Friday, January 14, 2011

Soundgarden To Release Live Album In March


Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron, collectively known as Soundgarden will be releasing their first collection of live tracks on March 22 via UMe. The record, Live on I5 is compiled of live tracks from 1996, the period where the band was at the peak of their career. The record has some well loved favorites as well as covers of The Beatles "Helter Skelter" and The Stooges "Search and Destroy."

The band had intended to release a live record after the tour from which these tracks were culled from. But, they split up. Now after a much celebrated reunion last year as well as a Grammy nomination, fans are getting the opportunity to relive the glory that was Soundgarden live in its 90's heyday. I suppose this is a bit of a treat for those of you whom didn't get to see them back then. Those of us who did ... flashback!

Titled Live on I5 – a reference to the Interstate 5 which runs up and down the West Coast- the new collection compiles live tracks from a 1996 run by the band and captures the band at the height of their recording and touring career. This carefully selected compilation includes fan favorites like “Spoonman”, “Rusty Cage”, “Burden In My Hand,” and “Black Hole Sun” (performed by Chris Cornell solo), as well what insiders are calling the definitive live performance of “Jesus Christ Pose.” As a bonus, the disc includes two brilliantly inspired covers: The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” and The Stooges’ anarchic proto-punk classic, “Search & Destroy.” The band took out recording engineer, Adam Kasper with them on the West Coast leg of this tour- the first time they ever recorded any live shows. They rented a mobile 24 track machine/truck and recorded the gigs on 2" tape. Soundgarden had always intended to release it as a live record soon after the tour, but alas, they disbanded and the tapes were left in the closet of Studio X in Seattle (now called Bad Animals) to gather dust until now.


Live on I5 is the follow-up to Soundgarden’s celebrated 2010 reunion, with the band re-staking their well deserved place, earning a Grammy nomination for previously unreleased track “Black Rain” for Best Hard Rock Performance, gracing the covers of music magazines SPIN and Guitar World, performing on the second night of Conan and topping critics’ lists with their fall 2010 release, Telephantasm. The multi-label, career-spanning collection, also available in collector’s editions with the band’s first-ever DVD and booklet, was a comprehensive retrospective of the enormously influential band whose music put Seattle and a young label called Sub Pop on the map. As befits a group whose sound redefined a musical generation, they also proved themselves to be innovators with their partnership with Guitar Hero, with 1 million copies of Telephantasm sold, bundled within the launch of Guitar Hero®: Warriors of Rock. The album went platinum before even hitting stores- a first time certification for the RIAA.

Track List
  • Spoonman
  • Searching With My Good Eye Closed
  • Let Me Drown
  • Head Down
  • Outshined
  • Rusty Cage
  • Burden In My Hand
  • Helter Skelter
  • Boot Camp
  • Nothing To Say
  • Slaves And Bulldozers
  • Dusty
  • Fell On Black Days
  • Search And Destroy
  • Ty Cobb
  • Black Hole Sun
  • Jesus Christ Pose