Pearl Jam or Soundgarden? Go!

I think I gotta go SG here. Chris Cornell is "modern era" rock's greatest voice IMO. He just had intangible things with his tone and phrasing that's hard to beat. A soulfulness, that was always present no matter what he was doing. The first time I saw him live was on his first solo tour outside SG, but it was the best vocal performance that I've probably witnessed. He didn't play any guitar. His pitch was dead on(not always the case with SG, but...) and you could feel every note he sang. I was in tears at one point. Sometimes forgotten is how integral he was to the song writing in SG. As a whole, I prefer the body of work that is Soundgarden. I think they got better as time went on. I'll admit I'm letting some non-SG stuff of Cornell influence me. The guy could just do such a wide range of stuff though. If you look into some of his solo work, he's got the whole crooner thing going in full force. Things that probably the non SG fan might like. His acoustic stuff is great no matter which of the bands he was in is being covered.

If you'd asked me in the early 90's, my answer probably would've been PJ. The first decade of their career, I really like. Around 2000, I lost all interest in what they were doing and the direction they went. They've had incredible longevity though. I'm just not interested in the music they do now.
 
I never "got" Nirvana. Just didn't do it for me.

As for the question at hand; I'll take the best of both......Temple of the Dog
YES! I was definitely going to say Pearl Jam until you replied. Instead, I'll also go Temple of the Dog!!!!

(I WAS going to say Pearl Jam. I slightly prefer Cornell as a singer, but strongly prefer Pearl Jam's overall sound. State of Love and Trust is one of my very favorite songs, to this day!)

Kevin
 
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So, let's over-analyze.

There's an argument in favor of Soundgarden because of Chris Cornell's voice. However, if you were to pit Soundgarden against Audioslave, I'd wager Soundgarden would win handily. Same with Pearl jam vs. Audioslave. So, if Pearl Jam as a band can best Chris' voice w/out the backup of Soundgarden, then Soundgarden can't be judged as better than Pearl Jam just on the merits of Cornell's voice. Advantage: Pearl Jam. Follow?

Now let's consider Pearl Jam's body of work compared to Soundgarden. A larger catalog with more hits over more albums. Advantage: Pearl Jam.

The argument could also be made that Vedder was a better front-man, that Pearl Jam had catchier guitar hooks, and that they put on a better live show. Advantage: Pearl Jam.

So, who's better? Well, Soundgarden, obviously. Because.
 
Easy. I'm not a grunge fan. Love AIC. "like" Soundgarden, mainly because of Chris. And Pearl Jam is one small notch above Nirvana on my all time most disliked band list.
 
Why bother coming to the thread just to throw jabs at something you don’t like?
Well, the question was asked. If you like neither (such as, if topic was changed to Pearl Jam or Nirvana) then should we not answer? Because I still like one better than the other.
 
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After 10, Pearl Jam has always been "yawn" for me. Conversely, Soundgarden just kept better each album - Down on the Upside is phenomenal. And Chris Cornell, RIP, had the greatest scream in rock!
 
So, let's over-analyze.

There's an argument in favor of Soundgarden because of Chris Cornell's voice. However, if you were to pit Soundgarden against Audioslave, I'd wager Soundgarden would win handily. Same with Pearl jam vs. Audioslave. So, if Pearl Jam as a band can best Chris' voice w/out the backup of Soundgarden, then Soundgarden can't be judged as better than Pearl Jam just on the merits of Cornell's voice. Advantage: Pearl Jam. Follow?

Now let's consider Pearl Jam's body of work compared to Soundgarden. A larger catalog with more hits over more albums. Advantage: Pearl Jam.

The argument could also be made that Vedder was a better front-man, that Pearl Jam had catchier guitar hooks, and that they put on a better live show. Advantage: Pearl Jam.

So, who's better? Well, Soundgarden, obviously. Because.
I'd say Soundgarden's quality of albums far exceeds Pearl Jam's quantity of albums.
 
Well, the question was asked. If you like neither (such as, if topic was changed to Pearl Jam or Nirvana) then should we not answer? Because I still like one better than the other. Actually, dislike one less than the other, is more accurate. :)

And a game of “would you rather” is actually a bit more fun, along with being more difficult, if the choices aren’t something you like.

Not that I want to diminish my apology or make excuses, my attitude needs an adjustment to the positive side of the spectrum these days, and I’m grateful for Vaughn keeping me in check.
 
There are some PJ songs that just drive it home for me - they’re just so good. And then there’re other PJ songs that are just too difficult for me to listen to - as in they just make me work too hard to enjoy them. Cornell really was one of the greatest voices, but if I’m being honest with my personal tastes, AudioSlave was my favorite.

I said Nirvana earlier. I really loved them. I was a strange kid and they came into my life at the exact moment I needed them. I graduated high school in ‘91 - I’m Gen X as you can get. I never fit in bands well, because I didn’t dig the hair metal stuff and Kurt saved me from that.
 
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