Before Nevermind || How Grunge Became Grunge

In 1991 music changed forever.

Three misfits from Aberdeen, Washington unleashed “Smells Like Teen Spirit” onto the world and alternative rock became the mainstream.

Grunge wasn’t so much a genre as a close knit selection of bands that came from the same approximate area, its epicentre being Seattle.

The Sabbathy-doom of Soundgarden sounded little like the Garage Rock bluster of Mudhoney.

But at the same time they were all tied together with a sense of exi-stential angst, unhurried tempos and dirty, sludgy, grungy audio qualities.

But what was this scene? What were the essential steps along the way, the key tracks and influencers? And how did it get to the point where Nirvana could dethrone Guns N’ Roses as America’s biggest rock band.

This is the journey to Nevermind: how Grunge became Grunge.