Superunknown
Encyclopedia
Superunknown is the fourth album by American grunge
band Soundgarden
, released on March 8, 1994 through A&M Records
. Soundgarden began work on the album after touring in support of its previous album, Badmotorfinger
(1991). Superunknown captured the heaviness of the band's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.
Superunknown was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
and reached high positions on charts worldwide. Five single
s were released from the album: "The Day I Tried to Live
", "My Wave
", "Fell on Black Days", "Spoonman
" and "Black Hole Sun
", the latter two of which won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
. The album has been certified five times platinum
by the RIAA
in the United States and remains Soundgarden's most successful album. In 2003, the album was ranked number 336 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. The album was ranked number 38 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the Nineties, and number five on Guitar World
magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994.
in Seattle, Washington. The band worked with producer Michael Beinhorn
. Regarding the change in producer from previous collaborator Terry Date
to Beinhorn, guitarist Kim Thayil
said, "We just thought we'd go for a change." The album was mixed by Brendan O'Brien
.
Soundgarden began work on the album about two months after finishing its stint on the 1992 Lollapalooza
tour. The individual band members would work on material on their own and then bring in demos to which the other members of the band would contribute. Frontman Chris Cornell
said that the band members allowed each other more freedom than on past records. Thayil observed that even though the band spent as much time writing and arranging as it had on previous albums, it spent a lot more time working on recording the songs. Soundgarden took the approach of recording one song at a time. The drum and bass parts were recorded first for each song, and then Cornell and Thayil would lay down their parts over top.
Cornell said that getting to know Beinhorn contributed to the length of time Soundgarden spent working on the album. The band spent time experimenting with different drum and guitar sounds, as well as utilizing techniques such as layering, resulting in an expansive production sound. Cornell said, "Michael Beinhorn was so into sounds. He was so, almost, anal about it, that it took the piss out of us a lot of the time...By the time you get the sounds that you want to record the song, you're sick and tired of playing it." Soundgarden took a break in the middle of recording to open for Neil Young
on a ten-day tour of the United States. The band then brought in Brendan O'Brien to mix the album; O'Brien had come recommended by Pearl Jam
guitarist Stone Gossard
. Thayil called the mixing process "very painless," and bassist Ben Shepherd
said it was "the fastest part of the record."
influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop
and psychedelia
." Cornell labeled the album as more "challenging" and "versatile" than the band's previous releases. The songs on the album are more experimental and diverse than the band's previous recordings, with some songs having a Middle-Eastern or Indian flavor (for example "Half", sung by Shepherd). Some songs also show a Beatles
influence, such as "Head Down" and "Black Hole Sun
". In a 1994 interview with Guitar World
, Thayil explained, "We looked deep down inside the very core of our souls and there was a little Ringo
sitting there. Oh sure, we like telling people it's John Lennon
or George Harrison
; but when you really look deep inside of Soundgarden, there's a little Ringo wanting to get out." Drummer Matt Cameron
said that the experimentation on the album was "just a matter of refinement."
Soundgarden utilized alternative tunings and odd time signature
s on several of the album's songs. "Spoonman", "Black Hole Sun" and "Let Me Drown" were performed in drop D tuning
while "Mailman" and "Limo Wreck" employed CGDGBE tuning. Some songs used more unorthodox tunings: "My Wave" and "The Day I Tried to Live" are both in a E-E-B-B-B-B tuning. "Head Down" used CGCGGC tuning and "Like Suicide" is performed in CBGDGD tuning. Soundgarden's use of odd time signatures was varied as well; "My Wave" uses 5/4, "Fell On Black Days" is in 6/4, "Limo Wreck" is played in 15/8, "The Day I Tried To Live" and "Spoonman" both alternate between 7/4 and 4/4 sections, and "Black Hole Sun" is in 4/4 and 9/8. Thayil has said that Soundgarden usually did not consider the time signature of a song until after the band had written it, and said that the use of odd meters was "a total accident."
