Absolutely not. Amy towers over Rick in every way. He would bring the show down considerably. He really never says anything. He just has tons of followers.
@@zhukie good lord, i wholeheartedly disagree lmao everyone seems to react with the video and it's so weird that they don't actually listen to the song
It's not surprising that you felt that the vocals were being featured so prominently. Chris Cornell had one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard, in rock or any other genre. RIP 😢
Listen to Soundgarden's next album, Down on the Upside. There they treated Chris Cornell's voice as an instrument equally important as the other instruments. This resulted in his voice not laying on top of the mix, as the main focus point, but sounding just as loud as the guitars and the drums. It was a remarkable mix.
@@jaynyczak7999 Different, but also not really... not in the larger context. I'd say they had similar impacts on music, just for different .... yet sometimes very similar reasons.
Regarding the effects in the beginning. One is a slide on guitar, the other tremolo-like effect is created by a Leslie speaker, most commonly used with Hammond organs and electric guitars. Sound plays through an internal rotating part which changes the observed frequency. This in turn gets recorded with two microphones. I used this as a subtle effect recently when I mixed a song for a band. There's an interview on UA-cam with Michael Beinhorn, the producer of this song, by Warren Huart. It's mainly for sound engineers but he explains some things and plays soloed tracks.
An amazing and iconic voice; Chris also had the ability to make you feel what he felt by injecting so much emotion into what he sang, whether it was with Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, Audioslave or his solo work. Gone way too soon and greatly missed. RIP
As a predominantly r&b and hip hop head I must say Chris Cornell was the first rock singer that totally captivated me with his voice. Such a unique blend from soft melodic baritone to powerful chest voicing. Dude was out of this world. One of my favorites was '4th of July ' where he just obliterated everything vocally
@@captainbuck5969 coming from a guy who likes the dollar store edition of Led Zeppelin known as Greta Van Fleet, I don't care about your taste in music because you obviously showed it's garbage saying that about soundgarden, go listen to some Applebee's commercials with your favorite band of sellouts.
@@LtheDetective You are absolutely right. One mans garbage is another mans gold. I’ve tried to like these guys, but they never clicked with me. Safe travels.
That synthy sound is actually an electric guitar going through something called a "rotary speaker" which does more or less what the name implies. Either there are rotating baffles placed in front of the speaker, or in rare cases, the speaker itself spins around, which creates both a whooshing sound as well as bending the pitch slightly on account of the Doppler effect.
@@yitzchakscott-thoennes I mean, it could have been a pedal that mimicked the effect (as was most likely the case for live performances) but the sound is pretty unmistakable, especially in classic rock.
This is precisely the type of thing I could see in a conversation with Rick Beato, production techniques and recording technology, I say this as some of Amy's fans were extremely disparaging of Rick
@@twoonthewallThat is precisely what would make them a great collab. I agree that Amy is much easier to listen to than Rick, but Rick's knowledge of music in general and decades of working in the business would be a great counterpoint to Amy's strictly classical background.
As a child of the 60s and 70s music, the 90s (including Grunge) really got me into listening to new music again. I love Sound Garden and "Black Hole Sun" and it is a great grunge era song. From a Rock History perspective, Nirvana's "Spells Like Teen Spirit" had a bigger impact, bringing Grunge out of the Seattle scene to the broader mainstream audiences in a big way. Nirvana really opened things up for the other grunge, and alternative rock bands. The case for Sound Garden is that they were the first to sign with a major record label. I think Amy will find Sound Garden more appealing than Nirvana since they have a more refined and produced sound, whereas Nirvana has much more of a raw garage band sound.
Yeah. I just don’t get Karl’s Choice here. It’s really frustrating a points. I mean we’re talking about the history of rock here right? What bigger song of the 90s than smells like teen Spirit. It pretty much changed everything at that time. And influenced at least the next decade of music. Seriously sometimes it’s very frustrating to watch Karl’s picks. And yes I understand your point about Soundgarden being more refined. But the whole point of grunge was not to be refined. It was stripped down and fairly raw As opposed to the hair metal band and pop music at that time which was very refined. Ps. Why not choose rust cage by sound garden to represent The grunge era? If you’re going to do a history of it.
I would have to agree with the era of grunge. It got me listening to newer music again after coming out of the hair band era, I thought maybe I was just getting old and only into my classic rock and roll. But the truth was that the hair band era just did not appeal to me. In my opinion, good music started flowing again. Whether it was Soundgarden, STP, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Days of the New or Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang or the Dave Matthews Band. It was as though bands were being creative again and expressing themselves individually. Prior to that it seemed like it was either hair bands that all sounded the same or bubble gum pop rock.
@@1massboy previously I have defended Karl's picks, assuming there was a method to his Madness. Now I'm just taking it with a grain of salt knowing that it is just his opinions which are biased to his youth and his own opinion. I just hope Amy will realize the same, and only take it with a grain of salt.
That last sentence really got me thinking about it, along with what Amy was talking about with the progression of technology. I've done the 'try to introduce someone to a new genre' thing, and you do try to pick songs that will appeal to the listener as well as anything else you're doing. She really hasn't listened to any screamers yet. Plus wasn't Smells like Teen Spirit written as a parody?
Nirvana's early work was certainly less polished, but contrast it with Heart Shaped Box... the were well past the garage acoustics by that point, which actually did lose them some fans.
the slide is the first obvious connection to Pink Floyd in this song (both Barrett and Gilmour used slide guitar extensively, on every album). Daevid Allen (Soft Machine/Gong) was another early proponent of slide in rock. Soft Machine and Pink Floyd were (of course) the biggest names amongst the British Psychedelic scene of the late 60s, routinely appearing at the UFO club, sometimes even on the same bill. I'd love to hear Amy's take on Gong and/or Soft Machine. "Black Hole Sun" is one of those songs from the 90s that gave me renewed faith in pop rock, after all that dreadful 80s hair metal. A really great track and (for my money) much more interesting than "Smells Like Teen Spirit". There's an "easy listening" version of "Black Hole Sun" by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé which is worth seeking out.
This is an outstanding song that has been selected by Karl for Amy to react to. I still had a foot firmly entrenched in all the prog bands that I grew up with in the seventies. When I first heard this song my reaction was immediate. This was something very special. To me this is timeless. A work of art.
By the 90's, there were so many possible inspirations for musicians to use that the decade ended up with a wonderful synthesis, depending on the band and who their influences were, you could find just about anything you wanted to listen to. Bring you up, bring you down, stay steady.....the music of the 90's SWELLS with EMOTIONAL CONTENT, even a lot of the pop music, which was very unusual. I'm a child of the mid 70's, but my musical heart beats hardest for the early to mid 90's. Music that makes me either beat my chest in anguish, cry at the beauty, or zone out and focus inward....
Yes, and also I was delighted to find that many of the existing classic bands of the 1970s returned with new albums, far more creative and ambitious than what they'd been allowed to do in the 1980s. For example, comparing Yes from the mid 1990s with Yes during the 1980s. Big difference! Kansas, Styx, etc. All suffered in the 1980s except Rush. Rush seemed to be the only 1970s band that thrived within the 1980s era (in the mainstream rock category). Every other big 1970s band seemed to regress during the 1980s, and then a new generation needed new bands in the 1990s. But in terms of actual composition and tone, how different is this really from classic songs like Free Bird? The new freedom of the 1990s was great. There was a ton of good new music, but unfortunately I think all the most earth-shaking innovations in rock had already occurred and also rock music became sorted into too many niches, thus allowing rap and hip hop to keep taking over more and more attention and sales.
This song sounds like it has elements of the Beatles in it, but then again it was the Beatles who defined Rock music, and every rock song since has had some influence of the Beatles in it.
Soundgarden benefitted from production boundaries being redefined in the 70s and 80s. Pink Floyd's music was one of the early pioneers in the more refined and highly produced sound that a talented sound engineer can add to a musical work. Alan Parsons was the sound engineer for Pink Floyd's other massively impactful album Dark Side of the moon, and is often credited as the reason why Dark Side was both a stunning success and a major change in Pink Floyd's sound. Prior PF albums like Obscured By Clouds were more dreamlike and disjointed, and from all accounts, the original structure of Dark Side was closer to Obscured By Clouds than to later PF works. Dark Side is the pivot in their style, but it wasn't really the composition that changed, but rather the role of production and engineering talent that brought the full potential out of Waters and Gilmour's composition. The Beattles and other artists experimented with this as well, and some of Pink Floyd's psychedelic music shows signs of it, but not until Alan Parsons recut Dark Side did it become so prominent. This went perhaps a bit too far in the 80s, where production dominated, and the role of talent or musicality were diminished... even a mediocre artist could be formulaically produced into commercial success. A lot of talent is directed more at the showmanship of music than the musicality. The 90s starts to see the pendulum swing back, and groups like Soundgarden and Nirvana start going towards simpler music that balances some musicality and high production qualities, while not sounding so overproduced that you can no longer hear the musicians. Hence, the vocals in Black Hole Sun are a prominent feature rather than a downplayed element added merely to satisfy a successful production formula.
