Soundgarden
Live On I-5

The last year has seen something of a Soundgarden renaissance. The band reformed, headlined Lollapalooza, released Telephantasm (a greatest hits retrospective), and announced they'd be entering the studio to make new music - all of which are enough to make an old Soundgarden fan feel warm and fuzzy. The icing on the cake, then, would of course be a new live album... wouldn't it?

Last week, I talked about how live albums are hit-or-miss affairs. Live On I-5, recorded in the mid-90s during a West Coast tour, is both hit and miss. Some of the songs are excellent, including a slow, drugged-out cover of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" and a ferocious rip through the underrated "Ty Cobb." (The material performed from Down On The Upside, one of Soundgarden's most misunderstood releases, is especially excellent.) Also of note is an extra long take on Badmotorfinger's "Slaves & Bulldozers," which was always a highlight of the band's sets.

Unfortunately, this live document is just that: a live document. The crowd is insufferably loud, and far too much of their applause and hollering makes it on to the disc, resulting in something that sounds like a low-quality bootleg. I can understand featuring the sound of the crowd in between songs, and especially if the band is bouncing their work off of the group in front of them, but too much of the quieter moments on this record find the band drowned out by their own followers -- a shame for fans and collectors alike. Until the new album comes out, this will have to tide us over, but I'll take the studio albums over this collection any day.