Lyrically, the album is quite dark and mysterious, as much of it is often interpreted to be dealing with issues such as substance abuse
, suicide
, and depression
. Cornell was inspired by the writings of Sylvia Plath
at the time. Commenting on the album's lyrics, Thayil said that "a lot of Superunknown seems to me to be about life, not death. Maybe not affirming it, but rejoicing—like the Druid
s [put it]: 'Life is good, but death's gonna be even better!" Cameron said that the lyrics on the album are "a big fuck-you to the world, a plea to 'leave us alone.'" Cornell stated that "Let Me Drown" is about "crawling back to the womb to die," "Fell on Black Days" is about realizing "you're unhappy in the extreme," "Black Hole Sun" is about a "surreal dreamscape," "Limo Wreck" is a "'shame-on-decadence' song," "The Day I Tried to Live" is about "trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive," and "4th of July" is about using LSD. Cornell talked about "Mailman" at a concert saying, "This next one is about killing your boss. It's about coming to work early one morning cause you have a special agenda and you're going to shoot him in the fucking head." Conversely, "Like Suicide" was literal, written by Cornell after a bird flew into a window of his house. He found the severely injured animal and killed it, hitting it with a brick to end its suffering.
The song "Spoonman" is notable for featuring a performance by Artis the Spoonman
, a street entertainer
in Seattle. The title of the song is credited to bassist Jeff Ament
of Pearl Jam
. While on the set of the movie Singles, Ament produced a list of song titles for the fictional band featured in the movie. Cornell took it as a challenge to write songs for the film using those titles, and "Spoonman" was one of them. An acoustic
demo version of the song appears in the movie. Cornell said that the song is about "the paradox of who [Artis] is and what people perceive him as."
album chart. The album granted Soundgarden international recognition. Superunknown has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA
in the United States, three times platinum in Canada, and gold in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Superunknown spawned the EP Songs from the Superunknown
and the CD-ROM
Alive in the Superunknown, both released in 1995.
As well as being a commercial success, Superunknown was also a critical success. Allmusic staff writer Steve Huey gave the album five out of five stars, saying, "It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition." Q
gave the album five out of five stars. The review said, "Soundgarden dealt in unreconstructed heavy rock: a heavy guitar sound, depth-charge drumming....Yet Superunknown also includes more measured moments, such as the shimmering hit single 'Black Hole Sun
'." Rolling Stone
staff writer J.D. Considine gave Superunknown four out of five stars, saying Superunknown "demonstrates far greater range than many bands manage in an entire career." He also stated, "At its best, Superunknown offers a more harrowing depiction of alienation and despair than anything on In Utero." Considine criticized "Black Hole Sun" and "Half", stating that the former is "not a very good song" while the latter "is the virtual definition of a B-side." Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
said that "Superunknown actually tries to broaden its audience by breaking heavy-metal genre barriers that Soundgarden used to accept." He added that "Soundgarden...want[s] something different from standard heavy metal."
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly
gave the album an A. He said, "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown, and they deliver the goods." He praised it as a "hard-rock milestone-a boiling vat of volcanic power, record-making smarts, and '90s anomie and anxiety that sets a new standard for anything called metal." Critic Robert Christgau
gave the album an A-, saying that, although he had "mocked" Soundgarden's "conceptual pretentions for years," the album "is easily the best—most galvanizing, kinetic, sensational, catchy—Zep
rip in history." Ann Powers of Blender
said that on the album "guitarist Thayil helps create the stoner-rock
template," and that it "stands as Soundgarden’s masterpiece."
Superunknown included the hit singles "Spoonman
", "The Day I Tried to Live
", "Black Hole Sun", "My Wave
", and "Fell on Black Days", all of which had accompanying music video
s. All five singles placed on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts. "Black Hole Sun" was the most successful song from Superunknown on the rock charts, spending a total of seven weeks at number one on the Mainstream Rock charts and reaching number two on the Modern Rock charts. "Black Hole Sun" was released in the summer of 1994 and became arguably the band's most recognizable and popular song. Its surreal music video received heavy airplay on music television. The video received the award for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards
and in 1995 it received the Clio Award
for Alternative Music Video. At the 1995 Grammy Awards
, Soundgarden won two awards; "Black Hole Sun" received the award for Best Hard Rock Performance
and "Spoonman" received the award for Best Metal Performance
. "Black Hole Sun" also received a nomination for Best Rock Song
.
At the 1995 Grammy Awards, Superunknown received a nomination for Best Rock Album
. In 2003, the album was ranked number 336 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. In November 2011, it was ranked number five on Guitar World
magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994.