@johncruz9793, you wrote, “..the full potential out of Waters and Gilmour’s composition.” It should read, “..out of Waters, Gilmour, & Wright’s composition.” Richard Wright dominated Dark Side in composition. He wrote or cowrote “Breathe (In the Air),” “Time,” “The Great Gig In The Sky,” “Us and Them,” & “Any Colour You Like.” That’s half of the songs. 😊
@@mirandak3273 A great point, and thank you for making it. Richard Wright certainly brought a lot to the equation, and I'm guilty of misplacing that fact.
@@johncruz9793It happens. We get influenced by the culture’s POV no matter how much we try not to and the narrative of Pink Floyd being just a rivalry between Gilmour and Waters is a huge cultural trope. It’s going strong right now. What’s cool is how you reacted to my pointing out Wright’s impact. Thanks.
Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, also was in a band called Audioslave and they had two incredible though much simpler songs, "Be Yourself" and "Like a Stone," that stand up to anything. He was a special singer and songwriter.
Same here. I'd have picked Smells Like Teen Spirit or Black, or perhaps Plush. But this was a fine pick and very representative of grunge and the early to mid 90's. But at some point he has to take Amy back to each decade and fill in all those blanks. I mean, he has to discuss and play examples of punk, rap, folk rock, psychedelic, disco, soul, R&B, funk, and so on, to give Amy and anyone else tuning in who maybe doesn't know much about the history of rock and pop over the decades a sense of what people were listening to and that influenced later musicians. And he HAS to play her at least parts of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, and some more Stones and Zeppelin,
Amy is right about the connection to Pink Floyd, and I never realized it until she said so! Maybe the grunge bands of the ‘90s is what happened when punk collided with psychedelic and (dare I say it) progressive rock?
From what I heard from the audio engineer said they were using a Leslie rotary speaker for the modulation. I think Rick Beato or Warren Huart covered the story of the production of this song. The audio engineer for this song was Steve Albini, I think. It's a fascinating rabbit hole to dive in.
I would love to see you breakdown the chord structure of this song and help us see it through a classical lense. It's not incredibly complex, but it is so different from the usual 4 chord patterns of popular music even in the 90s.
Yes, actually. The classical training provides the ability to help the rest of us to recognize and understand anything that is harmonically interesting. One of your UA-cam competitors, Doug Helvering, seems to have the ability to identify notes, keys, modulations as he listens and reacts. However, he tends to simply say "interesting" and is way too distracted by reading the lyrics. By contrast, Amy is willing so far to say, "musically, this is very simple, but I understand its appeal" and that makes a difference, but I'd like to see Amy match the actual identification of key shifts and their function, the way "the Daily Doug" seems to while listening, but often doesn't follow-up on. Amy's full analyses are the special "extra" that lifts her above her competitors. Reaction videos are plentiful, but she's the only one willing to then *analyze* with scores and repeated scrutiny.
As a guitarist I am deeply impressed with the chords of BHS and their progression. They are not typical triads or dominant 7ths. How Cornell composed it really astounds me. It couldn’t have been the result of strumming chords and thinking, “I like this.” It had to have been more intentional with almost inventing chords to fit his purposes.
@Miranda K absolutely! I too am a guitarist and it's why these chords hit me so well. Those positions are, like you said, not a sinple strumming flow, it's very deliberate. It makes sense knowing that Chris wrote and played all of the parts besides some of the chorus fuzz and the solo. Kim just let him go for it and didn't get in the way. It sounds much more akin to Chris' solo works where he really moves playing with progressions that rely on the interplay between major and minor, augmented and diminished, in a sort of harmonic minor-esque vibe. It's just a very -him- progression and it'd just... sigh.. so good. Lol
@@mirandak3273 big shout out to kim thayil too - as you say i think the overall guitar sounds, riffs, progressions etc really helped the band stand out from the rest - a v distinctive sound etc 😃
@@mikes9305 Doug also rarely talks about the melody. He did Black Hole Sun, and just talked about the chord changes. But the melody, especially when you play it on guitar and see how untraditional it is, is pretty cool. When it comes to Chris Cornell, I prefer to watch The Charismatic Voice, because she picks up the melody of the singing, not just chord progressions.
I found myself chuckling at the suggestion of the use of synthesizers and what Kim Thayil would think about that. I’m sure Karl will get into this but, part of the Grunge sound was about rejecting the digital instrumentation that became big in the 80s in favor of vintage instruments and analog modulation to get organic sounds; even if the recording process itself was digital. It was a different type of “getting back to basics” that was part of the DIY punk movement from a little over a decade prior. Contrary, to the comments I’ve seen questioning this selection, I actually think this is a far better representation of the early 90s Rock sound than most people would have wanted. I don’t think the idea is to recommend songs from the conventional cannon of the casual music listener, though that’s probably in most people’s wheelhouses. Though, I still consider Soundgarden to be part of the 90s mainstream Rock bands. For context in the early 90s I was listening to a lot of underground Death, Grind, and Black Metal so had it been me suggesting songs I might have recommended a Carcass, Mayhem, or Morbid Angel song. 😂
Well as much as I like Soundgarden I wouldn't have chosen this song to typify the Grunge genre. But then again Amy has been pushed past the 80's only hearing the Go Go's, Motley Crue and Savatage so her rock education has already been stuffed imo :) Who knows what will be forced on her as we move forward. Good news is she can always return to the 70/80/90/2000s and do another rock education properly next time :)
You have stumbled across the best vocalist of all. I keep Chris and Freddie Mercury in separate categories. They are BOTH the greatest. Chris was so versatile. RIP Chris! You are missed!
A great song Amy should listen to is Silent Lucidity by Queensrÿche. There are some really beautiful textures and soundscapes with strings and Geoff Tate's voice in this song!
I'm wondering if Operation: Mindcrime would be worth going through. Whole albums take some time to process - especially when doing the sort of forensic-level analysis this channel is coming to be known for - but what he does with his voice throughout it is impressive, not to mention the musical composition and plot of the story.
I would like to suggest you listen to two songs side-by-side - God Only Knows by the Beach Boys and Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles, which is Paul McCartney's response to Brian Wilson's masterpiece. You haven't discussed any Beach Boys music yet.
Very small thing, but I love that you let the last note fade out completely before coming out to talk about it. So many people cut the fade out off or, worse yet, stop after the last vocal line! Thank you for listening to the entirety of the piece. PS - More Pink Floyd! The Wall is great, but a drop in the bucket to their music. In fact it was the only album by them I refused to buy for years because it was the only thing younger friends of mine would talk about or request to hear when they found out I was a Floyd fan. I's just say, "Nope, I don't have The Wall - Let's listen to Meddle instead!" and blow their minds with how different it was.
I've never thought of it but you're right: it has that eerie, ominous vibe that brings Pink Floyd to mind. Overall I'd say that many grunge bands showed a '70s rock influence.
You noticed the prominence of the pedaling bass. By the 90s, radio, stereo systems(especially car stereo systems), CD technology, and Walkmans could replicate lower frequencies with more power and accuracy. Thank you!
The opening bending/sliding notes are indeed a slide on the guitar. All the "synth" sounds are augmented guitars with FX pedals. I play this with my current band. Really fun challenging song to play.
Yes you are perfectly right Amy, the 90s brought back roughness and purity as I would describe in the form of the grunge genre, opposing the glam rock that dominated the late 80s which was more overproduced and was all about the visual aspect of the bands, thanks to the hype of the music videos technology on the popular MTV channel.
The “strong bass sound that keeps going”. That’s a compressor used on the bass guitar. It limits the electric volume output so that everything loud is turned down above that limit . That lowers the peak level of the sound without lowering the overall average level. So when you play a note loudly, it only comes out medium loud. The whole time the note is decaying on the bass, the output level stays constant. That gives long sustain from an instrument lacking natural sustain.
