“All your fears are lies…”
When Soundgarden finally gave up in 1997, the seemingly inevitable slew of compilations and hastily thrown together live discs singularly failed to materialise, with only the handsome, but largely unremarkable ‘A-sides’ compilation appearing (a set that was of note only because it featured a previously unreleased track as well as the bulk of Soundgarden’s singles).
However, with the band once more a going concern we see the release of Telephantasm which could, conceivably, be viewed as a cynical piece of marketing if it wasn’t for the overwhelming care that has gone into the package from the typically stunning Josh Graham (Storm of light) artwork to the range of packages available which cover everyone from the curious newcomer to the obsessed fan. Moreover the choice of tracks is astonishingly good – generous, well thought out and with plenty of rare gems thrown in to entice those for whom ‘Asides’ was largely pointless.
So what raises ‘Telephantasm’ above the average best of? Quite simply, it is the involvement of the band who provide liner notes, the choice of tracks (which covers everything from the impossible-to-get-hold-of ‘deep six’ to previously unreleased tracks from MTV’s ‘live and loud set’) and the addition of a DVD which finally rounds up the majority of the band’s videos. Tracks such as ‘all your lies’, ‘fopp’ and ‘flower’ all serve as timely reminders of Soundgarden’s rampant Led Zeppelin fixation as well as their gloriously punky beginnings while a blistering live version of ‘Jesus Christ pose’ reminds you just how ludicrously heavy the intro riff actually is. Indeed, the first disc of this compilation takes the listener only just as far as ‘louder than love’ while the second disc serves up the Beatles-esque beauty of later Soundgarden material (covering ‘Superunknown’ and ‘down on the upside’) except rather than just rely on album versions, effort has been made to dig up alternate edits, live versions and the like justifying the purchase of this album, even to long-time fans.
While the discs offer up plenty, another major draw is the special, collector’s three disc edition which provides the aforementioned DVD. While, sadly, the DVD does not include the band’s beautiful TV appearances, there are versions of pretty much all of their major videos (a few didn’t make the grade) including the still-creepy ‘black hole sun’, the desert-shot ‘Jesus Christ pose’ as well as uncensored and alternate takes, all of which provide a near-orgasmic experience for fans long-starved of these amazing clips outside of youtube.
Ultimately ‘telephantasm’ is an example of what record labels and bands should have been producing all along – fan-friendly packages that go above and beyond to really cater to the needs of both the mildly curious and the avid collector. By taking the time to focus on their early years quite heavily the band clearly show their evolution, while the alternate versions and live takes are welcome editions to the collection of pretty much anyone but the obsessive. The attention spent on the packaging (and don’t even get me started on the uber-beautiful, uber-expensive special, collector’s vinyl/CD/DVD edition because we’ll be here all night!) and the decision to include lengthy liner notes just go to show what can be done with the right degree of co-operation between band and label. A worthy package that reminds you just how asonishing a band Soundgarden are.
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