Former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell‘s official site was updated today to announce that the grunge rock pioneers are reuniting after a 12-year break!
The message simply states:
The 12 year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again! www.soundgardenworld.com
When you sign up at the site, a video for “Get On The Snake” from their 1989 album Louder Than Love pops up, but there’s no other information at this time, though I gather we’ll be getting some details real soon.
The Seattle-based quartet released their first album Ultramega OK in 1988, but didn’t rise to fame until 1991 with Badmotorfinger, which contained the hits “Outshined” and “Rusty Cage” (which subsequently became popular videos in constant rotation on MTV). From then on, Soundgarden was at the top of the music scene, paving the way for other Grunge acts (along with fellow Seattle bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam).
The 1990s saw two more studio releases: Superunknown (1994), which is the band’s most successful album (certified five times platinum) thanks to mega-hits “Spoonman,” “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell On Black Days,” and “My Wave”; and Down On The Upside (1996), which spawned the hits “Blow Up the Outside World,” “Pretty Noose,” and “Burden in My Hand.”
It was soon after the completion of the Down On The Upside tour in April 1997 that Soundgarden decided to call it quits, citing personal and creatives differences amongst the band members (Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd).
After Soundgarden disbanded, Cornell pursued a solo career, which included contributing the theme song for the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale “You Know My Name,” and did a six-year stint as frontman for supergroup Audioslave, which was basically Cornell and three members of Rage Against The Machine.
On October 6, 2009, the members of Soundgarden performed together for the first time since their breakup when they joined Pearl Jam on stage at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA (drummer Matt Cameron is currently pounding the skins for Pearl Jam). This led to rumors of a Soundgarden reunion, which wasn’t confirmed until today.
While I enjoyed Audioslave, it was just holding me over until a much hoped for Soundgarden reunion. Soundgarden was one of those bands that when they came on the rock scene in the late 1980s, they were small potatoes, opening up for metal act Voivod and later on Danzig in support of their second album Louder Than Love, eventually going on to become much bigger than both bands. In what could be considered a smart move (although probably unintentional), Soundgarden basically quit when they were ahead in the late 1990s, and just before Grunge took a major dive in popularity at the end of the decade.
Needless to say, I can’t wait to see Soundgarden back in action real soon!
[Source via Blabbermouth]
