Seattle music scene (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, etc.)

[bosk1]

I titled this thread as I did because there is a lot of debate over whether certain bands in question are "grunge," or whether they are something else, like "alternative," "heavy rock," or what have you.  I don't want to put artificial limits.  In fact, we don't even have to limit it to bands that are strictly from Seattle if there are bands people feel are related.  But this kind of grew out of a side discussion in the Chris Cornell thread where some other bands came up, and there were comments about whether those other bands are grunge or something else.  My intention with this thread is, just discuss whatever bands were part of this scene and how you connected with them.  Doesn't matter if it is Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Green River, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave, Queensryche, related projects, or whatever. 

It's hard for me to piece the chronology back together specifically, but I think the first of those bands I had much exposure to (other than Queensryche) was Soundgarden.  I bought Badmotorfinger.  But even though I liked a few songs, it didn't hold my attention for some reason.  They were one of those bands I felt like I should like on paper, but for some reason just didn't connect.  I did briefly return, however, and bought a copy of Superunknown.  Notwithstanding its "radio-friendliness," I liked it a lot.

I discovered Mother Love Bone (and I swear, I'm going to jump through my screen and strangle something if Stadler posts "The Mother Love Bone" again.  They dropped the "The" when they got signed!  STUDY THE WORLD!!!  ) in late 1990 and fell in love with them pretty quickly.  During Operation: Desert Storm, I pretty much wore out my copies of Apple and Empire.  So, when Pearl Jam came along and was ready to drop their debut, I was all over it on release day.  From there, I discovered Nirvana and AiC through what was played on the radio.  Temple of the Dog was a very easy sell for me once that dropped.  But by that time, I was starting to sour on grunge and the Seattle "sound" as a whole (other than Queensryche), despite Mother Love Bone still holding a special place.  Truth be told, I lost interest and never really regained it, other than to gain what I would term "admiration from a distance" of some of those bands, like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains that just made solid music that stands the test of time, despite me not making a strong connection with it. 

So, that's kind of my story in a nutshell.  What are yours?

[Art]

Cool thread!

My first contact with the Seattle scene was through a friend that was really into Nirvana around 95/96 (i think). I was more of a metalhead back them, and never liked Nirvana that much, except for a few songs here and there (heart shaped box is pretty cool). A couple of years later i discovered AIC through the MTV Unplugged and became a fan right there.

From there, i got into Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees.

Another band that i got into around this time was Stone Temple Pilots, even though they are not from Seattle, they always got mixed up in the scene.

My favorites:

AIC
Soundgarden
STP
Screaming Trees
Pearl Jam

[Samsara]

Where to begin? 

Seattle has such a big rock scene, and over the decades, I found myself really immersed in it. For me personally, it started with Fifth Angel and Queensryche in 1987, and then Heart, Jimi Hendrix, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, early Pearl Jam, early Candlebox, Metal Church, Nevermore, Sanctuary, etc.

It seems like so much of my favorite music was created in the Pacific Northwest. Some of those I found out about the Seattle connection later. A friend of mine who is from Seattle, listened to Queensryche's Empire record, and just said "you can hear Seattle in the music." I'm not from there, but he's not the first one to say that to me about that record and many others from the above listed bands. I've sorta convinced myself I can hear it too, to a degree. It's just such a pure thing when a record I guess resonates with the vibe of where it was created. And I've sort of adopted Seattle as my home away from home, and love the city and surrounding area.

Anyway, as my sig file suggests, I'm heavily into archiving the history of Northwest Metal. Queensryche (original lineup) and Fifth Angel are the big ones. But I just love the entirety of Seattle's rock music history and follow it with a passion.

The "grunge" era was so weird. I used the moniker, but have found myself hating it more and more as the years go on, because now, in retrospect to me, it's just a "label" that even the Seattle bands scoff at. I mean, if you ask Alice in Chains what they are, Jerry would say they are a heavy metal band. Soundgarden is a hard rock band, Mother Love Bone was a rock band, Pearl Jam is a rock band. Queensryche is a hard rock band. Sure, they all dabble in various elements of other kind of music, but in sum, they are all just Seattle Rock.

