the music was less heavy metal and grunge sounding than the group's previous albums. the band members said that they wanted to experiment with other sounds. in a review, david browne of "entertainment weekly" said, "few bands since led zeppelin have so crisply mixed instruments both acoustic and electric." however, the writing and recording of the album was stressful for the group. thayil and cornell seemed to not agree on a change from the heavy guitar riffs that had become the band's trademark. the album got favorable reviews, but did not sell as well as "superunknown".