warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Honestly, I had a similar reaction as when Iain M. Banks died.. And I only got acquainted with his works 7 year ago.
Honestly, I had a similar reaction as when Iain M. Banks died.. And I only got acquainted with his works 7 year ago.
Countmonte8242
Warlord
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2005
- Messages
- 191
This has hit me harder than about any other celeb death because he's been a consistent voice I've taken with me through pretty much the last 25 or so years of my life. No other musician I like has put out such consistently great music over that span. Amazing voice, equally amazing creative talent.
In high school I loved Soundgarden, in college discovered the Temple of the Dog album, listened to his first solo album and the first Audioslave album endlessly. More great Audioslave albums in the 2000's, second solo album was just ok. Then he returned to Soundgarden, and just released another great solo album a couple years ago. Throw in some awesome movie soundtrack singles here and there. I can look at any period of my teen to adult life and think of at least some memories from the period which involved listening to Cornell's music and just loving it.
In high school I loved Soundgarden, in college discovered the Temple of the Dog album, listened to his first solo album and the first Audioslave album endlessly. More great Audioslave albums in the 2000's, second solo album was just ok. Then he returned to Soundgarden, and just released another great solo album a couple years ago. Throw in some awesome movie soundtrack singles here and there. I can look at any period of my teen to adult life and think of at least some memories from the period which involved listening to Cornell's music and just loving it.
EgonSpengler
Deity
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2014
- Messages
- 12,260
People connect with art. Some would say that's the real goal of art, and mere entertainment is just what we settle for most of the time. I don't think any artists close to my heart have died young, but I think I get it. The revelations about Bill Cosby really hurt me, which isn't quite the same thing as someone dying young, but it's similar (one could argue that it's worse than if he had simply passed away), and I wonder how I'll feel if/when someone whose work was very important to me dies. I think it'll probably depend on how old they are and what the circumstances of their deaths are.
The Wiki article says his widow had talked to him by phone shortly before his death. He had said that he was slurring his words and said he took too much Ativan, a benzodiazepine. Being drunk is correlated with much higher chances of suicide, and I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing is true of benzos, being depressant drugs with a similar mechanism of action. They lower the amount of fear people have, while increasing their impulsiveness. It would be even worse if he was drinking and on Ativan at the same time.
It all sounds like a drug-influenced impulsive suicide. It would be more understandable if he were suffering from severe mental health problems for a long time, until he finally just decided that he couldn't go on any longer and made a considered decision to end his life. But this sort of suicide is just senseless, and all too common.
It all sounds like a drug-influenced impulsive suicide. It would be more understandable if he were suffering from severe mental health problems for a long time, until he finally just decided that he couldn't go on any longer and made a considered decision to end his life. But this sort of suicide is just senseless, and all too common.
Connecting with art doesn't mean you connect with the artist though. I mean, I loved Soundgarden's music as much as anyone else, but I couldn't tell you the names of anyone in the band, nor am I particularly upset that one of their members died. Their art is still out there for me to enjoy whenever I please, so it's not like I really need them to be alive. I guess I just see the art being more important than the artist. Apparently though, most people believe the opposite.
Disgustipated
Deity
Was never a big Soundgarden fan, I was more of an Alice in Chains guy. Never realized this guy had drug problems as well. With AIC it was all in their lyrics, so no surprise they died young. Just looked it up, Cantrell is still alive, for some reason I thought he's dead. I thought 2 from AIC died.
Hard to know why people kill themselves. Especially with a guy who seemed to have a decent home life, although you never really know. Perhaps he didn't like having to do concerts to make a living at his age, and no longer got any joy out of making music. Who knows.
I never really connect with artists in any deep way. The only one I might have had anything in common is James Hetfield, but even that's little in common. I'm just going buy lyrics from the St. Anger album. It would be a blow to me if he died, but in the end, I don't know these people. And my life would move on as it always does. I am more affected by actors dying, because in a way it seems like you know them because you see them on a somewhat regular basis (more so with tv than movies). Musicians I rarely see.
Hard to know why people kill themselves. Especially with a guy who seemed to have a decent home life, although you never really know. Perhaps he didn't like having to do concerts to make a living at his age, and no longer got any joy out of making music. Who knows.
I never really connect with artists in any deep way. The only one I might have had anything in common is James Hetfield, but even that's little in common. I'm just going buy lyrics from the St. Anger album. It would be a blow to me if he died, but in the end, I don't know these people. And my life would move on as it always does. I am more affected by actors dying, because in a way it seems like you know them because you see them on a somewhat regular basis (more so with tv than movies). Musicians I rarely see.
The other one was Mike Starr, who died of an overdose a year or two after appearing on Celebrity Rehab, against the advice of his still-living former bandmates who thought the show was disgusting. It's almost like making a reality show out of people's deadly mental illnesses, starring Dr. Drew, is a terrible way to "treat" them.
Looking it up on Wiki, the series was canceled because Dr. Drew was tired of all the criticism he got whenever someone died of an overdose or committed suicide, which happened to five people including Starr during the five years the show aired. That's nearly 10% of the total number of people who were on the show, which is really high even for an addict population.
^Maybe Dr.Drew was a serial killer? 
AIC (afaik) still formally exist, though obviously they aren't the same band, and would never be popular as they were with their old singer (not that LS was particularly good imo, but i never liked AIC in the first place).
Cornell came across as a decent person, though who knows what was going on.
AIC (afaik) still formally exist, though obviously they aren't the same band, and would never be popular as they were with their old singer (not that LS was particularly good imo, but i never liked AIC in the first place).
Cornell came across as a decent person, though who knows what was going on.
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