Temple of the Dog

by Temple of the Dog

Overview

Featuring members of Soundgarden and what would soon become Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog's lone eponymous album might never have reached a wide audience if not for Pearl Jam's breakout success a year later. In turn, by providing the first glimpse of Chris Cornell's more straightforward, classic rock-influenced side, Temple of the Dog helped set the stage for Soundgarden's mainstream breakthrough with Superunknown. Nearly every founding member of Pearl Jam appears on Temple of the Dog (including the then-unknown Eddie Vedder), so perhaps it isn't surprising that the record sounds like a bridge between Mother Love Bone's theatrical '70s-rock updates and Pearl Jam's hard-rocking seriousness. What is surprising, though, is that Cornell is the dominant composer, writing the music on seven of the ten tracks (and lyrics on all). Keeping in mind that Soundgarden's previous album was the overblown metallic miasma of Louder Than Love, the accessibly warm, relatively clean sound of Temple of the Dog is somewhat shocking, and its mellower moments are minor revelations in terms of Cornell's songwriting abilities. It isn't just the band, either -- he displays more emotional range than ever before, and his melodies and song structures are (for the most part) pure, vintage hard rock. In fact, it's almost as though he's trying to write in the style of Mother Love Bone -- which makes sense, since Temple of the Dog was a tribute to that band's late singer Andrew Wood. Not every song here is directly connected to Wood; once several specific elegies were recorded, additional material grew quickly out of the group's natural chemistry. As a result, there's a very loose, jam-oriented feel to much of the album, and while it definitely meanders at times, the result is a more immediate emotional impact. The album's strength is its mournful, elegiac ballads, but thanks to the band's spontaneous creative energy and appropriately warm sound, it's permeated by a definite, life-affirming aura. That may seem like a paradox, but consider the adage that funerals are more for the living than the dead; Temple of the Dog shows Wood's associates working through their grief and finding the strength to move on. ~ Steve Huey

Product Details

Release Date:	08/17/2016
Label:	A&M
UPC:	0602557136814

Tracks

1. Say Hello 2 Heaven
2. Reach Down
3. Hunger Strike
4. Pushin' Forward Back
5. Call Me a Dog
6. Times of Trouble
7. Wooden Jesus
8. Your Savior
9. Four Walled World
10. All Night Thing
11. Say Hello 2 Heaven
12. Wooden Jesus
13. All Night Thing

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Temple of the Dog   Primary Artist
Eddie Vedder   Vocals,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background)
David Garza   Vocals (Background)
Tadd Sackville-West   Director
Glen Hansard   Vocals (Background)
Jeff Ament   Bass
Dhani Harrison   Vocals (Background)
Rick Parashar   Organ,Piano
Matt Cameron   Drums,Percussion
Mike McCready   Guitar,Lead Guitar
Liam Finn   Vocals (Background)
Stone Gossard   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Chris Cornell   Banjo,Vocals,Harmonica
Paul Rachman   Director
Eddie Rehfeldt   Co-Producer

Technical Credits

Lisa Dutton   Producer,Recording,Engineer
John Burton   Recording
Tadd Sackville-West   Photography Director
Andy Mininger   Producer
Steve Duchin   Editing,Producer
Temple of the Dog   Arranger,Producer
Jeff Ament   Composer
Rick Parashar   Producer
Brendan O'Brien   Mixing
Adam Kasper   Mixing
Brett Eliason   Mixing
Stone Gossard   Composer
Chris Cornell   Composer
Jerry Sullivan   Public Relations
Jared White   Editing
Josh Evans   Mixing
Matt Sheldon   Sound Recording
Andy Miniger   Producer
Eddie Rehfeldt   Producer
Kate Bayley   Producer,Executive Producer