Album Rating: 3.5

Don't get the hate over "Been Away Too Long." I thought the song was great other than Cornell's strained voice. I'm listening to the rest and it's fantastic. Comeback success.

shit if this is that good i should get it

didn't expect it to be anything more than mediocre

wow surprised this is good.

I heard one new Soundgarden song during the summer (at least I think it was them) and it was just awful.

artwork looks like something Korpiklaani would use lol

Album Rating: 4.5

"I heard one new Soundgarden song during the summer (at least I think it was them) and it was just awful."



It was probably Live to Rise. That's a hundred miles behind anything on here, except Been Away, which I don't even consider a part of this album

Album Rating: 3.5

Was very suprised with this album. As it had been touched on already; Live to Rise as well as the early preview with Been Away Too Long were not the best at conveying what this album would sound like--at all.



I honestly expected it to sound more like Audioslave (a band I never liked) combined with Cornell's solo works, with just enough of a contribution from the other memebers to give it a "sort of" Soundgarden sound. The outcome is actually the reverse of that. You hear flashes of the the things Cornell had been doing since DoTU (which is still superior to this), but fortunately they do not dominate or mutate the overall Soundgarden sound. Not their best at all, but probably fourth best, fifth at worst.



Cornell's voice is also suprisingly great. I never expected him to hit any of the high notes from the 90's, but when he's using his laid back mid-range, it sounds as good as anything from Superunknown.

Album Rating: 3.5

No one should go into this expecting an album as a whole that is as inventive as what is heard on Badmotorfinger, Superunknown or Down on the Upside. There is still plenty to be excited about however, and quite often you will be thinking a particular song, or measure of a song would have fit nicely on any of the previous records. If anything, this album plays it too safe, but it's still a great listen. I was not expecting it to sound as good as it does. Even the first track is not completely awful, it just sounds more like a B side single or bonus track due to how out of place it is.



The songs that remind me of what was heard in the 90's the most would be By Crooked Steps (despite the vocal straining parts), Blood on the Valley Floor, Bones Of Birds (easily one of the best on the album), Taree and Eyelids Mouth. Black Saturday sits with those songs as well, but has an air about it that sets it apart. It almost sounds like it could have been a jamming session track for Badmotorfinger or even Temple of the Dog with Jerry Cantrell.

Album Rating: 4.5

"No one should go into this expecting an album as a whole that is as inventive as what is heard on Badmotorfinger, Superunknown or Down on the Upside. "



Most of the tracks on here are easily more inventive than anything on DOTU, and there are (in my opinion) only two less than impressive tracks on here, whereas DOTU was fucking littered with filler. In my opinion, it's their third best album behind Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. Forget about Cornell's vocals, he makes it work (and then some). It's as if they never went away

Album Rating: 4.5

Had to change my score to a 4.5. It gets insanely better after each listen.

Album Rating: 5.0

Comparing this album to past SG albums is pointless. The fact is this shit is better than whatever is out there for the past decade let alone not sounding like a comeback after 16 years.

Album Rating: 3.8

The whole record salys, but the last two tracks are just amazing.

Album Rating: 3.5

I honestly can't tell how much of these opinions are "wow it's new!" and from people who had huge expectations. Give it a month, or even a few months. There are some extremely good songs here, but the album as a whole is nowhere near as experimental as their previous works. Are the songs well written? Sure, but much of it is just safely written. At least half of the songs sound like Soundgarden, and the other half sound like amalgamations. That doesn't make them bad, it just doesn't make them Soundgarden. Unless of course you're in the camp of anything a band writes is "their" style (Metallica). You also can't really use time as a factor when many of the songs sound like they could sit right before or after DoTU.



It's also funny how some of you are suggesting to pretend as though the first track isn't even on the album. Are you doing that for every song you don't like? Because it sure seems like it. Non-State Actor? Completely Audioslave.



"Most of the tracks on here are easily more inventive than anything on DOTU"

Hardly "most". Half at best.



"and there are (in my opinion) only two less than impressive tracks on here"



I disagree completely, but this is coming from someone who can't stand Audioslave at all, and did not like the majority of Cornell's solo work.



"whereas DOTU was fucking littered with filler."



Can you name the tracks that are actually filler? The only songs I can think of are Dusty, Ty Cobb, Never Tamed, No Attention (which is actually decent) and Applebite. While I feel those are easily the weakest on the album, they at least have that very odd, and unmistakably Soundgarden sound. That's out of sixteen songs. Compare that to the five to six "filler" songs on this album out of thirteen songs.



"Forget about Cornell's vocals, he makes it work (and then some). It's as if they never went away."



You can't just "forget" his vocals, just like you can't just pretend as though the first track is not on here. The vocals are not as strong as they were when he was younger at all, but they are most certainly good, and much better than anything he's done since Euphoria Morning.



Also, was Gecimen suggesting this was better than most of what has been released over the past decade? If so, sounds like someone needs to listen to more than just the radio.

Album Rating: 4.0

it seems you're doing the Talking for me hehe, seriously you could totally be my alt lol



I would never call Applebite filler though, Never Named and No Attention are bit fillerish compared to the rest of the album(which is fuckin awesome), but there are 16 tracks on that record so you can easily discard a few without damaging the flow and actually improving it

Album Rating: 3.5

I don't dislike Applebite at all, it's just strangely one of the songs that gets tossed around by quite a few people as generally being "bad" for a Soundgarden song. I can actually understand why someone would say that too, but to me it's more of a moody, atmospheric noise track than an actual song.



