A-Sides

Infobox Album |
Name = A-Sides
Type = Greatest hits
Artist = Soundgarden


Released = November 4, 1997
Recorded = 1987–1996
Length = 79:10
Label = A&M
Producer = Michael Beinhorn, Drew Canulette, Terry Date, Adam Kasper, Soundgarden
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ay7fe4j273waq link]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (A) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,63474,00.html 12/8/97]
*Pitchfork Media (7.5/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21919-a-sides link]
*"Q" rating|4|5 10/00
*Robert Christgau Rating-Christgau|hm3 [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=soundgarden link] |
Last album = "Down on the Upside" (1996)
This album = "A-Sides" (1997)
Next album =
Misc = Singles
Name = A-Sides
Type = Greatest hits
single 1 = Bleed Together
single 1 date = November 1997

"A-Sides" is a compilation album by the American alternative rock band Soundgarden with songs spanning the band's thirteen year career. It was released on November 4, 1997 through A&M Records.

Overview

The album was released in 1997 on A&M Records and was Soundgarden's last album. It debuted at number 63 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. It has since sold over 500,000 copies in the United States and over 700,000 copies worldwide, but has not yet been certified by the RIAA. It peaked at number 51 on the UK Albums Chart, number 39 on the Australian Albums Chart, and number 6 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.

It contains one song absent from previous albums ("Bleed Together") which appeared on import copies of the "Burden in My Hand" single. Interestingly, the opening track "Nothing to Say" was originally not an A-side. It appeared as the B-side to the band's first single "Hunted Down" on Sub Pop in 1987. Also, the 1990 Sub Pop single "Room a Thousand Years Wide" does not appear on "A-Sides".

Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four out of five stars. He said, "For an act that was one of the definitive album artists of the late '80s and '90s, Soundgarden was a surprisingly effective singles band. Their singles effectively conveyed all of their best ideas, from their sludgy early Sub Pop recordings to the elaborate, post-metal psychedelia of their last two albums, "Superunknown" and "Down on the Upside". That's the reason why the 17-track compilation "A-Sides" is such a successful overview of the band's too-brief career." [Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ay7fe4j273waq "A-Sides"] . Allmusic.] "Entertainment Weekly" reviewer David Browne gave the album an A. He said, "Pruning their best early songwriting ("Hands All Over", "Nothing to Say") and wisely highlighting chunks of their last two (and best) albums, "A-Sides" presents the band in all its evolving, bridling-horses glory and thunder. When all those Hanson fans grow up and want to educate themselves on the flannel era they missed, here's where they should turn." [Browne, David. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301370,00.html "A-Sides"] . "Entertainment Weekly". December 8, 1997.]

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Cornell, except where noted:
#"Nothing to Say" (Cornell, Kim Thayil) – 3:56
#*Originally from "Screaming Life".
#"Flower" (Cornell, Thayil) – 3:25
#*Originally from "Ultramega OK".
#"Loud Love" – 4:57
#*Originally from "Louder Than Love".
#"Hands All Over" (Cornell, Thayil) – 6:00
#*Originally from "Louder Than Love".
#"Get on the Snake" (Cornell, Thayil) – 3:44
#*Originally from "Louder Than Love".
#"Jesus Christ Pose" (Matt Cameron, Cornell, Ben Shepherd, Thayil) – 5:51
#*Originally from "Badmotorfinger".
#"Outshined" – 5:11
#*Originally from "Badmotorfinger".
#"Rusty Cage" – 4:26
#*Originally from "Badmotorfinger".
#"Spoonman" – 4:06
#*Originally from "Superunknown".
#"The Day I Tried to Live" – 5:19
#*Originally from "Superunknown".
#"Black Hole Sun" – 5:18
#*Originally from "Superunknown".
#"Fell on Black Days" – 4:42
#*Originally from "Superunknown".
#"Pretty Noose" – 4:12
#*Originally from "Down on the Upside".
#"Burden in My Hand" – 4:50
#*Originally from "Down on the Upside".
#"Blow Up the Outside World" – 5:46
#*Originally from "Down on the Upside".
#"Ty Cobb" (Cornell, Shepherd) – 3:05
#*Originally from "Down on the Upside".
#"Bleed Together" – 3:54
#*Originally from the "Burden in My Hand" single.

Personnel

*Chris Cornell – guitar, vocals
*Kim Thayil – guitar
*Ben Shepherd – bass on tracks 6-17
*Matt Cameron – percussion, drums
*Hiro Yamamoto – bass on tracks 1-5
*Soundgarden – production, mixing
*Michael Beinhorn – production
*Drew Canulette – production, engineering
*Terry Date – production, engineering
*Adam Kasper – production, engineering, assistant engineering, mixing assistance
*Michael Barbiero, Ron Saint Germaine, Brendan O'Brien, Steve Thompson – mixing
*Jack Endino – engineering, assistant engineering
*Jason Corsaro, Lance Limbocker – engineering
*Efren Herrera, Stuart Hallerman, Sam Hofstedt, Matt Bayles – assistant engineering
*Nelson Ayres, John Jackson – mixing assistance
*Howie Weinberg, Dave Collins – mastering
*Larry Brewer – production assistance
*Steve Gilbert, Charles Peterson, Michael Lavine, Kevin Westenberg, Mark Seliger, Larimie Garcia, Jan Van Oldenmark – photography

Chart positions

;Album

;Singles

References

External links

* [http://web.stargate.net/soundgarden/releases/asides.shtml "A-Sides" on the Unofficial Soundgarden Homepage]