My fondest memories of Soundgarden come from repeated viewings of their "Black Hole Sun" music video during the summer of 1994. No one awaits armageddon more eagerly than this computer-assisted cast of buggy eyes and eerie grins. The video propelled their 1994 album Superunknown to five-times-platinum status and the commercial zenith of their career. They split just three years later, out of gas after pumping out grunge for a decade.
Several instances in 2009 pointed towards an inevitable Soundgarden reunion. There was the one-off TadGarden performance: unsung grunge hero Tad Doyle in frontman Chris Cornell's place as the band pounded out three songs. Last summer, bassist Ben Shepherd blasted Shinedown frontman Brent Smith leaking "talk of a reuniting of SOUNDGARDEN in the States soon. I know actually someone… specifically in their organization." An impromptu Temple of the Dog reunion at a Pearl Jam show in October managed to corral Soundgarden's core 90s lineup in one building – Cornell and Pearl Jam/ex-Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron on-stage, with Shepherd and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil in the audience.
Chris Cornell watched the 2010 ball drop from his Twitter feed, posting this message at exactly midnight:
This article appears in Dec 30, 2009 – Jan 5, 2010.