Soundgarden - Telephantasm Review

Posted by Michael Melchor on 09.28.2010

Reuniting with a greatest hits set after previously releasing a greatest hits set? That takes some guts.

For newer fans - or those that may have not have heard a lot of the band until they got their copy of Telephantasm included with the Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock game, this is going to be real short and sweet: consider Telephantasm your recommended Soundgarden 101 course. If you like what you hear on the disc and the game - and if you like dirty, no-nonsense rock and roll, it stands to reason there’s no reason you shouldn’t - then proceed with picking up a copy of A-Sides and enjoy your beginner’s course. After that, feel free to seek out the 2 CD/DVD edition for more before going through the catalog proper. Go forth, discover, and have a nice day.



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Now, for those left that know and remember Soundgarden, any trepidation in picking up Telephantasm can certainly be understood. After all, quite a few long-time fans of Cornell, Thayil, Cameron, and Shapherd probably didn’t need to pick up A-Sides because they already had the best cuts from it. When the tracklisting for Telephantasm was revealed, it seemed part-retread and part-letdown. After all, A-Sides was the last release - in any form - from Soundgarden.

It is a pleasure to report, then, that Telephantasm - in its expanded form, leastways - is much more than a retread of A-Sides. Sure, much of the main tracks from the greatest hits set they released last is still here, but there’s quite a bit of bonus material that wasn’t there. The first four tracks alone - “All Your Lies”, “Hunted Down”, “Fopp”, and “Beyond The Wheel” - were all really early tracks that were absent from the A-Sides set. The first one that was on it that’s also on Telephantasm - “Flower” - is on the new collection, but it’s a BBC Session recording.

The constant comparisons to A-Sides may be a little infuriating. It even comes across that way as it’s being typed. Totally understood. However, it seems necessary because it’s really difficult to remember when the last time a band released a “greatest hits” set as their final release, and then reunited with...a “greatest hits” set. It’s unclear whether or not Soundgarden is working on newer material, and Cornell has made it pretty clear that the band has no real designs on sticking to a schedule or going back to the usual grind. They’re set to do this on their own terms - admirable, but frustrating for fans who would like to skip the nostalgia angle and get straight to hearing the band get back to writing the sort of songs that hammered their name in to music history in the first place.

Until such time, however, Telephantasm makes for a good tie-over - even for a nostalgia package. The band went out of their way to include some rarities, such as live versions of “Get On The Snake”, “Jesus Christ Pose”, “Pretty Noose”, and “Blow Up The Outside World”. One of these, however, may have been a mistake; the reading of “Pretty Noose” from “Saturday Night Live” is far from one of Cornell’s finer vocal moments. In fact, it could be cited as the starting point for many noticing that Cornell’s voice wasn’t what it was back when Soundgarden was at their bombastic peak.

For those desperate for new(ish) material, there is one track here that hasn’t been released in any form - “Black Rain”. An unheard track from the Badmotorfinger sessions, the track is very reminiscent of “New Damage” a song that’s sorely missed from Telephantasm, particularly the version featuring Queen’s Brian May heard on the Alternative NRG collection. That being said, it makes sense to leave off “New Damage” in favor of a similar-sounding song that’s never been heard before on a set such as this.

The 411: All in all, Telephantasm stands as a pretty good introduction to Soundgarden (as included with the new Guitar Hero game). The expanded edition, however, comes off as a condensed boxed-set. Rarities, classics, live songs, warts and all...and with a cheaper price tag. A pretty good deal, all in all, for fans of Soundgarden, Seattle rock, and rock music as a whole.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]