You’ve waited patiently and now yer gunna get it:  my numero uno, big enchilada, my mother of all 90s albums goes to Alice in Chains’ Dirt; a whirlwind mix of complex emotions, moody and often jarring soundscapes, and hefty performances spread out across all twelve cuts on this mighty fine record.  While I was a fan of their debut disc album number two is a huge leap forward, maybe not entirely stylistically but most certainly in the darker and more unsettling lyrical content that was light years away from the “feel good” 80s- certainly not everyone’s cup of tea but it grabbed me hook, line, and sinker due its unique mix of anthemic riff rock, subdued bluesiness, and often mindbending drone of musicality that stood alone from the pack.  That darkness, which I may not have fully understood from my own personal experience, was one that certainly intrigued me and made me feel like I was watching a movie or reading a book that involved a descent into drug induced madness that I did not want to go through myself.

Still…  Dirt is not just a dark and foreboding place for the meek at heart.  From a musical standpoint there are quite a few punchy, raise your fist and yell riffs to let out your inner headbanger, starting with the first three on the disc:  “Them Bones” is solid crunch, blasting out of the speakers with Layne Staley’s “AHHHH” teamed with a ballsy riff from Jerry Cantrell that grabs you from the get go.  Killer vocal here as both Staley and Cantrell harmonize together in parts and gel perfectly, often rising to great heights above the fat tones.  Next killer cut is the great “Dam That River”, maybe my favorite tune on the entire disc as Cantrell lays down a suitably solid and snarly riff as he and Staley once again nail an excellent harmonized vocal while the latter belts out a strong chorus.  Third cut “Rain When I Die” switches gears a little, a little more lowdown grunginess yet swirlingly chaotic during the first minute of the song before slipping into an easy groove and once again, a fantastic vocal from Staley and underscored by Cantrell’s lower octave.  An excellent way to kick off the album.

All that said, the meat of this disc is where things turn personal or more observational- the latter served well by “Rooster”, a bit of gloomy yet powerful blues that flows from gently strummed chords and a vocal that’s essentially understated menace during the verses until a full on sonic gutpunch during the “yeah, here come the Rooster” chorus, eventually settling back down again for consecutive verses.  This, my friends, is a stellar track and a great reason why I love this kind of music:  outstanding vocal, fantastic musical buildup between the verse and chorus section, excellent biographical lyric (about Cantrell’s father’s experiences in Vietnam), and killer tension ebb and flow throughout.  And speaking of ebb and flow, the hazy undercurrent of the ravages and darkness of substance abuse is obvious in the emotional spillover on the next series of cuts:  “Junkhead”, “Dirt”, “God Smack”, “Hate To Feel”, and “Angry Chair” (throw in “Sickman” too) are disturbing lyrically but musically engaging, often leading to a mental mind numb and a physical exhaustion by the time the last note rings out.  These songs almost feel like a story arc that’s painful to visualize yet oddly arresting, kind of like watching someone struggle through an awful experience and trying to climb out of their darkness while all you can do is idly sit by and hope and pray that they pull themselves together.

Last two cuts on the disc offer up the slightest glimmer of hope:  the beautiful yet somber “Down In A Hole” is fantastic-  Cantrell’s multitracked guitar intro blends acoustic and electric as his and Staley’s snaky vocal blend serves well in this melodic stunner; and final cut “Would?” kicks off with a subtly cool Mike Starr bassline before drummer Sean Kinney hits some tribal toms during the intro, while Cantrell’s subdued riff gains power during the chorus along with Staley’s powerful roar.  Both cuts are a little more reflective lyrically, coming to certain realizations about life decisions (“I’d like to fly…. but my wings have been so denied”) and maybe, just maybe, how others view those decisions (“so I made a big mistake…  try to see it once my way”).  The hope lies in the questioning of final cut “Would?”…

Am I Wrong?

Have I run too far to get home?

Have I gone?

And left you here along?

If I would, could you?

