Temple Of The Dog: Chris Cornell (vocals, banjo, harmonica); Stone Gossard, Mike McCready (guitar); Jeff Ament (bass); Matt Cameron (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Eddie Vedder (vocals); Rick Parashar (piano, organ).

Producers: Temple Of The Dog, Rick Parashar.

Recorded at London Bridge Studios, Seattle, Washington from November to December, 1990.

On the eve of up-and-coming Seattle rockers Mother Love Bone's full-length major label debut (1990's APPLE), singer Andrew Wood succumbed to a drug overdose. Longtime friend Chris Cornell, the singer of Soundgarden, wrote several songs in Wood's memory. These were rooted more in classic rock than his full-time band's metallic sound. Cornell recorded them with ex-members of Mother Love Bone guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, and then-unknowns Mike McCready and Eddie Vedder, in a project called Temple Of The Dog.

The project's self-titled 1991 debut fell on deaf ears. While such songs as the sullen album opener "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and the epic jamfest "Reach Down" have lyrics that deal with Wood's passing, most of the tracks deal with other topics, such as the album's high point "Hunger Strike," as well as the organic-sounding "Wooden Jesus," the hard rocker "Your Saviour," and the drowsy album closer "All Night Thing." A year after its initial release, the Seattle rock scene exploded and the massive success of the members of Temple Of The Dog prompted A&M to re-release both the album and the video for "Hunger Strike." Both were immediate hits the second time around.

What the critics say...

Rolling Stone (12/21/00, p.175) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...One of the 1st smash hits of the Seattle explosion....it codified, with heart and muscle, the heavy angush of the Puget sound....proof that the angst that defined Seattle rock inthe 1990s was not cheap sentiment..."
Musician (7/91) - "...offers a potent distillation of Seattle's sonic sludge, with plenty of slow-mo riffing and louder-than-life guitar. It backs that sound with songs so potent and emotional that they tower over most of today's hard rock. Well worth hearing..."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.51) - "[I]n 'Hunger Strike', a duet featuring then-unknown vocalist Eddie Vedder, they produced one of the most touching and emotional songs of the '90s."