Soundgarden staged a triumphant comeback last year with King Animal, the Seattle titans’ first studio album in 16 years. Now, Chris Cornell and co. are digging deep into their past with a reissue of their first-ever release, 1987’s Screaming Life EP. As SPIN noted previously, Sub Pop will unleash the retrospective in digital and double-vinyl formats on November 26. The six-track Screaming Life collection also comes bundled with 1988’s four-song Fopp EP, and “Sub Pop Rock City,” the band’s contribution to 1988’s Sub Pop 200 compilation.
Producer Jack Endino, who helmed the original Screaming Life set and helped with the new remasters, recalls the EP sessions in a statement. After remembering the blend of “Kim [Thayil’s] mad guitar psychedelia and Chris Cornell’s still-expanding voice,” Endino notes: “On this record, you can hear Chris experimenting with his singing as he starts to realize how much range he has to play with. ‘Nothing To Say’ was the song that made us all look at each other and go, ‘Uh, holy crap, how did we do this?'”
Try and find out by streaming Screaming Life/Fopp below.
