This review covers the grunge track Soundgarden – Burden on My Hands.
This track was released in 1996 on the album Down on the Upside.
The track starts with a high hat and some vocals. Piano joins the track as well early one. Backup vocals join the track. After that, the drum kit comes in.
From there, the main vocals take the track into the main chorus. After a brief instrumental section, the vocals then take the track into the next verse. Then, the vocals take the track into the main chorus again. This is capped off with a brief instrumental section.
The vocals then come in for a verse with some filters. After a bit, the filtering comes off and they continue the verse as per normal. After that, the vocals take the track into another round in the main chorus again. Tee guitars then quickly lead the track out.
The first thing I noticed about the track is that the lyrics in the verses are particularly difficult to understand. In fact, most of it went over my head because it ended up being a jumble of words and garble. It’s mainly thanks to the way the vocals sing more than anything else because the mastering actually give the vocals every opportunity in the world to be clear. The main chorus is where the vocals are most clear and the only thing I can make out is that the singer is asking for pity for murder. A bizarre thing considering the track would otherwise have you believe that this is about something chilled out or relaxing.
The guitars are OK, but they do get a bit lost in the mix. There are very few instrumental portions and no guitar solos. As a result, they get sent to the back of the track. What I do know is that they sound decent which is probably the most you can ask for with this kind of format.
On a final note, there is not much of an ending to tie the whole track together. It just more or less ends right at the end of the vocals.
Overall, this is a very average track. The lyrics are largely garbled because of the vocals. What themes can be extracted from the track seem to be a mismatch for the overall vibe. The guitars are OK, but they never have much of a chance to shine. Finally, the ending is pretty sudden and doesn’t do the greatest job in the world tying the track together. So, an average track in the end.
Score
6/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
