Louder Than Love
Subtlety is not the first thing Louder Than Love offers. Chris Cornell sings as if he is trying to get above the entire building, and Kim Thayil's guitar gives him a sizeable obstacle. Soundgarden's second album is an untidy meeting of heavy rock, strange rhythms and an appetite for noise.
Ugly Truth sets out the basic argument with a riff that feels broad enough to support a much more conventional band. The details prevent that from happening. Cornell's phrasing strains against the instruments, and the guitar has a roughness that keeps the track away from comfortable blues-rock familiarity. Hands All Over is more distinctive still, with a circling figure that makes its size feel slightly disorientating.
The album is at its best when movement interrupts the weight. Gun begins slowly, then accelerates until the original groove seems to have been pulled apart. Matt Cameron's drumming helps the change feel physical rather than technical. Get on the Snake has another of those rhythms that can sound straightforward until you try to follow precisely where the phrase ends.
Loud Love provides the strongest combination of force and melody. The high guitar sound at the start leads naturally into Cornell's voice, and the song has enough shape to remain memorable after the volume drops. Full on Kevin's Mom is useful for the opposite reason: its fast, scrappy attack prevents the album from becoming one uninterrupted slow march.
Some of the humour is less durable. Big Dumb Sex makes its point about empty rock posturing very clearly, but clarity is not the same as a joke that keeps improving. There are also stretches where the murky sound hides the rhythm section and makes a less developed song feel heavier without making it better.
Louder Than Love does not have the precision of Soundgarden's strongest records. Its appeal lies in the awkward energy of a band forcing familiar heavy-rock materials into unfamiliar shapes. Enough of those experiments land to make the rougher passages worth navigating, especially when the riffs acquire a momentum of their own.
