Soundgarden: They're unique

Chris Cornell has been chit-chatting with The Sun's Tim Nixon, to stress what a unique beast Soundgarden are:

“We stand alone outside of genres. We’re not like anybody else. We can’t be imitated.”

'Not like anyone else' is over-egging it a bit; certainly the comparisons with Nirvana were odious, but frankly, if you ordered Soundgarden and got Alice In Chains or Temple Of The Dog you'd probably not complain.

And "can't be imitated", Chris? That might come as a surprise to Jesus Christ Pose, who make a living imitating Soundgarden in New York. Or A New Damage, who imitate Soundgarden in Israel.

Then there's Audiogarden, who sound a lot like Soundgarden down in California.

And then there's this lot, Bleed Together:

Actually, they sound better than Soundgarden proper.

Soundgarden claim first reunion of 2010

Ah, so welcome to the 10s, rather similar to the 00s, with bands you'd been rather pleased to see split up announcing their revival. Soundgarden are getting in first:

The 12 year break is over and school is back in session
[...]
Nights of the Soundtable ride again

Oh good. Pearl Jam's holiday cover are back. That's another decade ruined, then.

Never mind the Soundgarden reunion, here's Tad

Soundgarden? Back together, you say? Only without Chris Cornell, obviously, you say? Come away, children, there's nothing to see here... unless... who stood in for Cornell?

Tad Doyle?

Seattle Weekly enjoyed itself:

Earlier in the evening, I asked a sort of meatwad security guy if Chris Cornell was in the building...I couldn't help but ask, right? Dude goes (with all seriousness) "Chris Cornell, uh..yeah, that's the guy on stage, right?" Terrible. Anyway, their set was awesome.

Surely the first time anyone has confused Tad with Cornell. Possibly the first time anyone has confused Tad with anything other than a challenge to climbers.

Surely, though, there's nothing more frustrating than having Tad doing Soundgarden stuff when, instead, you could have had Soundgarden doing backing on Tad stuff? Stuff like this:

Chris Cornell: ... and if anyone else enjoys it, it's a bonus

Chris Cornell has issued a grumpy response to fans who don't like what he's doing now. Tough, this is Chris time:

"Older American fans don't like it because they are typically my core fans that really supported me in SOUNDGARDEN and really loved that band," Cornell said. "To them, that's kind of who I am, I'm that guy in that band, and I'm that guy who wrote those songs."

Cornell claims that he is a musician that needs to take chances to grow and be imaginative with his music.

"As a songwriter and creative person, I have to do what makes me happy. That changes, it goes into different worlds," Cornell explained. "Sometimes it's going to be in the world that those core fans of my earlier period love, and sometimes it won't."

Someone really should make "Core fan of earlier Chris Cornell period" t-shirts. They'd make a killing.

He is, of course, half right: musicians who don't adapt and change and experiment and grow will continue to just churn out decreasing-return-soundalike-stuff for the rest of their natural lives. Or "turn into Noel Gallagher" as medical people call it.

The other half of the rightness, though, is wrongness. Chris, sweetness: your core fans of your earlier work aren't recoiling in horror because you've changed. They're not afeared of your mad experimentalistics. It's because - despite swallowing Soundgarden - even the core fans can spot that your current stuff is a little ripe.