The Greats: 4th of July

Soundgarden’s “4th of July” is the first, and maybe only, radio friendly drone metal song. So much so that I am pretty sure they released an instrumental version to prove how nasty their sludge and hammers were to the gatekeepers of the genre. Likely heavily influenced by PNW flag bearers Earth and the Melvins, this nastiness drips with grime and pummel well before the drums even kick in. The vocals roll with the building waves of sound and slowly lure the listener deeper into the void. You hear Seven Angels by Earth, you hear Boris by the Melvins. You hear Sunn O))), you hear Grief, you hear Sleep . . . all in this one hypnotic riff that never seems to end.