Down on the Upside by Soundgarden (CD, May-1996, A&M Records USA)

this is a great soundgarden album.. it has many radio hits as well as many that just about anyone can get into. a true 90's era masterpiece. They guys sound great here.

Everything's great about it! I won an Australian import Soundgarden release that had an extra CD with rareties for 5 bucks. Terrific condition; no problems. Thanks a lot, man.

This is one of my favorite Soundgaden CDs of all time. I love the original guitar riffs,And the odd effects. You would not expect Soundgarden to do an album like this and thats what I love about it.Great last album!!

At the time of this review, I haven't listened to Soundgarden's last group album, 'Down on the Upside' a great deal, but here are my first impressions. I'd consider myself a pretty big fan of the band, owning a number of their other albums. How does this album stack up against the fan-favorite album 'Superunknown'? - I'd say pretty well, but in a much different way: I would say for the band's effort at exploring their reach and range that will always have us guessing how the band would have evolved if they were still recording today. Some things don't change: Cornell's powerful, chilling vocals make for some memorable songs, as do some of Thayil's guitar riffs. Many songs on this album follow the hard-hitting formula that the band is so well-known for ('Blow Up the Outside World', 'Pretty Noose') but you'll be surprised by the number of more melancholy, slower paced tracks here 'Overfloater', for example. Then there's the fast-paced ones that you may have never heard: 'Ty Cobb', 'Applebite' and 'No Attention' that don't sound anything like other tracks on previous albums (that I've heard, anyways). From my point of view, these tracks don't really do justice to Cornell's vocal range and talent, so they come off as about average on their first listen. The album in its entirety seems like a grab-bag of hard rocking tracks, preceded by slower ones that constantly have you switching gears. Not to say it's a bad thing, but it's definitely not in the flow of 'Superunknown'. Some of my personal favorites at this point: 'Blow Up The Outside World', 'Tighter & Tighter', 'Overfloater' and 'No Attention'. For those that seem a little weak at first, I guess I'll just keep listening...

Down On The Upside is the most experimental album by Soundgarden, but what an album! The album starts with the excellent "Pretty Nose" to set the pace for the rest. With songs like "Burden in my Hand", "Blow Up The Outside World" and the psychadelic "Boot Camp", there is no way to ignore this incredible record.