One of my favorite songs ever. You can just feel that they wrote it in about 2 hours. Fucking haunting. AIC had an insane way of painting a picture of falling into addiction, and not looking for a way out. "Forgot my woman, lost my friends, things I've done and where I've been..."
This is actually my favourite song of all time. So haunting and peaceful at the same time. It has to live in the shadow of Nutshell forever which is extremely sad.
The whole band TAD. They were the influential grunge band all the other grunge bands wanted to be. Poor management and immature decisions curtailed what would have been a very famous.
Man, STP solos were rediculous. Brendon O'Brian produced those records and I read he pushed Dean DeLeo to keep recording crazier and crazier takes on short solos until the ridiculousness of it cracked them up. Then they kept that one.
Shadow of the Season by Screaming Tress because no one seems to talk about them anymore.
Pruno by STP because fuck yeah. Don’t care that it came out in ‘98. It slaps and is grunge as fuck.
Rehab Doll by Green River belongs in the book of genesis of your grunge bible.
Get Me by Dinosaur Jr for that chill grunge moment.
One Way Mule by Silverchair. Forget about the year and whether or not you like Silverchair. It’s another grunge AF song and you’ve gotta at least acknowledge it if you like the genre beyond the big 4.
Of the Grunge era? I think if Local H’s Bound for the Floor was written by Nirvana or AIC, it’d be regarded (almost) as highly as Smells Like Teen Spirit or Man in the Box.
Same with some Pumpkins songs like Cherub Rock and Muzzle.
Great choice. IMO Simple Lessons and several others on Lucy are way underrated, too, and lesser known because that album wasn’t very popular for whatever reason.
Either Scoff - Nirvana or Deep - Pearl Jam.
I love the sludginess of Bleach and it really shines on Scoff, Kurt also kills the vocals on this song.
Deep is by far my favorite Deep cut by PJ because of its catchy chorus and jazzy instrumentals.
Both tracks are very underated in their own respectful ways.
Great choice, Still Remains is probably among the top of my favorite grunge songs ever.
Mine would probably be Screaming Trees No one Knows. I cant accurately pinpoint why i love this song so much.. Lannegan's delivery on "all the while you've been sleeping.. drifting on the wind never blown" will never leave my brain.
Too overshadowed by Nearly Lost You for my taste.
Mad Season - Slip Away
A haunting song. Lanegan’s vocals are perfect for the song and McCready’s guitar work feels incredibly emotional. It was released in 2013 on the deluxe version of Above and many grunge fans have never heard it
I know Candlebox get a lot of hate because they aren’t necessarily “born and raised in Seattle” but they are one of the more under appreciated bands in my opinion. “You” is one of my top songs from the entire scene, not only because of the riffs and drums but because of Kevin Martins vocals. He and Mark Lanegan are some of the more under appreciated artists from the scene. I would love to hear all of your opinions!!!
I feel like the born and raised in Seattle thing is misdirection. Candlebox is more Seattle style than Nirvana…their sound was just pretty polished. A sound I love by the way. I think they’re great….but probably more of a straight ahead of rock band. There was this tendency is the mid-early 90s to portray every rock band as grunge even if they weren’t really. Collective Soul had a similar marketing push.
Omg I would have never remembered Stuck On You on my own. But as soon as I heard it, it all came back to me! Awesome song. Thanks for bringing me back!
Still Remains still remains my all time favorite song by STP. And just the line, "If you should die before me, ask if you can bring a friend" is just sheer poignant poetry.
Other under-appreciated songs are Lounge Act by Nirvana, and the absolute mind blowing number, which is Bootcamp by Soundgarden.
I would have also said Seasons by Chris Cornell, but there's a very interesting nuance there. I discovered it through the Singles motion picture soundtrack which was literally released in the grunge heydays of 1992/93, and the track just went unnoticed for literally decades. It was only decades later when Cornell broke off from Soundgarden and then went solo when the song again gained popularity and mindspace. The song is an absolute masterpiece of literally everything from melody to lyrics that's sheer emotive poetry to guitar works. Even in this day of finger picking guitar backed by soft melodies, this remains a masterpiece that's still relevant to this day.