(blue, orange, and clear), as a double-LP
in a gatefold
sleeve.
and Japan
, areas where the record came out early. The band had never toured these regions before. This round of touring ended in February 1994, and then in March 1994 the band moved on to Europe
. The band began a theater tour in the United States
on May 27, 1994. The opening acts were Tad
and Eleven
. In late 1994, after touring in support of Superunknown, doctors discovered that Cornell had severely strained his vocal cords
. Soundgarden cancelled several shows to avoid causing any permanent damage. Cornell said, "I think we kinda overdid it! We were playing five or six nights a week and my voice pretty much took a beating. Towards the end of the American tour I felt like I could still kinda sing, but I wasn't really giving the band a fair shake. You don't buy a ticket to see some guy croak for two hours! That seemed like kind of a rip off." The band would make up the dates later in 1995.
, except where noted.
LP and European edition CD bonus track
s from the Superunknown recording sessions that weren't included on the album, "Exit Stonehenge", "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard", and "Motorcycle Loop". "Exit Stonehenge" was a B-side on the "Spoonman" single and "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" and "Motorcycle Loop" were featured on various versions of the "Fell on Black Days" single. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" was later featured on the 1996 Home Alive
compilation. "Tighter & Tighter", "No Attention", and "An Unkind", all of which later appeared on the band's 1996 album, Down on the Upside
, were attempted during the Superunknown recording sessions. Cameron said that the band wasn't pleased with the recording of "No Attention" that came out of the sessions. The song "Flutter Girl" was written during the recording sessions but did not appear on the record. Instead, it eventually appeared as a much different version on Cornell's 1999 solo album, Euphoria Morning
.
Additional musicians and production
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, released on March 8, 1994 through A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
. Soundgarden began work on the album after touring in support of its previous album, Badmotorfinger
Badmotorfinger
Badmotorfinger is the third studio album by the American grunge band Soundgarden, released on October 8, 1991 through A&M Records. After touring in support of its previous album, Louder Than Love , Soundgarden began the recording sessions for its next album with new bassist Ben Shepherd...
(1991). Superunknown captured the heaviness of the band's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.
Superunknown was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and reached high positions on charts worldwide. Five single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s were released from the album: "The Day I Tried to Live
The Day I Tried to Live
"The Day I Tried to Live" is a song by the American grunge band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "The Day I Tried to Live" was released in 1994 as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown . The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock...
", "My Wave
My Wave
"My Wave" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Featuring lyrics written by frontman Chris Cornell and music co-written by Cornell and guitarist Kim Thayil, "My Wave" was released in 1994 as the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown...
", "Fell on Black Days", "Spoonman
Spoonman
"Spoonman" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Spoonman" was released on February 15, 1994 as the first single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown . "Spoonman" is often credited as one of the songs that launched Soundgarden's career...
" and "Black Hole Sun
Black Hole Sun
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris finneran, "Black Hole Sun" was released in 1994 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album Superunknown . It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song, and remains a well...
", the latter two of which won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre...
. The album has been certified five times platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
in the United States and remains Soundgarden's most successful album. In 2003, the album was ranked number 336 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. The album was ranked number 38 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the Nineties, and number five on Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994.
Recording
The album's recording sessions took place from July 1993 to September 1993 at Bad Animals StudioBad Animals Studio
Bad Animals Studio is a music and media recording studio on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle. It was originally founded as Steve Lawson Productions by founders Steve and Debbie Lawson in 1979. In 1991, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson joined forces with Lawson to create Studio X. In 1992, the studio...
in Seattle, Washington. The band worked with producer Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
. Regarding the change in producer from previous collaborator Terry Date
Terry Date
Terry Date is an American record producer and engineer, specializing in the rock and metal genres...
to Beinhorn, guitarist Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he cofounded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984...
said, "We just thought we'd go for a change." The album was mixed by Brendan O'Brien
Brendan O'Brien (music producer)
Brendan O’Brien is a record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician.At age 14, O'Brien played guitar for the Atlanta-based cover band Pranks. In the late 1970s, he moved on to writing, performing and recording with the Samurai Catfish band...
.
