How Soundgarden’s ‘Intangible Magic’ Helped Secure Their Legacy

Soundgarden as a group had a special place with Lzzy Hale early in her development as a fan.

The legendary Seattle group would also play an important part as she got into music herself, while she was getting to know her future Halestorm bandmate Joe Hottinger. The band’s albums were part of the conversation as they were going back and forth talking about the records that they both loved.

But as is often the case, it began with a song. “I heard, ‘Outshined’ on the radio, and I had to go get Badmotorfinger,” she remembers during a Zoom conversation with UCR.

Watch Soundgarden’s ‘Outshined’ Video

She moved through the rest of the catalog once she met Hottinger. “We would just be trading CDs all the time, to get to know each other and make sure we’re on the same page,” she says. “He introduced me to Down on the Upside and Superunknown and then together, we went back and listened to the early stuff.”

Since then, nearly 30 years into their own journey with Halestorm, they’ve recorded versions of some Soundgarden and Chris Cornell-related songs, also revisiting other formative artists and bands (Heart and Pat Benatar are additional examples) with well-chosen interpretations of some of their favorites.

Potent versions of “Fell on Black Days” and Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” are interesting snapshots that show the depth of the appreciation they have for the collective catalog of work.

Creating a New Kind of ‘Loud Love’

Now, Hale has enlisted in a new challenge, joining with the all-star collective King Ultramega to reimagine Soundgarden’s “Loud Love” from the band’s 1989 major label debut, Louder Than Love. The singer is joined by bassist and KE mastermind Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance), guitarist Alex Skolnick (Testament, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Metal Allegiance) and drummer Dave Krusen (Pearl Jam, Candlebox)

“It was very important to me to keep this particular song as old school as possible. I wanted to catch the warmth, vibe and feel of the original track which meant, to me, recording to tape, in the same room together and live. Imagine that! A world where you record with other humans in the same room and in analog no less,” Menghi shared in regards to the recording process and his vision for their new take on the song, which has long been a fan favorite.

“Reel-to-reel tape recording is a lost art form and I was very excited to go back to the recording days of the past for this track,” he explained. “Alex and I are no strangers in recording together; but this was the first time we have ever recorded live together, with real amps blasting and the tape machine running. It truly was a special feel, to capture that live energy.”

“Loud Love” is the newest entry in an ongoing series of songs from King Ultramega revisiting the work of Cornell and Soundgarden. A total of seven tracks have been released so far, each helping raise funds for MusiCares.

Watch King Ultramega Perform Soundgarden’s ‘Loud Love’

How Hale and Krusen Found the Magic Inside ‘Loud Love’

She freely admits that it was daunting on several levels when Menghi approached her about doing the vocals on “Loud Love,” but her experience interpreting and inhabiting the material of other songwriters’ in the past proved to be beneficial.

“I’m not a very good imitator. Every time I try to do something like that,” it ends up sounding silly,” she says. “Especially considering the gravity of this song — and obviously with Alex Skolnick and Mark and Dave Krusen, you know, you are shoulder to shoulder with some legends.”

“For me, I kind of had to dig into the song. I had to learn it to a T,” the vocalist details. “But I also had to find my own place in it. You almost try to imagine if it was your song, not to recreate it as your song, but if you were the ones speaking the words now in the year 2026, how would that make you feel? How do you kind of wear your insides on the outside for this song?”

“I’m a big Matt Cameron fan,” Krusen shares with UCR during a separate conversation as a starting point. “When I listened to it, there’s so much going on. It’s so intense. I had to hack away at it a few times, and really kind of break it down,”

“Just following along helped me, as opposed to really trying to nail every thing that Matt was doing,” he admits. “Once I just chilled out and played along with the track, it got a little easier and made made a little more sense to me. I did a few takes once I got the hang of it and then it kind of fell into place.”

Soundgarden’s Music Incorporated Elements of ‘So Many Genres’

Krusen was closer to the source than some of his peers, having grown up in the neighboring city of Gig Harbor, near the Seattle area. But as would be the case for so many outside of the region later, what he heard blew him away.

“I thought they were great. ‘Loud Love’ came out and I heard it and then I was extremely blown away,” he recalls. “Growing up, I liked so many genres. I was never just into one genre. I had friends that didn’t like metal, that liked punk or liked jazz but didn’t like rock. So I grew up liking so many types of music. I also have an older brother who loves metal, and another older brother that grew up listening to [Led] Zeppelin, the [Rolling] Stones, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and all of that.”

“So, I had a lot of influences early on, but when I first heard Soundgarden and ‘Loud Love,’ in particular, I just was floored. They really melded a lot together and I really love that,” he adds.

Watch Soundgarden’s ‘Loud Love’ Video

“It’s not metal, but it rocks so hard that you could call it metal,” he explains. “I grew up listening to [Black] Sabbath , so I heard that influence in there. But then I was super into prog rock because I was young and a drummer. [With] my friends, we tried to always tackle the hardest thing we could, you know? It seems like such a rite of passage, especially for drummers to try. So many of us got into fusion jazz and prog rock and all of that. To hear what they were doing, I just loved it.”

Meeting Soundgarden

It’s somewhat surprising that Krusen didn’t encounter the band personally for a while, but when it happened, it came at a key moment for both groups. “We were working on [Pearl Jam’s debut album] Ten and doing some demo sessions. We’d done a couple of rounds of demos, and they were working on Temple of the Dog,” he says now. “They came in, and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, I’m such a huge fan.’ Matt and Chris were there, and they were super cool, really nice. They came in and grabbed some reels of tape or something, but that was a thrill.”

Krusen would get to know them more, including a choice moment when he saw Soundgarden play a show at the Off Ramp Cafe. A night out at that legendary area concert venue gifted him some further time with Cameron and a chance to study his playing more closely. “They were just always super humble great guys,” he shares.

“I could see them here and there and obviously, [I got to know] Matt [since we were both drummers], but even Chris [also], I saw him at a few shows here and there,” he remembers. “I moved to L.A. for a long time and I saw him down there a few times. We had really nice conversations about family, kids and whatever. It was really cool.”

Soundgarden Sit Down for an Exclusive Conversation About The Making Of — Slaven Vlasic, Getty Images

Having Their Music as a ‘Sounding Board’ Now is Special

Working on the new version of “Loud Love” and listening to Louder Than Love was a revealing experience for Hale. “Listening to their early stuff, it’s amazing to see the progression of the band,” she says. “They’re just breaking everything wide open so unapologetically. I also think that they’re one of those bands that they let the music and the feeling lead.”

“There wasn’t like a preconceived notion, like we’re going to do this today, and stick to these guidelines,” she explains. “I feel like, in a lot of ways, that’s something that’s missing in music today. Everybody’s kind of advertising at you. Like, this is what I think you want to hear, and so it’s wonderful to have a band like Soundgarden.”

“They’re legendary and they’ll be relevant for the rest of time, but to have that as a sounding board [is valuable],” she adds. “You can go back to that and be like, ‘See? It doesn’t always have to be something for radio or a label or something that you make to go viral or whatever it is. It’s just about the feeling and that intangible magic.”

King Ultramega’s new version of “Loud Love” is available now. Proceeds help support MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s non-profit organization that provides mental health services, addiction recovery support and emergency assistance to members of the music community.