Their first release on the label was Houdini, a work of abstract dirge-pop genius that wears its love of classic rock and extreme metal proudly on its flannel sleeve.įollowing up a record as viscerally miserable as Facelift might seem like an insurmountable task for any band, but Alice In Chains proved that every bottom has a trap door. Largely due to Nirvana’s limitless appreciation of the band, Melvins were given a contract with Atlantic Records. Some people might justifiably bristle at putting a band as oppressively heavy as Melvins in the same tent as more traditionally rock-oriented acts like Mudhoney and Screaming Trees, but their influence on the overall ambience of the movement is undeniable. Grunge itself is a fairly obtuse term that speaks more to a lifestyle and visual aesthetic than a specific sound. ![]() A stint on the ill-fated Guns N’ Roses / Metallica stadium tour would provide an extra jolt of exposure, setting the stage for what was to come. Intrepid as it was, Chris Cornell’s dominating shriek and Kim Thayil’s masterfully angular riffs would propel album standouts “Outshined” and “Jesus Christ Pose” to the point where they became alternative radio and late-night MTV hits. Deeply rooted in the punk ethos of SST Records, the band didn’t compromise a single iota of experimental heaviness in their major label debut. If you like your grunge big and burly, this is the album for you.Īlthough they wouldn’t become a household name for another few years, Soundgarden were well on their way to breaking into the mainstream by the time of their third studio album, 1991’s Badmotorfinger. Band leader Tad Doyle is a master of burying subtle hooks into sludge cacophony, giving the record a feel not entirely dissimilar to the work of their Pacific Northwest neighbors in Poison Idea (albeit a hell of a lot slower). ![]() Brutal as they were, that’s not to say the tracks on their sophomore LP, 8-Way Santa, aren’t catchy. One of the heavier bands of the Seattle scene, Tad had more sonically in common with hardcore-infused noise rock acts like Helmet, Unsane and Hammerhead than their more pop-oriented peers. Unbeknownst to them, Screaming Trees would endure and become one of the most respected bands to ever come out of Seattle. However, a minor hit on the Singles soundtrack breathed new life into the band and exposed a wider audience to cult hero Mark Lanegan’s honey-dipped moribund croon. After slugging it out on Greg Ginn’s SST label for half a decade before moving to Epic for a disappointing stab at the majors, Screaming Trees had decided to call it quits after recording 1992’s Sweet Oblivion. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you expect. ![]() The record went diamond and Pearl Jam became one of the defining acts of the era. Borrowing more stylistic elements from Neil Young and The Byrds than Black Sabbath and Black Flag, the band might have been an odd-man-out if not for the fact that it was composed of guys from Pacific Northwest legends Mother Love Bone and Green River. For many in the early Seattle scene, Pearl Jam was a divisive topic from moment one.
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