Grunge

Seattle's underground unwittingly went global at the end of 1991 when Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit blew up. Pacific Northwest proto-grungers Tad, Melvins, & Green River, took the sludgiest elements of early '70s metal and updated it with Punk fervor in the mid/late'80s. Mudhoney, Soundgarden & Nirvana added melody to the Grunge template by the end of the decade, by which point Seattle's Sub Pop Records (home to all three bands) had become the world's de facto Grunge production line. Nirvana chose a pop-influenced route ("Sliver"), Soundgarden assumed the role of metal masters ("Outshined"), Mudhoney raised garage rock to a new level ("Touch Me, I'm Sick"), and newcomers Pearl Jam updated '70s and '80s Hard Rock ("Even Flow").