[rating-8.00]
As the tongue-in-cheek title suggests, Soundgarden’s Ultramega OK was always a pretty good but not great album. The Seattle grunge pioneers made the mistake of switching from Sub Pop to SST Records and working with a producer, Drew Canulette, who was unfamiliar with their sound or the Seattle scene in general. As a result, their 1988 debut LP was good yet disappointing at the same time. It had a lot of great songs that showcased an early form of one of rock’s most innovative acts, but the band was never happy with the way the record sounded. Though the band always intended to remix the sessions, they decided to move on from the sunk costs, focusing on touring and the 1989 follow-up album Louder Than Love on A&M Records. Now 29 years later, Soundgarden is releasing the long-overdue reboot, remixed by longtime grunge collaborator Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees).
The resulting album sounds much better than OK; it is outstanding. In other words, it’s what you expect from a Soundgarden album. It’s more raw, more powerful, and a more appropriate representation of the no-frills grunge attitude than the Canulette version. Gone are the overproduced vocals, unnecessary musical flourishes, thick layer of reverb, and weak rhythm section. The reissued Ultramega OK is characterized by a primal ferocity, packed with pounding drums, soaring vocals, and sludgy guitar distortion.
Though a far cry from some of the musical experimentation Soundgarden would do in later years – particularly with unique alternate tunings and atypical time signatures – Ultramega OK shows the band rocking out with 19 tracks of unrelenting intensity. The off-kilter rhythms and intricately catchy riffing for which the band would become famous are on full display. Lead guitarist Kim Thayil shows glimpses of the iconic solos he would pull off later in his career and while frontman Chris Cornell had yet to develop the soulful edge to his vocals, it’s a treat to hear his voice wail over the heavier songs.
“Flower” and “Incessant Mace” have some of the best riffs in Soundgarden’s catalog. Concert favorite “Beyond the Wheel” features some of Cornell’s best hair-raising screaming. “Father, mighty man/ loves his little boys/ shows them how to kill/ to save his precious stones,” Cornell belts with a bone-chilling fury not heard since Badmotorfinger’s “Slaves and Bulldozers.”
This Expanded Reissue also includes demo versions of six of the songs that had been recorded on an 8-track by Endino in 1987. Those demos give a glimpse into the origins of these songs, and some will prefer them to the newly remixed versions, but in reality they add little value to the album.
Ultramega OK is arguably Soundgarden’s heaviest and most aggressive album. Though not as innovative or eclectic as their later work, this newly remixed reissue finally gives those heavy tracks the sound they deserve.
