't an exclusive. It's just not easy to find. It looks like Soundgarden and their label were content with this going platinum through GH.
