Telephantasm

The <i>Deluxe Edition</i> includes a greater scope of Soundgarden’s career with several alternate versions and rarities but this 12-track “standard” edition is itself a tight, punchy set of familiar recordings from one of Seattle’s most important bands of the late '80s and '90s. It’s a “Greatest Hits” collection for a band who weren’t much for such things. “Black Rain” is a previously unreleased outtake that’s as powerful as anything in the Soundgarden catalog. The rest range from the Led Zeppelin-in-flannel of “Hunted Down” and “Hands All Over” to the slinky riff-groove of “Outshined” that joins forces with Chris Cornell’s rock-god histrionics for a perfect marriage of underground rock and its mainstream counterpart. “Rusty Cage” was later covered by Johnny Cash. “Spoonman,” “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell On Black Days” and “Blow Up the Outside World” were all sizable “hits” (on alternative radio) for the band back in the ‘90s. The band’s unusual intellect matched with such hard-rock brawn has rarely been matched.