Billy Corgan had a nervous breakdown before recording Siamese Dream. His bass player and guitarist just broke up, his drummer was addicted to heroin and he was obsessed with becoming the next Nirvana. Add this to his raging perfectionism, it was going to be a struggle to create the follow up to the excellent Gish.…
The fourth band on the Mount Rushmore of grunge was more of a metal band than the other groups from their hometown. Their breakthrough album covered dark topics ranging from heroin addiction to the death of their friend to the Vietnam war. This wasn’t your typical four million copy selling record. The album featured five…
The idea was to make a hard rock version of Thriller. It took three years, three producers and a number of tragic car accidents for it to finally happen, but it did. The album produced seven hit songs and went on to become one of the biggest sellers, not only of Def Leppard’s career, but…
The Chili Peppers kept changing lineups throughout most of the ’80s. They finally had the perfect band when they recorded the biggest record of their career. Instead of going with George Clinton, they brought in Rick Rubin who would tighten up their sound. He specifically focused on Flea and having him dial back his slap…
Much like Bush a few years later, STP was considered a grunge rip off. Those who said that clearly didn’t listen to the album deeply enough. This was a band that harnessed the power of classic rock and mixed it with metal, grunge and blues. Scott Weiland, even in these early years, was a true…
Rage Against the Machine was truly one of the first bands to combine rock and rap on their blistering, political debut album. The band called Ice Cube, Sex Pistols and Minor Threat influences and it shows. Their shows were a powder keg and as their popularity grew it just became more and more difficult to…
Bush got a bad rap when they originally appeared in late 1994. They were called “British Nirvana” and poseurs by much of the press but, years later, the album completely holds up in the way many of the “post grunge” era records do not. The difference between the early works of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden…
After living the life of excess for years, Mötley Crüe were clean and sober for the recording of Dr. Feelgood. Beaten into shape by producer Bob Rock, the album was packed with hits. The band hit the road and soon old habits started to show back up. This would wind up being the end of…
1994 was the year that punk was thrust into the mainstream after years of underground popularity. Green Day opened the door earlier in the year and by the summer the Offspring was everywhere. This album, recorded on a shoestring budget, went on to become the biggest selling independent release of all time. Fun Fact: Offspring…
While all their contemporaries had major albums and big songs, Soundgarden was a step behind come 1994. This all changed with this record, which turned down the more metal influences of previous material and worked in some pop flavor. The reviews were tremendous, and the sales were the best they ever had, topping out at…