Soundgarden began work on the album about two months after finishing its stint on the 1992 Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
tour. The individual band members would work on material on their own and then bring in demos to which the other members of the band would contribute. Frontman Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
said that the band members allowed each other more freedom than on past records. Thayil observed that even though the band spent as much time writing and arranging as it had on previous albums, it spent a lot more time working on recording the songs. Soundgarden took the approach of recording one song at a time. The drum and bass parts were recorded first for each song, and then Cornell and Thayil would lay down their parts over top.
Cornell said that getting to know Beinhorn contributed to the length of time Soundgarden spent working on the album. The band spent time experimenting with different drum and guitar sounds, as well as utilizing techniques such as layering, resulting in an expansive production sound. Cornell said, "Michael Beinhorn was so into sounds. He was so, almost, anal about it, that it took the piss out of us a lot of the time...By the time you get the sounds that you want to record the song, you're sick and tired of playing it." Soundgarden took a break in the middle of recording to open for Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
on a ten-day tour of the United States. The band then brought in Brendan O'Brien to mix the album; O'Brien had come recommended by Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
guitarist Stone Gossard
Stone Gossard
Stone Carpenter Gossard is an American musician who serves as the rhythm and lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
. Thayil called the mixing process "very painless," and bassist Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd is an American musician, two-time Grammy Award Winner best known for playing bass in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up...
said it was "the fastest part of the record."
Music and lyrics
The songs on Superunknown captured the creativity and heaviness of the band's earlier works, while showcasing the group's newly evolving style. Steve Huey of Allmusic said that the band's "earlier punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and psychedelia
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
." Cornell labeled the album as more "challenging" and "versatile" than the band's previous releases. The songs on the album are more experimental and diverse than the band's previous recordings, with some songs having a Middle-Eastern or Indian flavor (for example "Half", sung by Shepherd). Some songs also show a Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
influence, such as "Head Down" and "Black Hole Sun
Black Hole Sun
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris finneran, "Black Hole Sun" was released in 1994 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album Superunknown . It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song, and remains a well...
". In a 1994 interview with Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
, Thayil explained, "We looked deep down inside the very core of our souls and there was a little Ringo
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
sitting there. Oh sure, we like telling people it's John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
or George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
; but when you really look deep inside of Soundgarden, there's a little Ringo wanting to get out." Drummer Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
Matthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
said that the experimentation on the album was "just a matter of refinement."
Soundgarden utilized alternative tunings and odd time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
s on several of the album's songs. "Spoonman", "Black Hole Sun" and "Let Me Drown" were performed in drop D tuning
Drop D tuning
Drop D tuning, also known as DADGBE, is an alternate, or scordatura, form of guitar tuning — specifically, a dropped tuning — in which the lowest string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D.- Uses of drop D tuning :In drop D the three bass strings...
while "Mailman" and "Limo Wreck" employed CGDGBE tuning. Some songs used more unorthodox tunings: "My Wave" and "The Day I Tried to Live" are both in a E-E-B-B-B-B tuning. "Head Down" used CGCGGC tuning and "Like Suicide" is performed in CBGDGD tuning. Soundgarden's use of odd time signatures was varied as well; "My Wave" uses 5/4, "Fell On Black Days" is in 6/4, "Limo Wreck" is played in 15/8, "The Day I Tried To Live" and "Spoonman" both alternate between 7/4 and 4/4 sections, and "Black Hole Sun" is in 4/4 and 9/8. Thayil has said that Soundgarden usually did not consider the time signature of a song until after the band had written it, and said that the use of odd meters was "a total accident."
Lyrically, the album is quite dark and mysterious, as much of it is often interpreted to be dealing with issues such as substance abuse
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
, suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, and depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
. Cornell was inspired by the writings of Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
at the time. Commenting on the album's lyrics, Thayil said that "a lot of Superunknown seems to me to be about life, not death. Maybe not affirming it, but rejoicing—like the Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
s [put it]: 'Life is good, but death's gonna be even better!" Cameron said that the lyrics on the album are "a big fuck-you to the world, a plea to 'leave us alone.'" Cornell stated that "Let Me Drown" is about "crawling back to the womb to die," "Fell on Black Days" is about realizing "you're unhappy in the extreme," "Black Hole Sun" is about a "surreal dreamscape," "Limo Wreck" is a "'shame-on-decadence' song," "The Day I Tried to Live" is about "trying to step out of being patterned and closed off and reclusive," and "4th of July" is about using LSD. Cornell talked about "Mailman" at a concert saying, "This next one is about killing your boss. It's about coming to work early one morning cause you have a special agenda and you're going to shoot him in the fucking head." Conversely, "Like Suicide" was literal, written by Cornell after a bird flew into a window of his house. He found the severely injured animal and killed it, hitting it with a brick to end its suffering.
