When the whole Seattle thing broke in 1991-1992, I have to say I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, anything that breathed new life in to the moribund music then on display was a good thing. On the other hand, it seemed to be a bit of a bandwagon people were jumping on. Looking back, the bands produced some fine music, one song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that defined a slacker generation to a "T", but were plowed under by the rise of hip-hop in the middle part of the decade.
Of the four biggest bands to emerge from the Seattle underground - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains - what I liked best was the diversity. You knew each group just by listening to a few of the opening notes of a song. There was no "sound", no Seattle equivalent of the "Wall of Sound" or "the Philly sound". There was just an ethos - make it new.
Of the four singers, the late Layne Stanley of Alice in Chains always intrigued me. Not a great voice - but I find myself strangely attracted to it nonetheless. Not the rage-filled baritone vibrato of Eddie Vedder, or the blues-shouting of Chris Cornell, or the wasted crie de couer of Kurt Cobain, his voice was as unique as theirs. I have a friend who doesn't like it because it is too nasally - he didn't like Guns 'N' Roses for the same reason, i.e., Axl Rose's voice was too nasally. I agree, yet I can't help sitting up and taking notice. Here's a great song of theirs called "Would":
One thing the Seattle bands could do was collaborate. The best album of 1992, in my not-so-very-humble-at-all opinion was by Temple of the Dog, which included members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, in a tribute to Chris Cornell's best friend and roommate. The music transcended this particular focus, and while "Hunger Strike" got all sorts of air time, Cornell's mournful wail on "Say Hello to Heaven" is still the best part of the disc for me.
A couple years later, Stanley got together with members of Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees to form Mad Season. I think I listened to little else in the summer of 1995, and hearing anything of theirs takes me bac to southern Virginia.
This post will be my last for a little over a week. I am taking a little vacation, recharge my batteries, spend some time with family, and prepare for some small changes in this little offering to the ages. I do hope that 10 days away - I will be back June 4 - is not too long to lose my readers. Feel free to check out six months worth of archives, talk amongst yourselves, etc. Never fear, God willing and the creeks don't rise, I will return a week from Monday refreshed and rarin' to go. Enjoy the holiday weekend, don't spend too much time in front of the computer, and always remember this: Everyone hates George Bush, and hates this war. We just need to remind the Democrats in Congress of this . . .
Virtual Tin Cup