But yeah, I'm a student of Seattle Rock Music History, and do my best to archive the history of two bands I am particularly enamored with. All of them are different, but all dabble in the various "subgenres" of rock. "Grunge" really is just a marketing term for bands that tried to combine punk and hard rock in a way that focused on the expression of emotion. But there's nothing really "punk" about Alice in Chains or Pearl Jam, is there? 

Nirvana was the poster child for this, and yeah, the term I guess fits? But at least for me, while I listened to Nirvana a little bit, I was never overly impressed with them. I think their best work was ahead of them, unfortunately.

Personally, however, I'm all about the bands listed above, and the more melodic-based metal acts from up there.

[Kotowboy]

My favorites:

AIC
Soundgarden
STP
Screaming Trees
Pearl Jam

All so much better than Nirvana.

[King Postwhore]

I was really into The Posies.  Frosting On The Beater is a fantastic album.

[Stadler]

My first exposure was Pearl Jam "Ten" - a legendary record, on par with the greatest of rock and roll history - and Nirvana "Nevermind" - a decent enough record, but blown WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of proportion based on a critic's darling embracement of a better than average, but certainly not legendary, talent, Kurt Cobain.   

Then I started chasing Stone Gossard.  That led me to Temple of the Dog, and then to Soundgarden and The Mother Love Bone (come and get me, Bosk!  If Andrew Wood felt it appropriate to refer to HIS band as "THE Mother Love Bone - as he did in "Holy Roller",  and in at least one live track that I've heard - then it's good enough for me!  ).

For my money, Seattle scene goes:
Mother Love Bone
Heart/Temple of the Dog/Soundgarden
Alice In Chains
Queensryche/Pearl Jam
Everyone else
Nirvana

[Zook]

Black Hole Sun might be my all time least favorite song ever. I'd be happy to never hear that song again. Same for all but 2 Nirvana songs, which are covers. STP have 2 songs I enjoy but don't need to hear. Half of Ten is good, and AiC have a handful of good songs. I like Hunger Strike.

I was and still am not a fan of grunge. AiC and Soundgarden might be more Metal than grunge, but they were lumped into that whole scene.

[Cool Chris]

In the early-90s, I was in high school in Tacoma, about 40 miles south of Seattle, and at that time was coming out of being my Whatever-is-on-MTV phase. Somehow around then, I got in to Pink Floyd, I don't even recall how, and that opened up a whole new world for me. I started listening to tons of classic rock  of all kinds from the 60s and 70s. So that when bands like Pearl Jam exploded, I had turned off MTV and the Pop/Top 40 radio channels and was heavily entrenched in Floyd, The Who, Zeppelin, Beatles, etc... So tl;dr, at a time when I should have lived it and enjoyed it, I didn't. And as my tastes evolved, I still never got in to these bands or the "grunge" sound.

[dparrott]

My first Seattle artist: Sir Mix-A-Lot in 1988    He recently produced a good rock band AJ And The Way.

[erwinrafael]

Soundgarden's Superunknown is one of the records I consider untouchable. The early 1990s were my formative years in music, and this album captures that era perfectly. Chris Cornell's voice is topnotch, the perfect blend of angst, soul, power, and range. Matt Cameron's drumming is my introduction to odd time signatures and he sounds so effortless when playing.

[DragonAttack]

Seattle.....don't forget Heart.  Oh, and some guitarist named Hendrix.......

[Kotowboy]

Hendrix was massively over rated too imo.

[SoundscapeMN]

Hendrix
Minus the Bear
Motopony

[Phoenix87x]

The Seattle scene is so awesome and was and still is a huge chunk of my musical listening.

It all started in 98 when I first listened to Nirvana and got huge in to them. Then I heard some pearl jam and got in to them. From there came Alice in chains and Soundgarden later down the road. And even today Alice in chains is on heavy rotation as one of my favorite bands. I love queensryche as well.

