Down on the Upside is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Soundgarden, released on May 21, 1996, through A&M Records. Following a worldwide tour in support of its previous album, Superunknown (1994), Soundgarden commenced work on a new album. Self-produced by the band, the music on the album was notably less heavy and dark than the group's preceding albums and featured the band experimenting with new sounds.
The album topped the New Zealand and Australian charts and debuted at number two on the United States' Billboard 200, selling 175,500 copies in its opening week and spawning the singles "Pretty Noose", "Burden in My Hand", "Blow Up the Outside World", and "Ty Cobb". The band played the 1996 Lollapalooza tour and, afterward, supported the album with a worldwide tour.
Down on the Upside was Soundgarden's last studio album until 2012's King Animal, as tensions within the band led to its break-up in April 1997. The album has sold 1.6 million copies in the United States.
Recording
Recording sessions for the album took place between November 1995 and February 1996 at Studio Litho and Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington. Studio Litho is owned by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard. The members of Soundgarden produced the album themselves. On the decision to work without an outside producer, frontman Chris Cornell stated that "a fifth guy is too many cooks and convolutes everything. It has to go down too many mental roads, which dilutes it." Drummer Matt Cameron added that, while working with Michael Beinhorn on Superunknown yielded excellent results, it was "a little more of a struggle than it needed to be", and self-production would accelerate the process. Adam Kasper, who previously worked with Soundgarden as an assistant engineer on Superunknown, collaborated with the band as a co-producer and mixed the album.
Work on the album began in July 1995. The band paused to perform at several European festivals, where they road-tested the new material. Afterward, the group spent about a month writing additional material before tracking the majority of the album at Studio Litho. The band sought to explore unfamiliar territory and utilize a wider variety of material. They aimed to capture a live atmosphere for the album, deliberately retaining sonic textures that producers typically remove, such as audio feedback and out-of-tune guitar parts. The overall time spent working on the album was less than what the band had spent working on Superunknown. Cornell described the album-making process as "way faster and way easier".
Thayil's sole songwriting contribution to the album was "Never the Machine Forever", for which he wrote both the lyrics and the music; it was also the final song recorded for the sessions. The track initially grew out of a jam session Thayil shared with Seattle drummer Greg Gilmore. In the liner notes, Thayil credited Gilmore for inspiring the song. He stated that he had numerous incomplete musical ideas that lacked lyrics or arrangements, which prevented them from making the final track listing.
Another song that was written and recorded for the album is "Kristi", which Cameron has called one of his favorite Soundgarden tracks. The album's songs placed emphasis on vocals and melody over the heavy guitar riffs that were found on the band's earlier LPs. It also features a rawer sound than Soundgarden's previous album Superunknown, as the band members produced the record themselves. Cornell summed up the changes by saying: "What we've lost in sonic precision we've gained so much in terms of feeling." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted that Soundgarden "retained their ambitious song structures, neo-psychedelic guitar textures, and winding melodies but haven't dressed them up with detailed production." The songs vary in tempo throughout the course of the album, with Thayil describing the album as having a "dual nature". He stated, "It keeps listeners on their toes and lets them know they're not getting the same album over and over." which included Shepherd and Cornell playing mandolin and mandola on the song "Ty Cobb". "Pretty Noose" and "Burden in My Hand" were written in C-G-C-G-G-E tuning.
The overall mood of the album's lyrics is not as dark as on previous Soundgarden albums. Cornell even admitted "Dusty" was "pretty positive for a Soundgarden song", describing it as an opposite to the previous album's "Fell On Black Days". According to Cornell, "Pretty Noose" is about "an attractively packaged bad idea", and "Ty Cobb" is about a "hardcore pissed-off idiot". Cornell said the songs "Never Named" and "Boot Camp" are based on his childhood. The album was also released as a limited edition that included the Into the Upside interview bonus disc.
The title Down on the Upside comes from a line in the song "Dusty". The lyric states, "I think it's turning back on me/I'm down on the upside". Cornell noted that the title represents the varied musical textures found across the album.
During a promotional interview, Cameron and Shepherd jokingly claimed that two alternative titles considered for the album were Mr. Bunchy Pants and Comin' At Ya!
| rev2 = Chicago Tribune
| rev2score =
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = B+
| rev4 = The Guardian
| rev4score =
| rev5 = Los Angeles Times
| rev5score =
| rev6 = NME
| rev6score = 3/10
| rev7 = Pitchfork
| rev7score = 7.0/10
| rev8 = Rolling Stone
| rev8score =
| rev9 = Spin
| rev9score = 8/10
| rev10 = USA Today
| rev10score =
Down on the Upside received a 10,000-copy limited edition vinyl release on May 14, 1996, one week prior to its main release on CD and cassette. The album has sold 1.6 million copies in the United States and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Ivan Kreilkamp of Spin gave the album an eight out of ten, saying the album is "as sprawling and generous-spirited as Superunknown, but ... is a looser and live-er-sounding affair, not seeking the same level of aural precision". Rolling Stone staff writer David Fricke gave Down on the Upside three out of five stars, observing that the album has "some quality frenzy", but criticizing it for "lack[ing] defining episodes of catharsis", and saying: "Soundgarden seem to be digging in their heels rather than kicking up dirt, relying too much on drone-y impressionism and clever (as opposed to cleaving) guitar motifs."