Undoubtedly one of the best Rock singles of the 90s - it charted highly in the UK too, at least. Soundgarden are one of my all time favourite bands. Glad Chris chose this - hard to get everyone's approval when you're choosing 2 songs a decade. This one gets a big thumbs up from me though...
I can not wait to hear what Karl says about this as it may relate to Pink Floyd. These are two of my favorite bands and never thought of them in relation to each other.
I can hear Floyd influence now (never thought of it before). The harmonic structure of the bass, the guitar arpeggios run through a leslie speaker, layered vocal styles, lyrical content, slower tempo with small shifts in the minimal melodies.
@@flyingardilla143 I was going to say the same thing, but you gave better reasons for the comparison than I would have. Like both you and @Marnee I never noticed it before. But once Amy brought it up I could start to see the comparison.
I don’t think we discuss the relationship between the two bands. That is a specific reference it will come up in later programs. Of course all music ends up being related in some form, even if it is just the cadence or the melody structure. I do not personally hear a lot of similarities between Soundgarden and Pink Floyd. Yes there is a psychedelia, orSpatial element to the music, that is about all I hear. I guess one could say vocally when Chris Cornell sings in his lower register it could be seen as less intrusive or aggressive, but during the choruses of the song Chris really shines particularly in the background vocals.
@@steveh7108on my UA-cam the autoplay delivered next to my listening ears “Dear Prudence” from the White Album. I was thinking the same thing as you: the layering, the piano fills, and the strong dynamic bass sound were there with the Beatles in ‘68!
I remember a guitar magazine transcribing this song and the person doing the transcription flatly refused to transcribe the solo because it was in a different time structure to the song and he couldn't put the two together cleanly - he described it as just "what Madman Mr. Thayil was playing at the time." Seeing this video pop up on my timeline, I was waiting to hear your reaction to that part.
*nobody* plays like Kim Thayil. It's the main thing that irks me when people inadvisedly try to cover a Soundgarden song. Everyone knows that nobody can ever replace Cornell's vocals, but Kim's creations are criminally underloved imho! #UnorthodoxAF :)
One thing that was said about this album was that it mixed the essences of both The Beatles and Black Sabbath and still came out sounding exactly like Soundgarden. I'd love to hear what you'd have to say about this album's "Head Down" and "Half" tracks.
WELCOME TO "GRUNGE ROCK" Amy, yes, yet another genre. One of the peculiar things about this genre is that as a genre which really took a very prominent place in music all the world over, it originated in one very small concentrated geographical area, Seattle, Washington and really nowhere else. You may look at your home town, Nashville, as an example, as the capital of country music and it is but country music originated from a much larger area, covering perhaps 20, or so, US states. Such is not the case with Grunge Rock, it comes from Seattle and really from no other place. Karl is good (and I like this Canadian military officer) and I knew that when you were going to ring in the 90's he would pick a Grunge Rock song. Sound Garden is probably the best pick as an over all representation, better than Nirvana, a band who's sound was a little too specific to represent the genre as a whole, personally I am a bigger fan of Pearl Jam. Your comparison to Pink Floyd may or may not be naive but it is also a very astute observation, this song has some synthetization, that is unavoidable at this time but one of the things about Grunge is that the 80's had become really insanely synthesized and over produced and people were sick of it, Grunge is a back lash, this youth worked on the principle of a longing to go back to more simple and honest rock...like back to Pink Floyd of 1978. A Hallmark of Grunge is very distorted guitars playing power chords with solid bass guitar and drums. Other hallmarks of the genre are: 1) They were good musicians really, not just bands thrown together because the members happened to be friends with no regard for their musical qualities. People attribute this to the fact that it always rains in Seattle, keeping people in-doors doing in-door activities like playing instruments. Who knows but they were good musicians. 2) A healthy emphasize on the main vocalist, it is now recognized that the human voice is an instrument, a serious one and front man singer is no longer whomever had the guts to do it but people (including some females) who had good technique and something special to offer. Many of them looked for a rich baritone(r). The singer that you listened to, Chris Cornell, not a true baritone, but extra ordinary talented (not so apparent in this song) and he sadly passed away a few years ago. 3) Depressive, Grunge has generally very depressive lyrics and subject material and the Grunge bands generally displayed a very sullen, anti commercial and anti success kind of attitude and demeanor. 4) Sadly plagued by heavy drug use. These young people were simply using too much heroine and the genre has lost a lot of talented people at a very young age due to drug use. 5) Cross over, as said this genre grew out of a very small concentration of people but there's a large number of bands and they all seemed to know each other and played in each other's bands, a lot of member switching as it all formed and took shape. 6) Diversion from conventions. This song is a hit song and features common chorus and a break and so forth but much music of this genre snuffed at conventional music structure and sought to make music that was as un-commercial as possible.
This was interesting! I'm an old gen Z er (born at end of 90's) with a tendency towards older music taste. I have always been an avid pink floyd fan. I was first exposed to this song during my own Music History class in high school as an example of 90's rock and remember really liking it but could never pinpoint why. Now you have compared it to pink floyd I wonder if my brain subconsciously made the same connection? Similar darkness to the sound but also very atmospheric.
You do such an amazing job of allowing me to rediscover the music I grew up on in a new perspective. I would love to watch you listen to Paranoid Android by Radiohead.
It's funny that this one is one of their simpler pieces. They're very well known for doing songs with alternating time signatures (moving from 5/4 to 9/8 and even in one something akin to 19/8). For them to have such a huge hit with a basic 4/4 song was.... different for us fans. I would also suggest their "Fell On Black Days" (in 6/4). Not quite as strange but unusual for a rock song.
I'm glad you later clarified your comment early on that this sounds more "synthesized" - i didn't understand at first what you meant - because to me (a musical amateur) - that's a description i use for '80s pop music that involved the heavy use of keyboard synthesizers. But now i understand your intention - that advancements in technology allowed musicians to create sounds that weren't available for artists in past decades. I had never thought about musical evolution in those terms before - so thank you for teaching me something i had never thought about before. And thanks for posting this reacton.
One of the last great rock bands of all time. They also didn't overstay their welcome during their relatively short career. They left us wanting MORE. And of course, RIP Chris Cornell.
The guitar was played through a Leslie speaker cabinet. That's what gives it that distinct sound. A Leslie speaker was commonly used with organs. It has 2 or 3 speaker horns that sit on a spinning disc inside the cabinet. The RPMs can be adjusted to alter the sound. Gives it kind of an echo dopplar effect.
I think you would enjoy the live performance of Pearl Jam - Black from the MTV unplugged set. The amount of emotion from Eddie really makes you feel the pain the lyrics are expressing.
You were talking about "synthesized sounds"; You might be surprised that there are no keyboards in this song, only guitars! 😄 Played through effects pedals like Tremolo and Chorus, though 😉 And the "sliding" sounds in the intro are indeed played on a guitar with a slide, which is a metal tube on one of the guitarist's fretting hand's fingers, and it's the same principle as on a steel guitar 🙂
I´m new here so first of all, it´s great to see someone jumping in to new sounds and bands. IMO, there are no bands or artists like this anymore. If you´d like to explore more 90s sounds, please visit Alice in Chains. Harmonies between singers Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell will blow your mind. They have electric and acoustic albums for you to discover. For me, they are the trully "grunge" band. Keep it up the good work!
The ‘bending’ is a slide guitar being played through a Leslie rotary speaker. Slide guitar is playing guitar using a metal or glass slide on the fretting hand which essentially turns it into a fretless instrument. A Leslie speaker uses a rotating horn and was originally used with electric organs. I don’t know if this was recorded using a real Leslie or an effect pedal which mimics the Leslie effect.
Soundgarden is one of the bands that evolved a lot in the styles they brought to their different songs and albums. There are three other songs by them where, arguably, the arrangement and recording technique and studio production play an even bigger role in the emotional effect of the music, namely "Head Down" and "Half" and "Never the Machine Forever".
I completely get the comparison between Soundgarden (and BHS in particular) and Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - both are expressions of dark and emotionally heavy themes / events, both are looking for hope, but not sure that there is any hope to be had. The Wall was produced when synthesizers were relatively new and just becoming commonplace, while Soundgarden was still using a lot of low-cost tech (which would be "vintage" within a few years 🙂) - and possibly most significant given your observations about Motley Crue - both placed the vocals much more prominently than the hair metal of the 80s did.
Apart from the Beatles, it's hard to argue against Pink Floyd being the most influential Rock band ever, so it's no accident that bands like Soundgarden (who were contemporaries of The 'Floyd for a brief period in the late 80s - early 90s) found influence in them, particularly in the creative use of studio musicality. Pink Floyd invented studio techniques that are still very much in use in the digital era.
