A Screaming Life by Kim Thayil

A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown

with Soundgarden and Beyond by Kim Thayil

I love a good celebrity memoir, especially from rock stars because I’m fascinated by the art of making music. Thayil’s book is probably going to be one of my favorites. He’s so intelligent that it’s a smooth read (thanks to Tepedelen too, of course, but Thayil’s personality comes through strongly) and he’s really thoughtful about fame while being honest about what he wanted and experienced.

Most of the book focuses on Soundgarden’s rise to fame, which is understandable - that’s the most interesting part of many musician’s lives. But what makes this rank so highly for me is how Thayil addresses the band breaking up and how that came to be - based on fame, disconnect, and more. I think he really honestly dives into how bands are like marriages, complicated in different ways, and therefore those relationships aren’t meant to last over the years without any interruption, separation, growth, etc.

Soundgarden's reunion is cut short (I mean, of course it was, but it also feels a bit crammed in at the end of the book) but that said, I feel like Cornell's death is still recent enough to be painful, especially considering that Thayil found out by seeing it online despite his closeness with Cornell. I can't imagine how hard that must be to experience, and then have to relive for the book, so it's understandable.

I like that the ending is as hopeful as it can be with Soundgarden getting their music back and potentially putting one more album out. I do wish there was some insight into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction considering it brought them back with Jim Carrey (and the SNL experience is touched on previously) and seemed like an incredibly emotional night just watching it, so I would have loved to hear how it impacted Thayil personally, especially considering the book ends with several other honors he's received.

Overall, this is an incredibly honest memoir that really focuses on Soundgarden rather than getting bogged down in drama or even too much of Thayil's personal life. I think he strikes a perfect balance of sharing what most fans want to know without putting so much of himself out there that he loses privacy. Highly recommended for any music fan!

Total F*cking Godhead by Corbin Reiff

Total F*cking Godhead by Corbin Reiff

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Chris Cornell, which I won't get into here (yet) in the spirit of keeping this a review focused on the book. Basically, that setup is to explain how eager I was to read this book. I wanted to learn more about the prolific, mysterious musician that dominated so much of my youth and continued to impact me in more ways than I realized growing up.

Overall, this book delivered what I expected. It begins with a disclaimer that interviews were hard, or impossible, to get, or perhaps fizzled out after legal issues sprang up with Cornell's widow, Soundgarden, and probably many more parties. So as much as I love a juicy tell-all, it's understandable that there was no way that would happen here.

The book had a bit of Cornell's childhood and a lot about his start in Seattle, which was interesting and definitely set the stage for all to come. However, the recording of one or two Soundgarden albums took up almost entire chapters, while ten years pass in two pages later in the book.

If the entire book was as in-depth as those Soundgarden albums, I would have a different feeling about it, because it would feel even. But the pacing was off here, and it felt like, once we reached 1997 or so, the deadline was looming next week and we had to race through the rest of Chris's life to finish a draft. With so much attention given to reviews, interviews, and performances earlier in his career, it felt lacking that the same wasn't done at the end of his career, especially as he tried so many different things.

Given that the book is (seemingly) mostly pulled from interviews other people conducted with Cornell and those who knew him, I think the writing handled that well in trying to make it feel more immersive, like the reader is along for the ride. There were detailed scenes at the beginning of each chapter that felt like stepping into the story, but then the chapter would backtrack to sometimes years earlier than that scene, and I feel like the time jumps weren't handled in a way that made the timeline clear. I typically had to flip back to the start of the chapter once I reached that event later and kind of insert the action back into the right context.

As I said, the book is largely written based on interviews conducted by others - but I do appreciate the writer's extensive notes on sources! I flagged a lot of those to look up later, so in a way, this almost felt like a textbook. It gathered the foundational information in one place for me, then gave me all the resources I needed to go down my own rabbit holes.

While there are some things I wish were different about this book, I say that "criticizing" it very loosely, because I realize it's an unauthorized biography written at a time when his death was still raw (if you're arguing it isn't always feeling like a massive loss) and there was a lot of legal mess abound. I don't blame the author and publisher for wanting to tread carefully in that landscape without giving up the project entirely. So as long as you're not expecting a juicy tell-all, this is a worthwhile read.