Where to start with Seattle Grunge
Seattle Grunge is a music scene from Seattle, Washington, USA, 1984–1997. Its principal artists include Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 19 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Dry as a Bone
Green River · 1987Original release: Sub Pop Records · SP 11 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1987This EP gave grunge its name, setting the template for how the entire scene would be described.
- 2
Bleach
Nirvana · 1989Original release: Sub Pop Records · SP 34 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1989Recorded for $606.17, it defined Sub Pop's lo-fi aesthetic and introduced Kurt Cobain's songwriting to the world.
- 3
Nevermind
Nirvana · 1991Original release: DGC Records · DGC-24425 · Vinyl · US 1991It broke grunge into the mainstream, selling 13 million copies and making alternative rock dominant in the 1990s.
Go deeper
- 4
Ten
Pearl Jam · 1991Original release: Epic · ZK 47857 · CD · US 1991Pearl Jam's debut stayed on the Billboard 200 for nearly five years and outsold Nevermind domestically, making the band the most popular American rock act of the decade.
- 5
Badmotorfinger
Soundgarden · 1991Original release: A&M Records · 75021 5374 1 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1991Released the same month as Nevermind, Badmotorfinger showed off Soundgarden's metal-grunge fusion and produced the breakthrough singles 'Outshined' and 'Rusty Cage.' It landed in the year after Andrew Wood's death…
- 6
Superfuzz Bigmuff
Mudhoney · 1988Original release: Sub Pop Records · SP21 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1988Mudhoney's debut EP is Sub Pop's raw, lo-fi aesthetic distilled to its essence: Mark Arm's snarling vocals over Steve Turner's feedback-soaked guitar.
- 7
In Utero
Nirvana · 1993Original release: DGC Records · DGCD-24705 · CD · US 1993Produced by Steve Albini, In Utero was Nirvana's final studio album — rawer and more abrasive than Nevermind, deliberately allergic to polish, and still a chart-topper in spite of itself.
For the obsessed
- 8
Superunknown
Soundgarden · 1994Original release: A&M Records · 540 215-2 · CD · Europe 1994Superunknown was Soundgarden's commercial peak: it debuted at number one and produced the massive hit 'Black Hole Sun,' pushing grunge into stranger, more experimental territory without losing its audience.
- 9
Dirt
Alice in Chains · 1992Original release: Columbia · CK 52475 · CD · US 1992Dirt is Alice in Chains at its darkest and heaviest, Layne Staley's vocals stretched thin over riffs that sound like corrosion set to tape, addiction rendered with no distance and no comfort.
- 10
Ultramega OK
Soundgarden · 1988Original release: SST Records · SST CD 201 · CD · US 1988Ultramega OK, Soundgarden's first full-length, fused punk's speed to Black Sabbath's weight and earned the band its first Grammy nomination — proof, early on, that Seattle's heaviest new band could…
The stories behind every record are in Seattle Grunge, a members' issue.