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I was (and guess still am) influenced by everything Seattle. . In high school here in the outskirts of PHX in 1990 the music scene was horrible and it seemed like we got a lot of what Seattle had to offer. I was a huge fan of Mother Love Bone before Andy's death and loved Louder Than Love when Soundgarden was still underground. . I was fortunate to see SG and Temple Of The Dog at Lollapalooza 92 and 11 years later at Lolla 2003 Audioslave co-headlined. . I wore out my Badmotorfiner CD. . Worked at a local record store ZIA's when Superunknown came out and had it 2 weeks before it came out. .Of all of the deaths since this all to seemed to start when Scott Weiland died (and we've had so many) this one hurts a little more. .Universally loved by most musicians and a one hell of a song writer RIP to one of my musical heroes. . You will surely be missed

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Very unfortunate about Chris. Early reports indicate it was due to clinical depression, something which many artists' suffer through. Depression / bi-polar is a very real medical condition which many outside people seem to ignore or not believe in until it is too late. It matters little if you live in a mansion or on the street. Everyone has troubles in life, and having money and being popular is not the long term answer. Feelings of self worth become amplified, as does self doubt. You try to please everyone else and end up ignoring your own needs.

I have lived with it my whole life and it is mental torture. Why would I tell the world something personal like this? Because society needs to wake up and accept that people are not designed to work 70-hour-weeks, to be stressed out daily, to have everything be perfect, to hide their emotions because it is considered weak, and on and on. I am male and have no concerns about admitting any of this.

How many people have to die to realize that life should be enjoyable and not a constantly hard uphill battle. When you need help, ask for it, and if someone asks for help, just listen to them even if you are unable to do any more than just be there for five minutes. Five minutes for a lifetime is not much to ask.

 

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10 minutes ago, Dane1968 said:

Very unfortunate about Chris. Early reports indicate it was due to clinical depression, something which many artists' suffer through. Depression / bi-polar is a very real medical condition which many outside people seem to ignore or not believe in until it is too late. It matters little if you live in a mansion or on the street. Everyone has troubles in life, and having money and being popular is not the long term answer. Feelings of self worth become amplified, as does self doubt. You try to please everyone else and end up ignoring your own needs.

I have lived with it my whole life and it is mental torture. Why would I tell the world something personal like this? Because society needs to wake up and accept that people are not designed to work 70-hour-weeks, to be stressed out daily, to have everything be perfect, to hide their emotions because it is considered weak, and on and on. I am male and have no concerns about admitting any of this.

How many people have to die to realize that life should be enjoyable and not a constantly hard uphill battle. When you need help, ask for it, and if someone asks for help, just listen to them even if you are unable to do any more than just be there for five minutes. Five minutes for a lifetime is not much to ask.

 

You are very, very true in your statement Dane. All this stress we place upon ourselves is mostly our own construct, or, what society deems to be important for our "role" in life. It's all bullshit when you think about it and break it down. We have become slaves to societies pre-conceived expectations and we are drowning in our own shit as a result.

You wanna know what success truly is? Simple: take you time, enjoy the sunrise, enjoy those you love, and never take anything for granted. The truth is not that hard, unfortunately when we all have 1,000,000+ voices screaming into our ears non-stop about what we SHOULD be, what we NEED to be, it makes seeing and hearing the truth so damn difficult.

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Well done LpMan. I work in the printing business. When I am on my death bed with one hour left, what do you think I will care about?

It will certainly not be if somebody had their business card printed and delivered a day late. I will care about if I was a good enough father, that I had people that appreciated me for being me, and myself in return, and that I did the best I could and no more than that. Anything else is insignificant. My life is about having 24 hours a day to fill, and doing what I consider worthwhile to fill those hours. I may request a suitable Zeppelin song to be played on my last farewell. What song... mmmm (thinking), maybe Achilles would be suitable?

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On 5/23/2017 at 8:31 AM, IpMan said:

All this stress we place upon ourselves is mostly our own construct, or, what society deems to be important for our "role" in life. It's all bullshit when you think about it and break it down. We have become slaves to societies pre-conceived expectations and we are drowning in our own shit as a result.

Of course IpMan blames society. Yes, no personal responsibility to see here folks.

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9 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

Of course IpMan blames society. Yes, no personal responsibility to see here folks.

I guess you failed to read the first half of the first sentence in your rush to judgment. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/22/2017 at 1:31 PM, Stryder1978 said:

...I really think Chris' passing is a tragedy, but after listening to classic rock stations this weekend, if I hear "Black Hole Sun" one more time........!!!!!!!!

A prime example of the banality of "classic rock radio" and why it needs to die.

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So...the effect of Chris Cornell's death has frankly surprised me. I really did not think it would move me the way it has. It's been sort of a delayed reaction, too.

I was on my way to New Orleans and a week of fun when I heard the news of Chris Cornell's passing. I immediately put it in the back of my mind and wasn't going to let it put a damper on my trip.

It was only upon my return home that I felt a wave of sadness wash over me. Which took me by surprise. 

I liked Soundgarden and had most of their records and had seen them many times going back to their Sub Pop days. But I was never what you would call an "über-fan" of the band. They could be hit-and-miss in concert and I kind of drifted away from them post-"Superunknown". Didn't really get excited over Audioslave, either. 

I did prefer Soundgarden to most of the other Seattle bands...Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone I liked, too. Nirvana was okay and never cared for Pearl Jam.

I liked his solo albums and even his work with Temple of the Dog. Plus, I had seen him in concert so many times that there are numerous great memories of mine that are forever intertwined with seeing Soundgarden.

