Top 10 Best Soundgarden Songs

The Top Ten
1 Black Hole Sun

Soundgarden's masterpiece, a trippy adventure that is out of this world. The melody takes you to a place of never-ending beauty.

Unreal vocals, lyrics, and rhythm guitar by Chris Cornell. Kim Thayil is so good on this that it's scary. Ben Shepherd is at his best with the killer bass.

A song that will live forever for mankind to immerse their brains in a soup of unearthly rhythm. The video is perfect to go along with this psychedelic classic.

Black Hole Sun has got to be one of the greatest songs of all time! It has everything: amazing vocals, guitar, rhythm, beat, and it also has that feeling you get when everything in your life is going perfectly. This song rocks perfectly, and it deserves to be first!

2 Fell on Black Days

Fell On Black Days is realizing you're unhappy in the extreme. If you have depression like me, then this song will never get old. This song is my favorite and represents my life.

This was the first song I heard by them, and as soon as it started, I knew it was AWESOME! I love Soundgarden now, and it was all because of this deadly song!

I absolutely love this song. It is my favorite song by Soundgarden. The perfect timing these musicians display is astounding!

3 Outshined

Personally, I prefer this song over Black Hole Sun, Spoonman, and Fell On Black Days because overall, it is heavier, and all the instruments alongside Chris Cornell's vocals just kick ass!

Chris put everything in a nutshell in this track.

"I'm feeling that I'm sober, even though I'm drinking. I can't get any lower, still, I feel I'm sinking."

"I'm looking California and feeling Minnesota."

One of my all-time favorite songs. This song and Alice in Chains' Man in the Box symbolize everything grunge.

4 Jesus Christ Pose

How could this be ranked so low? I vote for it on account of the low ranking... I still think Spoonman, Pretty Noose, Outshined, Fell On Black Days, Blow Up the Outside World, Burden in My Hand, Black Hole Sun, and The Day I Tried to Live are the best, but come on! Jesus Christ Pose, guys, this song should be higher. Those should be top 10, along with Rusty Cage and Jesus Christ Pose, followed thereafter by My Wave.

I get chills whenever I hear this song. From the feedback-laden, fast-paced drumming, and bass solo style intro to the downright jaw-dropping vocal performance from Chris, every aspect of this song is utterly perfect. This song... This song is just amazing. It deserves to be #1 on everything it can possibly apply for. Black Hole Sun doesn't even compare. 11/10.

5 Rusty Cage

Listen, this was the first song I ever heard by Soundgarden. My old man let me play GTA San Andreas, and he turned up the TV when he heard this. How is this not higher? The vocals are so clean, and the guitar just hits. How is this #5?

I'm very surprised Rusty Cage isn't up there in the top ten. It's so angsty and angry, but it has deep undertones. Plus, it just sounds great and the vocals! So great.

What's wrong with the voters? This one is an obvious top 5 song for any band. Superb intro followed by solid vocals.

6 Spoonman

Awesome! The vocals by Chris Cornell and Ben Shepard are awesome. This is my favorite Soundgarden song and the 6th of all time, behind About a Girl, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium, Heart-Shaped Box, and In Bloom. This should be number one.

Most definitely the best song by Soundgarden, and Chris Cornell on the vocals is just terrific! This song beats Black Hole Sun any day, hands down!

Lots of Soundgarden fans fail to realize that Matt Cameron is a good drummer and great for Soundgarden! Plus, the riffs and vocals are just brilliant.

7 The Day I Tried to Live

In my opinion, the best Soundgarden song and the best song ever created. It so rawly depicts desperation, depression, and rage in a five-minute anthem with an iconic riff and some of the best vocals from one of the best vocalists. A masterpiece.

Black Hole Sun is solid. However, if you look deeper and are a bigger Soundgarden fan, you'll see that they have better songs on that very same album, never mind their entire library. That being said, I love this song as it all just clashes together perfectly.

8 4th of July

This song is killer. You won't find a darker, more ominous riff than this. Just an incredible piece of music and storytelling. "Jesus tries to crack a smile beneath another shovel load." So, so good.

This song is subtlety at its finest. The heavy, dark guitars build up to a beautiful peak and the chorus. The solo is one of Thayil's best, and the lyrics are incredibly detailed and complex.

Best Soundgarden song! Great combination of awesome music, vocals, and songwriting. Also shows why Cornell and Thayil are just musical geniuses.

9 Blow Up the Outside World

This song deserves more credit. Maybe not as iconic as Black Hole Sun, Fell on Black Days, or The Day I Tried to Live, but still a great song though.

This was the first song I listened to after hearing of Chris Cornell's passing. His lyrical work was haunting and wonderful at the same time.

The lyrics are so on point, they might even make me want to cry. I think it's a total masterpiece and deserves to be placed much higher.