Incidentally, DoTU is also one of the only albums (aside from Louder Than Love) where most Soundgarden fans (as opposed to the casual listener of the band) have a very hard time picking out their least favorite song--because it's one of the most solid as far as consistency goes. I personally perfer Badmotorfinger out of all of their albums, but that's just me.

Album Rating: 4.5

All right Mr Paragraph, allow me to diverge into an opinion of my own. What I love about this record is the fact that it is indeed a natural progression from Down On The Upside, and is neither more or less 'safe' than that of its predecessor. In my opinion, the songwriting is equally intricate if not more so than the most layered and complex tracks of DOTU. As an example, compare Pretty Noose to A Thousand Days Before, or Never the Machine to By Crooked Steps or Blow Up The Outside World to Blood On The Valley Floor. To me, the latter of each comparison is equally if not more compelling to me, from a songwriting perspective. Each member maintains the same chemistry they had then and does things that takes their sound further. The likes of Bones of Birds and Black Saturday feel totally fresh, and the layering in the former is more effective than anything I can hear on DOTU.



"It's also funny how some of you are suggesting to pretend as though the first track isn't even on the album."



So what? To every Deftones fan, Feiticeira will always be the REAL opener of White Pony. Been Away Too Long is to King Animal what Back to School is to White Pony.



"Can you name the tracks that are actually filler?"



You bet. Coming from a hardcore Soundgarden fan (I've listened to everything from Fopp to DOTU), I thought that everything except for the aforementioned tracks, as well as Burden In My Hand, Ty Cobb and Dusty, were totally uninspired, boring and bland. There are only two tracks out of this thirteen track record that fit that description, and everything else flies far and beyond what most of DOTU consists of.



"You can't just "forget" his vocals,"



What I mean is, I've gotten used to the fact that they're not as powerful as they used to, and the fact that he makes more use of his mid-range which is just as good as it ever was. I can get past that. The fact that he kind belt stuff out like he did in the old days doesn't detract from the strength of the songwriting, instrumentation or the album as a whole. It's like the Thrice album Major/Minor - the production was much dirtier and raw sounding, but fans got used to it and loved it for the songwriting. As such, it was far and beyond their last album, just as King Animal has soared over Down on the Upside.

Album Rating: 3.5

I have to wonder what your actual definition of "intricate" is. Because that airiness that is in a lot of Soundgarden songs could be considered an instrument of it's own. Mood and emotion are vitally important, especially for this band. Just like, you know; you don't have to play a song filled with lots of triplets for it to be considered heavy.



Much of what is on King Animal is pure radio rock, written specifically to be accepted by the mainstream and as an introduction to the band for people who either have not really listened to them much, or simply didn't even know they existed. Even Superunknown, in it's most apparent raidio friendly songs managed to sound at least inspired. Many of the "good" parts from the songs on this that I consider filler are actually just recycled riffs from past glories. Look at your least favorite song on the album--it's just a retooled "My Wave". As far as not pretending it exists; you can't when it comes to giving a review. You can ignore it when listening to it, but you can't give an objective criticism by omitting something you don't like. Look at Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast. It's arguably the most popular and said to be their "Number one" album--but it has so many filler songs that it can't be. Despite many of the landmark songs that appear on it.



I already stated which songs I felt actually sounded the most like Soundgarden, and we at least agree with Bones of Birds and Black Saturday. I also stated my opinion about the vocals--better than expected.

Album Rating: 4.5

I really don't understand the skepticism. There are plenty of killer songs here that can fit on any of their past records. Taree, Bones of Birds, ATDB, BOTVF, Eyelid's Mouth, Black Saturday are all pure Soundgarden to me.



And I personally expected them to introduce some new stuff. They didn't want to create a carbon copy of their past material, and that's perfectly understandable. And the few relatively different songs they have here are just as awesome as the ones mentioned above.



Regarding Chris's voice, he sounds a lot better today than he sounded 4-5 years ago. I saw them yesterday in Dortmund and he was awesome. A lot better than last year when I saw them in Italy. With a little more practice, he can get very close to how he was in the 90s. Give the guy a break, he was singng Beyond the Wheel almost every night during the SU and BMF tours. What did you expect?

Album Rating: 4.5

It really depends what angle you're coming from, I think if you really dug what most of DOTU was all about, you're probably not going to be into this too much. I respect what Talking thinks about the record, it might grow, might not. It doesn't really matter, everybody's going to hear something different anyway. I'm totally satisfied with this record anyway, but I have no idea where the hell they could go from here.

"Soundgarden sounding like nowadays bands: linear sound, no hooks, no catchy riffs"

You obviously haven't listened to the record at all. This is incredibly consistent and just as weird and interesting as their other records. With that said, it looks to have some incredible tracks that stand among their best (Bones of Birds, A Thousand Days Before)

Ok I gave it a second, third and fourth listening and after all...yes, Bones of Birds might be taken as one of the outstanding tracks. i'd include Halfway There too even it sounds poppy. "A good album anyways" as said in my first comment.

Album Rating: 3.5

"Give the guy a break, he was singng Beyond the Wheel almost every night during the SU and BMF tours. What did you expect?"



It's a good thing that he wasn't singing Birth Ritual every night then huh? ;)



Also, unless it was just done a few times post reunion (and took too much out of him), Chris can still come very close to hitting the highs he used to. This is live too, which is typically much harder to do than in the studio depending on how long you've been singing already that night among other conditions.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crILNt7-kj8