MOTHER LOVE BONE

Grunge ruled the nineties, and it continues to resonate through rock music today. MOTHER LOVE BONE was one of grunge's pioneers, and likely the most obvious bridge between their pioneering new path and the previous era's image and party obsessed glam metal and rock. Frontman Andrew Wood's untimely, tragic passing — a heroin overdose when he was only 24 in early 1990 — meant that MOTHER LOVE BONE was but a brief moment of brilliance. Their legacy lives on, and in a very tangible sense, MOTHER LOVE BONE carried forth as a couple of its members, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament, went on to co-found PEARL JAM. Now, thanks to UMe, MOTHER LOVE BONE's pivotal "Shine" EP and the subsequent music world-shaking LP "Apple" (fully remastered here) are, for the first time, being re-issued.

The Seattle, Washington quintet's enduring impact truly can't be understated. Their iconic status was of course cemented because they were unable to produce anything beyond that initial flash of forward-thinking creativity. And considering Wood's drug-related passing, the authenticity of expression and the emotional turmoil underlying it all is without question. While other notable grunge figures like Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Scott Weiland also died far too young, the fact that Wood died when the band was still developing means that MOTHER LOVE BONE's legacy stands on its own.

Wood's powerful voice, and stage presence, which wasn't far removed from someone like David Lee Roth, was distinctive in the realm of grunge and proto-alternative rock. His voice propelled the massive choruses on "Stardog Champion", "Holy Roller", and "Mr. Danny Boy". The tremendous melancholy and depressive underpinnings of these songs are juxtaposed with Wood's fantastic wailing in a way that's almost cheerful and positive. Elsewhere, "Crown of Thorns", a twisted, ethereal and dark power ballad, rolls with a subdued and casual bounce that's just as bleak as it is hummable. Qualities that later became essential to NIRVANA. This seminal album showcases the brilliant and fluid chemistry between the aforementioned Wood, Gossard, Ament, as well as lead guitarist Bruce Fairweather and drummer Greg Gilmore.

Airwaves and MTV were dominated by glam rock and metal in the late eighties. The overtly emotional, dingy nature of grunge was a stark change that took hold and transformed the musical landscape. But the change didn't exist in a vacuum, and it wasn't seamless. MOTHER LOVE BONE was a meeting point between glam's excess and the new movement's down-trodden, emotionally driven nature. MOTHER LOVE BONE did this largely because of Wood's incredible presence; this band's lasting influence is undeniable and profound.