10 Pretty Noose

One of my favorite songs ever, and it was my favorite Soundgarden song for a long time. It's a masterpiece but can't beat The Day I Tried to Live.

It's not just a song, but a story with much rhythm and meaning to it. The metaphors in this masterpiece suggest a fair amount of depression that the writer, Chris Cornell, went through at the time. Simply one of the deepest, most inspirational songs ever written, and I was beyond surprised when I didn't see it at the top. The best line ever written:
"Fall out and take the bait
Eat the fruit
And kiss the snake goodnight."

The Contenders
11 Burden in My Hand

I love Soundgarden, and this song is by far my favorite. It's clever and flawless in every way. I absolutely can't get enough of the lyrics, as every time I listen to them, they open up new meanings. The first time I heard this song, I felt as if I had a revelation into a different kind of reality where I had all this philosophical knowledge. This song has made me look at the world and life in a different way, so I thank you, Chris Cornell, so much for this amazing masterpiece.

Soundgarden has always been about musicianship. That's what separated them from the rest of the grunge pack. And this song is just it - pure ultimate musicianship. Everything in its place, lyrics are metaphoric and clever, and drum fills that rock your world every time.

12 Like Suicide

This is the proof that the mass is guided by TV and newspaper. One of the most beautiful and incredible rock songs ever, with incredible arrangements, amazing lyrics, so epic in its development, and still, I have to see Black Hole Sun on top of the list?!

Incredibly underrated Soundgarden song and grunge song in general - everything is phenomenal, from the epic build-up to the epic guitar solo! Also one of Chris and Matt's best performances on vocals and drums respectively.

Not my favorite song anymore after Chris' death. It hurts just a little too much. An absolute masterpiece of an album.

13 Slaves and Bulldozers

Rick Rubin played this song for the three remaining members of RATM after they broke up to show them Chris Cornell's range. Enough said. Amazing song from the best Soundgarden album.

This song, along with New Damage, got me into Soundgarden, and they are still my favorites. Badmotorfinger will always be their best album to me.

Amazing bass. Reminds me of Tom Sawyer. Don't know why.

14 Live to Rise

Live to Rise is a good Soundgarden song. Not their best, but it is still fantastic. The song works very well with the first Avengers movie (it should, since it was made for the movie). Did I mention it was the first song Soundgarden fully recorded since the 90s?

It's only this low because it was released not too long ago, but if this was released around the same time as Black Hole Sun, it would be much higher. Guaranteed!

I can't believe this song is not even in the top 10. For me, this is their best song. In fact, this is the only song I like from Soundgarden. This may be new but still their best.

15 Beyond the Wheel

The first song... well, it was actually Chris Cornell's "Reach Down" when he was in Temple of the Dog. This was the second song I'd heard from Chris Cornell as a vocalist. His vocals are superb. I've never heard anyone like it, and I'm a big Axl Rose fan, so you know what I'm talking about. Get this checked, and also make it your first choice if you're just getting into the band!

You've got to hear this live in person. Stunning!

Beyond the Wheel is so underrated in Soundgarden's catalog. Chris screams his head off, and Thayil's solo is amazing!

16 Room a Thousand Years Wide

Incredible song. A riveting riff accompanied by cutting vocals which are supported by characteristically cryptic yet mesmerizing lyrics. It embodies why I like the band and is half the reason that Badmotorfinger is so high up on my most played albums list!

18? Seriously? How is this ranked so low? Easily one of my top 3 favorite Soundgarden songs, if not number 1.

17 Black Rain

This song is just amazing. The guitar riffs are magnificent, and Cornell's voice is always wonderful to hear. It's so good it gives me chills. I really don't understand why it is not in the top five, at least...

Definitely should be in the top 10. One of my favorites for sure! I love Soundgarden and have been listening for like, dang, 15 or 16 years!

I really feel it should be at least in the top 10. It has such a great riff and vocals. It's one of their best songs up until now.

18 My Wave

My favorite Soundgarden song. The drums, guitars, and vocals are amazing.

Honestly, one of my favorite songs ever, let alone by this band.

It's amazing! It should have a higher rank!

19 Hands All Over

This is not my favorite from Soundgarden, but it deserves to be much higher in the ranking, at least in the top 15. Terrific vocals and guitars.

It must be in the top ten! Great song!

Should be in the top 15 at least. Way better than Live To Rise in my opinion.

20 Zero Chance
21 Head Down

How was this not even on the list? It's my favorite song of all time.

22 Superunknown

YES! This song is so awesome! Its guitar lick is awesome, and it has extraordinary vocals from Chris. Their best song by far.

An amazing yet underrated Soundgarden song.

23 Holy Water
24 Loud Love

The riff is so cool in this song. It's unbelievably good. Cornell and Thayil are Gods.

25 Limo Wreck
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