So overall, I am very greatful for all the great bands that spun out of the Seattle scene.

[Cyclopssss]

Where to start indeed? I think my first experience with 'Grunge' or the 'Seattle scene' was when I saw the video for 'Alive' by Pearl Jam on MTV's Headbanger's Ball.
I liked it, went out and bought 'Ten' and was thouroughly and utterly blown away. I mean, Fuck. Then all of a sudden, there were all these bands from Seattle. Next was off course Nirvana's 'Smells like teen spirit' which I totally loved. I went out and bought the soundtrack to the movie Singles (yeah, really) which had a lot of bands on it like Soundgarden (Birth Ritual, awesome track) and Alice in Chains (Would? loved that one as well). I bought Dirt by AIC and loved it, bought Soundgarden's Superunknown when it came out and was again blown away. (it took me a lot longer to get into Badmotorfinger for some reason).  Then the Industry got wind of it and put a big stamp on all of these Seattle bands: GRUNGE. Everything was labelled Grunge all of a sudden. The industry has a way of doing that, btw, look at Punk, look at 'Glam-metal' etc, etc. I bet if you asked these bands what they were playing, they would have just said they were rock bands. So now the Industry had established the genre, along came the 'Grunge-Look' with plaid shirts, torn jeans, etc. And off course, all the kids went along with it until the next 'fad' came along. Pearl Jam never lived up to 'Ten' again after those years in my opinion, but Soundgarden did with their next releases. I never really got that much into Nirvana, (I must be the only human on the planet NOT to own 'Nevermind'). I liked Stone Temple Pilots as well, but not as much as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Before that I already was a huge Queensryche fan, never bunched them into that whole genre, though. They were sepparate things for me.

[WebRaider]

I could list a whole bunch of those bands from the beginning of that "grunge" era, but I'll just list a few more of my favorites.

Mad Season
Screaming Trees
Mark Lanegan


I grew up as that Seattle "grunge" scene was hitting huge. I'm on the opposite coast and was in middle school at the time but having always been way into music I started to pick up on stuff like The Melvins, Mudhoney, Nirvana from friends who I had known to be into metal but were starting to listen to punk etc. and I guess for them it was a nice mix of styles. This was shortly before Nirvana got huge with the Nevermind album so must have been around the Summer of 1991. I listened to Nirvana pretty heavily at the time, but never got into them nor looked at them as highly as most. I also didn't dig most of those bands who focused on the Punk side more as that's just never really been my thing.

I love so much of the music from there and had long been into other Seattle artists like Hendrix, Heart, Queensryche.  Pearl Jam is a great band and I love most of their stuff but Alice in Chains & Soundgarden were right down my alley at the time that movement broke big and have mainstayed as some of my favorite all-time bands.

[bosk1]

I never really got that much into Nirvana, (I must be the only human on the planet NOT to own 'Nevermind').

Yeah, I never really got into them very deeply either.  I remember when Teen Spirit was on the radio.  I thought it was a pretty cool song.  I was in a record store in Georgia buying, if I remember correctly, a copy of Scorpions' Crazy World, and the girl behind the counter was talking up Nevermind.  Based on the song I had heard, and her flirting/recommending, I bought it.    I remember liking about half the songs, which isn't bad for an impulse buy.  But the songs just didn't have a lot of staying power, so I had lost interest by the time their next album rolled around, and I never bought anything else from them again.

Before that I already was a huge Queensryche fan, never bunched them into that whole genre, though. They were sepparate things for me.

Yeah, they had a completely different sound than MOST of the bands we are discussing here.  But they had a certain melancholy and mood about them, which came out more on their '90s albums, IMO, that is kind of indicative of that "Seattle sound" to me.  Different music for sure, but bred from some of the same roots.

[King Postwhore]

I also do not own Nevermind.

[Art]

I got into Mother Love Bone way more recently (i always knew about them, but never got around to check them out). Apple is an awesome album, and i wonder where would they go next...

And i am a big Mark Lanegan fan to this day, his solo career is awesome.

