Rusty Cage
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| “Rusty Cage” | |||||
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| Single by Soundgarden from the album Badmotorfinger |
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| B-side | "Big Bottom"/"Earache My Eye" (live) | ||||
| Released | 1992 | ||||
| Format | CD single, Vinyl | ||||
| Recorded | March 1991–April 1991 | ||||
| Genre | Grunge | ||||
| Length | 4:26 | ||||
| Label | A&M | ||||
| Writer(s) | Chris Cornell | ||||
| Producer | Terry Date, Soundgarden | ||||
| Soundgarden singles chronology | |||||
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| Badmotorfinger track listing | |||||
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"Rusty Cage" is a song by the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. It appears as the opening track on the band's 1991 album Badmotorfinger. The song became an instant hit and was released as a single in several different formats in 1991 and 1992. It would later appear on the band's greatest hits album A-Sides.
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[edit] Origin and recording
The song was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Guitarist Kim Thayil on the song:
The tuning on that song was pretty nutty. It's recorded with a wah wah in the low position used as a filter. That was the first time we did anything like that. It was Chris' idea; he wanted to get that weird tone that you can't really dial in on an amp. But if you use the wah wah as a filter, it gets an incredibly weird sound. And if you listen to that riff, especially if you've heard the original demos of it, it almost sounds backward.[1]
[edit] Composition
On "Rusty Cage" the bottom E string is tuned all the way down to B.[2] The song features a striking tempo change towards the end of the song, going from 4/4 time to the unusual meter of 19/8 -- always accompanied by the 'Chris Cornell Stomp' when performed in concert.
[edit] Release and reception
The song gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations. "Rusty Cage" appeared on the fictional radio station "Radio X" in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and was part of the soundtrack of the bike racing game Road Rash, which received 3DO's 1994 "Soundtrack of the Year" award. However, these versions are all 1 minute and 43 seconds shorter than the album version. The majority of these versions end as the breakdown at the end of the song comes in. The song is also featured in the racing game, Burnout Paradise.
[edit] Music video
The video, directed by Eric Zimmerman, features Soundgarden performing the song amid scenes of the band being chased through a forest. The video was released in March 1992.[3] It gained considerable airtime on MTV.
[edit] Live performances
A performance of the song is included on the Motorvision home video release. "Rusty Cage" was performed along with a few other Soundgarden songs by Chris Cornell's later band Audioslave.
[edit] Cover versions
"Rusty Cage" was covered by Johnny Cash on his 1996 album Unchained, which won a Grammy for Best Country Album. During at least one live performance (early November 1996 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago), Chris Cornell introduced the song with a dedication to Johnny Cash.
[edit] Track listing
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[edit] Chart positions
Information taken from chartstats.com.[4]
| Year | Chart | Position |
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| 1992 | UK Singles Chart | 41 |
[edit] References
- ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Primecuts: Kim Thayil". Guitar School. May 1994.
- ^ Woodard, Josef. "Soundgarden's Kim Thayil & Chris Cornell". Musician. March 1992.
- ^ Soundgarden music videos. Music Video Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
- ^ UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Soundgarden. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
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