• Voto:
"Down On The Upside" a bocce ferme, anzi fermissime.
Ora che gli '00 sono in procinto di concludersi e mi guardo indietro piuttosto che avanti, le uscite classicamente rock, di quello che si bagnano esclusivamente entro i propri lidi, fanno pensare che sia tempo di magra.
Ed ecco che dopo anni di ascolti costanti del capolavoro (senza enfasi alcuna) "Superunknown" ti scopro il suo successore, il mio attuale disco rifugio, un rimando ai suoni e ai sapori musicali che furono. Chiamatelo pure invecchiamento precoce, ma necessito di poco altro per occupare le mie giornate musicalmente, mi basta infilare nel lettore questo dischetto blu coi faccioni dei membri del gruppo, e sedermi sulla vecchia e comoda poltrona dei suoni che furono.
I suoni: che belli questi suoni qua. Pastosi, curati, ovattati, sono la miglior veste possibile per un rock multiforme, a partire da una batteria d'annata (Matt Cameron, ora in forza ai Pearl Jam), per arrivare alle chitarre dagli aromi psichedelici del bravo e spesso sottovalutato Kim Thayil, passando per il basso dal suono valvolare di Ben Sheperd che è un continuo strizzare l'occhio ai seventies. La voce di Chris Cornell prosegue quella ricercatezza che aveva caratterizzato "Superunknown", donando varietà ai pezzi ora accarezzando, ora graffiando, mantenendo sempre il timbro che lo rende riconoscibilissimo tra mille.
Insomma, a fronte di un 2008 che ci propone (o ci propina) monolitiche schitarrate che gigioneggiano nella staticità assoluta e che citano il passato senza avvicinarvisi lontanamente, (e qui tutte le mie dita puntate contro la recente uscita dei Black Mountain) preferisco trincerarmi in un'uscita che dodici anni fa fu considerata, a torto o a ragione, poco rilevante.
A dire il vero, questa è la sorte che tocca a quei dischi su cui grava opprimente l'ombra monolitica di un recentissimo (e glorioso) passato, e gli esempi sono innumerevoli: "In The Wake Of Poseidon" dei King Crimson, il terzo dei Led Zeppelin, l'omonimo dei Portishead, "Henry's Dream" di Nick Cave o "Ege Bamyasi" dei Can per citare giusto i primi che mi vengono in mente. Le aspettative divengono spesso insostenibili, e ciò che ne scaturisce deve avere come condizione necessaria l'essere deludente, in molti casi senza il dovuto e necessario approfondimento.
Nel caso di questo "Down On The Upside", che fu tacciato di eccessivo imbolsimento dopo il già consistente ammorbidimento del predecessore, dando l'impressione non del tutto corretta di definitiva svendita del gruppo alla macchina dello Show Biz, al melodismo privo di mordente.
Come già precedentemente sottolineato il maggior pregio del disco è la varietà, che è anche il segno della maggior distanza possibile dall'irruenza di "Badmotorfinger"; ora il gruppo si muove tra controtempi arzigogolati intelaiati su una buona dose di melodia, ("Zero Chance", "Overfloater") bilanciati da brevi incursioni nel territorio dell'hard rock più veloce e trascinante ("Never Named") e la magniloquenza di pezzi dichiaratamente anthemici. ("Burden In My Hand", "Pretty Noose")
Non tutto quel che c'è sul piatto è succulento, ed ecco che la volontà di strafare genera ad episodi privi di mordente come la scimiottatura del post rock di "Applebite" o l'improbabile shred su banjo di "Ty Cobb", e a dirla tutta i pezzi sono decisamente mal posti in scaletta, generando lunghi momenti di noia poi improvvisamente spezzati dagli episodi migliori. (tra tutti, forse, "Never The Machine Forever")
In conclusione il voto non lo metto, perchè non voglio rivalutare un bel niente, una cosa non è bella o brutta in relazione a come se ne parla, ma sulla base di questo e quel fattore sapientemente sposato con gusto ed ispirazione: tiratelo magari fuori dal cassetto, ecco, e prestateci ascolto.
Magari come me lo scoprirete con poche rughe ad irrigidirne i lineamenti, che sono ancora freschi e giovani, magari lo rilegherete a quel "grunge" che pressapoco in quel periodo andava incontro al suo grande freddo.
