Album
King Animal
King Animal is Soundgarden's sixth studio album, and it arrived on 13 November 2012. It was the band's first record in sixteen years, picking up where Down on the Upside left off in 1996. The band produced it themselves with Adam Kasper. In North America it came out through Universal Republic and Loma Vista Recordings, with Vertigo handling the rest of the world.
For anyone who followed the band through the 1990s, this is the comeback chapter, and it sits in a different light now. It was the last studio album Soundgarden released before Chris Cornell died in 2017, and the band dissolved the following year. That makes it the closing statement of a catalogue that began with Ultramega OK in 1988, and a worthwhile listen for anyone curious how the group sounded after such a long gap.
King Animal: tracklist, credits and charts
13 tracks · 52:04Tracklist
- 1Been Away Too LongChris Cornell and Ben Shepherd3:36
- 2Non-State ActorShepherd, Cornell, Thayil3:57
- 3By Crooked StepsCameron, Shepherd, Thayil, Cornell4:01
- 4A Thousand Days BeforeKim Thayil and Chris Cornell4:23
- 5Blood on the Valley FloorKim Thayil and Chris Cornell3:49
- 6Bones of BirdsChris Cornell4:23
- 7TareeBen Shepherd and Chris Cornell3:38
- 8AttritionBen Shepherd2:53
- 9Black SaturdayChris Cornell3:30
- 10Halfway ThereChris Cornell3:16
- 11Worse DreamsChris Cornell4:53
- 12Eyelid's MouthMatt Cameron and Chris Cornell4:39
- 13RowingChris Cornell and Ben Shepherd5:06
- Produced by
- Joe Barresi, Adam Kasper, Soundgarden
- Recorded at
- Avast! (Seattle), Studio X (Seattle), TNC (Los Angeles)
- Recorded
- February 2011 – August 2012
- Mixed by
- Joe Barresi
- Mixed at
- Joe’s House of Compression
- Engineered by
- Josh Evans, Sam Hofstedt, Nate Yaccino, Chris Cornell
- Artwork
- Josh Graham
- Photography
- Josh Graham, Don VanCleave
- Label
- Vertigo
- Length
- 52:04
Line-up
- Matt Cameron · membranophone, percussion, Moog, background vocals · guest
- Chris Cornell · guitar, lead vocals, piano, mandolin · guest
- Ben Shepherd · electric bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, background vocals · guest
- Kim Thayil · guitar, mandolin · guest
- Flower of Power · horn · guest
- Adam Kasper · tambura, piano · guest
- Jeff McGrath · trumpet · guest
- Greg Powers · bass trombone, tenor trombone · guest
- Bubba Dupree · guitar · guest
- Brad Stevens · baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone · guest
- Bullet · vocals · guest
- Mike McCready · guitar · guest
Singles
- “Been Away Too Long” · 27 September 2012
- “By Crooked Steps” · 12 February 2013
- “Halfway There” · 3 September 2013
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2012 | 5 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2012 | 21 |
| US Hard Rock · 2012 | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2012 | 2 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2012 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2012 | 4 |
| Danish Albums · 2012 | 5 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2012 | 6 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2012 | 6 |
| Swiss Albums · 2012 | 9 |
All 24 charts
| Finnish Albums · 2012 | 10 |
| German Albums · 2012 | 10 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2012 | 13 |
| Ireland 2 · 2012 | 15 |
| Italian Albums · 2012 | 18 |
| Austrian Albums · 2012 | 19 |
| Spanish Albums · 2012 | 22 |
| Dutch Albums · 2012 | 24 |
| Scottish Albums · 2012 | 24 |
| Swedish Albums · 2012 | 25 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) · 2012 | 36 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2012 | 43 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2012 | 46 |
| French Albums · 2012 | 67 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
54.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
68k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
4.9k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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Full discography →
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1987
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1988
Ultramega OK
1988
Louder Than Love
1989
Screaming Life / Fopp
1990
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1990
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1991
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1994
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1995
Down on the Upside
1996
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1997
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2010
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2012-11-09 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 9 November 2012 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 13 November 2012 | |
| Wikidata | 13 November 2012 | |
| Deezer | 13 November 2012 | |
| Apple Music | 1 January 2012 | |
| US release | 13 November 2012 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 9 November 2012 | earliest UK or European date |
17 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | XE | Vertigo | 602537198337 | other |
| 9 November 2012 | XE | Vertigo | 602537198238 | original |
| 9 November 2012 | NZ | Vertigo | 602537198337 | original |
| 9 November 2012 | XE | Vertigo | 602537198184 | original |
| 12 November 2012 | XE | Mercury Records | 602537201310 | other |
| 13 November 2012 | CH | Vertigo | 602537185504 | other |
| 13 November 2012 | US | Universal Republic Records | 602537198337 | other |
| 13 November 2012 | US | Universal Republic Records | 602537198184 | other |
| 13 November 2012 | US | Universal Republic Records | 602537185481 | other |
| 13 November 2012 | US | Universal Republic Records | 602537185504 | deluxe |
| 28 January 2013 | XE | Vertigo | 602537231362 | deluxe |
| 2 September 2013 | CA | Vertigo | 602537428373 | other |
| 6 September 2013 | NZ | Vertigo | 602537428373 | other |
| 19 April 2019 | XW | UMC | 00602577821264 | other |
| 19 April 2019 | XW | UMC | 00602577821257 | deluxe |
| 19 April 2019 | XW | Loma Vista Recordings | 00602537185511 | other |
| 19 April 2019 | XW | Loma Vista Recordings | 00602537185528 | deluxe |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 2048x2048
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 2048×2048 | native: native 2048x2048 |
| itunes | 1500×1500 | native |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |