I've scarcely read a single positive review or comment about Soundgarden's Live On I-5, and I don't know if I necessarily disagree with the pans, or if I'm just coming from too much of a fanboy place with this record to not enjoy the hell out of it. Superunknown was a huge record for me when I was 12, and over time it's only grown in my esteem as maybe the best big blockbuster rock album of the past couple decades. And I didn't think Down On The Upside was as big a drop in quality as most people seem to, and their set at Lollapolooza in '96 totally blew my mind, so I've been really excited about both the prospect of seeing them live again and of hearing a live record from that tour.

I do hear the flaws on Live On I-5 -- Chris Cornell's voice strains in some unflattering ways and as much of a machine as Matt Cameron is, he's always had a penchant for awkward drum fills and live performances that kind of steamroll over some of the dynamics and subtleties of the studio recordings ("Head Down" being a prominent example here). But I'm not convinced that a live album from the Badmotorfinger era would be so much more perfect or anything, plus you get the same highlights you'd get from one of those shows here: Cameron's amazing "Jesus Christ Pose" intro and the crowd exploding when they launch into "Outshined." I also particularly like that they included the quiet Cornell solo "Black Hole Sun" they did at Lollapalooza, since that's their one song I'm just totally burnt out on and the further a live rendition can get from the studio recording the better.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 22, 2011 at 9:18 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.