Soundgarden《Superunknown》，暗无天日的火山森林

我们还没从上周六枪与玫瑰的无天台湾演唱会醒来，特别是火山致敬Soundgarden 的片段，让台下不少摇滚咖胸腔满涨，森林鼻子忽然酸到不行。无天Soundgarden 是火山引领grunge 乐踏入主流并赢得商业性成功的传奇乐团，去年离世的森林Chris Cornell 年轻时常穿Nirvana T恤，寄託的无天情感与敬意，也许声音花园的火山乐迷们现在也能有所体会了。世界上有一种灿烂叫虚妄，森林必须踏入暗房，无天模糊日常周遭与自己的火山形体，才能用比较冷静的森林思绪面对。不奢求未来，无天而是火山专注眼前的未知，默默採集自己需要的森林美丽。

▲美国摇滚乐团Soundgarden（声音花园）于1984年由主唱兼节奏吉他手Chris Cornell、主音吉他手Kim Thayil、贝斯手Hiro Yamamoto（1990年由Ben Shepherd替代）在西雅图创立，1986年加入鼓手Matt Cameron，1997年解散，2010年重组。本图由Michael Lavine 摄于1990年，Chris Cornell 放入嘴巴的玩具是摄影师工作室里的假枪，他和Soundgarden 先开喝，大家都有醉意后才开始拍摄工作。

▲Chris Cornell 穿Nirvana T恤。

1994年Soundgarden 发行第四张录音室专辑《Superunknown》，共发行包括〈The Day I Tried to Live〉、〈My Wave〉、〈Fell on Black Days〉、〈Spoonman〉、〈Black Hole Sun〉等5张单曲，这张叫好叫座的唱片象徵Soundgarden 的生涯转折，也是他们最畅销的代表作。

▲Soundgarden 1994年专辑《Superunknown》封面由Kevin Westenberg 拍摄。

《Superunknown》封面有“Screaming Elf”（尖叫的精灵）之称，影像由Kevin Westenberg 操刀。Chris Cornell 表示，这张专辑某程度来说与出生有关，在刚出生或濒死之际，你被沖入某种一无所知的境地。Soundgarden 团名「声音花园」让人直接联想一片欣欣向荣的花团锦簇，加入扑蝴蝶的孩子、追白兔的少女都不违和。乐团想颠覆这种乐园印象，乾脆来张火烧森林，再把惊心动魄的烈焰轰轰转为灰阶，上下翻转，团员的面孔也一併加以扭曲，俨如鬼魂浴火的炼狱，在有机的组成中尽显黑暗与冰冷。

「我小时候对这类型故事相当着迷，认为森林里充满各种邪恶和可怕的东西，而不是你去露营的快乐花园。」Chris Cornell 说道。

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I'm fortunate that during my career I have worked with many of my art director heroes. There have been many discussions concerning visual philosophy and theory as to what makes something work, and why the opposite holds true. In some ways this cover was just one glorious accident. There was no real plan on the day of the album shoot for SUPERUNKNOWN. Most times with every musician, no matter which style of music I was working around the world, there would rarely be a plan. During those jobbing years where there were crazy budgets and infinite patience on the part of all involved, a level of trust was earned. Looking back I suppose my level of trust in the business at this stage was fairly high. To the point where I would think of the atmosphere to create and the technical ability needed to achieve the vision and then we just go for it with the blessings of all the moneymen. The level of consultation and planning was also minimal, as you never wanted to let them see you sweat. It was all about the end result and as my confidence during all those prime years was never an issue, there were also never any moments where I took my foot off the throttle. I pushed myself to the point of exhaustion constantly. If there were no nerves before a big shoot like this one with SOUNDGARDEN, then you're walking dead. Forget it. I knew the stakes were high for this band that I loved so much. The absolute need to perform was there throughout. Also, as someone who was born in Seattle but had by then immigrated to the UK, it was even more important. Maximum creative pressure is never a bad thing. This here is the full frame used for the album cover for SUPERUNKNOWN. While constructing the idea, I never expected this to somehow ever equate with the fantastic range of musical ideas created on the album. There’s always an added bit of luck and happenstance thrown in as well. Side note; I was always disappointed that Matt was cut out of the cover by the crop. Not my choice. Also, where did the name ‘Screaming Elf’ ever come from? Definitely not my choice! Good Times. Photo: Kevin Westenberg. #kevinwestenberg #realfilmrealwestenberg #soundgarden

A post shared by Kevin Westenberg Photography (@kevinwestenberg) on May 25, 2017 at 3:06pm PDT

