Release and Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| Blender | favorable |
| Allmusic | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Robert Christgau | B− |
Badmotorfinger peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It was released in the same year as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, all of which helped to break grunge into the mainstream. Although overshadowed at the time of its release by the sudden popularity of Nirvana's Nevermind, the focus of attention brought by Nevermind to the Seattle scene helped Soundgarden gain wider attention. Badmotorfinger was among the 100 top selling albums of 1992. Badmotorfinger has been certified two times platinum by the RIAA.
Allmusic staff writer Steve Huey gave the album four and a half out of five stars, calling it "heavy, challenging hard rock full of intellectual sensibility and complex band interplay." Ann Powers of Blender said, "Cornell strikes the perfect Jesus Christ pose on this sonic wallop." Gina Arnold of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+. She said, "On songs like the cynical "Jesus Christ Pose" and "Slaves and Bulldozers", Soundgarden sound a hell of a lot smarter than their peers, who seldom get beyond extolling booze, girls, and cars." She ended her review by stating that "the final effect is merely stylishly bombastic rather than bludgeoningly bombastic. Tuneless heavy metal is, after all, still tuneless heavy metal, and in that department, Soundgarden are as functional as they make 'em." Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B-, calling it a "credible metal album" while also criticizing the album's lyrical writing.
Badmotorfinger included the singles "Jesus Christ Pose", "Outshined", and "Rusty Cage". The three singles gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations, while the videos for "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage" gained considerable airtime on MTV. The lead single "Jesus Christ Pose" and its music video were the subject of widespread controversy in 1991, and the video was removed from MTV's playlist. Many listeners were outraged by the song and its video, perceiving them as anti-Christian. The band received death threats while on tour in the United Kingdom in support of the album.
At the 1992 Grammy Awards, Badmotorfinger received a nomination for Best Metal Performance. It was also ranked number 45 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World on the magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time.
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