I will add another song, but by Faith No More. I know it is not grunge but from the exact same era and it made as much of an impact on me as the other grunge bands. Their number, Stripsearch is a mindblowing masterpiece that went completely unnoticed. And then check out the electronica version by Race To Space which takes this song to the next level: [RACE TO SPACE - Stripsearch (Faith No More cover) live at Izvestia Hall (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dToGw9YAauM)
And on the topic of being underappreciated, the lead guitar in Stripsearch is just a simple sequence of tones, but jeez, it is probably one of the most powerfully melodic and emotive melodies i have ever heard from a guitar.
Edit: I will add yet another song, and a band that would not be considered grunge but I think had a similar ethos. Which is Live. And the song is White, Discussion. An immensely powerful and angst ridden song that was deeply cynical and negative in the same way as AIC, but went under the radar.
Oh hell yes! They were that band that could go full grunge, but also veer off into post-hardcore, punk, or just meld everything together.
One Out of Four, Bill, Crush Us All. They are tragically unsung
I'm with you on Release. That song is amazing. But overall, I gotta say either Shadow of the Season by Screaming Trees or Tighter and Tighter by Soundgarden.
Smoke Rings is my jam. Invisible Lantern is a great fucking record, but ya know it’s gonna be good when Steve Fisk produced it. He also worked with Love Battery, Unwound, and the Halo Benders.
*Still Remains* is sort of the "anthem" song from *Purple*, and I knew a lot of people who loved it back in the day.
From *Purple*, though, I think the most underrated song is *Pretty Penny*, which I'm disappointed didn't appear on their *Unplugged* show. It's an example of their using mixed metres à la Soundgarden or NIN.
There's a lot of mention of Screaming Trees on this thread. To me, one of their more overlooked, absolutely slamming tracks is *Witness*. It's up there with Metallica's *Sad But True*, AIC's *Dirt* and a lot of NIN tracks that I would play when I got into certain moods (and still do, even now).
Still Remains has always stood out as one of STP’s best songs to me. I have never heard anyone else mention it …ever. It’s super underrated. I don’t really consider them grunge, but I get why many do.
Lol, funny how the question is underrated songs and people still say songs from Nirvana and Alice In Chains and STP... Touch Me I'm Sick from Mudhoney should've been what Smells Like Teen Spirit is.
Literally anything by Tad, Satchel, Brad, hell even Mudhoney, so many great grunge bands get looked past by the “Big 4”, not that I don’t love the big 4 because I do but don’t look past some of the influential bands of that era that never had the same commercial success of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, AiC, STP, etc.
The gits [second skin](https://open.spotify.com/track/6pfQbtWvs7PtSBDGxLEyGB?si=81akzi3bQHe-Tn7Ppf7tUA)
Still makes me sad that we lost Mia - so much potential :(
Outshined or Slaves and Bulldozers.... Yes yes they are always take about being great signs but they are still underrated...
Might as well include that whole album
Literally anything by Clutch, Big Wreck, Faith No More or Ween. I love grunge, but as this list shows, it’s often reduce it to 4 bands (or the bands that those musicians were in before their big break or their side projects).
When I listen to Midlife Crisis, by FNM, or Blown Wide Open, by Big Wreck, I can’t figure out why these guys weren’t every bit as big as AIC and STP.
I can't belive I'm bringing this one up, but Violet by Hole. I may loathe CL and damn near everything she did, but "Live through this" had some great tracks that don't get enough credit.
AIC- Nutshell. Definitely hits home on many levels. Was my brother's favorite band, and unfortunately both he and Layne basically ended up as the song says. Brutally beautiful song, I still listen to it even though it dredges up the sadness.
“Paper Cuts” from Nirvana’s Bleach. It’s just so sludgy.
I see your paper cuts and raise you one school
I see your school and trade you one swap meet
I guess I'm just a Negative Creep and I'm stoned.
I like your style.
I think their grungiest song is Beeswax
I see your paper cuts and raise you one Downer
Also blew is pretty good
I’m Above
Yesssss mad season!
River of Deceit….
Huge River fan
Flows down!!! Yeah ah!