▲《Superunknown》封面乐团原始照片。

1994年接受《Pulse!》杂誌採访时，Chris Cornell表示，专辑名称灵感来自某影片名称“Superclown”（超级小丑），当时他意会成“Superunknown”（超级未知），深深为之惊艳。「我之前从未听过、从没看过，我被启发了！」设计阶段最棘手的部分是：要怎么把专辑名称“SUPERUNKNOWN”摆上去，最后决定让“UNKNOWN”倒头栽，和画面一样採取半反转状态。

▲《Superunknown》专辑名称以“SUPER”结合上下反转的“UNKNOWN”。

摄影师Kevin Westenberg 多年后回顾与Soundgarden 的合作，他说：「大约20~25年前，我认为对某些艺人来说，用黑白背景是最纯粹的表现方法。在我看来，也代表反白背景，象徵商业化的反面，让视觉聚焦在艺人的脸部表情，加强时代的黑暗情绪。」

「在我早期作品中，虚无与黑暗的区块对我有更深刻的意义，而不是人们从照片中看到的部分。如果有符合这个前提的主题，那就是Soundgarden 了，这也是我对Soundgarden 作为乐团的看法。」

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SOUNDGARDEN have finally re-released the 20-year-old A-Sides Hits album on vinyl. In the end these two photos were included in the new package which was released on ‘Record Store Day’ 2018. I went through a period 20-25 years ago where I felt that with certain artists, a black background was the purest form of expression. In my mind it was also representative of the anti-white background. This represented the opposite of commerciality, which also allowed visual focus on the artists face, expression and enhanced the dark mood of the era. The void and black space always meant more to me in my earlier works, than the parts of the photo one could see. If there was ever a subject that would fit this prerequisite, it was Soundgarden and my vision of what Soundgarden was for me as a band. These two set ups were part of the 18 hour marathon shoot at the Ok Hotel for the DOWN ON THE UPSIDE campaign. The shot against black then also the shot of the boys at the bar were both photographed at the OK Hotel in Seattle. Good Times. Photo: Kevin Westenberg. #kevinwestenberg #kevinwestenbergphotography #realfilmrealwestenberg #soundgarden #chriscornell #benshepherd #kimthayil #mattcameron #hiroyamamoto #grunge #metal #love #throwback #instagram #badmotorfinger #ultramegaok #superunknown #downontheupside #asides #filmsnotdead #bw #blackandwhite #great #photography #best #classic #goodtimes #potd #photooftheday

A post shared by Kevin Westenberg Photography (@kevinwestenberg) on Apr 24, 2018 at 7:17pm PDT

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CHRIS CORNELL. LONDON. APRIL.12.1996. Originally shot for ‘Blah Blah Blah’ magazine as a feature. Haven’t looked at these for over 20 years. It’s a beautiful and clarifying thing to have so much time pass since then to recall it all in my minds eye. Even though this is only a contact sheet scan, I can see it has potential. I’ll get to it one of these days when I decide to dip my toes back in “the business”?this was my favorite Chris 1.0 period. All spikey, pissed off and wired. ‘Down On The Upside’ recording and artwork was finished. That album was due out just 5 weeks after we did this photo session as the follow-up the mighty ‘SuperUnknown’ so nobody knew what the hell would happen next. Press time, endless touring and drunken nights was the remedy and the cure! A year and a half after this photo was taken, the band would actually call it quits. We shot this in some hotel in central London on a miserable grey day in the Big Smoke! Hurrah! Good Times! ? photo: Kevin Westenberg. #kevinwestenberg #kevinwestenbergphotography #realfilmrealwestenberg #chriscornell #unseen #susansilver #photooftheday #london #england #real #photography #love #instagram #instagood #bw #blackandwhite #corridor #blahblahblah #chrisashworth best #contactsheet #classic #spikey

A post shared by Kevin Westenberg Photography (@kevinwestenberg) on Jul 19, 2018 at 9:03am PDT

▲Chris Cornell（1964～2017）除了Soundgarden，也是超级乐团Audioslave 成员，对90年代grunge 乐发展有卓越贡献。生前饱受抑郁症折磨，2017年5月18日结束Soundgarden 演唱会表演后，早晨被发现在底特律旅馆房间自缢身亡。

搜寻Chris Cornell 影像过程，时常可以看到他跟子女、狗狗的合照，他付出的爱与关怀也是如此之深啊！

▲Chris Cornell 与其子Christopher Nicholas Cornell。

自杀的原因究竟为何，或许当事人也不明白。世界是一团混沌，有时候我们也不想勉强自己发出求救讯号。只想安安静静的，希望在暗无天日的状态，取得一方宁静。累了就休息去听花园里的美妙声音吧！我们都会没事的。

撰文：蔡舒湉

来源：soundgardenworld、kevinwestenberg