Would have been an exciting time to be a Soundgarden fan in 1996, right? I’ll hold my breath for any answers. But I see it this way. Superunknown and a song like ‘Black Hole Sun’ brought the band some deserved critical and commercial success in ’94. Must have gained a lot of fans just through them. Then ’95 comes around, they start recording a new album. And in the new year that new album’s first single is released. ‘Pretty Noose’ from the upcoming album, Down on the Upside. Fans let that song soak in. The band was back, new song, hooray, hooray. Then the album arrives a month and a bit later. With ‘Pretty Noose’ being its opener and a track that people were well-accustomed to, the wait for new-new music was officially over with the track that would follow it in the track list.

The feedback and fading guitar chords at the end of ‘Pretty Noose’ just begin to get out of earshot before things are woken up again with the sudden drum roll and guitar riff that opens up ‘Rhinosaur’, the second track from Down on the Upside. Fans of the band will know that when it came to the songwriting duties, though people would look to Chris Cornell as the frontman and main face, all four members could very much bring forward any ideas that could then be worked on. In this case, the music for ‘Rhinosaur’ was written by drummer Matt Cameron, who also attempted to do vocals on it (according to this little interview the band did for promo) but found they were so “awful” that he was pleased when Cornell came along to take over. I mean, if you want someone to do vocals for your song, you could have a lot worse choices than Chris Cornell.

The song consists of the ascending and descending scales, each guitar in the frame playing the same sequence of notes in unison, as Matt Cameron keeps a steady beat – 3/4 time for those counting out there – and Cornell sings from the perspective of someone or something who feels at their most powerful when in the bleakest of situations. I’ve always especially enjoyed the rhythm of the song. It’s in 3/4 as I said before, but the way the guitar riffs rise and fall in this sort of cycle always gets my head moving in all sorts of directions. The start/stop dynamic of the chords during the chorus, where the timing shifts from 3/4 to 4/4, always get a screw-face from me. And then, in a sudden turn of events, things go into double-time for the instrumental break where Kim Thayil wilds out for his guitar solo before the band cascade into the final chorus and bring proceedings to a close. If first-time Upside were already happy with ‘Pretty Noose’, I think ‘Rhinosaur’ only solidified their faith that another superb album was in their hands.