Badmotorfinger

Soundgarden | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: October 8, 1991
• Release Date: October 8, 1991
• Label: A&M
• Copyright: (C) 1991 A&M Records
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file metadata contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 57:40
• Genres:
  • Pop
• ASIN: B000VZX8J4
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,928 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 84 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The heaviest (and best) Seattle album of '91. September 4, 2003

By Shotgun Method

Format:Audio CD

Before the team of Chris Cornell (vocals), Kim Thayil (lead guitar), Ben Shepard (bass), and Matt Cameron (drums) made their biggest commercial breakthrough in the classic Superunknown, they released perhaps one of the hardest, rawest, most metallic records out of Seattle. That album is Badmotorfinger, released in 1991.

Badmotorfinger is perhaps Soundgarden at their prime--a tumultous, pummeling titan equal parts Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, with a psychedelic metal tinge. The punky tendencies of the band's earlier material are not present here, except in the two-minute long Face Pollution and Drawing Flies. Most of the songs are 4 minutes or longer, and the band shines in this epic style. Cornell shreds his voice with some of the most impressive wails this side of Robert Plant, Thayil unleashes some suprisingly technical riffs (Rusty Cage is just insane!), and the rhythm duo of Shepard and Cameron is fast, tight, and focused. Odd time signatures are employed to full effect (ex. Outshined, Jesus Christ Pose). I love how the band was experimenting with new ideas, such as horns.

There is not a spot of filler anywhere on the album, at least not to my ear. Everything is excellent, though I'd have to single out the crushing epic Slaves And Bulldozers, the fast-riffing Drawing Flies, and the rolling thunder of Room A Thousand Years Wide as faves.

This is Soundgarden unfiltered--people who love the band for Black Hole Sun probably won't immediately like this harder and less commercial Soundgarden. However, it is every bit the equal of the masterful Superunknown. As good as the other records of 1991 were--Ten, Nevermind, Blood Sugar Sex Magik--Badmotorfinger simply "outshines" them all. Highly reccommended.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavy album for the hardcore "grungers" August 10, 2002

By Sal Nudo VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

This whole album is exceptional, but you have to really like heavy, grinding rock to appreciate it the whole way through. Soundgarden's breakthrough, "Badmotorfinger," is an hour's worth of some of the heaviest music to explode out of Seattle in the early 1990s. When it began, Soundgarden was hungry, musically brash and fluent at hardcore grunge riffs, speed metal and even fast punk. Like many of its Seattle contemporaries, Soundgarden had integrity, a shield that kept the crassness of the music industry biz at bay. The band stood above hype and overwrought marketing to create tunes like "Rusty Cage," "Outshined" and "Jesus Christ Pose," well-known and vintage Seattle rock from the early '90s. "Outshined" might outshine them all, a dark, chugging song that conveys singer Chris Cornell's bleak outlook of making it big. It's a big, loud, guitar-driven rock song with screaming vocals, but also contains soft vocals at certain interludes to give the song an unexpected melodic tone.

The comparison of Led Zeppelin + Black Sabbath = Soundgarden is pretty accurate. Cornell has a Robert Plant-like voice in terms of range and depth, but it's shaded darker and comes off as more brooding. As hard as these guys were on their early albums, the riffs were complex enough to stand out from the headbanging crowd, while Cornell added his own melodic muse to the mix, making for a very interesting band. This album is filled with epic grunge/metal songs built to last. The dirge riffs of "Slaves and Bulldozers" go on for seven minutes, while Cornell sings like a man possessed -- God only knows how he hits those high notes. Like Zeppelin, these guys weren't afraid to stretch out their songs.... Future Soundgarden CDs would incorporate lighter, more melodic elements into the picture, but the monochromatic "Badmotorfinger" contains none of that. More typical here is repetative riffing, as heard on the awesome "Jesus Christ Pose," a railing tune against glittery, force-fed religion, similar in message to the much more tame "Wooden Jesus," another Cornell-penned tune heard on Temple of the Dog. Another huge tune from this CD, one sometimes heard on the radio if you're lucky, is "Searching with my Good Eye Closed," a mid-tempo rocker that blends heavy riffage and Cornell's smooth singing -- in this case distorted with a layer of sheen for a cool effect. He also screams wildly in the song.

As good as it was at drawn-out epics, Soundgarden could also be superstar punk rockers at the drop of a dime; listen to the raging "Face Pollution" and Who-like riffs on "Drawing Flies." The versatility of this band was demonstrated more noticeably on future records, but Soundgarden also does a pretty good job of varying its sound on this one, though casual listeners might disagree. Because of its musical versatility and talent, Soundgarden were a hard band to categorize. Cornell has a wide vocal range, Ben Shepherd played a throbbing base, Kim Thayil is a very diverse guitar player and Matt Cameron, now of Pearl Jam, is as good as rock drummers get. Everyone in this band played a bit of everything, and each contributed to the writing (like in Pearl Jam).

