Superunknown by Soundgarden

Superunknown, Soundgarden's fourth album, came out on A&M on March 8, 1994, and it's the record where one of grunge's heaviest bands learned to stretch. Michael Beinhorn produced it with the band after they came off the road behind Badmotorfinger, and while the riffs still land like wrecking balls, the palette is wider now: psychedelic swirl, eerie melodies and slow, sick grooves.

"Spoonman" clatters and clangs, "My Wave" rides a lurching riff, "Fell on Black Days" drags its feet through a queasy haze, and "The Day I Tried to Live" churns and heaves. Then there's "Black Hole Sun", a warped, Beatle-tinged dream that turns sinister, all watery guitar and a chorus that feels like the sky melting.

It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 310,000 copies sold in its first week, topped the charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand too, and has been certified six-times platinum in the US. Five singles came off it, "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun" both won Grammys, the album was nominated for Best Rock Album, and it keeps turning up on lists of the best albums of the '90s.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.