Beinhorn made Superunknown happen. Even if he and the band didn't become best buddies he pushed them into making something amazing. And I don't think that 'Down on the Upside' or 'Euphoria Morning' would have sounded as good if it weren't for the Beinhorn influence.
So give the fella a rest, will ya?
/Niklas
Speaking of Beinhorn, he gave an interview to UltimateGuitar.com about the albums he worked on and Superunknown came up....
www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/interviews/producer_michael_beinhorn_anthony_kiedis_was_completely_non-functional_heroin_addict_he_wouldnt_show_up_for_weeks.html In 1994, you produced Soundgarden's "Superunknown," which is generally considered one of the best records ever made. Did you know much about the band when you started working with them?
One of my great assets is not knowing anything about the artists I've worked with before I work with them. It kind of gives me a really good perspective on it. I sort of like the idea of working with people whose music I don't know so I don't have too many pre-conceptions about it. Which is kind of difficult on the one hand especially if you want to stay versed in what's popular. But I definitely as I said gives you a very unique perspective on stuff.
You didn't know anything about Soundgarden?
I'd only heard one Soundgarden record. No, I'd heard two and the "Temple of the Dog" album.
What did you think?
I thought, "Yeah, it sounds really cool." Then this record came up and I saw a really unique opportunity to work with a band who were probably going to explode.
You had that sense that Soundgarden were going to be big?
At that particular point in time, you could tell who was going to make a really successful record. The next record was gonna be really big and they were definitely the band. I just was like, "I wonder what would happen instead of resting on those laurels and just kind of going with it, we just amped it up." Instead of being like, "Yeah, the next record will be good. It won't be as good as the last one but they'll probably sell a little bit more maybe 'cause everyone wants to hear a great Soundgarden record, what if this record is extraordinary?"
So there was no pressure - you just had to make an extraordinary record.
I guess we made it extraordinary, hahaha. A lot of work went into that obviously and it wasn't just something that kind of happened.
Chris Cornell had said you were almost anal about the sounds?
Almost?
There was a lot of times spent on sounds and layering?
I think they wanted to make a record really fast. I think that was one of the bases on which they hired me. I think they thought I was going to do a record them in a few weeks and it would be out and done and then they could go on tour and do whatever they wanted.
Soundgarden were in for a big surprise, right?
I think they made a mistake when they hired me, hahaha. They said, "This is not the guy we brought in to do our record at all." I wanted to make something that was incredibly refined and had an immense amount of subtlety but had a message of extreme emotional intensity and even brutality. I wanted to create something that had as much subtext going on as well things happening on the surface.
How did you create that?
The only way to do that at least in my experience is to create subtlety. That is where the sonics came in. To me it was all about trying to hone the sound so that they precisely embodied an emotion effect. So that the combination of all the sounds together would amplify one another. They would play off one another and create this monumental effect.
Which is exactly what you created.
I think once we got in the flow of stuff, setting up amps and things like that happened a lot more quickly. There was really a lot of focus that went into exactly how this is gonna work sonically. Obviously the band were outside this conversation.
The band didn't want to be involved in a discussion about sounds?
They didn't really care and they wanted to make a quick record and I knew they weren't gonna see what I saw. They were very p-ssed off about the mic I used and how far I got into recording drums and how far I got into trying to record guitars, bass and vocals.
Soundgarden didn't have the patience for that?
The thing is if you listen to all the different elements on the record and in the band, there are things that if you didn't try to depict them you wouldn't know it. That's the thing. You'd feel it though. It's not something you could be conscious of.
What type of things?
For example, when Chris sings he lets go of a breath and it goes like ahh because he's putting so much emphasis into that. Now if I record him with a microphone that only picked up the ahh on his voice - all the air, all the screaming and the notes - but doesn't get that bottom thing, which is really sexy that thing down there, which is that expulsion of breath - and if you miss things like that, you miss something very riveting and emotional that belongs in the song. It humanizes it and it makes it something people can relate to more. That was something I really [wanted to do] and I wanted to focus on nuances like that.
What is that saying? God is in the details.
I knew if they weren't there, I would miss them and if I missed them even though someone wouldn't know, they would feel it. Or they wouldn't feel it. It's by giving the listener something back, you enhance their experience of the song.
That is so cool.
I thought so, hahaha.
However p-ssed off the band might have been with you, the truth is "Superunknown" still remains a very important record.
It's a great record. At the end of the day, anyone can say whatever they want about me or the way I work or the way I worked on that record. But the bottom line is that record had its 20th year anniversary last year. They released it in a massive limited edition thing with a 75-page gatefold book. People don't do that for records unless they really, really matter in life.
That is absolutely true?
And you know what? I wanted that record to matter. It wasn't specifically for me and it wasn't even specifically for them. It was for people like you who are gonna listen to this thing and they're gonna be affected by it. That's why records like that get made. It's the duty that people like us have.
It's like you felt this responsibility or this need to create something really special?
I don't want to put this on those guys because they can look at it however they want but this is their duty as well - to make the best possible f--king record they can. It's my job to help them get to that place as well and do something that hopefully will stand some kind of test of time. I think in this day and age, a 20-year lifespan for a record that still sells? It's not so bad.
He'll get nothing done on time with him. This would be heinous. Brother Jack ill spiral the Kim right into chill mode. If that happens, fugeddaboutit. KT will slip on the latest Haji, crack open some Red Stripes and unwind to the smooth easy going sounds of Sunno ))) 
Lol. But the ideas are flowing for sure. Ah yeah babe 
