Ranking the Seattle big 4- a grunge retrospective

[DitchPanda]

So back in the late 80s to the early/mid 90s Seattle was a hub for the grunge scene. There were a ton of great bands that came out of that era but 4 emerged and pushed to the top. Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains were considered the cream of the crop. My order(remember this is personal preference) goes like this:

1.Alice in Chains

2.Nirvana

3.Soundgarden

4.Pearl Jam

What does your lust look like?

[J Francho]

Nirvana and AIC don't even register on my radar from that era.  Somewhere I have a Fluid/Nirvana split 7" from the Sub Pop singles club.  The song might have been Sliver.  I'm sure it's worth a few bucks.  It didn't impress me then.  I've learned to appreciate PJ a little more than just enjoying Matt Chamberlain's drums on Ten.  I saw them with RHCP and Smashing Pumpkins back in 90 or 91, and they stole the show.  Screaming Life and Badmotorfinger are two of my favorite albums from that scene, along with Mud Honey's Superfuzz Big Muff EP.  I recently purchased 180g pressings of both SG records.  Probably the last one on my list would be Band of Horses.  We cover Funeral, though it's a little different with a woman singing.  More a slow boil.  That was a fun era.  You could do the same thread with the DC scene, though maybe not as many are aware of it.

[Choporoz]

Nirvana may have defined grunge for 95% of the population, but I have never been able to get through an album in one sitting.  I was a big Pearl Jam and Soundgarden fan, but for no very good reasons, I now define both by their lead vocals more than anything.  I can listen to anything Cornell all day, every day....but the older I get, the more Eddie grates.  Not really fair...but...my opinion.   I spent a lot of time REALLY listening to Pear Jam....but have a hard time anymore. 

  I grew to prefer a lot of stuff that took much from grunge, but was usually considered outside of the genre proper.  Foo Fighters, SP, Mudhoney...even the much maligned Candlebox and Bush.  I like Alice in Chains well enough,  but never loved them beyond Stayley and Cantrell...I never thought of them so much as a band as simply two great talents and other guys.

[huZZah]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

1.Alice in Chains

2.Nirvana

3.Soundgarden

4.Pearl Jam

My 90s. Waiting for songs to come on the radio so I could record them on tape. And then make a mix tape. 

[jbsoonerfan]

1. AIC

1. Nirvana

1. Soundgarden

1. Pearl Jam

 

Seriously, they all have made GREAT music throughout the years. My list would change daily so I can't put them in any sort of order. Crazy to think that only one of the lead singers is still with us.

[Glenn]

Those are the ones that went mainstream for sure. However, I was there and lived it back before it was given the name "grunge" by some East coast journalists and music producers.  By then, the term was being applied to virtually any new band, whether or not they had anything to do with the original Seattle sound.  The term "Grunge" became more of a Scarlet letter than a proper name to a music movement.  We knew when we heard the term it was the end of an era.

 

I was there, and was able to see these legends perform before anyone knew them. So for me, it's Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, Green River, and Mudhoney, because these bands were the incubators that produced the talent that later became superstars in later bands.  It was awesome to see them then, and then watch their careers skyrocket.

 

Funny story. The scene's look was more about tattered - often black - clothes from thrift stores than flannel shirts.  It was meant to be unconventional and a statement against the status quo - a push against cultural norms. We would buy clothes literally by the pound from thrift stores, so the occasional flannel shirt made into the pile.  But it wasn't about flannel. People wore their black tattered rags to shows in order to be "different", but of course, they all looked similar.

 

So one show at the Crocodile, where I was meeting my friends,  I showed up a little late on purpose, wearing clean, pressed, white painter paints and a flawlessly ironed white t-shirt with giant letters that said, "MICKEY MOUSE!"  My friends immediately got it and busted out laughing. They still mention it today.

 

THAT'S how you make a statement against the status quo! LOL!

 

 

[12poundbass]

33 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Those are the ones that went mainstream for sure. However, I was there and lived it back before it was given the name "grunge" by some East coast journalists and music producers.  By then, the term was being applied to virtually any new band, whether or not they had anything to do with the original Seattle sound.  The term "Grunge" became more of a Scarlet letter than a proper name to a music movement.  We knew when we heard the term it was the end of an era.

 

I was there, and was able to see these legends perform before anyone knew them. So for me, it's Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, Green River, and Mudhoney, because these bands were the incubators that produced the talent that later became superstars in later bands.  It was awesome to see them then, and then watch their careers skyrocket.