The song "Spoonman" is notable for featuring a performance by Artis the Spoonman
Artis the Spoonman
Artis the Spoonman is an American street performer from Seattle, Washington, who uses spoons as a musical instrument....
, a street entertainer
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
in Seattle. The title of the song is credited to bassist Jeff Ament
Jeff Ament
Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
. While on the set of the movie Singles, Ament produced a list of song titles for the fictional band featured in the movie. Cornell took it as a challenge to write songs for the film using those titles, and "Spoonman" was one of them. An acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
demo version of the song appears in the movie. Cornell said that the song is about "the paradox of who [Artis] is and what people perceive him as."
Release and reception
Superunknown was the band's breakout album. Upon its release in March 1994, Superunknown debuted at number one on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart. The album granted Soundgarden international recognition. Superunknown has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
in the United States, three times platinum in Canada, and gold in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Superunknown spawned the EP Songs from the Superunknown
Songs from the Superunknown
Songs from the Superunknown is an EP by the American rock band Soundgarden. It was released on November 21, 1995 through A&M Records. It was released on the same day as the CD-ROM Alive in the Superunknown.-Overview:...
and the CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
Alive in the Superunknown, both released in 1995.
As well as being a commercial success, Superunknown was also a critical success. Allmusic staff writer Steve Huey gave the album five out of five stars, saying, "It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition." Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
gave the album five out of five stars. The review said, "Soundgarden dealt in unreconstructed heavy rock: a heavy guitar sound, depth-charge drumming....Yet Superunknown also includes more measured moments, such as the shimmering hit single 'Black Hole Sun
Black Hole Sun
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris finneran, "Black Hole Sun" was released in 1994 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album Superunknown . It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song, and remains a well...
'." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
staff writer J.D. Considine gave Superunknown four out of five stars, saying Superunknown "demonstrates far greater range than many bands manage in an entire career." He also stated, "At its best, Superunknown offers a more harrowing depiction of alienation and despair than anything on In Utero." Considine criticized "Black Hole Sun" and "Half", stating that the former is "not a very good song" while the latter "is the virtual definition of a B-side." Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said that "Superunknown actually tries to broaden its audience by breaking heavy-metal genre barriers that Soundgarden used to accept." He added that "Soundgarden...want[s] something different from standard heavy metal."
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the album an A. He said, "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown, and they deliver the goods." He praised it as a "hard-rock milestone-a boiling vat of volcanic power, record-making smarts, and '90s anomie and anxiety that sets a new standard for anything called metal." Critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave the album an A-, saying that, although he had "mocked" Soundgarden's "conceptual pretentions for years," the album "is easily the best—most galvanizing, kinetic, sensational, catchy—Zep
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
rip in history." Ann Powers of Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
said that on the album "guitarist Thayil helps create the stoner-rock
Stoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...
template," and that it "stands as Soundgarden’s masterpiece."
Superunknown included the hit singles "Spoonman
Spoonman
"Spoonman" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Spoonman" was released on February 15, 1994 as the first single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown . "Spoonman" is often credited as one of the songs that launched Soundgarden's career...
", "The Day I Tried to Live
The Day I Tried to Live
"The Day I Tried to Live" is a song by the American grunge band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "The Day I Tried to Live" was released in 1994 as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown . The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock...
", "Black Hole Sun", "My Wave
My Wave
"My Wave" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Featuring lyrics written by frontman Chris Cornell and music co-written by Cornell and guitarist Kim Thayil, "My Wave" was released in 1994 as the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown...