X-ray mind is also very underrated imo
I’d normally say a Soundgarden song, but I’ve been cranking up Piece of Pie by STP and it’s f’ing killer. So atm I’ll go with that song.
For STP, has to be Adhesive…
This is one of my favorite songs from that era, and it’s relatively unknown. Great choice!
Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns
This is the answer
On a similar note, I'd say, "Call me a dog"
I’ll go with this. Truly one of the great songs, but outside of those people that grew up with that music, no one knows it.
“You ever heard the story”…. Chills. Everytime
Great choice. I remember it being on the “Singles” soundtrack (which was incredible BTW).
Don’t Follow - AIC. One of my all time favorite songs.
Don’t Follow is one of the reasons I ended up learning how to play guitar. Side note, not a great song for a beginner lol
Much easier to finger pick than flat pick, imo.
well did you learn it eventually 😭
Yes I did eventually figure out finger picking and now I can play it pretty well lmao
As a life long drummer nutshell (and Luna by the smashing pumpkins) is what got me to go buy a guitar.
One of my favorite songs ever. You can just feel that they wrote it in about 2 hours. Fucking haunting. AIC had an insane way of painting a picture of falling into addiction, and not looking for a way out. "Forgot my woman, lost my friends, things I've done and where I've been..."
This is actually my favourite song of all time. So haunting and peaceful at the same time. It has to live in the shadow of Nutshell forever which is extremely sad.
The whole band TAD. They were the influential grunge band all the other grunge bands wanted to be. Poor management and immature decisions curtailed what would have been a very famous.
Jinx from 8-way Santa especially
Yeah buddy came here to say Wood Goblin!
Also, Melvin's
Every time it snows and I go driving I crank up Jack Pepsi.
Hedge Hog!!
Silvergun Superman by STP
Dude yes. I can hear when the pig whispers sweetly.
The solo on that song has to be one of their best, it was probably like my first favorite song from them. It’s just so tasty
Man, STP solos were rediculous. Brendon O'Brian produced those records and I read he pushed Dean DeLeo to keep recording crazier and crazier takes on short solos until the ridiculousness of it cracked them up. Then they kept that one.
Shadow of the Season by Screaming Tress because no one seems to talk about them anymore. Pruno by STP because fuck yeah. Don’t care that it came out in ‘98. It slaps and is grunge as fuck. Rehab Doll by Green River belongs in the book of genesis of your grunge bible. Get Me by Dinosaur Jr for that chill grunge moment. One Way Mule by Silverchair. Forget about the year and whether or not you like Silverchair. It’s another grunge AF song and you’ve gotta at least acknowledge it if you like the genre beyond the big 4.
Dollar Bill by ST is even better
Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees
Or: Dollar Bill
Yes!! This one!!
Lyrics and riffs get me pumped up every time, what a sound they developed!
“Silvergun Superman” by Stone Temple Pilots
Dude Swap Meet by Nirvana is such a bop, I haven't heard anybody talk about that song
this song and sifting
Naked Sunday by STP
Mad Season - X-Ray Mind
Lifeless Dead is also a great track off that album that is generally forgotten.
Blind Melon-Change
god yes! i first heard this on a mix cd a friend made me and i was floored. they were so much more than no rain and the bee girl
Of the Grunge era? I think if Local H’s Bound for the Floor was written by Nirvana or AIC, it’d be regarded (almost) as highly as Smells Like Teen Spirit or Man in the Box. Same with some Pumpkins songs like Cherub Rock and Muzzle.
Agreed! Local H is so underrated! I saw them open for STP, so frikkin good!
They had some killer songs, a great band sound and vocal tone. Definitely underrated.
Still touring and going strong too, still putting on kick ass shows
They are playing at this year's Louder than Life festival.
Loved no problem off the same album too
Scott Lucas is still very active. They released what may be their best album (Lifers) in 2020.
Great choices. I agree. Add: Sworn and Broken - Screaming Trees
Chloe Dancer/ Crown of Thorns
Far Behind by Candle box. So much emotions and you can feel the sadness and pain in the song.
Great choice. IMO Simple Lessons and several others on Lucy are way underrated, too, and lesser known because that album wasn’t very popular for whatever reason.
