Temple of the Dog
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| Temple of the Dog | ||
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| Studio album by Temple of the Dog | ||
| Released | April 16, 1991 | |
| Recorded | November-December, 1990 | |
| Genre | Grunge | |
| Length | 54:59 | |
| Label | A&M | |
| Producer(s) | Rick Parashar, Temple of the Dog | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
Temple of the Dog is a grunge supergroup formed by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and ex members of Mother Love Bone. The group released only one album (self titled). The album was released on April 16, 1991 through A&M Records.
Contents |
[edit] Formation
Temple of the Dog was started by Chris Cornell. After the death of his former roommate, Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, Cornell wrote two songs in tribute: "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and "Reach Down". Cornell approached Wood's former bandmates, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, with the intention of releasing the songs as a single.
With the band completed following the addition of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron (who would later join Pearl Jam after the breakup of Soundgarden in April 1997) and future Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready, the band started rehearsing the songs, as well as re-working some existing material from demos done by Gossard/Ament/Cameron. One such demo became a song for both bands as "Footsteps" for Pearl Jam and "Times of Trouble" for Temple of the Dog. The rehearsals soon led to several new songs, and the single soon became an album. The album and group became known as Temple of the Dog, after a lyric in the Mother Love Bone song, "Man of Golden Words".
Eddie Vedder, who had flown to Seattle to audition to be Pearl Jam's singer, ended up providing backing vocals. "Hunger Strike" became a duet between Cornell and Vedder. Cornell was having trouble with the vocals at practice, when Vedder stepped in. Cornell later said that "he sang half of that song not even knowing that I'd wanted the part to be there and he sang it exactly the way I was thinking about doing it, just instinctively."
In the summer of 1992, the album received new attention. Though the album had been released more than a year earlier, A&M Records realized that they had in their catalog what was essentially a collaboration between Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, who had both risen to mainstream attention in the months since the album's release. A&M decided to re-issue the album and promote "Hunger Strike" as a single, with the video subsequently entering heavy rotation on MTV. The attention allowed both the album and single to chart on Billboard.
While rehearsing and writing the material for the album, the band played a full show in Seattle at the Off Ramp Café on November 13, 1990. In the time since the album's release, the band reformed for short live performances on two occasions where both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were performing. In October 1991, the band performed "Hunger Strike" at the Foundations Forum showcase. In September 1992, the band performed "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down" at the last show of that year's Lollapalooza festival in Fairfax, Virginia.
At a show on October 28, 2003, Pearl Jam was joined on-stage by Chris Cornell for renditions of "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down". The version of "Reach Down" recorded that night later appeared on Pearl Jam's annual Ten Club Christmas Single that year. Pearl Jam has also been known to perform "Hunger Strike" live on their own on rare occasion.
"All Night Thing" (as well as Soundgarden's "Loud Love") appears on the soundtrack of Wayne's World, though not on the soundtrack album.
Cornell's post-Soundgarden band, Audioslave, added "Call Me A Dog", "All Night Thing", and "Hunger Strike" to their live set in 2005.
[edit] Track listing
- "Say Hello 2 Heaven" (Cornell) – 6:22
- "Reach Down" (Cornell) – 11:11
- "Hunger Strike" (Cornell) – 4:03
- "Pushin Forward Back" (Ament/Cornell/Gossard) – 3:44
- "Call Me a Dog" (Cornell) – 5:02
- "Times of Trouble" (Cornell/Gossard) – 5:41
- "Wooden Jesus" (Cornell) – 4:09
- "Your Saviour" (Cornell) – 4:02
- "Four Walled World" (Cornell/Gossard) – 6:53
- "All Night Thing" (Cornell) – 3:52
[edit] Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | The Billboard 200 | 5 |
| 1992 | Heatseekers | 5 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Hunger Strike" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 1992 | "Hunger Strike" | Modern Rock Tracks | 7 |
| 1993 | "Say Hello 2 Heaven" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
[edit] Personnel
- Jeff Ament - bass guitar
- Matt Cameron - drums, percussion
- Chris Cornell - banjo, harmonica, vocals, guitar
- Stone Gossard - rhythm guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar
- Mike McCready - lead guitars
- Rick Parashar - organ ("All Night Thing"), piano ("Call Me a Dog," "Times of Trouble," "All Night Thing"), producer
- Temple of the Dog - producer
- Eddie Vedder - backing vocals ("Pushin Forward Back," "Your Saviour," "Four Walled World"), vocals ("Hunger Strike")
[edit] References
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Temple of the Dog". All Music Guide. Retrieved June 13, 2005.
- Temple of the Dog interview ("he sang half...")
- Temple of the Dog history (live appearances)
[edit] External links
| Soundgarden |
| Chris Cornell | Kim Thayil | Matt Cameron | Ben Shepherd |
| Scott Sundquist | Hiro Yamamoto | Jason Everman |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Screaming Life | Fopp | Ultramega OK | Flower | Louder than Love | Screaming Life/Fopp | Badmotorfinger | Superunknown | Songs from the Superunknown | Down on the Upside | A-Sides |
| Singles: "Hunted Down" | "Flower" | "Loud Love" | "Hands All Over" | "Room a Thousand Years Wide" | "Jesus Christ Pose" | "Outshined" | "Rusty Cage" | "Spoonman" | "Black Hole Sun" | "Fell on Black Days" | "My Wave" | "The Day I Tried to Live" | "Superunknown" | "Pretty Noose" | "Burden in My Hand" | "Blow Up the Outside World" | "Ty Cobb" | "Bleed Together" |
| Related Articles |
| Temple of the Dog | Singles | Grunge music | Audioslave | Pearl Jam | Alice Mudgarden | Hater | Wellwater Conspiracy |
