(Credits: Far Out / Chris Cornell)
Fri 31 October 2025 22:00, UK
To get to the level of Chris Cornell isn’t something that anyone makes happen overnight.
As much as Cornell himself could be considered a rock god alongside the ranks of people like Robert Plant and Jim Morrison these days, there was certainly a wilderness period before the Soundgarden frontman got completely comfortable onstage. But what made him sit back in his seat was seeing the bands that could make magic happen from the minute they performed for the first time.
Because being able to make that kind of magic out of nothing is almost a lost art. No one is usually thinking of becoming a rock and roll star right out of the gate, and even if there are people that have those stars in their eyes, they’re usually in for a rude awakening when they realise how difficult it is to be the little fish in an entire ocean of other bands trying to do the same thing.
But that’s not how Soundgarden looked at things when they were growing up in Seattle. Cornell had a knockout voice when he wanted to, but half the fun came from the fact that none of them were looking to become famous. They were making music to amuse themselves half the time, and a lot of their finest moments came when they seemed to pay no attention to whether a song was “hit material” or not.
Then again, a lot of bands had come out of nowhere before them and made landmark records right out of the gate. No one was expecting such a massive response to The Stones Roses’ debut in 1989, nor was anyone prepared for the LA rock scene to be knocked on its ass when Guns N’ Roses released Appetite for Destruction, but grunge’s ascent was more of a slow burn by comparison.
Acts like Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Melvins had been established names in the underground for years, and even though Nirvana broke down the door, Nevermind was already their second record after moving to DGC. Alice in Chains was always on the fringes of grunge half the time, but when the remaining members of Mother Love Bone played together with Eddie Vedder for the first time, Cornell was shellshocked.
He knew his friends were powerful, but he didn’t realise they could pull that off on their first try, saying, “It definitely to this day was absolutely the best inaugural show I’ve ever seen in my life, Hands down, no comparison. And it has nothing to do with my perception of how great they are as a live band now. I remember exactly what I was thinking then, and it was that they were absurdly great.”
Compared to the rest of the bands in Seattle, though, what made Pearl Jam stick out was how nostalgic they already felt. There were pieces of their sound that were left over from the glory days of classic rock, but this was as if you took all of the great music from bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Aerosmith, took out all the sex and drugs lyrics, and stripped away all of the pageantry.
They weren’t in it for anything else other than having a good time, but as time would tell, there were a whole lot more people than they bargained for looking to see them. That music was infectious, but even if Vedder had to get used to fame, every bit of it was earned if it meant nailing a debut that well.
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