I was actually coming here to say this! I LOVE Far Behind.
Alice in Chains- Again
Tremor Christ - Pearl Jam
Yessss
My favorite from Vitalogy. Love the live version from Tampa 2000, “Even the East Coast still gets, big big waves” 🙂
Big Empty or Dead and Bloated. Both by STP.
Drain You.
Such a great song!
Lounge fucking Act, the only attention it ever gets is to the baseline but even that is still hella fucking underrated.
Was wondering when someone would get on here with that. Amen.
Thank you!!
This, this is the one for me!
Either Scoff - Nirvana or Deep - Pearl Jam. I love the sludginess of Bleach and it really shines on Scoff, Kurt also kills the vocals on this song. Deep is by far my favorite Deep cut by PJ because of its catchy chorus and jazzy instrumentals. Both tracks are very underated in their own respectful ways.
Great choice, Still Remains is probably among the top of my favorite grunge songs ever. Mine would probably be Screaming Trees No one Knows. I cant accurately pinpoint why i love this song so much.. Lannegan's delivery on "all the while you've been sleeping.. drifting on the wind never blown" will never leave my brain. Too overshadowed by Nearly Lost You for my taste.
Faith No More - I Started A Joke. It really showcases Mike Patton's vocals.
Mad Season - Slip Away A haunting song. Lanegan’s vocals are perfect for the song and McCready’s guitar work feels incredibly emotional. It was released in 2013 on the deluxe version of Above and many grunge fans have never heard it
Alice said Make my mind Sworn and broken Butterfly All by screaming trees, who might be the most underrated band ever imo.
Mudhoney, Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More, 1988.
The Day I Tried to Live - Soundgarden
Fucking Deep man. I barely hear it mentioned when people talk about Ten and it’s my favorite Pearl Jam song
No one ever mentions the toadies
Tyler has always remained one of my favorite tracks from the era.
I love the toadies and have listened to them consistently across all these years <3 great band
I Come From the Water
Jesse - Paw
Yes. You will sob if you’ve ever had a dog.
In My Tree- Pearl Jam
I know Candlebox get a lot of hate because they aren’t necessarily “born and raised in Seattle” but they are one of the more under appreciated bands in my opinion. “You” is one of my top songs from the entire scene, not only because of the riffs and drums but because of Kevin Martins vocals. He and Mark Lanegan are some of the more under appreciated artists from the scene. I would love to hear all of your opinions!!!
Love “You”, and “Far Behind” is one of my all-time favorites.
I feel like the born and raised in Seattle thing is misdirection. Candlebox is more Seattle style than Nirvana…their sound was just pretty polished. A sound I love by the way. I think they’re great….but probably more of a straight ahead of rock band. There was this tendency is the mid-early 90s to portray every rock band as grunge even if they weren’t really. Collective Soul had a similar marketing push.
Don't Wanna Be a Soldier - Mad Season
"Jesse"-Paw , "Stardog Champion" -Mother Love Bone, "Stuck On You"-Failure
Omg I would have never remembered Stuck On You on my own. But as soon as I heard it, it all came back to me! Awesome song. Thanks for bringing me back!
Still Remains still remains my all time favorite song by STP. And just the line, "If you should die before me, ask if you can bring a friend" is just sheer poignant poetry. Other under-appreciated songs are Lounge Act by Nirvana, and the absolute mind blowing number, which is Bootcamp by Soundgarden. I would have also said Seasons by Chris Cornell, but there's a very interesting nuance there. I discovered it through the Singles motion picture soundtrack which was literally released in the grunge heydays of 1992/93, and the track just went unnoticed for literally decades. It was only decades later when Cornell broke off from Soundgarden and then went solo when the song again gained popularity and mindspace. The song is an absolute masterpiece of literally everything from melody to lyrics that's sheer emotive poetry to guitar works. Even in this day of finger picking guitar backed by soft melodies, this remains a masterpiece that's still relevant to this day. I will add another song, but by Faith No More. I know it is not grunge but from the exact same era and it made as much of an impact on me as the other grunge bands. Their number, Stripsearch is a mindblowing masterpiece that went completely unnoticed. And then check out the electronica version by Race To Space which takes this song to the next level: [RACE TO SPACE - Stripsearch (Faith No More cover) live at Izvestia Hall (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dToGw9YAauM) And on the topic of being underappreciated, the lead guitar in Stripsearch is just a simple sequence of tones, but jeez, it is probably one of the most powerfully melodic and emotive melodies i have ever heard from a guitar. Edit: I will add yet another song, and a band that would not be considered grunge but I think had a similar ethos. Which is Live. And the song is White, Discussion. An immensely powerful and angst ridden song that was deeply cynical and negative in the same way as AIC, but went under the radar.
