well-known grunge bands. Stone Gossard
and Jeff Ament, after a stint in the short-
lived but immensely popular Seattle band
Mother Love Bone, made up the core of
the band Pearl Jam; Steve Turner and
Mark Arm formed a group called Mud-
honey.Grunge Goes Mainstream By the early
1990’s, the grunge movement had grown
beyond its original geographic boundaries
and, seemingly overnight, permeated the
popular culture. The band that was largely
responsible for propelling grunge music
to the forefront of mainstream rock was a
group called Nirvana. Led by singer Kurt
Cobain, the band formed in 1988 and re-
leased its first album, the critically ac-
claimedBleach, on Sub Pop a year later. It
was the album Nevermind, however, re-
leased in 1991, that would enjoy wide com-
mercial success.
Nevermind’s first single, “Smells Like
Teen Spirit,” peaked at number six on the
Billboardcharts in early 1992 and can be
credited with giving grunge music both na-
tional and worldwide popularity. More sig-
nificant than its chart success was the fact
that the song and, subsequently, the al-
bum, proved to be an anthem to scores
of teenagers and young adults, further
strengthening grunge music’s popularity.
Other Seattle bands would also enjoy
mainstream success in the early 1990’s.
Pearl Jam released its first album,Te n,in- By 1992, the album had reached
number two on theBillboardcharts. Pearl
Jam had three hit singles fromTe n: “Alive,”
“Even Flow,” and “Jeremy.” Another prom-
inent grunge band was Alice in Chains,
whose first album,Facelift, was released in - Other Seattle grunge bands that
achieved mainstream success in the early
1990’s include longtime Seattle mainstays
Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog (consist-
ing of members of Soundgarden and Pearl
Jam), and the Screaming Trees.
Grunge music was not limited by one
particular sound or convention. While the
musical style of most grunge musicians was
386 Grunge music The Nineties in America
Selected 1990’s Grunge Rock AlbumsYear Album Band
1990 Facelift Alice in Chains
Louder than Live Soundgarden
Apple Mother Love Bone
1991 Badmotorfinger Soundgarden
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge Mudhoney
Nevermind Nirvana
Pretty on the Inside Hole
Te n Pearl Jam
Uncle Anesthesia Screaming Trees
1992 Dirt Alice in Chains
Piece of Cake Mudhoney
Sweet Oblivion Screaming Trees
1993 In Utero Nirvana
Painkillers Babes in Toyland
Vs. Pearl Jam
World of Noise Everclear
1994 Dystopia Babes in Toyland
Jar of Flies Alice in Chains
Live Through This Hole
MTV Unplugged in New York Nirvana
Sixteen Stone Bush
Superunknown Soundgarden
Vitalogy Pearl Jam
1995 Foo Fighters Foo Fighters
My Brother the Cow Mudhoney
Sparkle and Fade Everclear
1996 Down on the Upside Soundgarden
Dust Screaming Trees
No Code Pearl Jam
Razorblade Suitcase Bush
1997 The Colour and the Shape Foo Fighters
Deconstructed Bush
So Much for the Afterglow Bush
1998 Celebrity Skin Hole
Yield Pearl Jam
1999 There Is Nothing Left to Lose Foo Fighters