A-Sides

A-Sides is a compilation album by the American rock band Soundgarden with songs spanning the band's thirteen-year career. It was released on November 4, 1997, through A&M Records.

This article is about the Soundgarden compilation. For other uses, see A-Sides (disambiguation).
A-Sides
Greatest hits album by
Soundgarden
ReleasedNovember 4, 1997
Recorded1987–1996
GenreAlternative metal, grunge, alternative rock, heavy metal
Length79:10
LanguageEnglish
LabelA&M
ProducerMichael Beinhorn, Drew Canulette, Terry Date, Jack Endino, Adam Kasper, Soundgarden
Soundgarden chronology
Down on the Upside
(1996)		 A-Sides
(1997)		 Telephantasm
(2010)
Singles from A-Sides
  1. "Bleed Together"
    Released: November 1997
Soundgarden compilation chronology
Screaming Life/Fopp
(1990)		 A-Sides
(1997)		 Telephantasm
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment Weekly(A)[2]
Pitchfork Media(7.5/10)[3]
Q[4]
Robert Christgau[5]
Rolling Stone[6][7]

Overview

The album was released in 1997 on A&M Records and was Soundgarden's last official release for 13 years, until 2010's Telephantasm. It debuted at number 63 on the Billboard 200 album chart. A-Sides has sold over 500,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan and over 700,000 copies worldwide, but has not yet been certified by the RIAA. It peaked at number 51 on the UK Albums Chart, number 39 on the Australian Albums Chart, and number 6 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.

It contains one song absent from previous albums ("Bleed Together") which appeared on import copies of the "Burden in My Hand" single. The opening track "Nothing to Say" was originally not an A-side. It appeared as the B-side to the band's first single "Hunted Down" on Sub Pop in 1987. In addition, "Get on the Snake" from Louder Than Love was released as a promo-only single in 1989.[8] Also, the 1990 Sub Pop single "Room a Thousand Years Wide" does not appear on A-Sides, nor the 1994 single "My Wave" from Superunknown.

AllMusic staff writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four and a half out of five stars. He said, "For an act that was one of the definitive album artists of the late '80s and '90s, Soundgarden was a surprisingly effective singles band. Their singles effectively conveyed all of their best ideas, from their sludgy early Sub Pop recordings to the elaborate, post-metal psychedelia of their last two albums, Superunknown and Down on the Upside. That's the reason why the 17-track compilation A-Sides is such a successful overview of the band's too-brief career."[1] Entertainment Weekly reviewer David Browne gave the album an A. He said, "Pruning their best early songwriting ("Hands All Over", "Nothing to Say") and wisely highlighting chunks of their last two (and best) albums, A-Sides presents the band in all its evolving, bridling-horses glory and thunder. When all those Hanson fans grow up and want to educate themselves on the flannel era they missed, here's where they should turn."[2]

Following Chris Cornell's death in May 2017, A-Sides re-entered the Australian albums chart at number 47. On Record Store Day 2018, A-Sides was released on double green translucent vinyl.[9]

Track listing

All lyrics and music written by Chris Cornell, except where noted.

No.TitleMusicAlbumLength
1."Nothing to Say"Kim ThayilScreaming Life EP, 19873:56
2."Flower"ThayilUltramega OK, 1988 (US)/1989 (UK)3:25
3."Loud Love" Louder Than Love, 19894:57
4."Hands All Over"ThayilLouder Than Love6:00
5."Get on the Snake"ThayilLouder Than Love3:44
6."Jesus Christ Pose"Matt Cameron, Cornell, Ben Shepherd, ThayilBadmotorfinger, 19915:51
7."Outshined" Badmotorfinger5:11
8."Rusty Cage" Badmotorfinger4:26
9."Spoonman" Superunknown, 19944:06
10."The Day I Tried to Live" Superunknown5:19
11."Black Hole Sun" Superunknown5:18
12."Fell on Black Days" Superunknown4:42
13."Pretty Noose" Down on the Upside, 19964:12
14."Burden in My Hand" Down on the Upside4:50
15."Blow Up the Outside World" Down on the Upside5:46
16."Ty Cobb"ShepherdDown on the Upside3:05
17."Bleed Together" Burden in My Hand single, 19963:54

Personnel

Soundgarden

Production

Charts and certifications

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( A-Sides > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
  2. Browne, David (1997-12-12). "A-Sides". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  3. Schreiber, Ryan. "Soundgarden: A-Sides". Pitchfork Media. November 1, 1997. Retrieved on May 20, 2009.
  4. (October 2000). "Review: A-Sides". Q.
  5. Christgau, Robert. "Soundgarden". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved on May 20, 2009.
  6. Brackett, Nathan. "Soundgarden". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 762, cited April 18, 2010
  7. "Soundgarden: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  8. "Soundgarden - Get On The Snake at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  9. Soundgarden - Australian charts australian-charts.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  10. "Australiancharts.com – Soundgarden – A-Sides". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3387". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  12. "Charts.nz – Soundgarden – A-Sides". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  13. "Soundgarden | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  14. "Soundgarden Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  15. "Soundgarden Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  16. "Soundgarden – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  17. "British album certifications – Soundgarden – A-Sides". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type A-Sides in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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