Was just listening to the deluxe edition of Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which is to be released tomorrow, May 19, when the news of Chris Cornell's unexpected death was announced. Very sad news and our sympathies go out to his family and all who loved his music in Soundgarden and Audioslave, and on the solo records.
Sappy as it is, Singles, Cameron Crowe's big, sloppy valentine to the Seattle music scene, is redeemed primarily by the soundtrack in which Cornell plays a prominent part, and Matt Dillon's hilarious portrayal of the almost famous dunderhead Cliff Poncier, lead singer of the grunge wannabes Citizen Dick. Blessed with many of the film's best lines, Cliff memorably boasts to a music mag interviewer, "Like, we're huge in Europe right now. I mean, we've got records . . . uh, a big record just broke in Belgium."
The new, deluxe, 25th edition of the soundtrack, which is available in CD, LP and digital configurations (no word on high-resolution downloads), has an entire extra disc of new material that includes Cornell's 1992 EP Poncier and 14tracks not included on the original soundtrack album, seven of which are previously unreleased tracks from Cornell, Mudhoney, Mick McCready (Pearl Jam), and Paul Westerberg. Significantly, although it featured tracks by Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, and even Jimi Hendrix, the Singles soundtrack did not have a Nirvana tune. Gotta be a story there. Too pricey to license perhaps?
While all of the new material on this reissue is worth hearing—and taken together is an evocative snapshot of those grungy years when loud guitar bands from Seattle were changing the world—none of it tops Cornell's "Seasons" (listen below) which remains an enduring highlight from the original soundtrack.
Kurt, Andrew Wood, Layne Staley, Chris Cornell—has grunge has claimed its last victim?
