On the heels of
Soundgarden’s 2010 reunion, which included a retrospective released in time for that year’s holidays, the group dug their scrapped 1996 live album out of the vault and prepped it for release as 2011’s
Live on I-5. These tapes never came out in the late ‘90s because the band fell apart, leaving the project abandoned.
Live on I-5 is not quite prime
Soundgarden; the band is pushing their OK 1996 effort
Down on the Upside, and while there isn’t much palpable tension in the performances, they’re not quite inspired, either. The group is in full-fledged pro mode, hitting their marks with efficiency and occasional power if not much flair. If anything, the 15-year delay-numerals nicely dovetail with the salute to the Pacific Coast freeway I-5, making these tapes sound better than they would have back in the ‘90s. Then it would have seemed perfunctory; now, it is a reminder that at one point,
Soundgarden was a clean, efficient machine. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine