Band Name: Soundgarden Album Title: Down On The Upside Released: 1996 Well, i have had around 9 days or so to fully listen to this album and i feel well placed to review this piece of work. I suppose it would be better to get right into it so i will do just that. I was unsure exactly what to expect with this as any band would struggle to follow an album of the calibre of Superunknown, but as soon as i pressed the play button Superunkown became a distant memory, replaced by an experimental and very different sounding soundgarden. Pretty Noose was the first track up, and while nothing particularly special it is a nice introduction to the CD with a catchy tune and some nice lyrics, this song lead nicely into Rhinosaur. Rhinosaur is a short rock song that doesn't really interest me personally but does fit well with Pretty Noose and was again a kind off catchy song which had some nice tempo changes, but ultimately was nothing spectacular. At this point i was wondering exactly what i had bought here, it sounded like a passionless Soundgarden with nothing for me to get excited about. This feeling was continued when i drifted on to the next track "Zero Chance", with a tedious introduction i was starting to feel very disappointed indeed, however this song changed my opinion on the whole CD. The song is a magnificent effort, especially Cornells vocals. It is a very sad song, hidden behind upbeat instrumentation, but found through Cornells lyrics and vocals. This is a notable feature of the album throughout Next was "Dusty", a lovely track, with a nice catchy country rock feel to it changing the mood of the listener very effectively. This was continued by the intro to Ty Cobb, but not the whole song. This is a very surprising song - catchy, upbeat, aggressive- a perfect lead into one of the singles off the CD, "Blow Up The Outside World". A slow paced song which completley calms the listener down after the frantic Ty Cobb and takes them miles away. Burden in My hand was next on the track listing, a catchy intro in the same vein as Dusty lead into probably the best track on the album. This is where the difference between the upbeat music and depressing vocals is the most notable. Next up, Never Named is really just another rock song. Catchy enough, but again not particularly interesting lyrically or musically. In fact the only thing going for it is the fact it leads into Applebite. This track really highlights the experimntation soundgarden tried on this album. It creates a perfect atmosphere making the listener feel like they are up in clouds. The next four tracks are very similar in style mixing both nice rock riffs with beautiful melodies, but all that changes with the way the album ends. I personally expect albums to end in an upbeat or positive way, but this album left me feeling suicidal. In Overfloater, an Unkind and Boot Camp Soungarden take the listener all the way to the bottom. This CD is a fantastic piece of work and the songs take you on a crazy ride. This CD really incorporates a lot of different styles into while still remaining strong to where it came from and I can completley understand why some Soundgarden fans rate this as better than Superunknown...not me mind you. It still sounds fresh...it is hard to believe it was release 10 years ago. The only negatives from my point of view are a lot of tracks sound similar and maybe the CD is a little long, but i'm not going to complain 7/10 Next week, i will take a close look at Evanescences newest release The Open Door. Until then enjoy your music.