Down On The Upside - Unofficial Soundgarden Homepage

LABEL
A&M Records

CATALOG #
31454 0526 1/4/2

RELEASE DATE
May 14 1996

PERSONNEL
Chris Cornell: voc, gtr
Kim Thayil: guitar
Matt Cameron: drums
Ben Shepherd: bass

Down On The Upside was released on limited edition double vinyl (black vinyl except for 1500 on clear vinyl) on 14 May 1996, and the CD/cassette became available worldwide on 21 May 1996. In the United States the CDs are in color DigiPaks, while the rest of the world seems to have gotten standard jewel boxes. The album is Soundgarden's first self-produced effort, though they were assisted by Adam Kasper. If you're interested in what the record label and the band itself says about the album, check out the UK press release.

The world premiere of the new album was broadcast via satellite to all radio stations across the United States and Canada on 13 May, a day before the record came out officially. It was a 90-minute show, hosted by Matt Pinfield and produced by Album Network, featuring new tracks and all four band members answering questions from both studio audience members and callers. For those of you who missed it, it was quite entertaining.

Note that some versions of Down On The Upside -- so far, this has been reported to be the case in Malaysia -- do not include "Ty Cobb" and "Blow Up The Outside World."

PRETTY NOOSE [single]
Music & Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
RHINOSAUR
Music: Cameron; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Walpurgis Night Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
"Rhinosaur" was remixed by the ex-drummer for Ministry, Bill Rieflin. The remix appears on the "Ty Cobb" single, released in April 1997.
ZERO CHANCE
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
DUSTY
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
"Dusty" is the song that contains the lyrics "down on the upside," from which the name of the album was taken. It was remixed by techno artist Moby; the remix is available as a b-side on one of the "Blow Up The Outside World" singles.
TY COBB [single]
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
Supposedly "Ty Cobb" was originally titled "Hot Rod Death Toll," but the title was changed when one of the members said it reminded him of Ty Cobb (played baseball with the Detroit Tigers in the early 1900s; still has the all-time highest lifetime batting average (.367)). The song showed up in some of Soundgarden's live performances before the album was released, most notably the 1995 Reading Festival. It features a 20-second intro written by Ben Shepherd and includes mandolin and mandola performances by him and Chris Cornell.
BLOW UP THE OUTSIDE WORLD [single]
Music & Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
BURDEN IN MY HAND [single]
Music & Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature] [bass tablature]
NEVER NAMED
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
Ben Shepherd wrote "Never Named" when he was only 16 years old.
APPLEBITE
Music: Cameron; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Walpurgis Night Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
"Applebite" features an intro by production assistant Adam Kasper as well as some of his piano playing. Matt Cameron plays a Moog during the song, which was included as a b-side to "Pretty Noose".
NEVER THE MACHINE FOREVER
Music & Lyrics: Thayil
©1996 In One Ear And Out Your Mother (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
Kim Thayil wrote "Never The Machine Forever" about a "life and death struggle," according to KERRANG! magazine.
TIGHTER AND TIGHTER
Music & Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
NO ATTENTION
Music & Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
Soundgarden performed "No Attention" on Pearl Jam's Self-Pollution Radio broadcast on 8 January 1995, and it is available on that bootleg.
SWITCH OPENS
Music: Shepherd; Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)/Stupidditties (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics]
OVERFLOATER
Music & Lyrics: Cornell
©1996 You Make Me Sick I Make Music (ASCAP)
Read: [lyrics] [guitar tablature]
"Overfloater" features Chris Cornell playing a Rhodes piano.