Best Grunge Band?
 

I'm only putting the "big four" up here. Please just vote for one, and if you have another true favourite, post it and the one you voted for above down below. ;)

I say Soundgarden. Chris Cornell is just freakin' awesome. I was torn between them and Pearl Jam though.

Nirvana no question in my opinion. Granted I didnt "live" through that era. By live I mean listen to that kind of music. But Nirvana seemed so revolutionary in grunge. I could be totally wrong, and am being far to swayed by vh1, and such.

Alice in Chains. But they're not really grunge, more of a mix of metal and bluegrass.

Soundgarden, but I am not sure if I would consider them grunge.

I really like Nirvana as well, but just the music. Not a big fan of the members or anything. I love the album Incesticide.

someone who isnt on the lost is the screaming trees. love everything they have done and all of mark langhans solo stuff too

I'm kinda shocked to see Pearl Jam with the least amount of votes. I'm the only one who's voted for em so far. Ten is a flawless album..and they made many other great albums as well. I favor them but I also have to say each and every one of those bands had their own greatness and I can definitely see why one favors one over the other. PJ rock my world ever since they first came out. One of my all time favourite bands.

Asta!!

i have to disagree. pearl jam has never done it for me. dont know what it is but i just can not stand listening to them. just my opinion though.

That's probably because they're not a grunge band.

Awesome? Definitely, maybe best stadium-type rock band to hit the scene in 20 years, but they by no means would I consider them in the same musical category as Nirvana.

There is just one problem; Nirvana does not define grunge.
There were those that came before and influenced the genre, such as the Melvins and the godfather of grunge himself, Neil Young. There were also bands like Mudhoney, Ammonia, etc. that were very good grunge bands but had distinctively different sounds from Nirvana. Then there's the hybridized grungers, case and point Murder City Devils and essentially anything older on the SubPop label or other Seattle indie labels.
Well, that's my two cents at least.

a more accurate name for grunge might be "rock bands that sold lots of albums between 1991 and 1994". STP, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden have been labelled as grunge so often and consistently that there's no point in noting the obvious musical differences

definetly Nirvana! I don`t know if theres a person that I know who doesn`t likes them

From that list, i voted Nirvana.

Out of these four? Pearl Jam easily.

Add in the Stone Temple Pilots and it's a different story.

Also, I'd rank them this way:

1. STP
2. Pearl Jam
3. Alice in Chains
4. Nirvana
5. Soundgarden

Yeah. Sounds about right.

Before opening this thread I was saying to myself, Pearl Jam better be here. I vote Pearl Jam.

Off that list, Nirvana takes it. I only consider PJ a grunge band with their first album, they totally went away from it. I never liked soundgarden, but they are okay. Alice in chains, yes and no. I think they were in the era, but to me, not grunge. As for STP, they are my all time fav. I think they fit the era too, but I don't think they were grunge.

im went with nirvana only because they seemed the most grunge
soundgarden and alice were more heavy and less distorted but in rankings id put them
1soundgarden
2alice in chains
3nirvana
4stp
5pj

10 is an awesome album but after that they just got too soft for my taste
they had 2 harder songs on yield but the others are much too mellow for eddies voice although they sound ok

Soundgarden was good. And awesome.

I vote Nirvana.

Personally, I think they best represent grunge.

I love every band on the list. Soundgarden just edged it; Pearl Jam the only ones to have kept it going - and how.

1. Nirvana
2. Alice In Chains (were they even grunge?)
3. Soundgarden
4. Pearl Jam (never cared much for them)

They've all been called or labeled grunge a billion times, leave it at that.

Anyway, Alice In Chains easily got my vote.

I can dig some Soundgarden, more than the other two anyway, but I didn't think they were spectacular. I never really got into Nirvana, and I never liked Vedder's voice, though I've heard from almost all my friends that Ten is an amazing album.

Well Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana are all Seattle bands from the "grunge scene" or whatever you want to call it. I'm not naming them as "grunge bands" arbitrarily, this is what I've seen from numerous sources (with AIC as well, although they're not Seattle).