[Samsara]

I got into Mother Love Bone way more recently (i always knew about them, but never got around to check them out). Apple is an awesome album, and i wonder where would they go next...

Big MLB fan. If you haven't already, there are some releases to think about checking out:

Andrew Wood - Melodies and Dreams
Malfunkshun - Return to Olympus

I picked them up a few years ago. And of course, if you haven't gotten it already, the recently released Mother Love Bone box set is pretty cool. Some demos, b-sides, alternate versions, and good extras.

[Architeuthis]

I like Weird Al's version of Teen Spirit.. " and I'm mumbling, and I'm screaming, and I don't know what I'm singing, a garage band from Seattle, but it sure beats raising cattle"..lol!

 I live near Seattle and was never a big fan of any of those bands. Queensryche is awesome, but they came out in the late eighties right before all that. In fact, a band from the east coast called Dream Theater was my saving grace throughout the nineties!
 I thought it was funny that Rush was influenced by that Seattle grunge sound when they released Counterparts. Especially the song "Stick it Out"..

[Imaginos]

Soundgarden were my introduction to this scene. After years of swearing off grunge, I bought Louder than Love kind of on a whim and enjoyed it. From there I got Badmotorfinger and Superunknown and was just blown away. That really opened the floodgates in terms of other bands from that scene for me. Pearl Jam, AIC, Screaming Trees, early Stone Temple Pilots, Green River etc. Screaming Trees' early stuff is really interesting for anyone who has never heard it, they had a cool psychedelic/punk/garage rock kind of sound going, and they had some great songs like Grey Diamond Desert and Night Comes Creeping. One pretty cool band from this scene that I haven't seen anyone mention yet is Skin Yard. I've always described them as sounding like early Soundgarden but weirder.

As much as I like all those bands though, Mother Love Bone is easily my favorite. I bought the self-titled compilation last summer, and at the time I knew their story and a couple of their songs but not much else. It took me a while to really get into the album, but once I did, I couldn't stop playing it. It quickly became the soundtrack of that summer. I strongly believe that Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns is one of the greatest songs ever written. I highly recommend the On Earth As It Is box set that came out last year too. Its got essentially a whole album's worth of material that they just never released back in the day, and a lot of it is at least on par with Apple. Its got really cool packaging too, if you're into that sort of thing.

[Samsara]

I strongly believe that Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns is one of the greatest songs ever written. I highly recommend the On Earth As It Is box set that came out last year too. Its got essentially a whole album's worth of material that they just never released back in the day, and a lot of it is at least on par with Apple. Its got really cool packaging too, if you're into that sort of thing.

Amen to that. Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns is so moving. And yes, On Earth As It Is is amazing. Jeff repainted the mural on the cover on the side of Easy Street Records in West Seattle.

[Kotowboy]

Also Presidents of the United States of America.

Consistently put out pretty decent albums.

Their debut is great. II is possibly even better.

Love Everybody, Good Times People and their final album Kudos To You also are rammed with really catchy pop rock songs./


I love this song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuk6vuNZiHY

[cfmoran13]

My introduction to the 90's Seattle music scene came in the Fall of 1990 when I picked up Alice In Chains' 'Facelift' (and Extreme's 'Pornograffitti').  After seeing "Man In The Box" on MTV, I rushed out to get the album and fell in love with it.  It wasn't grunge yet.  I just thought of it as great hard rock/ metal. 

Then, in fall of 1991 (freshman year in college), everything blew up.  I was listening to PJ's 'Ten', Temple of the Dog and Soundgarden's 'Badmotorfinger' ad nauseum.  My RA picked up this new album called 'Nevermind' because the drummer's mother was a teacher of his earlier on in Northern Virginia.  I liked it fine, not like the millions of others who did later on.  But, it was listenable. 

Throughout the 90's, I stuck with AIC and Soundgarden 'til their respective ends.  The harmonies that Jerry and Layne made were absolutely amazing.  And, Chris Cornell's voice was one of the most powerful weapons in modern rock music.  I was lucky enough to see Alice In Chains open for Ozzy's 1992 "No More Tours" tour and see Soundgarden on their tour for 'Down On The Upside'. 

