***1/2 Soundgarden

A-SIDES

(A&M)

When Soundgarden arrived as a force in the then largely ignored Seattle scene just over a decade ago, it was clear from the band's contribution to the now seminal Deep Six compilation that they had at least a few things going for them -- muscle, volume, and the formidable wail of Chris Cornell's banshee voice. But hooks, melodies, and the other elusive qualities that make hit songs did not immediately appear to be among the weapons in their punk-metal arsenal of dark steely riffage. In other words, though the band had commercial potential (there's always been a large, suburban market for rock's heavier alloys), nobody was betting on them to become a Top 40 hit factory.

And yet, 10 years later, just months after the group disbanded, here it is: a Soundgarden greatest-hits package that proves they were, after all, a textbook singles band. Every track's a winner, from 1989's "Hands All Over," which revolves around a repeating riff remarkably similar to the one Pearl Jam later used for "Evenflow," to the thundering Zeppelinesque gallop of '91's "Jesus Christ Pose" to the Beatles-inflected swirl of '94's "Black Hole Sun." There's only one rarity here for hardcore fans -- the Down on the Upside leftover "Burden in My Hand." But in a decade or so A-Sides is going to be a treasure chest for classic-hits-of-the-'90s radio.

-- Matt Ashare