", and "Fell on Black Days", all of which had accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. All five singles placed on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts. "Black Hole Sun" was the most successful song from Superunknown on the rock charts, spending a total of seven weeks at number one on the Mainstream Rock charts and reaching number two on the Modern Rock charts. "Black Hole Sun" was released in the summer of 1994 and became arguably the band's most recognizable and popular song. Its surreal music video received heavy airplay on music television. The video received the award for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video was first given out in , and it was one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. That year, though, the award was called the Best Heavy Metal Video. From 1990 to 1995, the award was called the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video, and...
at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
and in 1995 it received the Clio Award
Clio Awards
The Clio Awards are annual awards bestowed to reward innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication. The categories include work in nearly all types of media, and the judges are advertising professionals from around the world....
for Alternative Music Video. At the 1995 Grammy Awards
Grammy Awards of 1995
The 37th Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1995. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year**Bill Bottrell & Sheryl Crow for "All I Wanna Do"*Album of the Year...
, Soundgarden won two awards; "Black Hole Sun" received the award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
and "Spoonman" received the award for Best Metal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre...
. "Black Hole Sun" also received a nomination for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
.
At the 1995 Grammy Awards, Superunknown received a nomination for Best Rock Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre...
. In 2003, the album was ranked number 336 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. In November 2011, it was ranked number five on Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994.
Packaging
The album's cover art (known as the 'Screaming Elf') is a distorted photograph of the band members, photographed by Kevin Westenberg, above a black and white upside-down burning forest. Concerning the artwork, Cornell said, "Superunknown relates to birth in a way...Being born or even dying—getting flushed into something that you know nothing about. The hardest thing is to nail down a visual image to put on a title like that. The first thing we thought of was a forest in grey or black. Soundgarden has always been associated with images of flowers and lush colors and this was the opposite. It still seemed organic but it was very dark and cold...I was into those stories as a kid where forests were full of evil and scary things as opposed to being happy gardens that you go camping in." In a 1994 Pulse! magazine interview, Cornell said that the inspiration for the album's title came from his misreading of a video entitled Superclown. He added, "I thought it was a cool title. I'd never heard it before, never saw it before, and it inspired me." The album also saw a limited release on 12" colored vinylGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
(blue, orange, and clear), as a double-LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in a gatefold
Gatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
sleeve.
Tour
The band began touring in January 1994 in OceaniaOceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, areas where the record came out early. The band had never toured these regions before. This round of touring ended in February 1994, and then in March 1994 the band moved on to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The band began a theater tour in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on May 27, 1994. The opening acts were Tad
Tad (band)
Tad was an American grunge band from Seattle, Washington led by Tad Doyle. Among the first of the many bands which came out of Seattle in the grunge era, Tad was notable for the fact that its music had a noticeable 1970s metal influence, rather than the punk which influenced most other grunge bands...
and Eleven
Eleven (band)
Eleven was a hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1990 by Alain Johannes , Natasha Shneider , and Jack Irons .-History:...
. In late 1994, after touring in support of Superunknown, doctors discovered that Cornell had severely strained his vocal cords
Vocal folds
The vocal folds, also known commonly as vocal cords, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the larynx...
. Soundgarden cancelled several shows to avoid causing any permanent damage. Cornell said, "I think we kinda overdid it! We were playing five or six nights a week and my voice pretty much took a beating. Towards the end of the American tour I felt like I could still kinda sing, but I wasn't really giving the band a fair shake. You don't buy a ticket to see some guy croak for two hours! That seemed like kind of a rip off." The band would make up the dates later in 1995.
Track listing
All lyrics and music by Chris CornellChris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
, except where noted.
LP and European edition CD bonus track
Outtakes
The album's singles featured three B-sideA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
s from the Superunknown recording sessions that weren't included on the album, "Exit Stonehenge", "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard", and "Motorcycle Loop". "Exit Stonehenge" was a B-side on the "Spoonman" single and "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" and "Motorcycle Loop" were featured on various versions of the "Fell on Black Days" single. "Kyle Petty, Son of Richard" was later featured on the 1996 Home Alive
Home Alive
Home Alive was a non-profit organization based in Seattle which promotes anti-violence. The organization offered self-defense classes and public education and awareness in order to reduce and prevent violence. The Home Alive group trained its own instructors. They held a range of courses including...
compilation. "Tighter & Tighter", "No Attention", and "An Unkind", all of which later appeared on the band's 1996 album, Down on the Upside
Down on the Upside
Down on the Upside is the fifth studio album by the American grunge band Soundgarden, released on May 21, 1996 through A&M Records. Following a worldwide tour in support of its previous album, Superunknown , Soundgarden commenced work on a new album...