@@mirandak3273 Definitely can't give much pushback on that. I'm no Zep' fan, and they did little in the way of innovation, but their influence on rock bands that followed, was massive. Perhaps more easily identifiable than even that of the 'Floyd, to the casual observer.
I absolutely love Amy's videos. Being a rock musician for more than 40 years it surprises Me how Amy can talk about rock, like a swimmer would talk about iceskating...
I wonder if Karl will discuss Brit Pop & the battle between Oasis & Blur? I hope so. (Edit, I had written the opposite of what I meant. ) I really like Dr. John Covach’s series on the history of rock (online U. of Rochester courses, all on UA-cam.) But he ignores Glam, Manchester, & Brit Pop because he’s looking at American history. He explicitly says that’s why he ignores Glam (although he does look at Bowie.). He doesn’t say it for the others he ignores, but it’s easy to figure that’s why.
That synthesized sound you referred to is actually not a synthesizer, it’s Leslie effect. It’s a rotating speaker effect and in this case, it’s set to a fast speed to get that sound
....wondering if it's because this song is perhaps more in the progressive rock style? Radiohead were once jokingly referred to as 'Punk Floyd' for much the same reason. Not just sticking to traditional rock structures but trying to push the envelope. Thanks, this got me thinking 😎
*you need to listen to My Bloody Valentine...* it's not as bad as it sounds, trust me the name put me off for years but i'm so glad i finally listened.
The "Grunge Rock" movement of the 1990s was a response to the excesses of glam rock and hair metal of the 80s with a return to a more 1970s aesthetic. So that connection is intentional.
One underrated band that majorly influenced grunge is King's X. They created the drop D guitar tone that became a staple of the sound. There's this great radio interview on TY with bassist Doug Pinnick were he talks about it. He was friends with all the bands and joked every time a new song came out somebody would come up to him and say it was a copy of a King's X song. As for a song suggestion listen to "Black Flag" or "Dogman."
I am still very saddened by Chris' tragic passing. He was a wonderful person. Thanks for this video. Another musician that became famous in the 90s, Dave Grohl, found that this song combined the noisy sound from the alternative rock scene with the melodic sensibilities of the Beatles. By the way, while some of the music became even more proficently produced, and even more slick (up to the point of using auto-tune to improve the voice, even in rock), there were more attempts to deconstruct these productions and take them into very new directions. I am thinking of Beck, Radiohead (starting with their 3rd album), Sonic Youth, Nine Inch Nails.
When I was thinking through the songs on The Wall I wonder if Amy is hearing a similarity between Comfortably Numb and Black Hole Sun. It never occurred to me the similarities between those two songs but the soaring choruses of "I have become Comfortably Numb" and Black Hole Sun, Won't You Come" do hold some common ground. Well spotted Amy!
Before "The Wall," Pink Floyd released a masterpiece called "Dark Side Of The Moon," (it's in the Library of Congress) Like The Wall, each section (song) sets up and flows into the next, telling the story like a musical movie. You'll immediately identify how prolific Pink Floyd's influence is. The original studio album with Clare Torry is the best version.
I always think of STPs' "Vaseline" when I hear this. Both bands eased off on the aggressiveness, and introduced some very interesting patterns and complexities. I love this song because it's so rhythmically off-putting. There is so much music to explore in the 90s, I don't think a 10 hr documentary could do it justice. But would love to hear your reactions to Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", or anything by Stereolab, Pixies, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Blur. 70s: ABBA, Bowie, Yes, Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Donna Summer 80s: New Order, Nick Cave, Rush - "Time Stand Still", Kate Bush, Iron Maiden, Simple Minds (pre-85) :)
Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters) said, to paraphrase: Grunge bands were trying to capture the updated Seattle sound yet write a song with broad appeal, like the Beatles. When Chris Cornell and Soundgsrden released Black Hole Sun, there was wide recognition the goal has been reached masterfully. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and others went on to have a huge influence on music.
Super excited for this era, hope you react to some Cocteau Twins or some shoegaze. Could it be possible to hear you react to joanna newsom once you make it to the 00s?
I love that raunchy ,melodic sound !! . thanks for the very interesting break down . ive have been loving your stuff, i think its great . I have listened to most analogies and breakdowns . as a budding guitarist i find your breakdowns very insightful and intriguing ,thank you so much.i remeber you once saying you thought rock was industrial music ,i wonder what you are thinking now lol. the best industial rock sound i have heard would be "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE " very political as the name suggests and the guitarist is the most creative on this planet.
Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn pt.1 it will curl your toes and send shivers up your spine. Also, Genesis' Cinema Show, David Bowie's Warszawa, and Brian Eno's Sombre Reptiles. Thx.
I'm a 70 year old from Seattle. I'm a huge music fan. I've seen more live acts than anyone I know. You are so cool. I think your reaction to the greatest jazz rock bands in history would be of interest. The band is "John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The song I would suggest is "One Word" off the Birds of Fire album. It's the most user friendly. I'd love it if you would check them out. Magnificent.
Would anyone else like to see Amy and Rick Beato collaborate on videos?
Yes. This is a grand idea. I'll sign the petition. 😉 😁
Absolutely not. Amy towers over Rick in every way. He would bring the show down considerably. He really never says anything. He just has tons of followers.
@@deanzona6503 whoa there. Your bias is simping.
@Joe Comic How about Wings Of Pegasus ? One of the best, and not as boring as Beato.
I don't watch Beato,I just thought it was a good idea for the exposure it would mean for Amy. I like Wings Of Pegasus. I even bought a T-shirt. 😊
I can't separate this song from the music video.
Exactly!! I was thinking just the same thing...she's really gotta watch the video to get the uh, "full effect" lol
@@zhukie good lord, i wholeheartedly disagree lmao everyone seems to react with the video and it's so weird that they don't actually listen to the song
@@trashcandy.Yes!!! I hate music video reactions, you can't pay attention to the music and video at the same time
I’ve never seen it, and I’m a bit afraid to watch it.
@@rodrigo53 It's really not that bad, mostly just surreal, sort of existential dread type stuff. Worth a watch for historical value.
It's not surprising that you felt that the vocals were being featured so prominently. Chris Cornell had one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard, in rock or any other genre. RIP 😢
Listen to Soundgarden's next album, Down on the Upside. There they treated Chris Cornell's voice as an instrument equally important as the other instruments. This resulted in his voice not laying on top of the mix, as the main focus point, but sounding just as loud as the guitars and the drums. It was a remarkable mix.
just an average voice ,what are you talking about
@@dr.alimpije511 - "No two pairs of ears ever hear the same music" 😉
@Bob Kuchi Kopi - His voice reminds me of David Coverdale's at times! Especially when he's going for it 🙂
@@mightyV444 that's true
Radiohead's Paranoid Android next would be pretty amazing for a 90's continuation.
Definitely. And an obvious change of styles
All of Radioheads OK Computer al Umm.
Omg yes thats a banger
@@jaynyczak7999 Different, but also not really... not in the larger context. I'd say they had similar impacts on music, just for different .... yet sometimes very similar reasons.
Regarding the effects in the beginning. One is a slide on guitar, the other tremolo-like effect is created by a Leslie speaker, most commonly used with Hammond organs and electric guitars. Sound plays through an internal rotating part which changes the observed frequency. This in turn gets recorded with two microphones. I used this as a subtle effect recently when I mixed a song for a band. There's an interview on UA-cam with Michael Beinhorn, the producer of this song, by Warren Huart. It's mainly for sound engineers but he explains some things and plays soloed tracks.
Ozzy Osborne sang Iron Man through a Leslie Speaker.
Interesting, I never knew about the Leslie tremeolo on this.
As a tribute to Chris Cornell, Norah Jones did a live cover off this song on solo piano. It is on UA-cam. It is completely different and very moving.
Yes, Norah's cover was very poignant, I recommend everyone check it out.
There's also a cover by lounge music/vocal music legends Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gourmet, in their usual duet style. An amazing rearrangement.
Black Hole Sun was a psychedelic rock song with a lot of Beatles homage to it.
An amazing and iconic voice; Chris also had the ability to make you feel what he felt by injecting so much emotion into what he sang, whether it was with Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, Audioslave or his solo work. Gone way too soon and greatly missed. RIP
Yeah, I never really listened to Billie Jean or Metallica's One before Chris drew attention to the lyrics of those songs
As a predominantly r&b and hip hop head I must say Chris Cornell was the first rock singer that totally captivated me with his voice. Such a unique blend from soft melodic baritone to powerful chest voicing. Dude was out of this world. One of my favorites was '4th of July ' where he just obliterated everything vocally
Great song, also Like suicide, Outshined, Rusty Cage, Blow up the outside, The day I tried to live, Like a stone. So many great songs.
