""Somms". It's a palindrome. Spelled the same forwards and backwards. "Badmotorfinger" alone is incredible, but knowing that this limited edition is hard to find, I had to get it. Most or all of these tracks can be found elsewhere, but nice to have together here. A few covers to start. "Into the Void" (Sabbath), "Girl you Want" (Devo), "Stray cat Blues" (Stones). All done very well. Then "She's a Politician" (Cornell), and a live version of "Slaves and Bulldozers". ONLY that song is done live. Not all five. This is a great find for the Soundgarden fan, though you may have to search the used bins or online to get it. Maybe soon we'll get a "B-sides" disc to complement the "A-sides" one."
Ummmmm........
Robert P. Ford | California | 02/28/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If one were to write a review for this double cd set one ought to be familiar with the material(other reviewers take note). The Badmotorfinger album was in my opinion Soundgarden's finest hour,although Superunknown was a greater commercial success,the band really got their sound and chops down on this album. Ben Sheperd stepped in to replace Hiro Yamamoto,and his songwriting skills and musicianship meshed perfectly with the rest of the group.All the songs are good,with standouts such as "Good Eye Closed" and "Outshined" which was a staple on MTV. Kim Thayil is god on the guitar,and Cornell has the lungs of a young Ronnie James Dio,with such range it's hard to beleive he is human. Matt Cameron is a good drummer,and even Neil Peart said so(Neil Peart is the best drummer who ever lived,in case anyone was wondering). As for the bonus cd,a collection af b-sides and live material,I like it a lot. I love their version of DEVO'S "Girl U Want,and "Into The Void",which really is a Sabbath cover(their influence is heavy on this album)along with the others. For the collector I would recommend this particular item,otherwise you could buy a Cure album and go blow goats."
But did you know?
Matthew L. Hamilton | louisville, ky | 10/03/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"i'm surprised that with all of the "scholarly" reviews of the covers on this limited edition, nobody has pointed out that the lyrics on "into the void(sealth)" are not the original lyrics from black sabbath's version. they are actually from a speech delivered by chief seattle(sealth) during treaty negotiations with dominant white settlers in the 1850's. refer to the children's book "brother eagle, sister sky," by susan jeffers for the lyrics to this version.
also, having been a soundgarden fan well before this album came out, i cannot agree that this album is their best, although it was the beginning of their commercial success. in my humble opinion, "ultramega" and "louder than love" really capture the essence of soundgarden and the underground scene pre 1991 and the seattle explosion that made "alternative" music mainstream.
it's a shame the albums that enabled these bands to enjoy commercial success often overshadow the albums that are lesser known and capture the music scene in it's undiluted form. i guess it's like san francisco and the "summer of love." by the time the rest of the nation new about san francisco in 1967, the real essence of the renaissance that had happened had already been replaced by runaway girls from all over the country, speed, and the commercialism of what was going on.
anyway, if you really want to check the seattle music scene, skip the pearl jam and go for the mother love bone. check out mudhoney, melvins, green river, and don't forget queensryche. oh, and contrary to what some may say, jimi hendrix was never a part of any seattle music scene. he was born in seattle but came up on the east coast before going into the millitary and eventually going to england to form the experience.
ranting aside, badmotorfinger is a great album and i burnt it up when it came out. gwan head an gittit."
Bad Mother Chucker
Iris Artechi | 01/25/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rather than reviewing just Badmotorfinger, I'm going to kill two stones with one bird (just like Chuck Norris) and review both Badmotorfinger and the Somms Ep.
Badmotorfinger (10/10):
Soundgarden's third album is one of Soundgarden's grungiest albums that placed Soundgarden with the Big Four of Grunge along side Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice In Chains. And it's for that reason that Soundgarden's album was one of the most underrated grunge albums during the onslaught of Nirvana. Pearl Jam was the only one who made it out of the 90's alive while the others fell apart. Nirvana's album, Nevermind, was added into the National Recording Registry, and Alice In Chains went on to get all of the girls. But Soundgarden was the last Grunge band to fall apart. And even today it is overlooked in favor of Ten, Dirt, and Nevermind. But even so, Badmotorfinger is and always will be a testament to Seattle's unsung heroes.
At the Peak of Grunge, the best tracks are "Rusty Cage" (which I heard and discovered Soundgarden), "Outshined", and "Jesus Christ Pose", a purposly forgotten song shunned by MTV because of it's video, which had a very good meaning. Some people accused the latter song of being Anti-Christian, but it's quite the opposite, it talks about people who exploit the image of Jesus on the cross for personal gain. Some of the other honorable mentions include "Mind Riot", which is a very good alternative rock song, and "Face Pollution" for its punkish attack. "Room a Thousand Years Wide" is a good song with a sudden screaming opening, and "Searching With My Good Eye Closed" has a kind of cryptic opening that reminds me of "665" and "667" from their debut album, Ultramega OK. The entire album seems to a dedicated mix of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin with a little Butthole Surfers and punk thrown in. The album is far more focused than their first two albums thanks to their (at the time) newly recruited bassist, Ben Shepherd. The album is worth buying without the Somms Ep if you just want the basic feel of Soundgarden.
Satanocillatemymetallicsonatas EP (9/10):
The Ep is good for several reasons:
1)"Into the Void (Sealth)" is a cover of Black Sabbath's Into the Void with lyrics written from Chief Sealth/Seattle's infamous speech (How can you buy or sell the sky/Or the warmth of the land it's strange to us/We don't own the freshness of the air/Or the sparkle of the water/How can you buy them from us/The white man doesn't understand our ways/For he's a stranger who comes in the night/And takes from the land just what he needs). The lyrics deal with "the white man" destroying and polluting the earth (which kinda fits in with the original Black Sabbath meaning). This is a grungified cover that runs smooth and dirty as you please. It's far more heavy than the original version and Chris Cornell's voice sounds a little like Ozzy's. Got a Grammy nomination, too.
2)"Girl U Want" is a cover of Devo's song that is surprisingly well made enough to have Devo themselves use the Soundgarden version as a template to re-record the song. The song is pop fuzed with Soundgarden's heavy grunge sound.
3)"Stray Cat Blues" is a cover of a Rolling Stone song. The song is again a older sound merged with Soundgarden's heavy grunge. This song and the two mentioned above should be enough to buy this Ep with Badmotorfinger.
The last two songs is a Soundgarden original titled "She's A Politician" which is a valuble b-side that can be found easier than the rest of the catelog of Soundgarden B-sides, and a live version of "Slaves and Bulldozers" that clocks in at a little over eight and a half minutes. I'm not really one for live versions of any songs so I can't give an opinion on this song. "She's A Politician" is a short and sweet grunge song that moves at a good speed.
Now if you want a good grunge album with a collectable 2nd disk with promising b-sides, than go for it. This 2 disc set is some of Soundgarden's best songs. Its grunge at it's finest!!!"