Top 5 Grunge Songs

Riddle101

I always like doing top 5 lists. It makes me feel like Rob Gordon from High Fidelity. So I thought i'd give it try here. What are your top 5 grunge songs(If you're a grunge fan that is)?

Depending on how this thread do, I could probably do some other top 5 threads on other genres. But I'll stick to this for now.

1. Rooster - Alice in Chains
2. Down In A Hole - Alice in Chains
3. Heart Shaped Box- Nirvana
4. Jeremy - Pearl Jam
5. Creep - Stone Temple Pilots

I know it's going to be pretty tough, it's hard enough picking your favorite grunge songs from a single band, let alone a top 5 grunge songs list overall. But I thought it might provoke some serious thought and discussion.

For me, if I'm being honest, it was hard not to make them all Alice in Chains songs because I absolutely love Alice in Chains. But Heart Shaped Box and Jeremy in particular hold significance to me because they are among the first grunge songs that I listened to, and got be into the whole genre. As for Creep, I have a soft spot for that song.

THEZAPPA

You're killing me here, having to pick my top 5...

Well like yourself I love Alice In chains so I'd normally put all them.

1. Got me wrong - Alice in chains
2. River of Deceit - Mad Season
3. Hungerstrike - Temple of the dog
4. 4th of July - Soundgarden
5. This is shangrila - Mother love bone

If I could add more more it would be:
Mark Lanegan - Riding the Nightingale
Screaming Trees - Nearly lost you
Alice in chains - Grind
Pearl Jam - Oceans
Stone temple pilots - interstate love song
Blind Melon - No rain

Ah yeah it just goes on...

SilverScreen

1. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
2. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
3. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
4. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
5. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick

solomafioso

SilverScreen wrote: »

1. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
2. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
3. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
4. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
5. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick

Tabnabs

AIC - Them Bones
Soundgarden - Room a Thousand Years Wide
Nirvana - Sliver
L7 - Andres
Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet

STP, grunge? Not for me in all honesty.

Riddle101

Tabnabs wrote: »

AIC - Them Bones
Soundgarden - Room a Thousand Years Wide
Nirvana - Sliver
L7 - Andres
Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet

STP, grunge? Not for me in all honesty.

Well their earlier work was grunge, but they've visited other areas as well. I suppose it would be like identifying Metallica as a thrash metal band, but Metallica have explored other areas too.

Hunchback

1/. Smashing Pumpkins -XYU
2/.Nirvana - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
3/. Nine Black Alps - Unsatisfied
4/. Weezer - Photograph
5/. Hole - 20 Years In The Dakota

SilverScreen

I tend to debate whether grunge is an actual musical genre or just a lazy label to group any band that came out of Seattle/Washington in the late 80's/early 90's. It's a lot different than, say, hardcore punk which had a distinct sound and was not regionalised.

You had bands like Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees who sounded nothing like Nirvana and Mudhoney. You also had bands like The Smashing Pumpkins who were lumped in with grunge simply because they emerged around the same time and were influenced by the Pixies soft/loud dynamic like Nirvana were.

petethebrick

Riddle101 wrote: »

Well their earlier work was grunge, but they've visited other areas as well.

Please define grunge??? For me it's all rock music.

Your question would be better phrased as 'Name your top 5 songs by popular 1990s American alternative rock bands'

And for me some of my favourites are:

1. Alice in chains - junkhead
2. Pearl jam - go
3. Soundgarden - searching with my good eye closed
4. Screaming trees - nearly lost you
5. Temple of the dog - chloe dancer

Tabnabs

petethebrick wrote: »

Please define grunge??? For me it's all rock music.

Your question would be better phrased as 'Name your top 5 songs by popular 1990s American alternative rock bands'

You see, for me, Alternative was a very distinctive genre separate from Rock. I wouldn't consider Dinosaur Jr, Pavement, Sugar, SP, Breeders, Belly, Jane's Addiction et. al.

nyarlothothep

1. Smells like Teen Spirit is the best and defining grunge song of all time.
2. Blackhole Sun, Soundgarden
3. Them Bones Alice in Chains
4. Evenflow Pearl Jam
5. Cherub Rock, The Smashing Pumpkins

THEZAPPA

petethebrick wrote: »

5. Temple of the dog - chloe dancer

I think you mean Mother love bone

As for what is grunge it was just a made up word by mudhoney's lead singer. But everyone knows the word grunge.

Grunge can mean all types of bands to all types of people mainly Nirvana.

But sure who cares, what some people don't think is "defined grunge" could be for you and the other way around. I say just enjoy the music!!

Hunchback

petethebrick wrote: »

Please define grunge??? For me it's all rock music.

Your question would be better phrased as 'Name your top 5 songs by popular 1990s American alternative rock bands'

And for me some of my favourites are:

1. Alice in chains - junkhead
2. Pearl jam - go
3. Soundgarden - searching with my good eye closed
4. Screaming trees - nearly lost you
5. Temple of the dog - chloe dancer

Indeed - this makes for a more expansive wedge of music to choose from!

Evan Bruton

1.Nirvana-All Apologies
2.Soundgarden-4th of July
3.Alice in Chains-Rain when I die
4.Pearl Jam-Last Exit
5.Screaming trees-Subtle poison

Jesus that was one of the hardest questions ever, number 6 would be hunger strike by Temple of the Dog, just had to get that in there

Riddle101

petethebrick wrote: »

Please define grunge??? For me it's all rock music.

Your question would be better phrased as 'Name your top 5 songs by popular 1990s American alternative rock bands'

And for me some of my favourites are:

1. Alice in chains - junkhead
2. Pearl jam - go
3. Soundgarden - searching with my good eye closed
4. Screaming trees - nearly lost you
5. Temple of the dog - chloe dancer

Sorry I assumed Grunge was an easy enough that it didn't need to be described. Grunge is a term used for the sub genre of alternative rock that rose to fame in the early 1990's. In essence it really is just a name(Or a marketing term) used for the alternative music scene that came to prominence in Seattle and other parts of Washington, but it's open to interpretation I suppose. I mean alternative rock is pretty broad, there are various bands that fall under the alternative rock banner, but aren't necessarily grunge bands as well. Punk music for instance is labeled alternative rock, but whatever.

But yeah basically it's just top 5 songs from alternative rock bands, coined as grunge or where apart of the grunge scene.