Appropriately, "Badmotorfinger" ends with two long, grungy songs that Soundgarden so thrived on during this era. Overall, it's easy to see why so many people were captivated with this band's music in the early '90s -- and why these sounds helped start a new trend in music. Hundreds of bands have tried to emulate certain elements of Soundgarden's sound in the studio, but it's hopeless because the nucleus of Chris, Kim, Ben and Matt was a one in a million shot. They were trendsetters who had ideas, a vision and integrity. Plus, they knew when to quit when the time was right, unlike so many other bands who keep playing only for money and continued fame. Read more ›

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Colossal sound and epic lyrics April 25, 2000

By "thetaildragger"

Format:Audio CD

This is Soundgarden at their peak -- it's Superunknown minus the pop sheen. Cornell's range is twisted to superhuman heights. Thayil, as usual, comes up with some awesome colors and riffs. Ben and Matt lock-in and ride a groove like a freight train.

The album definitely has a particular "sound" to it that underscores every song: It is aggressive, heavy and raw, and yet it is also refined, complex and cerebral. Cornell's lyrics are never simply sung, but rather delivered like the gospel of hard rock.

Jesus Christ Pose is perhaps the best single performance of the decade by a four-piece rock band. Searching With My Good Eye Closed sounds like a muscled up renovation of Into the Void. Johnny Cash covered Rusty Cage which is about all that needs to be said about that song.

There are several other classics on the album. If you haven't heard this album, you can't fully appreciate Soundgarden's genius.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Music doesn't come much heavier than this! July 30, 2005

By howzat

Format:Audio CD

Badmotorfinger (1991.), Soundgarden's third studio album

Soundgarden were one of the great rock acts of the 1990's, achieving widespread popularity by the middle of the decade with the release of the multiplatinum-selling album, 'Superunknown'. However, the reality is that Soundgarden had been around a great deal longer than most people realised, originally forming in the mid-1980's. They were one of the original Seattle bands who started the whole grunge rock concept which would become mainstream in the early 90's. 'Badmotorfinger', Soundgardens' third studio album, released in 1991 was the first big break for the band as it was their first release under a major label, A&M records and what a major label debut it was .....

'Badmotorfinger' to put it simply is one of the heaviest albums I own in my collection. Before I bought this album, the only Soundgarden record that I owned was 'Superunknown' and it was one of my favourite albums. To put things in context, I think that 'Badmotorfinger' is BETTER than 'Superunknown', showing really how masterful this album is. This is Soundgarden at their heaviest or even more, it is grunge at its heaviest. With this album, the band combine Led Zeppelin-like sounds with the powerful, sludgy riffs of 70's Black Sabbath to come up with something amazing. The album is dark, uncompromising and angry for the most part and is the perfect thing to listen to if you've had a tense or bad day! This is Soundgarden at their most aggressive and raw - listening to Chris Cornell's screams in some of the songs shows this clearly as does Kim Thayil's powerful riffing right the way through the album.... If your expecting the feel of 'Superunknown' with this album I would prepare to be a little disappointed as 'Badmotorfinger' is less comercial, maybe less lyrical and more melodic but is certainly far, far heavier. All in all, it is another one of the finest efforts from the alternative-rock grunge era and is one of the top albums of that exceptional music year, 1991.

This monster of an album begins with 'Rusty Cage', a great opener which is more a heavy metal showcase than anything, with powerful bass-lines and furious riffing. The following track is one hell of a song, 'Outshined' is one of the best rock songs of the 1990's. The guitar work is really atmospheric and chilling, coupled with a killer chorus. 'Slaves and Bulldozers' is the epic of the album, rolling in at 7 minutes. Chris Cornell vents his anger in this one, howling at a level that just doesn't seem humanely possible. The bassline played by Ben Shepherd on this song is great and the song has a very dark, Sabbath-like feel to it overall. 'Jesus Christ Pose' is a great track which a clever but complex beginning with some great drumming from Matt Cameron. Next up is 'Face Pollution', a short angst filled rocker with plenty of pacy riffs. Following this is 'Sometimes', another awesome song with a great climatic chorus. The most unusual track on the album has to go to 'Searching With My Good Eye Closed', which has a warped but amusing start where Chris Cornell does a voice over - it blends into a very atmospheric track. After this track fades out, 'Room A Thousand Years Wide' blasts in with some great riffs and some amazing vocals from Cornell and also enter the saxophones which close out the song! 'Mind Riot' is the most poetic song on the album cemented with lusicous riffs. After this is another short song, 'Drawing Flies', fast and furious (what did I say about this album!) with an interesting integration of trumpets at the end. 'Holy Water' follows and this is one of the album's best. Pounding drumming ensues with some entrancing but hard riffs; this song is what Soundgarden is all about. 'New Damage' is a slower, very dark song which is a phenominal album closer with Kim Thayil jamming out some more sludgy Sabbathesque riffs over some rather depressing lyrics from Chris Cornell.

'Badmotorfinger' is a juggernaut of the some of the best heavy metal ever. Like I've said above, this album is REALLY heavy but is also very melodic and is never short of a dull moment (although it has plenty of dark ones!). This in my opinion is Soundgarden at their very highest peak (and is also lead singer Chris Cornell's greatest triumph on the vocals) and is a must buy for any fan of alterantive grunge rock or heavy metal in general. Read more ›