Screaming Life
| Screaming Life | ||||
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| EP by Soundgarden | ||||
| Released | October 1, 1987 | |||
| Recorded | 1987 at Reciprocal Recording, Seattle, Washington | |||
| Genre | Grunge, heavy metal, stoner rock | |||
| Length | 22:16 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Sub Pop | |||
| Producer | Jack Endino, Soundgarden | |||
| Soundgarden EPs chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Screaming Life | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
Screaming Life is the debut EP by the American rock band Soundgarden, released in October 1987 through Sub Pop Records. Screaming Life was later combined with the band's next EP, Fopp (1988), and released as the Screaming Life/Fopp compilation album in 1990.
The EP was recorded in 1987 in Seattle, Washington at Reciprocal Studios with producer Jack Endino, who also produced albums for Nirvana and Mudhoney.
Drummer Matt Cameron described the sound on the EP as "pretty raw." "Hunted Down", Soundgarden's first single, is representative of the early "grunge" sound—with its dirty guitar, dissonant atmosphere and lyrics concerning entrapment and escape. "Nothing to Say" features drop D tuning, which would become a signature of Soundgarden's sound on later albums. Guitarist Kim Thayil said he learned about the tuning from Buzz Osborne of the Melvins, when Osborne was telling him about Black Sabbath.
Earlier versions of "Tears to Forget" appeared on the band's 1985 demo tape and on the 1986 Deep Six compilation album, which featured some of the first recordings by the earliest Seattle grunge bands, including Soundgarden. That version was recorded with drummer Scott Sundquist, but the version on Screaming Life was recorded with Cameron.
Some time prior to recording, Endino found old rolls of quarter-inch tape at a garage sale, and some contained recordings of a Christian preacher giving sermons in the early 1950s. Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell had the idea to have the preacher's voice on "Hand of God". The recording was synched with the eight-track machine, copied to an empty track and by coincidence (or because, as Endino says, "God smiled upon us") the tape rolls matched perfectly with the song. Cornell also added his own sarcastic preacher-style vocals, with the lines "Let it be known today, if you've got two hands/You're supposed to pray." According to Endino, the labels on the rolls of tape were near-illegible and thus the name of the preacher remains unknown.
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