Yeah STP were also lumped into that genre but I also agree that they along with Pearl Jam, and even Soundgarden were really more just a good ol rock band than a grunge band...Soundgarden especially..they were closer to being metal with Cornell amazing voice. And Mike McCreedy of Pearl Jam? He's obviously very blues and classic rock influenced you can hear that in his playing. Vedder loves Punk among other things. Scott Weiland is definitely blues influenced even put out a blues album..plus Classic rock too cause one of his idols is Jim Morrison. Nirvana probably did best fit the mold..they were that kind of band and they like those kind of bands as well. I noticed a lot of people had their favorites out of the grunge scene that were lesser known...Screaming Trees, Sunny Day Real Estate, Seven Mary Three, etc.

Asta!!

I thought that Sunny Day Real Estate was considered early emo...

Genres are fun!!!

I thought so too but I accidentally, but thankfully recorded a special on MTV2 a while back something hosted my Jim Shearer about Grunge music...they had Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Hole, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, PJ/Soundgarden/Temple Of The Dog, and yup even Sunny Day Real Estate...among many others that were considered Grunge. I agree Genre's are fun...now I asked you what guitar the guy from Muse is playing in their new video but I'm not sure if you saw it...It's nice...dunno if you know or anything just taking a shot in the dark since yer a fan of the album. Ughh..yeah..

Asta!!

fyi, alice in chains formed in seattle in 1987.

have you ever listened to "12-Bar Blues"? despite the name, it ain't a blues album. it is, however, pretty shitty! (sorry Scott) "Atlanta" from "No. 4" sounds like a Doors song, but the Jim Morrison influence isn't the most prominent that i see in Weiland. his Dave Bowie-isms strike me more and more these days. STP might be my fav band, however. seen 'em 3 times

Uh, er, I... that is to say... *runs away*

Damn so it's not even a blues album? I saw it in a Pawn shop one day and thought about picking it up..I thought "Oh cool Scott Weiland doing some blues." guess I was mistaken. I definitely see the Bowie influences, I'm sure he's got a whole slew of influences I don't know about.

Asta!!

Hey, K-Wise: Sorry, I know little to nothing about guitars.

Also, I don't know about the entire 12 Bar Blues album, but "Lady, Your Roof Brings Me Down" and "But Not Tonight" are two very kickass songs.

i would have to say alice in chains, with soundgarden a close second. I see soundgarden more as a hard rock then a grunge band, they just happened to be from seattle so they were grouped with nirvana. i dont think i would consider stp a grunge band either. i think nirvana is overrated...

Isn't it about the chords they all play(ed)? Didn't they tune their guitars down to 'D' or something, in search of that heavy-heavy grunge tone? Soundgarden are definitely grunge on Superunknown; STP were diet-grunge because to me they sounded just like a slightly sanitised Alice in Chains.

I had to go with Nirvana, I just got a hold of the new 3 cd set that came out not to long ago "With The Lights Out". It brought back allot of memories. Alice in chains is a close second. I was never a Soundgarden fan and Pearl Jam just went down hill.

I agree with getting STP on the list. Any of you guys into Velvet Revolver at all? I grew up on Guns N' Roses, Slash is simply amazing. I think Scot and the old GN'R crew make a good group.

of that list? Nirvana, I guess.
I like Soundgarden, but I don't know enough of their stuff, same with AIC
and I don't really like Pearl Jam,
but if STP is on that list, that'd be my choice by a country mile.

I love STP, hate GnR, and consider VR to be decent, but not good or great.

y'know, you don't have to beat your lack of taste into the ground.

I'm not voting; I never really liked Grunge, but I appreciate the effect that it had on the music industry, and I really liked some of the new bands that started to get airplay once Grunge broke the door open. Before Nirvana hit the radio, you basically only heard U2, REM, and hair bands.

hands down nirvana, gimme a break

Not that there's anything wrong with R.E.M. right? They are a truly great band. Mind you, they aren't even close to being the same since the drummer left (Buck? Mills? Berry? I forget which one). But Automatic, and Out of Time and even Monster, Green, Eponymous, are all great albums.

I know this doesn't fit in the 'grunge' thread, but I had to defend REM.

Yes, I like REM, I also like hair metal, and I'm OK with U2, but the whole music scene was stagnant (at least on the radio) at the beginning of the 1990s. Then Nirvana happened.

My vote is for Mudhoney and mother love bone