Io nel frattempo premo nuovamente play, riparte "Pretty Noose" e sorridendo non ci penso più.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Pretty Noose (04:11)
I caught the moon today
Pick it up
And throw it away all right
I got the perfect steal
A cleaner love
With a dirty feel all right
Fall out and take the bait
Eat the fruit
And kiss the snake goodnight
Common ruse dirty face
Pretty noose is pretty hate
And I don't like what you got me hanging from
Let your motor race
Pick it up
And get this mother gone
Out from and far away
The wooden stake
This thing has got me on
Diamond rope silver chain
Pretty noose is pretty pain
And I don't like what you got me hanging from
Common ruse dirty face
Pretty noose is pretty hate
And I don't care what you got
I don't care what you need
I don't want anything
And I don't like what you got me hanging from
02 Rhinosaur (03:14)
Standing with my enemies
Hung on my horns
with haste and reverie
killing with charm
only happy when you hurt
only deadly in a swarm
only healthy in the dirt
only empty in your arms
I play,I'm sick and tame
drawing the hordes
I wait,and show the lame
the meaning of harm
the skulls beneath my feet
like feathers in sand
I graze among the graves
a feeling of peace
only bending when you break
only feeding when you're cold
only healing when you ache
only feeling when you don't
03 Zero Chance (04:18)
I think I know the answer
I stumbled on and the world
fell down
and all the sky went silent
cracked like glass and slowly
tumbled to the ground
they say if you look hard
you'll find your way back home
born without a friend
and bound to die alone
I'm thinking of your highness
and crying upon the loss
I've found
and on the plus and minus
zero chance of ever turning this around
why doesn't anyone believe in lonliness
stand up and everyone will see your holiness
why doesn't anyone believe in lonliness
stand up and everyone will see your holiness
they say if you look real hard
you'll find your way back home
born without a friend
and bound to die alone
04 Dusty (04:34)
I think it's turning back around
And I think I like it
I think it's turning back around
Though I don't know why it is
I think it's turning back on me
I'm down on the upside
I think it's turning back on me
Now I'm the good ride
And nothing's gonna put me out
It's backing down and under
I'm down on the upside now
It's turning back around
Turning back around
I think it's coming on the wind
Just like you said it
I think it's coming on the wind
And I'm gonna let it
I think it's turning back on me
Everything's easy
I think it's turning back on me
Everything's real to me
05 Ty Cobb (03:05)
I'm sittin in a magic hat
with smoke and mirrors
and tire rubber fires
watch me disappear
What made it slow you down
sucking on a ball and chain
another motherfucker goes down the drain
hardheaded fuck you all
Just add it up to the hot rod death toll
Sick in the head
sick in the mouth
and I can't hear a word you say
Not a bit, don't give a shit
I got the glass,I got the steel
I got the love to hate
All I need is your head on a stake
hardheaded fuck you all
Just add it to the hot rod death toll
06 Blow Up the Outside World (05:45)
Nothing seems to kill me
No matter how hard I try
Nothing is closing my eyes
Nothing can beat me down
For your pain or delight, no
And nothing seems to break me
No matter how far I fall
Nothing can break me at all
Not one for giving up
Though not invincible, I know
I've given everything I need
I'd give you everything I own
I'd give in if it could at least be ours alone
I've given everything I could
To blow it to hell and gone
Burrow down in and
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Someone tried to tell me something
Don't let the world bring you down
Nothing can do me in before I do myself
So save it for your own and the ones you can help, no
I've given everything I need
I'd give you everything I own
I'd give in if it could at least be ours alone
I've given everything I could
To blow it to hell and gone
Burrow down in and
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Want to make it understood
Wanting though I never would
Trying though I know it's wrong
Blowing it to hell and gone
Wishing though I never could
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside world
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
Blow up the outside
08 Never Named (02:27)
I had a dog he was a mix
he loved me like a God
But I was just a kid
the kind mother likes
Now I'm big like the sky
and I'm down-sized inside
I'll put this all to rest
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
I'm getting all depressed
I'm just a baby that looks like a boy
I got my father's sense
and my big brother's pants
and I look like a man
and I feel like an ant
just a speck on the ground
growing like a weed
a fleck of a seed
I'll put my hand in flames
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
feels like I'm born again
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
I'm just a baby who looks like a boy
and I'll keep hanging from your hair
and I'll keep playing in the sand
Just as long as I can
09 Applebite (05:09)
No one can save
The pure of the brave
No one can save them at all
Grow and decay
Grow and decay
It is only forever
Loosely or tightly
Everything fits
Even the wrist on your arm
Grow and decay
Grow and decay
It is only forever
10 Never the Machine Forever (03:36)
I can't live when it lives
It won't live if I die
Machine has no heart to give
Heart it takes could be mine
Come on
Come down
Come out from where you hide
Follows me down the river
Shadows me through the sky
A sideways glance in the mirror
Stalemate machine in a tie
Come on
Come down
Come out from where you hide
Get up
Get off
Get on with your life
Forever means all is not seen
Never means forever brings everything
I fashion will and desire
Always I and I survive