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+, saying: "Few bands since Led Zeppelin have so crisply mixed instruments both acoustic and electric." He praised several songs as being "as powerful as anything the band has done", but criticized the album's production, saying that, "like many self-produced efforts, it shows." He added: "With arrangements that crest and fall to the point where a road map would have helped, the overlong (16-song) album is often unwieldy and could have benefited from judicious trimming." Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention, describing it as "brutal depression simplified" and highlighting the tracks "Ty Cobb" and "Applebite", while Jason Josephes of Pitchfork called it a "double shot of grunge, no foam but plenty of caffeine."
Tour
The band played the 1996 Lollapalooza tour with Metallica, who had insisted on Soundgarden's appearance on the tour. Thayil said the band wasn't interested in doing the tour until it became a "Metallica tour".
After Lollapalooza, the band embarked on a worldwide tour, supported by Moby. Tensions continued to increase and, when asked if the band hated touring, Cornell said: "We really enjoy it to a point and then it gets tedious, because it becomes repetitious. You feel like fans have paid their money and they expect you to come out and play them your songs like the first time you ever played them. That's the point where we hate touring." Thayil had an issue with how the band's audience had changed, stating that "nowadays, you also have the kids and the housewives, the casual fans. With your casual fans, you say, 'Thanks for the money.' And they say, 'Thanks for the song.'" The band retreated, and Cornell returned alone to conclude the show with a solo encore. On April 9, 1997, the band announced its disbanding. Thayil said, "It was pretty obvious from everybody's general attitude over the course of the previous half year that there was some dissatisfaction." Cameron later said that Soundgarden was "eaten up by the business".
Track listing
Personnel
Soundgarden
- Chris Cornell – vocals, rhythm guitar; mandolin and mandola ("Ty Cobb"), Rhodes piano ("Overfloater")
- Kim Thayil – lead guitar
- Ben Shepherd – bass guitar; mandolin, mandola and intro instrumentation ("Ty Cobb")
- Matt Cameron – drums, percussion; Moog synthesizer ("Applebite")
Additional musicians
- Adam Kasper – piano ("Applebite"), co-production, engineering, mixing
Artwork
- Ben Marra Studios – "cinema" photography
- Helix creative inc, Seattle – art direction and design
- Ben Shepherd – back CD photo
- Kevin Westenberg – photography
Production
- Matt Bayles, Sam Hofstedt – assistant engineering
- John Burton – additional tracking assistance
- Tom Smurdon – additional tracking assistance
- David Collins – mastering at A&M Mastering Studios, Hollywood, CA
- Gregg Keplinger – drum technician
- Darrell Peters – guitar technician
- Soundgarden – production, mixing
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (1996–2025)
! Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"| Canada Albums (The Record)
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
|-
!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
| style="text-align:center;"|15
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Estonia Albums (Eesti Top 10)
|align="center"|8
|-
!scope="row"|Europe (European Top 100 Albums)
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| style="text-align:center;"| 45
|-
!scope="row"| Hungary Albums (MAHASZ)
| style="text-align:center;"| 34
|-
! scope="row"| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)
|align="center"| 3
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (FIMI)
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
|-
!scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| style="text-align:center;"| 31
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)
| style="text-align:center;"| 23
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (2016)
! Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)
|align="center"| 14
|}
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (2017)
! Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard)
|align="center"| 45
|-
!scope="row"|US Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)
|align="center"| 14
|-
!scope="row"|US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)
|align="center"| 39
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (1996)
! Position
|-
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)
| style="text-align:center;"|93
|-
!scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| style="text-align:center;"| 20
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums Chart
| align="center"|93
|-
!scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"| 47
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Year
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Single
! colspan="11" scope="col" | Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:75%;" | US<br />Air<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:75%;" | US<br />Main<br />
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"| US Mod<br />
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"| CAN<br />
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"| CAN Alt.<br />
!style="width:2.5em;font-size:75%"| FIN<br />
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"| NZ<br />
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"| SWE<br />
!style="width:2.5em;font-size:75%"| SWI<br />
!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"| UK<br />
|-
|rowspan="3"|1996
|"Pretty Noose"
|align="center"| 37
|align="center"| 4
|align="center"| 2
|align="center"| 22
|align="center"| 43
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 10
|align="center"| 18
|align="center"| 42
|align="center"| 47
|align="center"| 14
|-
|"Burden in My Hand"
|align="center"| 40
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 2
|align="center"| 57
|align="center"| 9
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| 33
|-
|"Blow Up the Outside World"
|align="center"| 53
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 8
|align="center"| 76
|align="center"| 89
|align="center"| 2
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| 40
|-
|rowspan="2"|1997
|"Ty Cobb"
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|-
|"Rhinosaur" <small>(airplay)</small>
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| 19
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|-
|align="center" colspan="30" style="font-size: 8pt"| "—" denotes singles that did not chart or were not released in that country.
|-
|}