 

Funny story. The scene's look was more about tattered - often black - clothes from thrift stores than flannel shirts.  It was meant to be unconventional and a statement against the status quo - a push against cultural norms. We would buy clothes literally by the pound from thrift stores, so the occasional flannel shirt made into the pile.  But it wasn't about flannel. People wore their black tattered rags to shows in order to be "different", but of course, they all looked similar.

 

So one show at the Crocodile, where I was meeting my friends,  I showed up a little late on purpose, wearing clean, pressed, white painter paints and a flawlessly ironed white t-shirt with giant letters that said, "MICKEY MOUSE!"  My friends immediately got it and busted out laughing. They still mention it today.

 

THAT'S how you make a statement against the status quo! LOL!

 

 

I’ve had you all wrong Glenn! 

[J Francho]

I was waiting for @Glenn to pick up on this thread. Your comments about uniforms were spot on. Our garage scene (a little later in the mid 90s) was black or whit T, Levi's raw denim with bottom tucked and cuffed, and red or black 9-hole Docs. 

[Fishlegs]

I could listen to Chris Cornell sing pretty much anything. The Cornell wail was special.

[Chris at Tech]

I figured the “grunge” name came about when @Glenn showed up for shows after not showering for a few days.

[Allen Der]

On 3/30/2021 at 3:42 PM, Choporoz said:

Nirvana may have defined grunge for 95% of the population, but I have never been able to get through an album in one sitting.  I was a big Pearl Jam and Soundgarden fan, but for no very good reasons, I now define both by their lead vocals more than anything.  I can listen to anything Cornell all day, every day....but the older I get, the more Eddie grates.  Not really fair...but...my opinion.   I spent a lot of time REALLY listening to Pear Jam....but have a hard time anymore. 

  I grew to prefer a lot of stuff that took much from grunge, but was usually considered outside of the genre proper.  Foo Fighters, SP, Mudhoney...even the much maligned Candlebox and Bush.  I like Alice in Chains well enough,  but never loved them beyond Stayley and Cantrell...I never thought of them so much as a band as simply two great talents and other guys.

 

I feel pretty much the same way as you.  I still enjoy listening to cornell solo, soundgarden and audioslave but I can barely listen to a nirvana or pearl jam song these days.  Foos are still putting out great music

[Bluegillslayer]

I'm not exactly sure, but I think AIC blows all the other grunge bands out of the water I like them because they seemed to have more of a metal edge then the rest of em.  

[Boomstick]

For me, it would probably be AIC, Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Was never really into the grunge/alternative thing much, but I liked a few songs from AIC and Soundgarden a bit.

[Hammer 4]

AIC

Sound Garden

Pearl Jam

Nirvana didn't do much for me.

[huZZah]

Was sonic youth a Seattle band?  Portland?  I remember I loved them as well. Foo Foghter songs always sounded inspired by sonic youth to me. 

And yeah soundgarden. Nice. I really liked Tad, which was no small feet pre-internet radio. A friend found them on Napster.  Yeah, totally a friend. 

[DitchPanda]

I always felt like this...if Nirvana was the beach boys of those groups Alice in Chains was Black Sabbath.

[Glenn]

2 hours ago, huZZah said:

Was sonic youth a Seattle band?  Portland?  I remember I loved them as well. Foo Foghter songs

Most definitely not from Seattle or Portland. Not even grunge. Neither are the Foo Fighters.

 

[Bluegillslayer]

10 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Most definitely not from Seattle or Portland.

They are from New York City

[TnRiver46]

“Black hole sun, won’t you come..... wash away the raaaaaiiinnn”

 

wow just went right back to 6th grade 

[J Francho]

Man you guys are young!

[MN Fisher]

59 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Man you guys are young!

Speak for yourself, grandpa...

 

I grew up on Moody Blues, ELO, Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy - hated Beatles and Stones...still do.

[J Francho]

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

hated Beatles and Stones...still do.

I don't hate them, and I certainly understand the influence both had, but I really don't get the Stones.  I try, really hard to like it, but it's just too boring to me.

[Jigfishn10]

I like em all, although I like Temple Of The Dog more than AIC. I like some AIC but I'm not sure what it is about AIC that makes me lose interest. 

It seems like Pearl Jam and Nirvana get a bad rap cuz they had a bit of a mainstream presence that true alt fans resented them for.

[J Francho]

Fans: "We love your music!"

 

Also fans: "We don't want you to make money!"

[Jigfishn10]

Exactly