, were attempted during the Superunknown recording sessions. Cameron said that the band wasn't pleased with the recording of "No Attention" that came out of the sessions. The song "Flutter Girl" was written during the recording sessions but did not appear on the record. Instead, it eventually appeared as a much different version on Cornell's 1999 solo album, Euphoria Morning
Euphoria Morning
Euphoria Morning is the first solo studio album released by American musician Chris Cornell. It was released on September 21, 1999 through Interscope Records. Euphoria Morning sold over 75,000 copies in its first week of release and eventually sold 343,000 copies in the U.S. alone...
.
Personnel
Soundgarden- Matt CameronMatt CameronMatthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, mellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
on "Mailman", "Spoons" [pots and pans] on "Spoonman" - Chris CornellChris CornellChris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Ben ShepherdBen ShepherdBen Shepherd is an American musician, two-time Grammy Award Winner best known for playing bass in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums and percussion on "Head Down", backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
on "Spoonman", lead vocals and guitar on "Half" - Kim ThayilKim ThayilKim Thayil is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he cofounded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
Additional musicians and production
- April Acevez – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
on "Half" - Artis the Spoonman - Spoons on "Spoonman"
- Michael BeinhornMichael BeinhornMichael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on "Let Me Drown", productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - David Collins – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Jason Corsaro – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Justine Foy – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "Half" - Adam KasperAdam KasperAdam Kasper is a Seattle area record producer and engineer, working with such bands as Cat Power, Pond, Seaweed, The Tragically Hip, Truly, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, R.E.M., Soundgarden and Pearl Jam...
– assistant engineering - Kelk – front cover design
- Gregg KeplingerGregg KeplingerGregg Keplinger is an American drummer, drum maker, and drum tech from Seattle, Washington.-As a drummer:Keplinger began playing the drums at the age of 14, and has played in a large variety of bands ranging across many different styles, from Jazz to New Wave to R&B.-Drum Making:Keplinger began...
– drums and percussion on "Head Down", studio assistance - Tony Messina – studio assistance
- Brendan O'BrienBrendan O'Brien (music producer)Brendan O’Brien is a record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician.At age 14, O'Brien played guitar for the Atlanta-based cover band Pranks. In the late 1970s, he moved on to writing, performing and recording with the Samurai Catfish band...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Reyzart – layoutPage layoutPage layout is the part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement and style treatment of elements on a page.- History and development :...
- Natasha ShneiderNatasha ShneiderNatasha Shneider was a Russian musician. She was most notably the keyboardist and vocalist in the musical group Eleven, and was the partner of bandmate Alain Johannes...
– clavinetClavinetA Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
on "Fresh Tendrils" - Soundgarden – production
- Kevin Westenberg – band photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Album
| Chart (1994) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
1 |
| Canadian Albums Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
2 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
3 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
4 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
5 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
9 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
11 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
13 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 19 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
30 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Main |
US Mod |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
CAN Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
FRE Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
IRE Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
NLD MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | "Spoonman" | 3 | 9 | 23 | 12 | — | — | 23 | 37 | 10 | 37 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||
| "The Day I Tried to Live" | 13 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 42 | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Black Hole Sun" | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 7 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| "My Wave" | 11 | 18 | 50 | 66 | — | — | — | — | 46 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Fell on Black Days" | 4 | 13 | — | 66 | — | — | 14 | 45 | — | — | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes singles that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to Superunknown is adapted in part from AcclaimedMusic.net.| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Press Alternative Press (music magazine) Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president.... |
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
"The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90s" | 1998 | 18 |
| Pause & Play | United States | "The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums" | 1999 | 11 |
| Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J... |
United States | "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" | 2003 | 336 |
| Spin Spin (magazine) Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard... |
United States | "Top 90 Albums of the 90s" | 1999 | 70 |
| Kerrang! Kerrang! Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
"100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" | 1998 | 70 |
| Muziekkrant OOR Muziekkrant OOR Muziekkrant OOR is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. The name "OOR" is the Dutch word for ear.-History:The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Barend Toet . Of the first issue 20,000 copies were printed and paid for by Berry Visser, one of... |
Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
"The 100 Best Albums of 1991-1995" | 1995 | 49 |