Product Description

Soundgarden couldn't have picked a better time to issue itsbest album yet, BADMOTORFINGER, in the fall of 1991. The Seattle explosion (which also included Nirvana, Pearl Jam, andAlice In Chains) was just about to take off, and along withsuch other classic albums as NEVERMIND, TEN, and FACELIFT, BADMOTORFINGER benefited greatly from all of the newfound media attention and critical praise. New bassist Ben Shepherd fit in perfectly with the band, evidenced by this incrediblyconsistent album. Although Soundgarden's breakthrough hit, "Outshined", remains the best-known track, the whole album is a must-hear from beginning to end.
While BADMOTORFINGERis certainly best experienced listening all the way through, single standouts include the barnstorming album opener, "Rusty Cage", the all-out assault "Jesus Christ Pose", as wellas the crawling "Slaves & Bulldozers", and the tranquil "Mind Riot". Add to it the back-to-back epics "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" and "Room a Thousand Years Wide", plus the short punk blasts "Face Pollution" and "Drawing Flies", and you have one of the greatest rock albums to ever come out of the Emerald City.

Track Listing

1. Rusty Cage
2. Outshined
3. Slaves & Bulldozers
4. Jesus Christ Pose
5. Face Pollution
6. Somewhere
7. Searching With My Good Eye Closed
8. Room A Thousand Years Wide
9. Mind Riot
10. Drawing Flies
11. Holy Water
12. New Damage

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9684 in Music
• Released on: 2000-12-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 58 minutes

Customer Reviews

The album that established Soundgarden
Before this album, Soundgarden were just another heavy metal band playing post-zeppelin rock. But that all changed when they released Badmotorfinger in 1991. The grunge scene was about to explode into the mainstream and this album took Soundgarden with it. Badmotorfinger established them at the top of the alternative music heap along with the likes of Alice In Chains, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
And you can see why. It's a fast, hard, heavy rock masterpiece from start to finish. With classic tunes such as Rusty Cage, Outshined, Jesus Christ Pose, Slaves and Bulldozers. This album will rock your socks off. It's extremely accessible to both metal and traditional rock fans which makes it such an instant classic. One of the best albums to come out of the nineties.

For me this album resides alongside Dirt by Alice In Chains and Nevermind by Nirvana as the ultimate rock masterpiece of all time. If you love this album like I do (And you should! I mean, who couldn't when it's this good?) Then check out Alice In Chains. They have a similar heavy metallic sound like Soundgarden. I would throughly recommend Dirt and Facelift.

But buy this first. It's a stunner!

A taste worth acquiring.
Soundgarden's breakthrough album "Badmotorfinger" was released at the height of the Seattle Sound/grunge phenomenon and is amongst the finest albums produced during that era, however those expecting an easy radio friendly ride of a record along the lines of their contemporaries such as Nirvana's "Nevermind" and Pearl Jam's "Ten" will find this quite a different beast. It is one of the stranger albums to have ever garnered mainstream success, but whilst it starts off as something of an acquired taste, it is well worth persisting with as once you get it you'll love it.
Soundgarden's sound on this record is a soup of Sabbath-esque 70's metal, blues, classic rock with a splash of punkier energy and some experimental noise thrown in for good measure. It's the diversity of influences and the ability of their musicianship to nail each one that makes this such an enduring and enjoyable record. Chris Cornell's peerless vocals that range from banshee screaming to whispering tenderness tower over proceeding and his lyrics are both easy to identify with and yet at times opaque and intriguing. Kim Thayil's guitars combine enormous riffs with off-the-wall leads, whilst Ben Sheppard's resonating basslines refuse to sit still for long and Matt Cameron's titanic drumming is the rock on which the whole thing is built.
Classics like "Outshined" with it's killer riff and catchy chorus, "Rusty Cage" and "Jesus Christ Pose" a hit at rock clubs despite being as far from a mainstream pop rock song as it's possible to get (sometimes atonal music is heavier than a thousand downtuned overdriven guitars and a double bass drummer can ever get close to), may already be familiar to many. Gems like "Mind Riot" (like the Temple Of The Dog album, written in the aftermath of Chris Cornell's former housemate and Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Woods' untimely death from a heroin overdose), "Rooms A Thousand Years Wide" with its insistent riff, "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" and the highlight of Chris Cornell's estimable recording career as a singer to date "Slaves & Bulldozers" probably won't be as recognisable but are every bit as good.
Even the "lesser" songs on the album (in my humble opinion) such as "Face Polution", the oddly groovy "Drawing Flies" and "Holy Water" hold some impressive charms if you are prepared to stick with them. "Somewhere" meanwhile is a trippy pop classic.
All in all a top record. One of those records so distinctive that once you are a fan of it there will be times when you find yourself in the mood to listen to it and no other album will satisfy.
If you are new to Soundgarden, I highly recommend purchasing this CD and its follow-up "Superunknown" as between those two you will have most of the highlights of their impressive catalogue and two classic albums to add to your collection.

masterpiece! superb heavy rock/grunge/metal
This is my favourite soundgarden album, it is awesome. It's got the energy of their early albums (without the 80s metal feel - although the lyrics on rusty cage are a bit cheesy!) and the inventiveness of the later ones. Most of the songs are pretty heavy, and the album has got an exciting, cathartic feel to it - it manages to be nice and heavy without being aggressive, which is cool! Also, it is of course good to hear a bunch of talented musicians, especially matt cameron (the drummer, who is definitely one of those musician rather than just timekeeping drummers) and chris cornell's vocals. His singing on slaves and bulldozers is amazing, when the pitch goes up and up but still sounds powerful - yeah man!! well cool.

To get an idea if you'd like this maybe this will help - badmotorfinger is one of my all time favourites, definitely, here are some others - the first rage against the machine album, bloodsugarsexmagik (chilli peppers, when they were good!), jimi hendrix (ultimate experience got all my favourites on)... plus i like the doors and david bowie... so for me this is at the heavy end, i not really a big metal head but i reckon any metal head with good taste will love this album! (and i would say it is more metal than grunge, though i guess you could call it either). definitely soundgarden at their peak.