Superunknown

Superunknown
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 8, 1994 (1994-03-08)
RecordedJuly–September 1993
StudioBad Animals, Seattle
Genre
Length70:13
LabelA&M
Producer
Soundgarden chronology
Badmotorfinger
(1991)
Superunknown
(1994)
Down on the Upside
(1996)
Singles from Superunknown
  1. "Spoonman"
    Released: February 14, 1994
  2. "The Day I Tried to Live"
    Released: April 18, 1994[3]
  3. "Black Hole Sun"
    Released: August 8, 1994 (UK)[4]
  4. "My Wave"
    Released: October 31, 1994 (Aus.)[5]
  5. "Fell on Black Days"
    Released: January 1995 (UK)
2014 re-release

Superunknown is the fourth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on March 8, 1994, through A&M Records. Produced by Michael Beinhorn and the band themselves, Soundgarden began work on the album after touring in support of their previous album, Badmotorfinger (1991). Superunknown retained the heaviness of the band's earlier releases while displaying a more diverse range of influences.

Superunknown was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 310,000 copies in its opening week. The album also topped the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand charts. Five singles were released from the album: "The Day I Tried to Live", "My Wave", "Fell on Black Days", "Spoonman", and "Black Hole Sun", the latter two of which won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainstream popularity. In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. It has been certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States. Superunknown has been listed by several publications as one of the best albums of the 1990s and a quintessential grunge album. In April 2019, it was ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" list.[6]

  1. ^ Weiss, Jeff. "There Was No One Else on Earth Like Chris Cornell". Noisey. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  2. ^ Pitchfork Staff (September 28, 2022). "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 26, 2023. The album remains an alt-rock anomaly, thundering and openhearted in equal measure.
  3. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. April 16, 1994. p. 27.
  4. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. August 6, 1994. p. 21.
  5. ^ "Soundgarden singles".
  6. ^ "50 Greatest Grunge Albums". Rolling Stone. April 1, 2019.