Released: 2014

Genres: Grunge, Alternative Rock, Hard Rock

The Musiquarium’s Echo of Miles Review Score: 8 out of 10

This review focuses on the single disc version of the album, which consists of original b-sides, soundtrack songs and unreleased songs, as opposed to the complete boxset, which also includes covers, remixes, and instrumental b-sides.

In the tradition of other legendary Seattle grunge bands like Nirvana (Incesticide), Alice in Chains (Music Bank) and Pearl Jam (Lost Dogs), Soundgarden has finally compiled and released their rarities boxset (as well as a condensed single-disc edition), which includes new songs, b-sides and other hard-to-find rarities.

Heretic and Fresh Deadly Roses start the compilation off with typically Led Zeppelin-infused bluesy rockers, ripe from the Louder Than Love period, both of which just barely preceded the grunge explosion that would soon follow. H.I.V. Baby and Show Me are the only b-sides to appear from the Badmotorfinger era, and are both killer tracks.

Cold Bitch is the only song from a Superunknown single and shows how the band was firing on all cylinders in 1994 — easily their peak year as a band. She’s a Politician is another grungy rocker, this time from a little known 1992 EP called Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas. She Likes Surprises was originally released on the international version of Superunknown and has an irregular but interesting guitar riff.

Classic soundtrack songs like Birth Ritual (Singles) and Blind Dogs (The Basketball Diaries), as well as the more recent Live To Rise (The Avengers) all appear here. The Down on the Upside b-side Bleed Together is here (which trumps many of the songs from that album), and also previously appeared on the band’s greatest hits collection, A-Sides. The final few tracks include Black Rain, a Badmotorfinger era song which released in 2010, as well as two unreleased tracks, Kristi and Storm.

Echo of Miles is an essential collection for Soundgarden fans and shows how much great material didn’t even make the albums between their original run from 1987-1996, making for a rarities collection that is every bit as essential as those of the other big four bands of the Seattle grunge movement.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Soundgarden on Discogs.

Back to the 2014 Album Guide or the Soundgarden Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard