Editing Soundgarden (section)

===''Ultramega OK'', major label signing, and ''Louder Than Love'' (1988–1990)===
Though major labels were courting the band, in 1988 they signed to the independent label [[SST Records]] for their debut album, ''[[Ultramega OK]]'', released on October 31, 1988. Cornell said the band "made a huge mistake with ''Ultramega OK''" because they used a producer suggested by SST who "didn't know what was happening in Seattle."<ref>"Yeah! I'm a Moody Bastard". ''[[Kerrang!]]''. August 19, 1995.</ref><ref>Alexander, Phil. "Soundgarden". ''[[Raw (music magazine)|Raw]]''. 1989.</ref> According to Steve Huey of [[AllMusic]], Soundgarden demonstrates, a "[[The Stooges|Stooges]]/[[MC5]]-meets-[[Led Zeppelin|Zeppelin]]/[[Black Sabbath|Sabbath]] sound" on the album.<ref>{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ultramega-ok-mw0000202601|title=Ultramega OK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103100919/http://www.allmusic.com/album/ultramega-ok-mw0000202601 |date=c. 2009|archive-date=January 3, 2013 |work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 22, 2009}}</ref> [[Mark Miremont]] directed the band's first music video for "[[Flower (Soundgarden song)|Flower]]", which aired regularly on [[MTV]]'s ''[[120 Minutes]]''. Soundgarden promoted ''Ultramega OK'' on a tour in the United States in the spring of 1989, and a tour in Europe which began in May 1989—the band's first overseas tour.<ref>"Haughty Culture". ''[[Kerrang!]]''. April 8, 1989.</ref> ''Ultramega OK'' earned the band a [[Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance|Best Metal Performance]] in 1990.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news
 |url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/awardsdb/env-awards-db-search,0,7169155.htmlstory?searchtype=all&query=soundgarden 
 |title=Awards Database |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=August 2, 2008 |url-status=live
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713185338/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/awardsdb/env-awards-db-search%2C0%2C7169155.htmlstory?searchtype=all&query=soundgarden |archive-date=July 13, 2011 }}</ref>

After touring to promote ''Ultramega OK'', the band signed with [[A&M Records]], which caused a rift between Soundgarden and its traditional audience. Thayil said, "In the beginning, our fans came from the punk rock crowd. They abandoned us when they thought we sold out the punk tenets, getting on a major label and touring with [[Guns N' Roses]]. There were fashion issues and social issues, and people thought we no longer belonged to their scene, to their particular sub-culture."<ref>Gilbert, Jeff. "Soundgarden". ''[[Guitar World]]''. December 1995.</ref> The band later began work on its first album for a major label, but personnel difficulties caused a shift in the band's songwriting process.  According to Cornell, "At the time Hiro [Yamamoto] excommunicated himself from the band and there wasn't a free-flowing system as far as music went, so I ended up writing a lot of it."<ref name="colour">"Colour Me Badmotorfinger!". ''[[Raw (music magazine)|Raw]]''. October 30, 1991.</ref> On September 5, 1989, the band released its debut major-label album, ''[[Louder Than Love]]'', which saw it take "a step toward the metal mainstream", according to Steve Huey of AllMusic, describing it as "a slow, grinding, detuned mountain of Sabbath/Zeppelin riffs and Chris Cornell wailing".<ref>{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/louder-than-love-mw0000205314|title=Louder Than Love|work=[[AllMusic]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112021611/http://www.allmusic.com/album/louder-than-love-mw0000205314|archive-date=November 12, 2012}}</ref> Because of some of the lyrics, most notably on "[[Hands All Over (Soundgarden song)|Hands All Over]]" and "Big Dumb Sex", the band faced various retail and distribution problems upon the album's release.<ref>Barber, Patrick. "Soundgarden". ''Pit''. 1990.</ref> ''Louder Than Love'' became the band's first album to chart on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], peaking at number 108 on the chart in 1990.<ref name="US-albums">{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=soundgarden|chart=Billboard 200}} | title=Soundgarden – Chart History: Billboard 200 | magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref>

A month before touring for ''Louder Than Love'' was to begin, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who was becoming frustrated that he was not making much of a contribution,<ref>"How Does Your Garden Grow?" ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''. October 21, 1989.</ref> left the band to return to college.<ref name="loera">Loera, Carlos. "Soundgarden". ''Loud''. 1990.</ref> First the band played a few rehearsals with Jim Tillman from [[the U-Men]], but it did not work, and soon [[Jason Everman]], formerly of [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], officially replaced Hiro Yamamoto on bass.<ref name="prato">Greg Prato, ''Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music'', ECW Press, 2009</ref> The band toured North America from December 1989 to March 1990, opening for [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]], who were supporting their album ''[[Nothingface (Voivod album)|Nothingface]]'', with [[Faith No More]] and [[the Big F]] also serving as opening acts at the beginning and end of the tour.<ref name="loera"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Boehm |first1=Mike |author-link1=Mike Boehm |title=Big F Turns Back on Heavy Metal Fashion Mode |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-08-ca-396-story.html |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times|L.A. Times]] |date=December 8, 1989 |access-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307010747/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-08/entertainment/ca-396_1_heavy-metal |archive-date=March 7, 2016 }}</ref> The band then went on to tour Europe. The band fired Everman in mid-1990 immediately after completing its promotional tour for ''Louder Than Love''. Thayil said that "Jason just didn't work out."<ref name="neely">Neely, Kim. "Soundgarden: The Veteran Band from Seattle Proves There's Life After Nirvana". ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. July 9, 1992.</ref> ''Louder Than Love'' spawned the EP ''[[Loudest Love]]'' and the video compilation ''[[Louder Than Live]]'', both released in 1990.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}