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4 Fast Facts: Soundgarden’s ‘Down on the Upside’ Turns 25

May 21, 1996. Soundgarden releases their fifth studio album, Down on the Upside. They would break up less than a year later. Pretty Noose Burden in My Hand Blow Up…

Down on the Upside cover

May 21, 1996. Soundgarden releases their fifth studio album, Down on the Upside. They would break up less than a year later.

Pretty Noose

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Lead single "Pretty Noose" dropped before the album, hitting the radio airwaves in March of 1996. It's one of the tracks the band played on 'Saturday Night Live' on May 18, 1996. I know, because I was on a school trip in Montreal and opted to stay in the hotel room instead of going out on St. Catherine St. because I wanted to see Soundgarden on SNL and also because I'm a huge nerd.


Burden in My Hand

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Given the constant conflict the band experienced with producer Michael Beinhorn while working on 1994's 'Superunknown,' it's no surprise they opted to self-produce 'Down on the Upside.' Sessions took place from November of '95 until February of '96 at Stone Gossard's Studio Litho in Seattle.


Blow Up the Outside World

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The cover art for third single "Blow Up the Outside World" was originally going to be used as the cover of the album proper. Instead, the band opted for a photograph of themselves in silhouette, snapped by photographer Kevin Westenberg. Westenberg is known for iconic shots of artists like Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Nick Cave.


Ty Cobb

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The fourth and final single from the album would be Soundgarden's final single for sixteen years. After joining the Lollapalooza tour in the summer of '96, the band struck out on their own worldwide headlining tour. Tensions within the band would lead to their breakup in April of 1997.

adam12Writer
Adam 12 is the Program Director of Boston's ROCK 92.9, heard weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He's been flexing his encyclopedic rock knowledge in New England for over 2 decades, both on-air and online, at WBCN, WFNX, Boston.com, and indie617. At ROCK 92.9, he keeps you in the know on the big stories from the Boston music scene and writes about great places to eat, drink (beer), and to spend time outdoors in and around Boston.