Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"
Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's "Superunknown"

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Chris Cornell Demo Tape from Soundgarden's Superunknown

Chris Cornell Four Song Demo Tape -

Sitting in my home office, I stared nervously at this latest cassette tape from Chris. Faced with a growing collection of his most recent demos that hadn't quite hit the mark, I was increasingly reconciling myself to the idea that what I'd imagined could happen with this record was nothing more than an insane fantasy. A notion that had been born in my fevered imagination but something that could never exist in reality.

And frankly, I was scared shitless by this tape. My dread existed in no small part because the tape came hot on the heels of the aforementioned and extremely in depth conversation I'd had with Chris about his songwriting. If, after all that talking, probing and coaching, I had to go back to Chris - or heaven forbid, the rest of the band- and give even more direction, input or bad news, everyone’s confidence in the project- and me - would most certainly be seriously undermined.

And, at that point, I would be about a stone's throw from getting handed my walking papers.

Everything now rested firmly on whether or not my conversation with Chris had made the desired impact. I was painfully aware of two things- one was that if the music on this tape sucked, I might have to lie about just how bad it was to the band. The other thing was that in situations like these, I'm just about the world's worst liar.

At the same time, the cassette tape felt strangely reminiscent of the bar of Wonka chocolate that Charlie Button buys in "Charlie And the Chocolate Factory", after reconciling that he will never attain his heart's desire - which is to find the final golden ticket. And we all know what happened to him when he opened that bar of chocolate. I looked at the plastic box the tape had come in and the song titles that had been scrawled on it in Chris' distinctive handwriting. The first song was called “Fell on Black Days”.

After holding off as long as I could possibly bear, I took the cassette out of the box, put it in my player and pressed play. Within a few seconds, my heart was filled with the most indescribable joy. The music I heard pouring out of my headphones was absolutely brilliant - it felt far more personal and compelling than any of the other material he'd sent. For the first time since the project had commenced, I felt like the clouds had parted and I could truly see the real Chris Cornell- not the grunge-rock icon- but the man and the artist. Gone was any pretension or facade- just a naked, raw confessional that snaked effortlessly out of the song, through my headphones and plugged itself directly into my soul. It was just exactly and completely what anyone who loves great music would want to hear - no more and no less.

This first song was a keeper- no question about it. The next song was called “Anxious” and while also terrific, was more of a blues-rock song and seemed less appropriate for the record we were going to make. Chris mentioned to me later that Jerry Cantrell had played guitar on it. Chris was really opening himself up emotionally on these songs in a way I’d never heard before. He sounded focused and present and finally, I really, truly felt him through his music. Only years later and after he'd passed, did I begin to understand just how autobiographical these songs truly were.

I'd always felt that his vocals on 'Temple Of The Dog' were some of his best and most emotional work. However, it was also more rooted in traditional blues-rock- a place where he sometimes found himself and to me, it didn't always resonate as well. By comparison, these new songs and performances exposed a deeply personal side of him- emotional and dark- complex and something I'd never heard before. 'Fell On Black Days' had so many contrasting elements and such darkness that the blues influence barely registered.

Among other things, it had become obvious to me that Chris felt most comfortable recording his vocals in his basement home studio. This revelation subconsciously lodged in my brain and became an important factor that played heavily into future decisions regarding how the album vocals were recorded. Song number three was called “Tighter and Tighter” and from the moment I heard it, I loved it, too. It was really dark, creepy and showed a whole different side to Chris than any I’d ever encountered. It, too was a bit bluesy, but thankfully, the creepiness factor far outweighed it sounding trite or derivative.

These songs felt so exciting and confident while also dramatically underscoring Chris’s strengths as a songwriter. Here was exactly the fuel we needed to give the record its substance, depth, context and direction. Chris had really taken our conversation to heart and had raised his own bar. Wow. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and moved on to the last track, which was called “Black Hole Sun”.

But, what was this? From the very first arpeggios of this track, I was transfixed.

Not only did what I was hearing sound radically different from any of the other songs I’d gotten, it truly sounded nothing like any Soundgarden song I’d ever heard. For that matter, it didn't sound like anything that anyone else was doing at that moment in popular music, either. The tones, the textures, the note and chordal choices were completely different and utterly unique from anything else. The entire presentation and the staging was spooky, beautiful and oddly disturbing, it all just sucked me in.

And then the singing began.

Through the entire first verse, I think my fingers must have been crossed so tightly that they were in danger of cracking for fear that some new element was going to enter at any moment and wreck the perfect equilibrium that Chris had masterfully set in motion. The verse was immaculate - as good and as satisfying as anything I could have ever imagined but so much better still. It was remarkable how he led me along through the first part of the verse up to the mid-point where he momentarily raises the key of the song a half step and then drops it back down where the verse recycles. 

This was far and away the very best song on Chris' latest cassette tape. Mind-bogglingly amazing, it was also the absolute best of all the prospective tracks for the record and, for that matter, one of the best songs I’d ever heard in my life.