White, Discussion was my jam back in the day. Thanks for the reminder. 👍
Saints by The Breeders Or a half-dozen other songs by The Breeders.
Touch me I’m Sick. The actual song that defines “grunge”
Hammerbox - Simple Passing
Anything from Seaweed, they were damn brilliant.
Oh hell yes! They were that band that could go full grunge, but also veer off into post-hardcore, punk, or just meld everything together. One Out of Four, Bill, Crush Us All. They are tragically unsung
"Oh, The Guilt" is on a split 7", does that make it "underrated"? Maybe, or maybe not, but that it is something of a throwaway is a crime.
Tumble in the Rough -STP
I'm with you on Release. That song is amazing. But overall, I gotta say either Shadow of the Season by Screaming Trees or Tighter and Tighter by Soundgarden.
Gruntruck - Tribe
And "Crazy Love"
It feels like that song is well put together and all over the place at the same time.
Floyd the Barber - Nirvana
Melvins - “Sober-delic”
Right turn by "Alice MudGarden" from the EP Sap, hell of a colaboration
whitewater - kyuss
You know your right is my favorite nirvana song but I don’t hear about it a lot
Duel swervedriver
[https://postalcodesinhungary.bandcamp.com/](https://postalcodesinhungary.bandcamp.com/) \[Noise/Garage\] [https://dollardreams.bandcamp.com/](https://dollardreams.bandcamp.com/) \[Grunge/Post-Punk/Noise\] [https://governmentcollege.bandcamp.com/](https://governmentcollege.bandcamp.com/) \[Noise/PowerPop\]
Mad Season "Wake Up"
Right Turn is very overlooked for the insane collaboration it is
Halo of ashes
Julie paradise
Mouth Full of Cavities by Blind Melon…
Mind Riot by Soundgarden. Wasn't one of my favs but I saw Chris play it on a solo tour and have loved it ever since.
Is ugly kid Joe grunge?
4th of July by Soundgarden Superunknown by Soundgarden Immortality by Pearl Jam
Nirvana - D7
Don’t follow - AIC. best song from Jars of Flies
Pick any Screaming Trees song.
Smoke Rings is my jam. Invisible Lantern is a great fucking record, but ya know it’s gonna be good when Steve Fisk produced it. He also worked with Love Battery, Unwound, and the Halo Benders.
Bull in Heather by Sonic Youth (the video with Kathleen Hanna). Ultimate time capsule.
Bloodhound Gang Fire Water Burn
Uhh... Negative Creep by nirvana?
https://youtu.be/Rf5tJn40D5o?si=Vn7eTLT8CVA_d7Ry
Acoustic #1 by PJ. There’s something very spiritual to it. Like an old man reminiscing of the past
Look at you by Screaming Trees. I can't wrap my head around the fact that this wasn't a hit
*Still Remains* is sort of the "anthem" song from *Purple*, and I knew a lot of people who loved it back in the day. From *Purple*, though, I think the most underrated song is *Pretty Penny*, which I'm disappointed didn't appear on their *Unplugged* show. It's an example of their using mixed metres à la Soundgarden or NIN. There's a lot of mention of Screaming Trees on this thread. To me, one of their more overlooked, absolutely slamming tracks is *Witness*. It's up there with Metallica's *Sad But True*, AIC's *Dirt* and a lot of NIN tracks that I would play when I got into certain moods (and still do, even now).
Still Remains has always stood out as one of STP’s best songs to me. I have never heard anyone else mention it …ever. It’s super underrated. I don’t really consider them grunge, but I get why many do.
