Monday, May 22, 2017

One

It was a whirlwind of a weekend for me, complete with graduation ceremonies, a roundtrip to and from Hampton, VA in the span of 18 hours, a state gymnastics meet (I did really well, and thanks for asking), some lawn grooming, and sadly, a continuing bout of Mexico-related gastrointestinal issues. As a consequence, I didn't really sit down to look at the coverage of Chris Cornell's passing until last night.

Like most men my age, I was pretty into the grunge era. We've talked before about how the W&M Gheorghies of a certain age are responsible for Nirvana blowing up on our campus, so you could argue that we're responsible for the flannel explosion. Hell, we had friends in a band named the Flannel Animals. But while I liked Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and dug Soul Asylum and Screaming Trees (and fucking hated Smashing Pumpkins), I didn't really elevate Soundgarden, even as I appreciated Cornell's otherworldly pipes.

And I don't think I appreciated those pipes until Cornell and Eddie Vedder went voice to voice on Temple of the Dog's 'Hunger Strike'. Vedder's bassline foundation with Cornell wailing over the top? That's a hall of fame vocal.



As I spent a little time listening to Cornell's work, I came across something I'd never heard before. It was recorded live about four years ago, and it's completely unique. To hear Cornell tell the story, he wanted to cover U2's 'One', but when he Googled the lyrics, the words to Metallica's song of the same name were the first things to come up. So he decided to mash up the two. The result, in his voice, is pretty remarkable.



Cornell, Cobain, Weiland, Staley - the leading men of the grunge movement are all but gone. Every generation's leading men is destined to fade away, but this one feels closer to home than most.

17 comments:

zman said...

I guess you didn't listen to Badmotorfinger? That's a pretty amazing vocal display.

Less amazing is whale bacon. Not a lot of flavor.

TR said...

Kenaf Thompson, Tom Hanks and Alec Baldwin carried Bobby Moynihan off the stage after his last SNL episode ended late Sat night. Pretty cool moment. And no small feat. He is a big dude. There is video of it on Instagram.

zman said...

Kenaf.

rob said...

brad stevens is a goddamned sorcerer, no?

TR said...

We are very close to getting the Ottawa-Nashville NHL finals everybody wants.

And by "everybody", I mean "nobody".

rob said...

pittsburgh and its 3-2 series lead over ottawa may have an opinion on that.

TR said...

Don't rain on my "worst possible NHL Finals pairing" dream, Rob.

Whitney said...

That's not rain you feel Rob streaming onto your dream, TR.

Whitney said...

ORF Rock was a fun show tonight. Search WODU ORF Rock on YouTube to watch before it gets muted by Big Brother.

TR said...

I watched the Eagles of Death Metal documentary that gives more details than you might want about the Paris terrorist attack. Tonight's news of another European attack is awful.

zman said...

It's 1-0 in the Hanshin Tigers/Tokyo Giants game but I have no idea who is winning.

Whitney said...

RIP to one of the stars of The Cannonball Run, Roger Moore.

Oh yeah, you might have seen him as 007.

mayhugh said...

First or Second best bond? I have never seen a Daniel Craig Bond movie but I'm assuming he's no better than third.

TR said...

Brosnan #1

Dave said...

cannonball run! that was the film that taught me to love the cinema. totally ruined my taste in everything . . .

zman said...

Brosnan is a bold call. Most people say Connery and I can't argue with that. Daniel Craig is an effective Bond in my humble opinion.

Danimal said...

Dinner at the Friars Club this evening where Roger Moore was a member. Better than South Bend. Lots.