Still, we hadn’t reached the chorus yet and in my experience, as much as they exist to climax a song, choruses can wind up being like those unseen rocks that destroy ships at sea- especially when the elements that comprise them haven’t been well organized and don’t quite fit together properly. In a state of extreme tension, I waited expectantly for the song's chorus, my stomach constricting into an ever tighter array of knots.

But the moment the chorus hit, I realized that my fears were groundless. Not only did the chorus work flawlessly with the rest of the structure, it was also the perfect extrapolation away from it. This chorus lifted the song exquisitely and took the song to an entirely new level of intensity and perfection- one that was utterly unexpected but both brilliant and breathtaking. Everything clicked and ran like clockwork. This was fucking genius.

Chris had done exactly what I’d hoped he would do - instead of backing down, like a true champion, he had raised up the gauntlet that had been hurled down before him and created a masterpiece. From the chorus, the song idled for but a moment so the listener could catch up with it, before going back into another verse and then developing even further. There were more vocal parts, more textures, a bridge/guitar solo section, a breakdown verse with a chorus out that built and built into a triumphant, climactic, apocalyptic end. 

This was not only a great song, it was visually evocative in a way that no other song I’d been charged to record or bring to fruition had ever been. There was something dizzying, seductive, surreal and yet menacing, cold and dark about it. It was completely unique and it literally reeked of emotion- the flavor of which (like so much great art), I'd never before encountered. 

My mother-in-law had passed away a few weeks prior to this and I was just getting over the experience of having arrived late to the hospital and missing her passing by mere minutes. There I sat sobbing in the hospital room holding her lifeless, cold, hard body. A day later came the oppressive heaviness of her funeral and the open casket within which she lay. 

Suddenly, without any warning, as the final chorus kicked in, I was immediately transported back to that place in time- a few weeks back in the church. Except that now, I saw myself standing alone in the middle of a vast, darkened sepulcher facing an enormous open casket with my mother-in-law’s lifeless body interred within. I felt the hairs raising on my arms, goosebumps all over my body and a huge lump engorging my throat.

It was literally like a horrific accident that you don’t dare look at but which you also can’t look away from. This wasn't just a song- it was a deeply uncomfortable and disturbing, yet inexorably seductive experience. An unbearable journey that I wanted to take again and again. And suddenly, I realized that I’d been sitting on the floor of my office for over an hour and had played this song fifteen times in a row. 

I literally couldn’t stop listening to it. What the fuck was going on?

I felt an intense urge to call Chris. I rang him at home and after searching a variety of places, I finally found him. The very first words which spontaneously sprung from my lips were, "Congratulations, you're a goddamned genius". He seemed oddly surprised by this and initially had no idea what I was talking about. I don’t recall what I said after that because I can get extremely effusive when I’m excited.

Chris seemed to be genuinely pleased and somewhat humored  yet mystified that I loved his song so much. I, in turn, was surprised as to how casual and seemingly unaffected he was about it.

After speaking with Chris, I was further surprised when I reached out to the rest of the band to talk with them about the new demo and "Black Hole Sun" in particular. Although I was still over the moon about the song, I discovered that like Chris, they were similarly nonchalant about it - in some cases, speaking about it as if it might not even wind up on the record.

I was absolutely stupefied by their response and wondered if we either hadn't been listening to the same piece of music or if I was on crazy pills. Even more bizarre and confusing was my own manager’s nonchalant reaction when I played the demo for him. He seemed happy that I was happy but the song barely registered with him. In fact, as time went on, I found that most people I played it for appeared more confused by it than anything else. 

My own feeling about 'Black Hole Sun' was not swayed one iota by anyone else's reactions, so what they thought about it meant absolutely nothing to me. I went on record with the band and management to say that, even though we were short a song or two, as far as I was concerned we had everything we needed to begin the recording process.

- Michael Beinhorn



Grammy-winning producer-engineer Michael Beinhorn has had a hand in creating some of the most influential rock albums of the 90's and early 2000's. He has worked behind the scenes with names such as Brian Eno, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soul Asylum, Soundgarden, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Violent Femmes, Social Distortion, Hole, Marilyn Manson, Korn, and Dave Grohl. 



Known for his meticulous attention to detail and multi-layered approach to microphone usage, Beinhorn experimented with rare and offbeat recording equipment to capture impressionistic yet authentic soundscapes. His process led to producing modern classics like SuperunknownCelebrity SkinMechanical AnimalsThe Verve Pipe, and countless other chart-topping and award-winning albums and singles. 

Recently, Beinhorn has put most of his focus behind his latest venture, Beinhorn Creative, which seeks to remotely develop artists and hone their creative capabilities while navigating the rapidly changing climate of the music industry.  With a new chapter being embarked upon, it is with great sadness that Beinhorn has decided to part ways with some of the most coveted and obscure pieces of equipment used to create some of the biggest albums of the last few decades.

Whether you’re a musician, an engineer, or a hobbyist, there’s something in this collection for you. These are genuinely one-of-a-kind, iconic assets of the Grunge era and beyond.

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