King Animal
‘Been Away Too Long’ indeed. Lovely to have Soundgarden back after (I can’t believe it’s been) 15 years. And while King Animal isn’t perhaps quite up to the standards of their mid-90s masterpieces, there are so many good tracks on show here. As ever, Chris Cornell’s amazing and distinctive voice is the first thing that you notice when playing King Animal through, but repeated listens reveal a depth of quality from all members of the band. This isn’t an especially flashy record; much of Soundgarden’s early work is more technically impressive, but the song-writing on show is top stuff. I love the riff underpinning ‘Non-State Actor’, ‘A Thousand Days Before’ is so wonderfully Soundgarden-esque that it may as well have been released in 1994 and ‘Taree’ reminds me of quality stoner rock bands like Creature with the Atom Brain. This is an excellent album and a nice reminder of just how great this band was. Not a duff track: let’s hope this is not a one off reunion album but a genuine return. I’m continuing to play this and it has been shooting up my draft list in recent weeks; if it had been released earlier in the year it may well have found a place in the top 10.