Grunge, Alternative, Seattle rock,Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains et al

Sushant Sharma

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Any other 90s kids who were inspired and listened to bands like Nirvana Pearl Jam Blind Melon Soundgarden Bush Moist Alice in Chains Live Weezer Spin Doctors Stone temple Pilots Collective Soul and the like..it was so long ago. was a time just before cds became popular in India..I bought all of these on tape/cassette..it would be nice to discuss these bands and albums and see if we were listening to them at the same point in time. Please feel free to add any bands or songs or albums from this time that you were into.
 
Great thread Sushant!

IMO Alice in chains were the most innovative musicians and songwriters of the grunge era. Jerry Cantrel's intricate, progressive compositions and guitar wizardry cannot be matched by any of the grunge musicians. Layne Staley's nihilistic poetry and droning vocals synergized perfectly with Cantrell's acidic music style. I wore out 3 cassettes of FACELIFT and DIRT before I got the CD and they are and will always be one of my favorite albums of all time. I was totally crushed when the news of Staley's death hit the news. I haven't really felt like listening to the albums they produced after his demise :(

Other albums I liked:
Jerry Cantell - Degradation Trip
Pearl Jam - Ten & Vs
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Stone temple pilots - Core
Radiohead - Pablo Honey

I could never get into Nirvana and found them totally overrated.

Another standout album from this era that I wouldn't really categorize as grunge, but really loved was Temple of the Dog. Chris Cornel and Eddie Vedder sound magnificent on this album.
 
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My favorite band of that era and even to this day is "Days of the new". Unfortunately they produced only 3 albums before they broke up. I always had their first album (I think it was called yellow) on deep rotate throughout the mid to late 90's.
Cheers,
Sid
 
I used also love - blues traveler, counting crows, hootie and the blowfish, butthole surfers, goo goo dolls, third eye blind, 3 doors down, Foo fighters,Green Day. Listen to counting crows - Mr. Jones even now. Not sure if these are classified alternative, so pardon me for erroneous post.
Cheers,
Sid
 
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I was more a tradition rock fan and the only one I have seriously heard from the above list is Nirvana.
Off late, I am not able to hear anything even mildly on the hard rock side
 
Great thread Sushant!

IMO Alice in chains were the most innovative musicians and songwriters of the grunge era. Jerry Cantrel's intricate, progressive compositions and guitar wizardry cannot be matched by any of the grunge musicians. Layne Staley's nihilistic poetry and droning vocals synergized perfectly with Cantrell's acidic music style. I wore out 3 cassettes of FACELIFT and DIRT before I got the CD and they are and will always be one of my favorite albums of all time. I was totally crushed when the news of Staley's death hit the news. I haven't really felt like listening to the albums they produced after his demise :(

Other albums I liked:
Jerry Cantell - Degradation Trip
Pearl Jam - Ten & Vs
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Stone temple pilots - Core
Radiohead - Pablo Honey

I could never get into Nirvana and found them totally overrated.

Another standout album from this era that I wouldn't really categorize as grunge, but really loved was Temple of the Dog. Chris Cornel and Eddie Vedder sound magnificent on this album.
yeah I never really got into Nirvana myself. Did give it a fair try then. Mother Love Bone into Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam finally. To be honest i never heard as much of Alice in Chains (blasphemy after reading your post about them). But how many of these guys you mentioned including Kurt Cobain Layne Staley, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell and the Mother Love front man took their lives.
 
I used also love - blues traveler, counting crows, hootie and the blowfish, butthole surfers, goo goo dolls, third eye blind, 3 doors down, Foo fighters,Green Day. Listen to counting crows - Mr. Jones even now. Not sure if these are classified alternative, so pardon me for erroneous post.
Cheers,
Sid
All of these guys were my daily dose and only butthole surfers I didn't listen to much. Mr Jones was a great tune and still remains.
 
yeah I never really got into Nirvana myself. Did give it a fair try then. Mother Love Bone into Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam finally. To be honest i never heard as much of Alice in Chains (blasphemy after reading your post about them). But how many of these guys you mentioned including Kurt Cobain Layne Staley, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell and the Mother Love front man took their lives.
Seattle supposedly has a high rate of depression and suicide.
 
Did any one mention Jane's Addiction ?
Used to have a Ritual La Habitual (hope I got the name , correct ) cassette that I listened to at one time in college ...
 
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Another great band that I listen to even now is David Thomas and Pere Ubu. David Thomas like Captain Beefheart has a weird voice ( a critic called it Jimmy Stewart trapped in an oboe). His stage antics are very endearing. Ravenstine on the synth is legendary. Think Grunge owes a debt of gratitude to Pere Ubu . Raygun Suitcase , Final Solution, Tenement Years, Modern Dance, Dub Housing , Birds etc are great songs/albums in case someone wants to give it a listen.
 
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Another great band that I listen to even now is David Thomas and Pere Ubu. David Thomas like Captain Beefheart has a weird voice ( a critic called it Jimmy Stewart trapped in an oboe). His stage antics are very endearing. Ravenstine on the synth is legendary. Think Grunge owes a debt of gratitude to Pere Ubu . Raygun Suitcase , Final Solution, Tenement Years, Modern Dance, Dub Housing , Birds etc are great songs/albums in case someone wants to give it a listen.
Great showmanship and i love the antics. somebody said the sound was ahead of their time. i Can't believe I havent even heard of them. Saw some videos on youtube after your post and i like them..thanks
 
Another class act and much popular in the mainstream than Pere Ubu is The Velvet Underground ....Sweet Jane , I am Waiting for the Man , The Gift ( weird story of a man who ships himself as a surprise gift to his girlfriend only to have her ....), Lisa Says , Pale Blue Eyes , and this one ..Heroin popularised in the 90s by the soundtrack of the Val Kilmer biopic The Doors
Another artist that grunge owes their debt of gratitude to is the venerable Neil Young ..here in an edgy duet with ..I think ....Linda Ronsdalt ...

 
Another class act and much popular in the mainstream than Pere Ubu is The Velvet Underground ....Sweet Jane , I am Waiting for the Man , The Gift ( weird story of a man who ships himself as a surprise gift to his girlfriend only to have her ....), Lisa Says , Pale Blue Eyes , and this one ..Heroin popularised in the 90s by the soundtrack of the Val Kilmer biopic The Doors
Another artist that grunge owes their debt of gratitude to is the venerable Neil Young ..here in an edgy duet with ..I think ....Linda Ronsdalt ...

I am familiar with The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed and John Cale and Nico. Good mentions by you of the songs by them. If you haven't already please also check the collaboration between Lou Reed (only does a spoken word intro to the song) and Antony and the Johnsons on a song called Fistful of love (about masochism and maybe domestic violence as well ) and John Cale"s version of the song, murdering mouth which i think is so RAW and apt for the title. Also I also like Nico singing "These days".
 
Dream Theatre and RUSH are my favourite progressive rock bands....Dense music with complex passages......great guitar work ..I love their interplays..
Rush is the greatest prog band ever...even though I am a die hard Iron Maiden fan, from a musicianship perspective no one in the rock scene can come close to touching Rush.
 
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