1988-10-31
Ultramega OK
Soundgarden
By Maeve C.
SST Records steered Soundgarden towards producer Drew Canulette for their first full-length album, recorded in spring 1988 in Seattle and in Newberg, Oregon. Chris Cornell later said the producer did not understand the band’s sound, and in 2016 the original multitracks went to Jack Endino for a new mix.
“Flower” was the only single, and its video found regular airplay on MTV’s 120 Minutes. Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” appears among the originals, and “One Minute Of Silence” closes the album as a nod to John Lennon. The record also earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.
Sources
Current rights-holder metadata (℗ 2017 Sub Pop Records): original release date October 31, 1988.Independent corroboration: released on October 31, 1988, by SST Records; recorded spring 1988 in Seattle and Newberg, Oregon, with Drew Canulette; Flower only single, 120 Minutes airplay; Smokestack Lightning cover; One Minute of Silence after Lennon; Grammy nomination.
Press retrospective: issued on Halloween 1988; SST pushed for Canulette; Cornell said the producer did not understand the band's sound.
Sub Pop (label): originally released in 1988 on SST; in 2016 the band handed the multitrack tapes to Jack Endino for a remix.