King Animal
| King Animal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Soundgarden | ||||
| Released | November 13, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | February 2011 – August 2012 | |||
| Genre | Alternative metal,[1] heavy metal,[2] grunge,[3] psychedelic rock[4][5][6] | |||
| Length | 52:01 | |||
| Label |
Seven Four Entertainment/Republic[7] (USA) Vertigo[8] (Europe & Oceania) | |||
| Producer | Adam Kasper and Soundgarden | |||
| Soundgarden chronology | ||||
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| Singles from King Animal | ||||
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King Animal is the sixth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on November 12, 2012 on Seven Four Entertainment and Republic Records[9][10] in the US and Vertigo Records[8] in the rest of the world. Produced by both the band and Adam Kasper, the album is the band's first in sixteen years, and the first not to be released on A&M Records since 1988's Ultramega OK. However, Republic, Vertigo and A&M are all owned by Universal Music Group.
Overview
Soundgarden reformed in 2010 after a 13-year hiatus. Following the success of the band's Telephantasm compilation release that year, Soundgarden had been working on a new album with an indefinite release date. The band went on an extended world tour between the release of Telephantasm and the summer of 2012 before word came out that a new Soundgarden album would be ready for a US fall release.
"Been Away Too Long" was the first single to be released from King Animal on September 27, 2012.[11] On October 31, "Non-State Actor" was released through the official Soundgarden YouTube channel. The video for the song features an American flag waving back and forth with the King Animal logo replacing the stars.[12] The week before its release, the album was streamed in its entirety for free on iTunes.[13] On January 29, 2013, the band released a music video for "By Crooked Steps", which was directed by Dave Grohl.[14]
Reception
Critical response
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 70/100[15] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Alternative Press |  [16] |
| Artistdirect | [5] |
| BBC Music | favorable[17] |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10[18] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| Pitchfork | 5.9/10[6] |
| The Phoenix | [19] |
| Rolling Stone | [20] |
| The New York Times | favorable[21] |
King Animal has received positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it a positive review by saying, "King Animal is a big, bright album, executed with precision and professionalism. The band members sound older, not quite as loud, and possess a keener sense of good taste, and it sounds as if they've aged together, which is a testament to their innate chemistry. Simply put, Soundgarden sound like they belong together; Cornell sounds richer, fuller when anchored by drummer Matt Cameron, bassist Ben Shepherd, and the deceptively sinewy and brainy guitarist Kim Thayil, whose presence has sorely been missed over the past decade."[2]
Commercial performance
King Animal sold 83,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the third highest position of Soundgarden's career and their highest since their previous two studio albums, Superunknown (1994) and Down on the Upside (1996), which landed at position Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.[22] The album has to date reached the top ten on the Australian and German Albums Chart, the top fifteen on the albums charts of Ireland and Norway, and the top thirty on the albums charts of the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[23]
European Tour 2013 'Plus' re-release
On September 2, 2013, King Animal Plus (with a distinctive dark purple/black sleeve) was released prior to the bands' European tour later that month. 5 bonus live tracks recorded for The Artists Den at The Wiltern, Los Angeles on February 17, 2013, and an acoustic cut recorded for 89X CIMX radio, Detroit on April 22, 2013, were included as bonus tracks.[24]
Track listing
All lyrics written by Chris Cornell, except where noted.| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Been Away Too Long" | Cornell, Ben Shepherd | 3:36 | ||
| 2. | "Non-State Actor" | Kim Thayil, Cornell | Shepherd | 3:57 | |
| 3. | "By Crooked Steps" | Matt Cameron, Shepherd, Thayil | 4:00 | ||
| 4. | "A Thousand Days Before" | Thayil | 4:23 | ||
| 5. | "Blood on the Valley Floor" | Thayil | 3:48 | ||
| 6. | "Bones of Birds" | Cornell | 4:22 | ||
| 7. | "Taree" | Shepherd | 3:38 | ||
| 8. | "Attrition" | Shepherd | Shepherd | 2:52 | |
| 9. | "Black Saturday" | Cornell | 3:29 | ||
| 10. | "Halfway There" | Cornell | 3:16 | ||
| 11. | "Worse Dreams" | Cornell | 4:53 | ||
| 12. | "Eyelid's Mouth" | Cameron | 4:39 | ||
| 13. | "Rowing" | Shepherd, Cornell | 5:08 | ||
Total length: |
52:01 | ||||
| Deluxe Edition CD, Digital Download and Box Set bonus tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 14. | "Worse Dreams" (Demo) | 3:20 | ||||||||
| 15. | "Black Saturday" (Demo) | 3:16 | ||||||||
| 16. | "By Crooked Steps" (Demo) | 4:23 | ||||||||
Total length: |
1:03:00 | |||||||||
| Japan bonus tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 14. | "Worse Dreams" (Demo) | 3:20 | ||||||||
| 15. | "Black Saturday" (Demo) | 3:16 | ||||||||
| 16. | "By Crooked Steps" (Demo) | 4:23 | ||||||||
| 17. | "Bones of Birds" (Demo) | 3:27 | ||||||||
Total length: |
1:06:27 | |||||||||