Seriously?? Soundgarden is garbage music my friend.
@@captainbuck5969 coming from a guy who likes the dollar store edition of Led Zeppelin known as Greta Van Fleet, I don't care about your taste in music because you obviously showed it's garbage saying that about soundgarden, go listen to some Applebee's commercials with your favorite band of sellouts.
@@captainbuck5969 u have a right to ur opinion. Just as long as u realize others also have theirs as well 👍🏽
@@LtheDetective You are absolutely right. One mans garbage is another mans gold. I’ve tried to like these guys, but they never clicked with me. Safe travels.
That synthy sound is actually an electric guitar going through something called a "rotary speaker" which does more or less what the name implies. Either there are rotating baffles placed in front of the speaker, or in rare cases, the speaker itself spins around, which creates both a whooshing sound as well as bending the pitch slightly on account of the Doppler effect.
that was Doug Helvering's guess in ua-cam.com/video/sfijlBeSxK0/v-deo.html , nice to have confirmation
@@yitzchakscott-thoennes I mean, it could have been a pedal that mimicked the effect (as was most likely the case for live performances) but the sound is pretty unmistakable, especially in classic rock.
This is precisely the type of thing I could see in a conversation with Rick Beato, production techniques and recording technology, I say this as some of Amy's fans were extremely disparaging of Rick
@@twoonthewallThat is precisely what would make them a great collab. I agree that Amy is much easier to listen to than Rick, but Rick's knowledge of music in general and decades of working in the business would be a great counterpoint to Amy's strictly classical background.
Chris Cornell (Lead singer and guitarist) was one great musician. deeply missed by many. Rest In Peace Chris.
As a child of the 60s and 70s music, the 90s (including Grunge) really got me into listening to new music again. I love Sound Garden and "Black Hole Sun" and it is a great grunge era song. From a Rock History perspective, Nirvana's "Spells Like Teen Spirit" had a bigger impact, bringing Grunge out of the Seattle scene to the broader mainstream audiences in a big way. Nirvana really opened things up for the other grunge, and alternative rock bands. The case for Sound Garden is that they were the first to sign with a major record label. I think Amy will find Sound Garden more appealing than Nirvana since they have a more refined and produced sound, whereas Nirvana has much more of a raw garage band sound.
Yeah. I just don’t get Karl’s Choice here. It’s really frustrating a points.
I mean we’re talking about the history of rock here right? What bigger song of the 90s than smells like teen Spirit. It pretty much changed everything at that time. And influenced at least the next decade of music.
Seriously sometimes it’s very frustrating to watch Karl’s picks.
And yes I understand your point about Soundgarden being more refined. But the whole point of grunge was not to be refined. It was stripped down and fairly raw As opposed to the hair metal band and pop music at that time which was very refined.
Ps. Why not choose rust cage by sound garden to represent The grunge era? If you’re going to do a history of it.
I would have to agree with the era of grunge. It got me listening to newer music again after coming out of the hair band era, I thought maybe I was just getting old and only into my classic rock and roll. But the truth was that the hair band era just did not appeal to me.
In my opinion, good music started flowing again. Whether it was Soundgarden, STP, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Days of the New or Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang or the Dave Matthews Band.
It was as though bands were being creative again and expressing themselves individually.
Prior to that it seemed like it was either hair bands that all sounded the same or bubble gum pop rock.
@@1massboy previously I have defended Karl's picks, assuming there was a method to his Madness.
Now I'm just taking it with a grain of salt knowing that it is just his opinions which are biased to his youth and his own opinion.
I just hope Amy will realize the same, and only take it with a grain of salt.
That last sentence really got me thinking about it, along with what Amy was talking about with the progression of technology. I've done the 'try to introduce someone to a new genre' thing, and you do try to pick songs that will appeal to the listener as well as anything else you're doing. She really hasn't listened to any screamers yet. Plus wasn't Smells like Teen Spirit written as a parody?
Nirvana's early work was certainly less polished, but contrast it with Heart Shaped Box... the were well past the garage acoustics by that point, which actually did lose them some fans.
The bending notes in the beginning were played by Chris Cornell on an electric guitar with a slide (and 5 of the 6 strings removed).
With a similar modulation effect (Leslie cabinet) as the verse guitar.
the slide is the first obvious connection to Pink Floyd in this song (both Barrett and Gilmour used slide guitar extensively, on every album). Daevid Allen (Soft Machine/Gong) was another early proponent of slide in rock. Soft Machine and Pink Floyd were (of course) the biggest names amongst the British Psychedelic scene of the late 60s, routinely appearing at the UFO club, sometimes even on the same bill. I'd love to hear Amy's take on Gong and/or Soft Machine.
"Black Hole Sun" is one of those songs from the 90s that gave me renewed faith in pop rock, after all that dreadful 80s hair metal. A really great track and (for my money) much more interesting than "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
There's an "easy listening" version of "Black Hole Sun" by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé which is worth seeking out.
This is an outstanding song that has been selected by Karl for Amy to react to. I still had a foot firmly entrenched in all the prog bands that I grew up with in the seventies. When I first heard this song my reaction was immediate. This was something very special. To me this is timeless. A work of art.
By the 90's, there were so many possible inspirations for musicians to use that the decade ended up with a wonderful synthesis, depending on the band and who their influences were, you could find just about anything you wanted to listen to. Bring you up, bring you down, stay steady.....the music of the 90's SWELLS with EMOTIONAL CONTENT, even a lot of the pop music, which was very unusual. I'm a child of the mid 70's, but my musical heart beats hardest for the early to mid 90's. Music that makes me either beat my chest in anguish, cry at the beauty, or zone out and focus inward....
Yes, and also I was delighted to find that many of the existing classic bands of the 1970s returned with new albums, far more creative and ambitious than what they'd been allowed to do in the 1980s. For example, comparing Yes from the mid 1990s with Yes during the 1980s. Big difference! Kansas, Styx, etc. All suffered in the 1980s except Rush. Rush seemed to be the only 1970s band that thrived within the 1980s era (in the mainstream rock category). Every other big 1970s band seemed to regress during the 1980s, and then a new generation needed new bands in the 1990s. But in terms of actual composition and tone, how different is this really from classic songs like Free Bird? The new freedom of the 1990s was great. There was a ton of good new music, but unfortunately I think all the most earth-shaking innovations in rock had already occurred and also rock music became sorted into too many niches, thus allowing rap and hip hop to keep taking over more and more attention and sales.
What a great description.
I’m inclined to agree.
This song sounds like it has elements of the Beatles in it, but then again it was the Beatles who defined Rock music, and every rock song since has had some influence of the Beatles in it.
it has ,I've noticed that too
Chris Cornell was a huge Beatles fan.
Soundgarden benefitted from production boundaries being redefined in the 70s and 80s. Pink Floyd's music was one of the early pioneers in the more refined and highly produced sound that a talented sound engineer can add to a musical work. Alan Parsons was the sound engineer for Pink Floyd's other massively impactful album Dark Side of the moon, and is often credited as the reason why Dark Side was both a stunning success and a major change in Pink Floyd's sound. Prior PF albums like Obscured By Clouds were more dreamlike and disjointed, and from all accounts, the original structure of Dark Side was closer to Obscured By Clouds than to later PF works. Dark Side is the pivot in their style, but it wasn't really the composition that changed, but rather the role of production and engineering talent that brought the full potential out of Waters and Gilmour's composition. The Beattles and other artists experimented with this as well, and some of Pink Floyd's psychedelic music shows signs of it, but not until Alan Parsons recut Dark Side did it become so prominent.
This went perhaps a bit too far in the 80s, where production dominated, and the role of talent or musicality were diminished... even a mediocre artist could be formulaically produced into commercial success. A lot of talent is directed more at the showmanship of music than the musicality. The 90s starts to see the pendulum swing back, and groups like Soundgarden and Nirvana start going towards simpler music that balances some musicality and high production qualities, while not sounding so overproduced that you can no longer hear the musicians. Hence, the vocals in Black Hole Sun are a prominent feature rather than a downplayed element added merely to satisfy a successful production formula.
@johncruz9793, you wrote, “..the full potential out of Waters and Gilmour’s composition.”
