"Reach Down" - Temple of the Dog

I do not even know where to begin with this song. From a musical standpoint I am not sure how much better it can get than having Pearl Jam being the backing band for Chris Cornell. We are talking about the Mecca of grunge here. Not only do we have two great bands joining together on this, but this song is also one of the longest songs in the entire grunge catalog, clocking in just north of 11 minutes. As with most songs, the lead singer gets a lot of the credit for how a song sounds. However, this song is one of the few exceptions. While Cornell sounds like vintage Cornell with his tremendous vocal range, it is actually Mike McCready who steals the show. A good six minutes of the song is McCready soloing. He has always been known for his solos and his unique take on playing lead guitar, but he really brings it to a whole new level on this song. Everything is extremely tight, which is a little surprising because this was recorded before Pearl Jam's debut album and the band had not been playing together for that long, and a person can get lost in the music just from their first listen.