SOUNDGARDEN Badmotorfinger A&M ORIGINAL 1991 Original LP 1st Press Vinyl VGC+

	£		24
	$		32

SOUNDGARDEN Badmotorfinger A&M ORIGINAL 1991 Original LP 1st Press Vinyl VGC+. Condition is "Used".
Sleeve is in Very Good condition. Please see photos as part of description.

Vinyl: is VGC+ = Record surfaces may show some signs of wear and may have slight scuffs or very light scratches that are of a cosmetic nature, not affecting the playback or listening experience as a whole. Sounded great on my sound system! See Photos as part of description.


Reviews:

1991, a year that saw releases of many hugely successful albums that helped many bands reach legendary status. Metallica had the ‘Black Album’, Pearl Jam had ‘Ten’, Nirvana had ‘Nevermind’, but an album that I put above all of those is Soundgardens third album ‘Badmotorfinger’. Although this album is often well recognised, it is clear that it gets overshadowed by the bands followup ‘Superunknown’, which is a pretty fantastic album, but it is no match for the power that the band showed in this release. ‘Badmotorfinger’ is mindblowing from start to finish and shows a talented band in their prime.

The instrumental work is what makes this album one of the most unique sounding of the era. No-one could could match this bands sound (partly because no-one could sing like Chris Cornell). The album has some great rock tunes such as ‘Rusty Cage’, ‘Searching With My Good Eye Closed’, and ‘Holy Water’, but this album really kicks arse when it gets heavy. ‘Slaves and Bulldozers’ and ‘Room A Thousand Years Wide’ are the kind of songs that give this album the metal edge that it needed.
The power in Cornell’s vocals, especially in songs such as ‘Slaves and Bulldozers’ and ‘Jesus Christ Pose’, is unmatched by any other vocalist of that time.
Everyone in the band had song ideas that made it to the final product, so the album stays fresh. The tunings and time signatures are all over the place, some songs have the low E string tuned to B (while the rest of the strings are in standard), ‘Mind Riot’ has all of the strings tuned to E, but there is also some Drop D stuff in there. The use of different time signatures is something I really love about this, and other Soundgarden albums. Some of the time signatures used in this album are: 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 9/8, and 19/8.
Guitarist Kim Thayil stated he didn’t "push for weird time signatures," but rather "push[ed] to get the quirkiness out of things." This is also shown also in his guitar soloing, which on this album made him known as one of the most unique sounding players of his time. His playing is messy, noise rocky, and completely amazing.?On top of Thayil’s amazing playing is of course the rhythm section!
This was the first Soundgarden album to feature Ben Shepherd and he does not disappoint. He has a crushing bass tone, and really shines through on songs like ‘Jesus Christ Pose’, ‘Drawing Flies’, and ‘Searching With My Good Eye Closed’ to name a few. He also brought a new sound into the band on this album with musical contributions (having credits on four songs).
The best part of the rhythm section however, is Matt Cameron, a guy who never appears high enough in ‘Best Drummers’ lists. Listening to him play, especially live versions of these songs, is a treat. His overall playing is tasteful, often complex, and never packed with un-welcomed fills. He handles odd time signatures with such ease, and he too made plenty of writing contributions.

Lyrics — 10
Badmotorfinger doesn’t follow a story or have its lyrics based around a certain concept. Kim Thayil suggested the title ‘Badmotorfinger’ as a joke in reference to the song ‘Bad Motor Scooter’.
The majority of the lyrics were written by Cornell, who said he was never too “biographical” with his lyrics. A few of Cornell’s lyrical highlights are songs such as:
"Outshined" which is about going from "periods of extreme self-confidence" to "plummeting in the opposite direction."-
“Show me the power child I'd like to say
That I'm down on my knees today
Yeah, it gives me butterflies, gives me away
Till I'm up on my feet again”
The song ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ is about the exploitation of religion for personal benefit. So, it is not a ‘religious song’, but more a criticism of how public figures use religion to portray themselves as being "better" than others, or as "martyrs”. Cornell has singled out Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction as an influence on the song stating "It became fashionable to be the sort of persecuted-deity guy.".
A song that talks more about religion is the song ‘Holy Water’ which is more against people who would try and force their beliefs on others-
“Damn the water if it's life you want to drink
Mind your mother if it makes you feel at ease”
Thayil’s lyrical contribution was a little harder to read with the song ‘Room a Thousand Years Wide”. When asked about the meaning of the song he said-
“It's not really about things that have actually happened to me. It's more about experience in general.”
In regards to the album overall Thayil has said the album is like "like reading a novel [about] man's conflict with himself and society, or the government, or his family, or the economy, or anything."

Overall Impression — 10
‘Badmotorfinger’ is not only the best album of 1991, I think it is one of the greatest albums ever made. Its unique, the production is flawless, and the performances are second to none. Its an album that stays fresh throughout, and has much more variety than something like the much more commercial sounding ‘Nevermind’, which is not a bad album and I certainly enjoy Nirvana's music, but it certainly does not compete with what Soundgarden was doing at the time.
I own this album on a couple of different formats, and I can’t recommend it enough. There will never be another band who can play quite like this!