It should read, “..out of Waters, Gilmour, & Wright’s composition.”
Richard Wright dominated Dark Side in composition. He wrote or cowrote “Breathe (In the Air),” “Time,” “The Great Gig In The Sky,” “Us and Them,” & “Any Colour You Like.”
That’s half of the songs.
😊
@@mirandak3273 A great point, and thank you for making it. Richard Wright certainly brought a lot to the equation, and I'm guilty of misplacing that fact.
@@johncruz9793It happens. We get influenced by the culture’s POV no matter how much we try not to and the narrative of Pink Floyd being just a rivalry between Gilmour and Waters is a huge cultural trope. It’s going strong right now.
What’s cool is how you reacted to my pointing out Wright’s impact. Thanks.
I always thought Chris Cornell and Soundgarden were very talented musicians. Their music was full of unfamiliar time signatures and intricacies.
Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, also was in a band called Audioslave and they had two incredible though much simpler songs, "Be Yourself" and "Like a Stone," that stand up to anything. He was a special singer and songwriter.
Like a Stone is an excellent example of his voice over a nice and simple song.
Like a Stone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is finally one of those songs I agree with to represent the nineties. I probably would have picked something else but I’m fine with it.
Yes, Carl did a good job on this one. (Some of his previous choices were frustrating.)
Same here. I'd have picked Smells Like Teen Spirit or Black, or perhaps Plush. But this was a fine pick and very representative of grunge and the early to mid 90's.
But at some point he has to take Amy back to each decade and fill in all those blanks. I mean, he has to discuss and play examples of punk, rap, folk rock, psychedelic, disco, soul, R&B, funk, and so on, to give Amy and anyone else tuning in who maybe doesn't know much about the history of rock and pop over the decades a sense of what people were listening to and that influenced later musicians. And he HAS to play her at least parts of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, and some more Stones and Zeppelin,
Well, it at least represents the GOOD music from the 90s...
@@kovie9162 I'm definitely hoping she does a full reaction to DSOTM
Soundgarden is probably in my top 10 favorite bands.
i was wondering what your top ten was thanks.
And speaking of Pink Floyd The Wall, I sure wish you could release your first listens of The Wall at a faster pace...I'm dyin' over here :)
Confortably numb!
same! and pls Dark Side of The Moon. Ideally the entire 40min album in one go - you won’t regret it!
Amy is right about the connection to Pink Floyd, and I never realized it until she said so! Maybe the grunge bands of the ‘90s is what happened when punk collided with psychedelic and (dare I say it) progressive rock?
Grunge was always Punk mixed with metal as a reaction against Glam metal in the 80s.
From what I heard from the audio engineer said they were using a Leslie rotary speaker for the modulation. I think Rick Beato or Warren Huart covered the story of the production of this song. The audio engineer for this song was Steve Albini, I think. It's a fascinating rabbit hole to dive in.
I forget what channel, but a UA-camr did a very detailed musical analysis of the composition, and it's very complex.
I would love to see you breakdown the chord structure of this song and help us see it through a classical lense. It's not incredibly complex, but it is so different from the usual 4 chord patterns of popular music even in the 90s.
Yes, actually. The classical training provides the ability to help the rest of us to recognize and understand anything that is harmonically interesting. One of your UA-cam competitors, Doug Helvering, seems to have the ability to identify notes, keys, modulations as he listens and reacts. However, he tends to simply say "interesting" and is way too distracted by reading the lyrics. By contrast, Amy is willing so far to say, "musically, this is very simple, but I understand its appeal" and that makes a difference, but I'd like to see Amy match the actual identification of key shifts and their function, the way "the Daily Doug" seems to while listening, but often doesn't follow-up on. Amy's full analyses are the special "extra" that lifts her above her competitors. Reaction videos are plentiful, but she's the only one willing to then *analyze* with scores and repeated scrutiny.
As a guitarist I am deeply impressed with the chords of BHS and their progression. They are not typical triads or dominant 7ths. How Cornell composed it really astounds me. It couldn’t have been the result of strumming chords and thinking, “I like this.” It had to have been more intentional with almost inventing chords to fit his purposes.
@Miranda K absolutely! I too am a guitarist and it's why these chords hit me so well. Those positions are, like you said, not a sinple strumming flow, it's very deliberate. It makes sense knowing that Chris wrote and played all of the parts besides some of the chorus fuzz and the solo. Kim just let him go for it and didn't get in the way. It sounds much more akin to Chris' solo works where he really moves playing with progressions that rely on the interplay between major and minor, augmented and diminished, in a sort of harmonic minor-esque vibe. It's just a very -him- progression and it'd just... sigh.. so good. Lol
@@mirandak3273 big shout out to kim thayil too - as you say i think the overall guitar sounds, riffs, progressions etc really helped the band stand out from the rest - a v distinctive sound etc 😃
@@mikes9305 Doug also rarely talks about the melody. He did Black Hole Sun, and just talked about the chord changes. But the melody, especially when you play it on guitar and see how untraditional it is, is pretty cool. When it comes to Chris Cornell, I prefer to watch The Charismatic Voice, because she picks up the melody of the singing, not just chord progressions.
I found myself chuckling at the suggestion of the use of synthesizers and what Kim Thayil would think about that. I’m sure Karl will get into this but, part of the Grunge sound was about rejecting the digital instrumentation that became big in the 80s in favor of vintage instruments and analog modulation to get organic sounds; even if the recording process itself was digital. It was a different type of “getting back to basics” that was part of the DIY punk movement from a little over a decade prior.
Contrary, to the comments I’ve seen questioning this selection, I actually think this is a far better representation of the early 90s Rock sound than most people would have wanted. I don’t think the idea is to recommend songs from the conventional cannon of the casual music listener, though that’s probably in most people’s wheelhouses. Though, I still consider Soundgarden to be part of the 90s mainstream Rock bands. For context in the early 90s I was listening to a lot of underground Death, Grind, and Black Metal so had it been me suggesting songs I might have recommended a Carcass, Mayhem, or Morbid Angel song. 😂
Finally a selection that everyone can agree as a fine one!
one of the last truly great rock bands
Well as much as I like Soundgarden I wouldn't have chosen this song to typify the Grunge genre. But then again Amy has been pushed past the 80's only hearing the Go Go's, Motley Crue and Savatage so her rock education has already been stuffed imo :) Who knows what will be forced on her as we move forward. Good news is she can always return to the 70/80/90/2000s and do another rock education properly next time :)
Have to do Radiohead for the 90s!
The fact is that there is a connection, because rock in the nineties renounces the music just before it and looks towards the sixties and seventies.
You have stumbled across the best vocalist of all. I keep Chris and Freddie Mercury in separate categories. They are BOTH the greatest. Chris was so versatile. RIP Chris! You are missed!
RIP to both of them. I was 40 ft from Chris 2 weeks before he died.😢
A great song Amy should listen to is Silent Lucidity by Queensrÿche. There are some really beautiful textures and soundscapes with strings and Geoff Tate's voice in this song!
It’s an artistic triumph, I love it.
I'm wondering if Operation: Mindcrime would be worth going through. Whole albums take some time to process - especially when doing the sort of forensic-level analysis this channel is coming to be known for - but what he does with his voice throughout it is impressive, not to mention the musical composition and plot of the story.
Take hold of the flame from Queensryche is a beast
Be sure to have a watch of the video for this tune. It was absolutely iconic in its time.
Chris Cornell version of nothing compares to you is amazing. He really shines with his voice on that song.
I would like to suggest you listen to two songs side-by-side - God Only Knows by the Beach Boys and Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles, which is Paul McCartney's response to Brian Wilson's masterpiece. You haven't discussed any Beach Boys music yet.
Very small thing, but I love that you let the last note fade out completely before coming out to talk about it. So many people cut the fade out off or, worse yet, stop after the last vocal line! Thank you for listening to the entirety of the piece. PS - More Pink Floyd! The Wall is great, but a drop in the bucket to their music. In fact it was the only album by them I refused to buy for years because it was the only thing younger friends of mine would talk about or request to hear when they found out I was a Floyd fan. I's just say, "Nope, I don't have The Wall - Let's listen to Meddle instead!" and blow their minds with how different it was.
The greatest rock vocalist since Robert Plant, sadly missed now
best band ever, she shoul listen the 4-th of july, it always gives me gusbumps..
I've never thought of it but you're right: it has that eerie, ominous vibe that brings Pink Floyd to mind. Overall I'd say that many grunge bands showed a '70s rock influence.