Bottom line, Dirt was an incredible musical and personal statement produced by a quartet of musicians going through various struggles during the early 90s.  Unfortunately, some of the personal demons expressed in the lyrics caught up to singer Layne Staley as his heroin addiction led to an untimely demise in 2002 plus bassist Mike Starr battled substance issues and passed in 2011.  Was Dirt a cry for help?  Possibly.  For many of us listeners out there it certainly was a distressing yet rewarding listen-  while I don’t listen much to the entire album these days, there are a number of songs that are in regular rotation.  A courageous, soul baring album that was a frequent listen during the decade and definitely stands atop all others as my favorite album of the 1990s.

I waffle quite a bit on my favorite Soundgarden album, usually depending on my mood or frame of mind at the time.  Some days I gotta go with 1989’s Louder Than Love, which was my first exposure to the band and a cassette(!) I played to death during the winter of that year as I trudged through snow covered streets as a door to door cable salesman.  That dark, grimy, and loose vibe showcased a band that started to lean a little more metal on top of their grungy drone; definitely more riff-centric guitar wise with unhinged rawk gawd vocal than before yet still unlike anything I’d ever heard.  It was a bit raw and certainly a bit more primal than what I’d usually listen to and definitely a much fresher take on some of those similar sonic elements.

But Badmotorfinger?  Damn…  talk about an entirely different beast.  More experimental, a bit more metallic, wildly dynamic, definitely more confident, certainly well produced, and arguably more “grown up” than previous records.  That looseness from the previous platter is relatively gone, replaced by more of a straight ahead pummeling of the senses in some areas and a denser groove in others with the occasional bits of frantic magnetism in various spots.  Terry Date’s production on Badmotorfinger, compared to his previous knob job on Louder Than Love, is top notch- guitars tones are thicker, bass sound is excellent, and drum sounds are solid.  As for the band as a whole?  They certainly brought their A game and ramped up their performances across all twelve songs on this nearly one hour disc.

Intro cut “Rusty Cage”s backwards clarion call of a riff is a stunner-  guitarists Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell bounce that riff back and forth before the rhythm section of drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd drop the hammer double time as Cornell eases into a steady vocal roar, reaching peak heat during the chorus and dropping gears in the back half of the tune before kicking up a notch before the song comes to a close.  This, my friends, is how to start an album!  But boy do things get even better from here-  next up is the sludgy groove of “Outshined”, featuring a slinky Sabbath riff and killer chorus with Cornell fully stretching his range, a mix of leonine roars, soulful bits, and manic screams.  Did I say manic screams?  Not to be outdone, third cut (and incredibly underrated) “Slaves And Bulldozers” is lowdown yet features a wide open mountain moving riff-  the rhythm section is in a deep, deep pocket as the guitars chug at a safe yet noisy, almost bluesy groove and Cornell once again shows off his formidable pipes as he ably shifts from understated menace in the verses to a sort of manic tension in the pre-chorus then full blown rock hero mode come chorus time.

Possibly the most metallic moment of the disc comes with the chaotic crunch of next cut “Jesus Christ Pose”, a mix of manic feedback and wildly distorted soundscapes at the front end of the song with a heavy palm muted riff and short bursts of oddly striking single note runs and bends backed with some excellent drumwork from Matt Cameron.  While Cornell is great here he takes a bit of a backseat to the almost relentlessly restless playing from his bandmates, not only on this cut but on plenty of others on this disc.  There is a dynamic shift in approach between songs on this album and sometimes within songs themselves that works incredibly well for Badmotorfinger–  take other speedy numbers like “Face Pollution” and “Drawing Flies” where the music is at the forefront and pushing the element.  However, compare that to the brilliant simplicity of “Holy Water” or the psychedelic bluesiness of “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” or the menacingly dense “Room A Thousand Years Wide”-  all three cuts more in the pocket with occasional mid-song freakouts yet leaving plenty of space for Cornell’s masterful pipes to weave their magic.

While Soundgarden would go on to even greater success come their fourth album (the mighty Superunknown) , they would never quite get as experimental or oscillate as wildly as they would on Badmotorfinger.  Amazing to look back now at the massive shift happening at the time (Pearl Jam’s Ten, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magic were all released within a month of each other and the latter three on the same day) as alternative and grunge were capturing the public’s attention and ushering in a new movement, yet none captured my attention (and still captures my attention) near as much as this album.  An incredible musical statement.

