Total Fucking Godhead / The Soundgarden Thread

[Revelator]

Cornell's wail at the beginning of the Brian May version is bone chilling.

[VinylGuy]

Its a pretty good version.

Are the drums the only problem with BMF? Im not sure i dislike how it sounds. Its actually something i like about that album specially because its meant to be that way, SG did a enormous work of self discovery between BMF and SU and for me, its ok to have that big change between those albums.

[tragabigzanda]

[zeb]

The bass drum sound is appalling. The snare has no character. There is basically no separation between the separate elements of the kit. The hihat and snare are the only parts that have anything even resembling sufficient cut through. Cymbals have no sustain. The whole kit is dull.

Contrast this with other material from the same period like the New Damage cut I posted upthread or the material from SOMMS or b-sides like Show Me or Touch Me. The difference in how Matt's kit sounds is remarkable: bright cymbals, snare beats that crack, articulate toms and bass drum. And this is across a number of different producers, including Date!

Certainly the biggest black mark against the drum sound (if not the entirety of BMF) is how the drums sounds on their three subsequent albums. Warmth, separation and dynamics, a brightness that just isn't apparent on their 1991 effort. It's all there in spades and makes me wish that Matt's performance on BMF - which is wonderful - was better framed.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

The difference between the very poor production values of BMF and what came after is pretty massive, IMO. It's hard not to be frustrated by it.

[tragabigzanda]

[Strat]

Superunknown utilized a snare technique -- one that is a hallmark of a BOB production -- that I haven't really heard on many records prior to the 90s. It's a gated room mic, with the sidechain triggered off the snare mic. In lamens terms, this means that every time the drummer hits the snare hard enough, a room mic pops in to give a big sense of space to the snare, then the room mic drops again to let the rest of the kit remain front-and-center. It's now very common, but you won't hear it on many records pre-1992 or so.

This shit blows my mind because its so beyond me. I would be a terrible studio musician.

[yellowredbutter]

I'm new here at RM but a fan of Soundgarden since Louder Than Love album. I spent several hours the past week reading the past thread and learned that Matt Reeder shared his Soundgarden Z-Sides: Bootlegs Mix 1985-2014. I wonder if anybody can give a me link or point me where to find it. BTW for me Matt Cameron is one of the best Drummer in the world. He has a really distinct sound. You know it him without knowing the song. Thanks

[Birds in Hell]

This could go in a number of threads but the Soundgarden footage is pretty substantial so here seems as good a place as any.

One hour audience shot video of the 1994 Auckland Big Day Out featuring Urge Overkill, some bands I have no idea who they are, Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden:

[LetMeSleep]

It's rough but it takes me back. Man, that was a day.

[Birds in Hell]

Those early BDO line-ups were incredible, I'm envious.

[LetMeSleep]

Those early BDO line-ups were incredible, I'm envious.

Some special days for sure.
I got home after that BDO to discover my parents had bought a golden retriever puppy. I was so wasted and had the best little cuddle.

[Kevin Davis]

That same thing happened to me once, only the next morning I woke up on a bus stop bench to some old dude shaking his fist at me and demanding hus toupee back.

[matt reeder]

So I'm kind of thinking about expanding my Z-Sides set to have a disc for every album. The first disc would stay more or less the same (given that there are not many recordings from that time period, and the disc is almost perfect); the reunion-era disc would also stay pretty much the same because I really can't top it. The rest would be one disc for every album cycle, from Louder Than Love through Down on the Upside. I don't feel like all of the albums are fully, truly represented in the set.

So for example, here's a tracklist I quickly threw together for the DOTU era:

1. Waiting For the Sun [Irvine, 8/03/1996]
2. Pretty Noose [Irvine, 8/03/1996]
3. Head Down [Glasgow, 9/16/1996]
4. Ty Cobb [Glasgow, 9/16/1996]
5. Never Named Helter Skelter [Glasgow, 9/16/1996]
6. Boot Camp [Glasgow, 9/16/1996]
7. Rhinosaur [Glasgow, 9/16/1996]
8. Switch Opens [Rotterdam, 10/11/1996]
9. Never the Machine Forever [Denver, 11/07/1996]
10. No Attention [Chicago, 11/09/1996]
11. Blow Up the Outside World [Oakland, 12/05/1996]
12. Burden in My Hand [MTV Europe fall 1996]
13. Spoonman [MTV Europe fall 1996]
14. Mailman [MTV Europe fall 1996]
15. Black Hole Sun [MTV Europe fall 1996]
16. Slaves and Bulldozers [Perth, 2/02/1997]
17. Dark Globe [Perth, 2/02/1997]

The final tracklist would of course change greatly but I assume this is something that would interest people?

[bada]

um...yes we would be interested.

Spoiler: show

[tragabigzanda]

[evenslow]

Superunknown utilized a snare technique -- one that is a hallmark of a BOB production -- that I haven't really heard on many records prior to the 90s. It's a gated room mic, with the sidechain triggered off the snare mic. In lamens terms, this means that every time the drummer hits the snare hard enough, a room mic pops in to give a big sense of space to the snare, then the room mic drops again to let the rest of the kit remain front-and-center. It's now very common, but you won't hear it on many records pre-1992 or so.

This shit blows my mind because its so beyond me. I would be a terrible studio musician.

I was actually thinking of this yesterday - I love "production talk" for lack of a better term and would love to go through the PJ catalogue one by one talking about recording technique, but I'm too dumb to really get into it.

Was thinking about it in relation to No Code and how airy tracks like Present Tense and Sometimes sound while Hail Hail and Habit smash the shit out of your ear drums (technical term).

/hijack

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[evenslow]

Superunknown utilized a snare technique -- one that is a hallmark of a BOB production -- that I haven't really heard on many records prior to the 90s. It's a gated room mic, with the sidechain triggered off the snare mic. In lamens terms, this means that every time the drummer hits the snare hard enough, a room mic pops in to give a big sense of space to the snare, then the room mic drops again to let the rest of the kit remain front-and-center. It's now very common, but you won't hear it on many records pre-1992 or so.

This shit blows my mind because its so beyond me. I would be a terrible studio musician.

I was actually thinking of this yesterday - I love "production talk" for lack of a better term and would love to go through the PJ catalogue one by one talking about recording technique, but I'm too dumb to really get into it.

Was thinking about it in relation to No Code and how airy tracks like Present Tense and Sometimes sound while Hail Hail and Habit smash the shit out of your ear drums (technical term).

/hijack

I'd love a thread like this, but wouldn't want to commandeer it. I'll try to start one up once I'm back at my desktop with time to spare.

EDIT: started a thread in PJ chat - http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/viewtop ... =15&t=7429