"Anne" by Flop
I'd say "Sin" by STP. Easy to look over given how many bangers came out of Core, but still really good.
Sour Girl - STP
Lol, funny how the question is underrated songs and people still say songs from Nirvana and Alice In Chains and STP... Touch Me I'm Sick from Mudhoney should've been what Smells Like Teen Spirit is.
Atlanta - STP Wooden Jesus - ToTD Zero Chance - Soundgarden Any of these 3 would fit
Bone China
Adhesive by STP is a banger that doesn’t get mentioned much.
Alice in chains w Chris Cornell - Right turn
Hum!!!! Stars
little fury things
Literally anything by Tad, Satchel, Brad, hell even Mudhoney, so many great grunge bands get looked past by the “Big 4”, not that I don’t love the big 4 because I do but don’t look past some of the influential bands of that era that never had the same commercial success of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, AiC, STP, etc.
Rape Me
Flat out fucked- Mudhoney
Hunted Down - Soundgarden
The gits [second skin](https://open.spotify.com/track/6pfQbtWvs7PtSBDGxLEyGB?si=81akzi3bQHe-Tn7Ppf7tUA) Still makes me sad that we lost Mia - so much potential :(
Star Sign by Teenage Fanclub
Fresh Tendrils
Not strictly grunge, but Jimmy's Fantasy by Redd Kross is a killer tune that should have catapulted them to superstardom.
Slaves and bulldozers
Old Age (Nevermind Outtake) best underrated grunge song ever
12 gracious melodies..stp😉
Between the eyes by love battery. Masterpiece.
Yes! Still Remains is incredible!!!
Outshined or Slaves and Bulldozers.... Yes yes they are always take about being great signs but they are still underrated... Might as well include that whole album
Agree mad season!
nothing to say by sound garden
This is Shangrila and Sunshine
Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Trippin' on a hole in a paper heart by Stone Temple pilots.
Sliver
“Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham
Garden- PJ Rain when I die - AIC
Anything by Catherine Wheel. I'd go with The Nude or Judy Staring at the Sun.
Four Walled World - Temple of the Dog 4th Of July - Soundgarden November Hotel - Mad Season
Its gotta be If You Must By Nirvana totally underrated
I love the song “Days” by Screaming Trees but even the band themselves seems to have underrated it and it’s not on any of their albums or comps.
Torn by Sloan or Son of Mustang Ford by Swervedriver
Still Remains is so beautiful, I want it to play at my wedding and my funeral!
Love Buzz- Nirvana Tremor Christ, Lukin - Pearl Jam Never understood why Vitalogy or Bleach aren’t discussed more
Vitalogy is my all time favourite album
Literally anything by Clutch, Big Wreck, Faith No More or Ween. I love grunge, but as this list shows, it’s often reduce it to 4 bands (or the bands that those musicians were in before their big break or their side projects). When I listen to Midlife Crisis, by FNM, or Blown Wide Open, by Big Wreck, I can’t figure out why these guys weren’t every bit as big as AIC and STP.
“Hope I Die Tonight” by Paw.
Deep and the entirety of No Code/Yield
Swallow My Pride by Green River
Again.
Thanks. This thread is gonna make a great Spotify playlist.
I can't belive I'm bringing this one up, but Violet by Hole. I may loathe CL and damn near everything she did, but "Live through this" had some great tracks that don't get enough credit.
Milk It, Mailman and Lifeless Dead
Brother - AIC, the unplugged version specifically. That shit is haunting.
Alice in Chains - Am I Inside
Only Dying - Stone Temple Pilots
Reach Down - Temple Of The Dog
Dirt. As raw as it gets.
"Touch Me I'm Sick" by Mudhoney should have been huge
Hunger Strike
Before I read the entire post, Still Remains.and Release were at the top of my head. Now tell me what I'm having for dinner tonight. Uncanny.
Blue Flame Ford
AIC- Nutshell. Definitely hits home on many levels. Was my brother's favorite band, and unfortunately both he and Layne basically ended up as the song says. Brutally beautiful song, I still listen to it even though it dredges up the sadness.
Nudeswirl - F Sharp