| iTunes Deluxe Edition bonus tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 14. | "Worse Dreams" (Demo) | 3:20 | ||||||||
| 15. | "Black Saturday" (Demo) | 3:16 | ||||||||
| 16. | "By Crooked Steps" (Demo) | 4:23 | ||||||||
| 17. | "Halfway There" (Demo) | 3:34 | ||||||||
Total length: |
1:06:34 | |||||||||
| Best Buy, Amazon.de, and Australian Deluxe Edition bonus tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 14. | "Worse Dreams" (Demo) | 3:20 | ||||||||
| 15. | "Black Saturday" (Demo) | 3:16 | ||||||||
| 16. | "By Crooked Steps" (Demo) | 4:23 | ||||||||
| 17. | "Bones of Birds" (Demo) | 3:27 | ||||||||
| 18. | "A Thousand Days Before" (Demo) | 4:24 | ||||||||
Total length: |
1:10:51 | |||||||||
| King Animal Plus bonus tracks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 14. | "Taree" (Live From The Artists Den) | 3:48 | ||||||||
| 15. | "Blind Dogs" (Live From The Artists Den) | 4:24 | ||||||||
| 16. | "Rowing" (Live From The Artists Den) | 4:25 | ||||||||
| 17. | "Non-State Actor" (Live From The Artists Den) | 4:09 | ||||||||
| 18. | "A Thousand Days Before" (Live From The Artists Den) | 4:46 | ||||||||
| 19. | "Halfway There" (Acoustic From 89X CIMX Detroit/Windsor) | 3:22 | ||||||||
Total length: |
1:17:06 | |||||||||
Personnel
- Soundgarden
- Matt Cameron – drums, percussion, Moog (5 and 12), backing vocals (8)
- Chris Cornell – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (6), mandolin (7)
- Ben Shepherd – bass guitar, additional guitar (7 and 8), baritone guitar (8), backing vocals (8)
- Kim Thayil – lead guitar, mandolin (4), horn arrangements (4 and 9)
- Additional musicians
- Adam Kasper - piano (6), tambura (4)
- Jeff McGrath - trumpet (4 and 9)
- Greg Powers - tenor and bass trombone (4 and 9)
- Brad Stevens - tenor and baritone saxophone (9)
- Bubba Dupree - stun guitar (8)
- Bullet - additional vocals (9)
- Mike McCready – additional guitar (12)
- Technical personnel
- Adam Kasper – producer
- Soundgarden – producer
- Joe Barresi – mixing, additional production
- Nate Yaccino – engineer
- Sam Hofstedt – engineer
- Josh Evans – engineer, studio assistant
- Jay Follette – studio assistant
- Neil Hundt – studio assistant
- Gregg Keplinger – studio assistant
- Jun Murakawa – mixing assistant
- Chris Cornell – additional recording
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Josh Graham – album cover sculpture (The Last Equinox), album cover photography and design
- Don Vancleave – band photography
Charts
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Greek Albums Chart[25] | 20 |
| Italian Albums Chart[26] | 18 |
| Polish Albums Chart[27] | 36 |
| UK Albums Chart[28] | 21 |
| US Billboard 200[22] | 5 |
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.luminomagazine.com/mw/content/view/3359/4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "King Animal - Soundgarden". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- ↑ "Album review: Soundgarden’s ‘King Animal’". NY Daily News. 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Simpson, Dave (2012-11-08). "Soundgarden: King Animal – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Florino, Rick (2012-11-06). "Soundgarden King Animal album review". Artistdirect. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Berman, Stuart. "Soundgarden: King Animal". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
- ↑ "SOUNDGARDEN: 'King Animal' Track Listing, Final Cover Artwork Unveiled". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://www.discogs.com/Soundgarden-King-Animal/master/490187
- ↑ "Soundgarden King Animal". Soundgardenkinganimal.com. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
- ↑ "SOUNDGARDEN: New Album Title Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
- ↑ "Soundgarden - Been Away Too Long (Official Audio)". Soundgarden. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ↑ "Soundgarden - Non-State Actor". Soundgarden. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
- ↑ "Soundgarden - King Animal (Stream)". Soundgarden. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
- ↑ "Video: Dave Grohl Directs Soundgarden's Raucous 'By Crooked Steps'". Rolling Stone. 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ↑ "King Animal - Soundgarden". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ↑ Karan, Tim. "Soundgarden - King Animal". Alternative Press. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ↑ Turner, Luke (2012-11-08). "Soundgarden King Animal Review". BBC Online. BBC Music. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ↑ Cottingham, Christian. "Soundgarden- King Animal". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- ↑ Christopher, Michael. "Soundgarden King Animal". The Phoenix. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- ↑ Dolan, Jon. "Soundgarden King Animal". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ↑ Pareles, Jon (2012-11-12). "Soundgarden King Animal". BBC Online (New York Times). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Caulfield, Keith. "One Direction Tops Billboard 200 Chart, 'Twilight' Debuts at No. 3". billboard.com. Nov 21, 2012.
- ↑ acharts.us
- ↑
- ↑ "Official Cyta-IFPI Charts - Top-75 Albums Sales Chart - Εβδομάδα: 47/2012" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ↑ "Album - Classifica settimanale WK 46 (dal 12/11/2012 al 18/11/2012)" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
- ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
- ↑ "Soundgarden UK Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
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