Definitely. I’ve always heard a ton of Pink Floyd in Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam was full of Zeppelin
octave
You noticed the prominence of the pedaling bass. By the 90s, radio, stereo systems(especially car stereo systems), CD technology, and Walkmans could replicate lower frequencies with more power and accuracy.
Thank you!
The opening bending/sliding notes are indeed a slide on the guitar. All the "synth" sounds are augmented guitars with FX pedals. I play this with my current band. Really fun challenging song to play.
Yes you are perfectly right Amy, the 90s brought back roughness and purity as I would describe in the form of the grunge genre, opposing the glam rock that dominated the late 80s which was more overproduced and was all about the visual aspect of the bands, thanks to the hype of the music videos technology on the popular MTV channel.
The “strong bass sound that keeps going”. That’s a compressor used on the bass guitar. It limits the electric volume output so that everything loud is turned down above that limit .
That lowers the peak level of the sound without lowering the overall average level.
So when you play a note loudly, it only comes out medium loud. The whole time the note is decaying on the bass, the output level stays constant. That gives long sustain from an instrument lacking natural sustain.
Undoubtedly one of the best Rock singles of the 90s - it charted highly in the UK too, at least. Soundgarden are one of my all time favourite bands. Glad Chris chose this - hard to get everyone's approval when you're choosing 2 songs a decade. This one gets a big thumbs up from me though...
I can not wait to hear what Karl says about this as it may relate to Pink Floyd. These are two of my favorite bands and never thought of them in relation to each other.
I can hear Floyd influence now (never thought of it before). The harmonic structure of the bass, the guitar arpeggios run through a leslie speaker, layered vocal styles, lyrical content, slower tempo with small shifts in the minimal melodies.
@@flyingardilla143 I was going to say the same thing, but you gave better reasons for the comparison than I would have. Like both you and @Marnee I never noticed it before. But once Amy brought it up I could start to see the comparison.
The layering of sound I would say goes back to the Beatles. And then to Pink Floyd as it influenced many artists.
I don’t think we discuss the relationship between the two bands. That is a specific reference it will come up in later programs. Of course all music ends up being related in some form, even if it is just the cadence or the melody structure. I do not personally hear a lot of similarities between Soundgarden and Pink Floyd. Yes there is a psychedelia, orSpatial element to the music, that is about all I hear. I guess one could say vocally when Chris Cornell sings in his lower register it could be seen as less intrusive or aggressive, but during the choruses of the song Chris really shines particularly in the background vocals.
@@steveh7108on my UA-cam the autoplay delivered next to my listening ears “Dear Prudence” from the White Album. I was thinking the same thing as you: the layering, the piano fills, and the strong dynamic bass sound were there with the Beatles in ‘68!
Wow I asked for this weeks ago and here it is! the best singer ever (in my humble opinion).
I remember a guitar magazine transcribing this song and the person doing the transcription flatly refused to transcribe the solo because it was in a different time structure to the song and he couldn't put the two together cleanly - he described it as just "what Madman Mr. Thayil was playing at the time." Seeing this video pop up on my timeline, I was waiting to hear your reaction to that part.
*nobody* plays like Kim Thayil. It's the main thing that irks me when people inadvisedly try to cover a Soundgarden song. Everyone knows that nobody can ever replace Cornell's vocals, but Kim's creations are criminally underloved imho! #UnorthodoxAF :)
All I can say is I love this song so much and have since it was new. Thank you for checking it out!
One thing that was said about this album was that it mixed the essences of both The Beatles and Black Sabbath and still came out sounding exactly like Soundgarden. I'd love to hear what you'd have to say about this album's "Head Down" and "Half" tracks.
WELCOME TO "GRUNGE ROCK" Amy, yes, yet another genre.
One of the peculiar things about this genre is that as a genre which really took a very prominent place in music all the world over, it originated in one very small concentrated geographical area, Seattle, Washington and really nowhere else. You may look at your home town, Nashville, as an example, as the capital of country music and it is but country music originated from a much larger area, covering perhaps 20, or so, US states. Such is not the case with Grunge Rock, it comes from Seattle and really from no other place.
Karl is good (and I like this Canadian military officer) and I knew that when you were going to ring in the 90's he would pick a Grunge Rock song. Sound Garden is probably the best pick as an over all representation, better than Nirvana, a band who's sound was a little too specific to represent the genre as a whole, personally I am a bigger fan of Pearl Jam.
Your comparison to Pink Floyd may or may not be naive but it is also a very astute observation, this song has some synthetization, that is unavoidable at this time but one of the things about Grunge is that the 80's had become really insanely synthesized and over produced and people were sick of it, Grunge is a back lash, this youth worked on the principle of a longing to go back to more simple and honest rock...like back to Pink Floyd of 1978. A Hallmark of Grunge is very distorted guitars playing power chords with solid bass guitar and drums.
Other hallmarks of the genre are:
1) They were good musicians really, not just bands thrown together because the members happened to be friends with no regard for their musical qualities. People attribute this to the fact that it always rains in Seattle, keeping people in-doors doing in-door activities like playing instruments. Who knows but they were good musicians.
2) A healthy emphasize on the main vocalist, it is now recognized that the human voice is an instrument, a serious one and front man singer is no longer whomever had the guts to do it but people (including some females) who had good technique and something special to offer. Many of them looked for a rich baritone(r). The singer that you listened to, Chris Cornell, not a true baritone, but extra ordinary talented (not so apparent in this song) and he sadly passed away a few years ago.
3) Depressive, Grunge has generally very depressive lyrics and subject material and the Grunge bands generally displayed a very sullen, anti commercial and anti success kind of attitude and demeanor.
4) Sadly plagued by heavy drug use. These young people were simply using too much heroine and the genre has lost a lot of talented people at a very young age due to drug use.
5) Cross over, as said this genre grew out of a very small concentration of people but there's a large number of bands and they all seemed to know each other and played in each other's bands, a lot of member switching as it all formed and took shape.
6) Diversion from conventions. This song is a hit song and features common chorus and a break and so forth but much music of this genre snuffed at conventional music structure and sought to make music that was as un-commercial as possible.
This was interesting! I'm an old gen Z er (born at end of 90's) with a tendency towards older music taste. I have always been an avid pink floyd fan. I was first exposed to this song during my own Music History class in high school as an example of 90's rock and remember really liking it but could never pinpoint why. Now you have compared it to pink floyd I wonder if my brain subconsciously made the same connection? Similar darkness to the sound but also very atmospheric.
You do such an amazing job of allowing me to rediscover the music I grew up on in a new perspective. I would love to watch you listen to Paranoid Android by Radiohead.
It's funny that this one is one of their simpler pieces. They're very well known for doing songs with alternating time signatures (moving from 5/4 to 9/8 and even in one something akin to 19/8). For them to have such a huge hit with a basic 4/4 song was.... different for us fans. I would also suggest their "Fell On Black Days" (in 6/4). Not quite as strange but unusual for a rock song.
I'm glad you later clarified your comment early on that this sounds more "synthesized" - i didn't understand at first what you meant - because to me (a musical amateur) - that's a description i use for '80s pop music that involved the heavy use of keyboard synthesizers. But now i understand your intention - that advancements in technology allowed musicians to create sounds that weren't available for artists in past decades. I had never thought about musical evolution in those terms before - so thank you for teaching me something i had never thought about before. And thanks for posting this reacton.
One of the last great rock bands of all time. They also didn't overstay their welcome during their relatively short career. They left us wanting MORE. And of course, RIP Chris Cornell.
The guitar was played through a Leslie speaker cabinet. That's what gives it that distinct sound. A Leslie speaker was commonly used with organs. It has 2 or 3 speaker horns that sit on a spinning disc inside the cabinet. The RPMs can be adjusted to alter the sound. Gives it kind of an echo dopplar effect.
I think you would enjoy the live performance of Pearl Jam - Black from the MTV unplugged set. The amount of emotion from Eddie really makes you feel the pain the lyrics are expressing.
You were talking about "synthesized sounds"; You might be surprised that there are no keyboards in this song, only guitars! 😄 Played through effects pedals like Tremolo and Chorus, though 😉 And the "sliding" sounds in the intro are indeed played on a guitar with a slide, which is a metal tube on one of the guitarist's fretting hand's fingers, and it's the same principle as on a steel guitar 🙂
Chris Cornell live in Sweden. Beautiful acoustic set
I´m new here so first of all, it´s great to see someone jumping in to new sounds and bands. IMO, there are no bands or artists like this anymore. If you´d like to explore more 90s sounds, please visit Alice in Chains. Harmonies between singers Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell will blow your mind. They have electric and acoustic albums for you to discover. For me, they are the trully "grunge" band. Keep it up the good work!
