Album number 3 of 10 is less subtle: Superunknown by Soundgarden. I’ll start by saying that I’m not a huge Soundgarden fan, and when Badmotorfinger released, I was underwhelmed. It felt tilted more toward Queensryche than Melvins, but without the teeth. Then Superunknown hit, and it scratched a bunch of itches. Matt Cameron played uncomplicated, but precognitive drums, ushering in the next section with a flourish.

Also, it’s a dark record. Like, really dark. And while I don’t typically go for that sort of thing, the sounds are as heavy and laden as the lyrics. Beautifully recorded, there’s not a clunker on the playlist. The album after Superunknown lost me, just like Trompe Le Monde took the Pixies off my radar. And while I’ve gotten to know Badmotorfinger more recently, I stand by my assertion that Superunknown is a quantum leap from anything else they did.