The summer of 1994 wasn't one of the more sunnier ones for rock music -- the world was still reeling from Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain's suicide the previous April. One of the few bright spots was Soundgarden's classic Superunknown, an album that was molded after releases by such '70s rockers as Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith -- in so much that it did not contain a single weak track. While "Black Hole Sun" was not the album's first single (the percussive rocker "Spoonman" was), the song was one of the summer's anthems and biggest rock hits -- played constantly on radio and MTV. The song had a psychedelic edge to it (especially evident in the verse's guitar part), as the composition shifted between sedate melodicism and gargantuan guitar riffs. The lyrics were classic Chris Cornell -- lines didn't exactly make sense on paper but did within the song, such as the chorus, "black hole sun/Won't you come/And wash away the rain" (which again, summed up the dark feeling that was felt throughout the rock community in the summer of 1994). The video also proved to be the band's most popular and innovative, as disturbing and twisted scenes fit the song's dispirited feel perfectly.
Soundgarden
Black Hole Sun
Composed by Chris Cornell
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Song Review by Greg Prato
Appears On
| Year | Artist/Album | Label | Time | AllMusic Rating | |||
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1994 | A&M / Interscope | 5:18 | ||||
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1995 |
Various Artists
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4:33 | ||||
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1995 | Tribute | |||||
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1997 | A&M | 5:20 | ||||
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1999 |
Various Artists
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Sony Music Distribution | 5:20 | |||
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2006 |
Various Artists
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Universal Distribution | ||||
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2008 |
Various Artists
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Shout! Factory | 5:21 | |||
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2008 |
Various Artists
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Studio Brussel / EMI | 5:18 | |||
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2010 |
Various Artists
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Universal | 4:33 | |||
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2010 | A&M / Geffen | 5:19 | ||||
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2011 |
Various Artists
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EMI | ||||
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2012 | Geffen / Universal Music | 5:17 | ||||
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2012 |
Various Artists
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A&M | 4:33 | |||
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2013 |
Various Artists
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USM Media | ||||
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2013 |
Various Artists
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USM Media | 5:19 | |||
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2013 |
Various Artists
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Ultimate Collection / Union Square Music | 4:32 | |||
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2014 |
Various Artists
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Ultimate Collection / Universal | 0:00 | |||
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2017 | Goldfish / Golf | 5:13 | ||||
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2018 | A&M / Universal | 5:19 | ||||
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Various Artists
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Universal | 5:18 | ||||
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Various Artists
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Universal | 5:19 | ||||
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Various Artists
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Naïve | 5:19 | ||||
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Various Artists
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Universal | 5:19 | ||||
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Various Artists
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Universal Distribution / Universal Music | 5:18 | ||||
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Various Artists
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Universal | 4:30 |