She is spot on the late 60's and 70's were the Pinnacle of rock .
this song is one of those that accidentally find in my playlist and then listen to for a week. What a song!
Atlest this piece is really good and significant
The ‘bending’ is a slide guitar being played through a Leslie rotary speaker. Slide guitar is playing guitar using a metal or glass slide on the fretting hand which essentially turns it into a fretless instrument. A Leslie speaker uses a rotating horn and was originally used with electric organs. I don’t know if this was recorded using a real Leslie or an effect pedal which mimics the Leslie effect.
Soundgarden is one of the bands that evolved a lot in the styles they brought to their different songs and albums. There are three other songs by them where, arguably, the arrangement and recording technique and studio production play an even bigger role in the emotional effect of the music, namely "Head Down" and "Half" and "Never the Machine Forever".
I completely get the comparison between Soundgarden (and BHS in particular) and Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - both are expressions of dark and emotionally heavy themes / events, both are looking for hope, but not sure that there is any hope to be had. The Wall was produced when synthesizers were relatively new and just becoming commonplace, while Soundgarden was still using a lot of low-cost tech (which would be "vintage" within a few years 🙂) - and possibly most significant given your observations about Motley Crue - both placed the vocals much more prominently than the hair metal of the 80s did.
Apart from the Beatles, it's hard to argue against Pink Floyd being the most influential Rock band ever, so it's no accident that bands like Soundgarden (who were contemporaries of The 'Floyd for a brief period in the late 80s - early 90s) found influence in them, particularly in the creative use of studio musicality. Pink Floyd invented studio techniques that are still very much in use in the digital era.
I’d add Led Zeppelin as the third act as most influential.
@@mirandak3273 Definitely can't give much pushback on that. I'm no Zep' fan, and they did little in the way of innovation, but their influence on rock bands that followed, was massive. Perhaps more easily identifiable than even that of the 'Floyd, to the casual observer.
@@mirandak3273Gotta add Sabbath if you are talking influence on modern music.
I absolutely love Amy's videos.
Being a rock musician for more than 40 years it surprises Me how Amy can talk about rock, like a swimmer would talk about iceskating...
This was a hit in the UK too. Soundgarden as a band were big but not massive here. We were all too busy listening to Oasis.
I don't blame you. They're good!
I wonder if Karl will discuss Brit Pop & the battle between Oasis & Blur? I hope so. (Edit, I had written the opposite of what I meant. )
I really like Dr. John Covach’s series on the history of rock (online U. of Rochester courses, all on UA-cam.) But he ignores Glam, Manchester, & Brit Pop because he’s looking at American history. He explicitly says that’s why he ignores Glam (although he does look at Bowie.). He doesn’t say it for the others he ignores, but it’s easy to figure that’s why.
I wasn't.couldn't stand them.
Sad but true! LOL
I wasn't (I can't stand Oasis), but the vast majority were, for sure.
Outstanding era of rock and possibly the last time for true legendary bands.... can't wait to see you react to the song 4th of July off this album.
That synthesized sound you referred to is actually not a synthesizer, it’s Leslie effect. It’s a rotating speaker effect and in this case, it’s set to a fast speed to get that sound
The Pink Floyd comment is interesting and not one I'd picked out before with this song, but now you mention it... 😎
....wondering if it's because this song is perhaps more in the progressive rock style? Radiohead were once jokingly referred to as 'Punk Floyd' for much the same reason. Not just sticking to traditional rock structures but trying to push the envelope. Thanks, this got me thinking 😎
The tension in this song is amazing, it just keeps pulling and pulling.
Phenomenal album from a phenomenal band
Well here we are. The 90's, my teenage years.
And one of the Songs I've loved and still do today.
Thanks for choosing this great song!
*you need to listen to My Bloody Valentine...* it's not as bad as it sounds, trust me the name put me off for years but i'm so glad i finally listened.
She is fantastic!
This is such a good song. OMG had not heard it for a long time already and it still hits the spot. So good.
The vocal melody amd delivery in parts is very Beetles-esq too. This is an amazing album.
The "Grunge Rock" movement of the 1990s was a response to the excesses of glam rock and hair metal of the 80s with a return to a more 1970s aesthetic. So that connection is intentional.
One underrated band that majorly influenced grunge is King's X. They created the drop D guitar tone that became a staple of the sound. There's this great radio interview on TY with bassist Doug Pinnick were he talks about it. He was friends with all the bands and joked every time a new song came out somebody would come up to him and say it was a copy of a King's X song.
As for a song suggestion listen to "Black Flag" or "Dogman."
Pleaides
Another band that people don't talk about enough is The Melvins. I don't think we'd have grunge without them.
Amy, all the variety you have experienced in rock, is just a scratch at the rock world. Rock on.
I am still very saddened by Chris' tragic passing. He was a wonderful person. Thanks for this video. Another musician that became famous in the 90s, Dave Grohl, found that this song combined the noisy sound from the alternative rock scene with the melodic sensibilities of the Beatles.
By the way, while some of the music became even more proficently produced, and even more slick (up to the point of using auto-tune to improve the voice, even in rock), there were more attempts to deconstruct these productions and take them into very new directions. I am thinking of Beck, Radiohead (starting with their 3rd album), Sonic Youth, Nine Inch Nails.
It sure would tickle me pink if you would react to guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson. In particular a song called Cliff's of Dover.
They both user a sound that gives a sensation of creeping to an edge, then almost falling
90s never gets enough praise...70s and 90s are the best
One of my favorite albums growing up in the grundge era before I discovered indie rock and post rock.
When I was thinking through the songs on The Wall I wonder if Amy is hearing a similarity between Comfortably Numb and Black Hole Sun. It never occurred to me the similarities between those two songs but the soaring choruses of "I have become Comfortably Numb" and Black Hole Sun, Won't You Come" do hold some common ground. Well spotted Amy!
Before "The Wall," Pink Floyd released a masterpiece called "Dark Side Of The Moon," (it's in the Library of Congress) Like The Wall, each section (song) sets up and flows into the next, telling the story like a musical movie. You'll immediately identify how prolific Pink Floyd's influence is. The original studio album with Clare Torry is the best version.
I always think of STPs' "Vaseline" when I hear this. Both bands eased off on the aggressiveness, and introduced some very interesting patterns and complexities. I love this song because it's so rhythmically off-putting. There is so much music to explore in the 90s, I don't think a 10 hr documentary could do it justice. But would love to hear your reactions to Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", or anything by Stereolab, Pixies, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Blur. 70s: ABBA, Bowie, Yes, Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Donna Summer 80s: New Order, Nick Cave, Rush - "Time Stand Still", Kate Bush, Iron Maiden, Simple Minds (pre-85) :)
Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters) said, to paraphrase: Grunge bands were trying to capture the updated Seattle sound yet write a song with broad appeal, like the Beatles. When Chris Cornell and Soundgsrden released Black Hole Sun, there was wide recognition the goal has been reached masterfully. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and others went on to have a huge influence on music.
Super excited for this era, hope you react to some Cocteau Twins or some shoegaze.
Could it be possible to hear you react to joanna newsom once you make it to the 00s?
that's what i was thinking! can't imagine what MBV would sound like never hearing rock music before..
you nail that one for sure amy and it made me smile thanks alot
I love that raunchy ,melodic sound !! . thanks for the very interesting break down . ive have been loving your stuff, i think its great . I have listened to most analogies and breakdowns . as a budding guitarist i find your breakdowns very insightful and intriguing ,thank you so much.i remeber you once saying you thought rock was industrial music ,i wonder what you are thinking now lol. the best industial rock sound i have heard would be "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE " very political as the name suggests and the guitarist is the most creative on this planet.
Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn pt.1 it will curl your toes and send shivers up your spine. Also, Genesis' Cinema Show, David Bowie's Warszawa, and Brian Eno's Sombre Reptiles. Thx.
Yes, orchestration = instrumental arrangement, or instrumentation. Great reaction, and it's very interesting following your education!
I'm a 70 year old from Seattle. I'm a huge music fan. I've seen more live acts than anyone I know. You are so cool. I think your reaction to the greatest jazz rock bands in history would be of interest. The band is "John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. The song I would suggest is "One Word" off the Birds of Fire album. It's the most user friendly. I'd love it if you would check them out. Magnificent.
I love your analysis, and the fact that everything is still so new and interesting to you.