Mercurial mind the fire
Ferrivorous direction and drive
Come on
Come down
Come out from where you hide
Get up
Get off
Get on with your life
Forever means all is not seen
Never means forever brings everything
Get up
Get off
Get on with your life
Now I see myself clearer
Why time I visualize
I spy device in the mirror
Checkmate watch machine die
11 Tighter & Tighter (06:06)
Shadow face
Blowing smoke and talking wind
Lost my grip
Fell too far to start again
A sudden snake
Found my shape and tells the world
Remember this
Remember everything is just black
Or burning sun
And I hope its a sweet ride
Sleep tight for me
Sleep tight for me I'm gone
Warm and sweet
Swinging from a windows ledge
Tight and deep
One last sin before I'm dead
A sucking holy wind
Will take me from this bed tonight
And bloody wits
Another hits me and I have to say goodbye
And I hope it's a sweet ride
Here for me tonight
Cause I feel I'm going
Feel I'm slowing down
12 No Attention (04:26)
I've got war on my mind blood on my hands
And love on my head
So open your hands open your mouth
Let it be said
You know I've got it mad in my mind
Don't waste my time it's not going to change
So say what you want spit it out loud
Into my face
And I'll pay no attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
They're gonna tell you where to walk
When to smile and just what to say
They say have your own fun
Make your own mind
And don't make no waves
But if you got a handful of change
Don't throw it away it's gonna come
So say what you want, suck all my
Suck on my brain
And I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
I'll pay no attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
No attention
They're gonna tell you where to walk
When to smile and just what to say
They say have your own fun
Make your own mind
And don't make no waves
But if you got a handful of change
Don't throw it away it's gonna come
So say what you want, suck all my
Suck on my brain
And I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
I'll pay no attention
13 Switch Opens (03:52)
Hey you slaves go hang your owners
Draw your names among their ashes
Lay your children on their thrones
Gather 'raound and fall right down
Here at sundown nothing is when
Everything is all right
Switch opens
Opening around and let's the garden rise
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Hey you patients
Where's your surgeon?
Left you with your
Insides open
With your hearts out
On the table
Gather 'round and fall right down
Feel the air now
Stumbling and wander in the moonshine
Switch opens
Opening around and let's the garden rise
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
Switch is on
14 Overfloater (05:08)
Come on in and take me on an override
Been stuck inside and up all night at Dave's
Now trouble's far away, and mother in her cage
And nothings gonna pinch this nerve of mine
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
Close the door and pull the shades
And climb the walls
Feel medicine heal the lines of age
I'm here and now I'm gone
I'm there and far beyond
And nothing's gonna pinch this nerve of mine
Nothing's gonna pinch this nerve of mine
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I'm on the wire over and higher
Over the pretense over the (spire) why
On and connected
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating
Alone, lone, lone, lone
Alone, lone, lone, lone
Alone, lone, lone, lone
Breathe and take in and gently blow it on
Drink it down and swallow hard and gaze
Hold the potion up
Stare your shadow down
Remember to forget and then rename your shame
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I wanna make it right
I'm on the wire over and higher
Over the pretense over the (spire) why
On and connected
I'm overfloating now
Alone, lone, lone, lone
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating now
I'm overfloating
Alone, lone, lone, lone
15 An Unkind (02:08)
We see the vipers of distance
Crawl into our lives everyday
Breeding our Eden's of hatred
Pathetically stupid and unkind
We couldn't look a saint in the eye
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
Marching in lines of contradiction
Forgetting the history we make
Loving our hangmen as the penultimate joke
We lack the Moses . . . to look
A saint in the eye
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
On the storm
It's time to go
16 Boot Camp (02:59)
I must obey the rules
I must be tame and cool
No staring at the clouds
I must stay on the ground
In clusters of the mice
The smoke is in our eyes
Like babies on display
Like angels in a cage
I must be pure and true
I must contain my views
There must be something else
There must be something good
Far away
Far away from here
Far away
Far away from here
Far away
Far away from here
Far away
Far away from here
And I'll be here for good
For good
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di 3poundsoflove
Ripetere il successo di Superunknown era la vera mission: impossible.
Se avete amato questa band, o le future evoluzioni del buon Cornell, non farete fatica ad ammettere a voi stessi che questo è un disco da portare, nascosto agli occhi dei benpensanti, sull’isola deserta.
Di StoneAgeWoof
"Down On The Upside riflette la fine della stagione più infuocata del decennio e di una delle band che maggiormente l'hanno rappresentata."
"Un album scostante qualitativamente ma tutto sommato accettabile come pagina conclusiva del proprio percorso artistico."
Di FabbioAW
Questo lavoro aveva in sé il potenziale per essere l’opera magna dei Soundgarden.
Si tratta di un disco capace contemporaneamente di stancare e di elevare la mente.
Di Ynamusic
La cosa più splendida dell’album è a mio parere la voce di Cornell, folgorante e graffiante.
Tutto sembra niente, le cose non sono quelle che vediamo, c’è il velo dell’apatia che le distorce e ci stordisce.
