Chris Cornell, the frontman of Soundgarden, former frontman of Audioslave, and a successful solo artist in his own right, recently suggested that his main band, Soundgarden, is underrated, and that they were far more experimental and interesting than many of the other grunge bands out there ever were.
Soundgarden did not enjoy quite the level of commercial success that two other Seattle bands, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, enjoyed.
Yet, he makes a valid point. Soundgarden has a unique sound, with more complicated riffs than almost any other band out there. They were not afraid to try new things, rather than simply sticking with one formula that worked, or as many later grunge/alternative bands did, simply jump on the bandwagon and play the style of music that was popular and make money while it was there.
Soundgarden's musical approach was unique, and they never lacked credibility, or any such thing. Few were those who ever questioned their musical integrity. I can think of only one example myself - Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden. His beef with the band was that they were really a heavy metal band, although they have consistently rejected that label. Essentially, he said that when you listen to a Soundgarden album, it sounded like a bad Ozzy record.
That, I think, is a tad unfair. Again, they had a unique sound, and certainly, so far as I am concerned, take a different and more interesting approach both musically and lyrically (as does Iron Maiden, for that matter). Besides, I agree with Soundgarden's stance that labels are too limiting. They are what they are, whatever you want to classify them as.
In any case, here is the link to the article about Cornell, as he makes his case in his own words:
Chris Cornell Says Soundgarden Is Most Adventurous Grunge Band: ‘We’re Underrated’ by Brett Buchanan - Oct 2, 2015:
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