My love of Pearl Jam has gone in and out.  I remember waiting outside the college CD shop in October 1993 for the midnight madness sale of 'Vs.'.  The next album, 'No Code', didn't do a thing for me.  I absolutely love 'Yield'.  However, nothing since then has really grabbed me.

For me, Alice In Chains is my favorite of that time far and away, followed by Soundgarden, then Pearl Jam, then the rest.  Getting to see Temple of the Dog last November was amazing.  It's a shame that will have been the last time most people would get to see Chris live in concert.  He was such a powerhouse.

[Stadler]

I strongly believe that Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns is one of the greatest songs ever written. I highly recommend the On Earth As It Is box set that came out last year too. Its got essentially a whole album's worth of material that they just never released back in the day, and a lot of it is at least on par with Apple. Its got really cool packaging too, if you're into that sort of thing.

Amen to that. Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns is so moving. And yes, On Earth As It Is is amazing. Jeff repainted the mural on the cover on the side of Easy Street Records in West Seattle.

Crown of Thorns is just so moving to me knowing what happened later.   I don't know for a fact, because I've not seen/read anything about it, but hearing Andy sing those words, it's almost as if he knows his time is short.   Just so moving.

Big fan of Stargazer and Bone China as well.   

My "Seattle All-Stars":
Vocals:  Ann Wilson/Chris Cornell
Guitar: Stone Gossard
Guitar: Jerry Cantrell
Bass: Jeff Ament
Drums: Matt Cameron

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Not a fan.  I can listen to Soundgarden.  Beyond that, I'll change the channel every time.

[bosk1]

Big fan of Stargazer and Bone China as well.   

YES!  Man, I need to listen to some of their stuff again.  It has been too long.

My "Seattle All-Stars"

Huh.  Interesting concept.  Okay, I'll go.

Vocals:  Chris Cornell
Guitar: Chris DeGarmo
Guitar: Jerry Cantrell
Bass: Eddie Jackson
Drums: Denny Carmassi

Yeah, that lineup is a bit Queensryche-heavy.  But, man.  Can you imagine the vocal harmonies with Cornell, DeGarmo, and Cantrell?  The one spot where I feel like I kinda cheated is Carmassi, since he was really a Bay Area guy before his stint in Heart.  But he's the guy I would want for a lineup like this, and with the Heart connection, I feel like I can cheat a bit and include him.  If not, I'll go with Scott Rockenfield, although his style is a bit busier than what might be called for in a lineup like this.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Can you imagine the vocal harmonies with Cornell, DeGarmo, and Cantrell?

Melody + 4th + 5th? 

[Samsara]

Seattle All Stars:

Lead Vocals - Geoff Tate (in his prime of 1983-1990)
Guitar - Chris DeGarmo
Guitar - Jerry Cantrell
Bass Guitar - Mike Inez
Drums - Ken Mary

[bosk1]

Drums - Ken Mary

That's right--I forgot he originated up there (at least musically).  Okay, if I can't have Denny for my lineup, I'm taking Ken instead.

[Stadler]

Alan White lives there now (and has for years, if I'm not mistaken).

[cfmoran13]

Seattle All-Stars:

Vocals - Chris Cornell
Guitar - Jerry Cantrell
Guitar - Chris DeGarmo
Bass - Jeff Ament
Drums - Matt Cameron

In addition to some great musicians, that'd be some crazy songwriting potential!

[Art]

Seattle All Stars

Vocals: Chris Cornell
Guitar: Jerry Cantrell
Guitar: Kim Thayil
Bass: Jeff Ament
Drums: Matt Cameron

Or:

Vocals: Layne Staley
Guitar: Mike McCready
Bass: Robert Deleo
Drums: Dave Abbruzzese

[Architeuthis]

Alan White lives there now (and has for years, if I'm not mistaken).

That is correct.