Search - Soundgarden :: Ultramega Ok

Quite the CD. Rock out or feel the pain, it's got it all.

12/14/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ultramega OK was Soundgarden's first full-length release, coming out on SST Records. Chris, Kim, Matt, and Hiro definitely entered with a splash. Two previous EPs (Screaming Life and Fopp) were a good indication of what was in the works for this Seattle band. This CD does have it's share of filler (i.e. a cover of Smokestack Lightning, and a cover? of Two Minutes of Silence by John Lennon and Yoko Ono..called One Minute of Silence (Soundgarden cut out Yoko Ono's half)). What it has in filler it makes up with an awesome set of songs. Flower has a wonderful power riff and touches of psychadelia. Beyond the Wheel is probably one of Soundgarden's best performances, although most people have never even heard of it. The whole thing is truly frightening. The lyrics, the dark, heavy, grinding guitars, and the vocals work together in an almost god-like fashion. I love the weird industrial sounding guitar noises that Kim makes during this song. They also flow amazingly well with the rest of the piece. Soundgarden also shows the first signs of their odd sense of humor on this CD. In the song 665, you can hear Chris singing backwards in the background of the song. A satanic message? If you can play the song backwards, you'll find that Chris is saying "Hey Santa, you're my Christmas king, Santa is king! Santa is king! Hey Santa, I love you baby! You got what I neeeeed," and so on. All in all, this album is an awesome full-length debut."

Soundgarden's raw, dark masterpiece of an album

01/31/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After two very good EP's on Sub Pop Records-Screaming Life and Fopp-Soundgarden moved to SST Records to record their first full-lenght LP. And what a smashing debut it was. Ultramega OK offers a faint glimpse into what would become Soundgarden's signature sound:an intense,brooding mixture of wailing vocals, dark,noisy riffs, crunching rhythyms,steady but powerful drumming and intelligent,thought-provoking lyrics channeled through gloomy metal,punk fury,and surrealistic pschyedelia. This album opens with the chunky chords of the very heavy,very trippy ''Flower.'' Other highlights include the fiery,punkish ''All Your Lies''and the speed-changing,mood-changing brilliance of ''Mood For Trouble.'' But the record's centerpiece is ''Beyond The Wheel,'' a song with earth-shattering vocals and mind-blowing guitar sounds. Buy this cd, as well as all of Soundgarden's other cd's."

UltrmegaOK is more than okay

Lee A. Barnard | everywhere, World | 04/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1988 I walked into Tower Records on South Street in Philadelphia sporting a mohawk, a leather, and Doc's. I was looking for the latest Charged GBH album. As I strolled the isles I heard this album playing in the background. I stopped dead in my tracks. I listened to three songs and then asked the dude at the register who was playing. He smiled, reached under the counter, and pulled out this record. I immediately bought it and life changed forever.



Disregard reviews that compare this album with Superunknown or Badmotorfinger. You simply can't compare this (or "Louder than Love" for that matter) with their later works. It's like comparing Dark Side of the Moon with The Wall and declaring one inferior.



Listen to the samples and judge for yourself. In my humble opinion this is one black, hard, and raw album and also happens to be one the best rock-n-roll records of the 1980s."