Perhaps that's what caused the sadness to finally hit me. There will never be more opportunities to see him. You can debate the merits of Soundgarden and/or grunge all you want. What is irrefutable is that Chris Cornell had a fantastic rock and roll voice.

No need to bore you with my memories. But one Soundgarden moment stands out above all others and will always make me fondly recall Chris Cornell and Soundgarden.

It was RIP Magazine's 5th Anniversary Party at the Hollywood Palladium, October 6, 1991. Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Spinal Tap. "Badmotorfinger" had just been released but I hadn't had a chance to buy it as I had just returned from a road trip.

I knew a guy who worked for Staff Pro who usually was in charge of the backstage door at Palladium shows and would let me in for free. I took my Burmese python (named Socrates) to the show, wrapping him around my neck and shoulders under my trench coat.

I also took a hit of acid and munched some magic mushrooms a friend offered me at the show.

There is always a point when you are tripping where the sky cracks open and a feeling of euphoria and elation hits you to the point where you feel like you are astralplaning. That moment hit me during Soundgarden's set. I was bouncing around near the pit halfheartedly through most of their set. Then, near the end, they unleashed "Jesus Christ Pose". It was my first time hearing that song and it hit me like Thor's hammer. My brain flipped a switch and my acid trip just went on another level. I started vibrating and with my snake wrapped securely, just went crazy in the pit. 

The rest is a black hole. The next thing I remember is waking up to a loud banging on the door and voices yelling. There was a naked girl in my bed. I reached for my robe and staggered to the door.

Upon opening, I was confronted by my downstairs neighbors panicking and yelling something about a snake. It seems that upon returning home with my mystery girl, I did not secure Socrates the python in his tank. The door to my balcony being left open, he had moseyed out to the balcony and somehow slithered down to the balcony below, freaking out my neighbors. So I had to go down and extricate Socrates from below.

I just wish I could remember more of what happened in between. The girl was of little help...she was as drug-addled as I was.

But goddamn if Soundgarden didn't blow my mind that night.

 

Edited by Strider
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8 hours ago, Stryder1978 said:

"I always & still do think, they were the best of the bands from that era."

Does STP count as coming from that era?

 

STP were from San Diego and were a band of that ilk but weren't part of the original grunge wave.

The Melvins, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, Green River, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, and lastly Pearl Jam, were the original Seattle bands that formed the first wave of grunge.

After "Nevermind" exploded upon release in late-1991, you had the bands that started jumping the grunge bandwagon and the labels looking to milk it for all they could.

That is when bands such as STP, Candlebox, Blind Lemon, Spin Doctors, Crash Test Dummies, Creed, Live, Weezer, Lemonheads, and too many more to count started diluting the genre.

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On 6/12/2017 at 8:02 PM, Strider said:

STP were from San Diego and were a band of that ilk but weren't part of the original grunge wave.

That is when bands such as STP, Candlebox, Blind Lemon, Spin Doctors, Crash Test Dummies, Creed, Live, Weezer, Lemonheads, and too many more to count started diluting the genre.

STP were waaay above the fray of the likes of those bands.  

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On 6/12/2017 at 8:02 PM, Strider said:

STP were from San Diego and were a band of that ilk but weren't part of the original grunge wave.

The Melvins, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, Green River, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, and lastly Pearl Jam, were the original Seattle bands that formed the first wave of grunge.

After "Nevermind" exploded upon release in late-1991, you had the bands that started jumping the grunge bandwagon and the labels looking to milk it for all they could.

That is when bands such as STP, Candlebox, Blind Lemon, Spin Doctors, Crash Test Dummies, Creed, Live, Weezer, Lemonheads, and too many more to count started diluting the genre.

I wouldn't lump Weezer with that bunch either, they had their own style. (Same with Blind Lemon, considering he was a blues man from the early 20th century) ;):P

 

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23 hours ago, Walter said:

STP were waaay above the fray of the likes of those bands.  

It is fine if you like them, I was only just pointing out that they were not part of that original Seattle scene. Of the bands I listed at the end, I would definitely take STP and Weezer over the others.

1 hour ago, Sathington Willoughby said:

I wouldn't lump Weezer with that bunch either, they had their own style. (Same with Blind Lemon, considering he was a blues man from the early 20th century) ;):P

 

Ooops...I meant Blind Melon, natch. Hahaha.

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  • 4 months later...

Too young to go to any SG shows before they initially split in 97, but when they got back together I was fortunate enough to see them live three times. The first time was at Download 2012, which was OK but I was halfway up a hill watching the band and it was a rather casual encounter. Not so the next time, at Brixton Academy the following year, where the band were on mindblowingly good form, closing with Beyond The Wheel which was heavy, psychedelic and a thousand other things besides that. Oddly at that show they didn't play Black Hole Sun, but it didn't matter as the whole show was so good. Probably the best time I saw them in terms of performance.

 

My favourite memory, however, has to be Hyde Park 2014. Sabbath were headlining that day, and the supports were SG, FNM, Motorhead etc. I enjoyed FNM's set, but Soundgarden were what I was really waiting for (and Sabbath as well, naturally). They strode on stage, and just said "Twenty years ago we made a record called Superunknown, and we're going to play the whole thing" - and went straight into it. Holy shit was that ever something special. I love Superunknown and think it stands head and shoulders above their other albums, and it's also the greatest record of its time (no mean feat, the early 90s were just full of tremendous music). To have the whole thing played live like that was beyond great. Also it was the 4th July as well...... so playing the whole album had even more meaning.

Edited by Cosmic_Equilibrium
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