If it wasn’t for my fellow record store compadre Don Plummer, it is highly unlikely I would have ever heard this absolutely fantastic album.  Girlfriend, and Matthew Sweet in general, was not something that would have been on my metal head radar in the early 90s but when you work in a record store, have the pick of the litter to listen to, and a fellow music fan that you work with, at least something on their playlist is liable to catch your attention.  And boy, did this album ever do that.

As a music fan, it’s often hard to describe favorite releases but if I had two words for Girlfriend I would call it “beautifully ugly”.  The dichotomy here is certainly a polar opposite but if you set aside a good hour to fully listen to this album you may understand what I’m talking about.  Sweet’s songs travel the sonic spectrum from full on rock, power pop, alternative, country, folk, and dreamy harmony; like some wild mix of Tom Petty, Neil Young, Cheap Trick, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Gram Parsons, Television, Cat Stevens, Todd Rundgren, and The Byrds all rolled into a giant ball across fifteen songs covering a wide range of emotions, written during Sweet’s impending divorce.  While the lyrical content in the songs run the gamut of heartbreak, despair, regret, and anger it is evenly balanced with a hope that things may turn out better and that new love may be on the horizon-  you may be going through a rough patch now but you will come out of this OK and things will get better.

So where does the beauty come in with such heart wrenching subject matter?  A good chunk of that comes via a combination of Sweet’s wistful, high tenor vocals and the richly layered harmonies that he lays down in many songs.  For example listen to his sweet (no pun intended) multi-tracked vocals on the killer power pop of “I’ve Been Waiting” and its mix of Beatle harmonies and Petty/Byrds jangle; or the melancholy tone paired with the Greg Leisz’ pedal steel work on the beautiful “Winona”; or how about the dreamy Beach Boy elegance found in the incredible “Your Sweet Voice”?  All great examples of the beauty, but…  what’s with the ugly?  Well, the ugly is actually beautiful in its own way but not what you’d call conventional beauty, especially with today’s clean and auto tuned production standards-  that “beauty” is in the mix of stellar, sometimes abrasive, often atonal yet excellent guitar work from Richard Lloyd and Robert Quine.

Take the first three songs from the disc-  “Divine Intervention” comes in with a bit of feedback before Lloyd and Sweet ride a loping, crunchy riff with a solid drum backbeat, Sweet’s yearning vocals and harmonies, and some absolutely wobbly yet searing guitar noodling that sounds like a cross between Neil Young and George Harrison.  Next cut, the aforementioned “I’ve Been Waiting”, is pure sunny pop along the lines of Tom Petty or REM with Lloyd once again stealing the show with a shimmering, jangly line and understated lead guitar bit.  Title cut “Girlfriend” rocks hard, guitarist Robert Quine on fire here with some solid riffs and tasty leads that counters the melodic chorus, Sweet’s harmonies, and Fred Maher’s killer drum work.  Those melodies, harmonies, and Sweet’s often gentle singing tones contrast well against the angular, caustic, heavier sounds from Quine and Lloyd, lending to an incredibly balanced musical experience and one moving album.

You want more examples?  Let’s check out some of the diversity of the remaining tunes:  How about the alterna-rock vibes of the warm vocals and crunch of “Evangeline” that features excellent interplay between Sweet’s chunky rhythms and Lloyd’s stinging guitar lines?  Or maybe the semi-flamenco vibe meets Lindsey Buckingham in the acoustic only “I Thought I Knew You”? How about the bluesy stomp of the menacing “Does She Talk?” featuring some dirty Quine riffery?  Or maybe your interest lies in the sweetly sung yet somber finale “Nothing Lasts” which features Sweet on acoustic and Quine adding some tasteful lead line accompaniment.

All in all, Girlfriend is a knockout of an album and one that ended up on many a critic’s best of the decade lists.  While Sweet has released a number of good to great albums since (check out the rocking 100% Fun), none really comes close to the excellence on display here.  If you like strong hooks, beautiful harmonies, great songs, poignant lyrics, and stunning guitar work, grab you a copy of Girlfriend today.