A selection of Buzz Osborne’s favourite grunge albums
Led by Buzz Osborne, the Melvins released sonic sludge to the masses before the term grunge was even coined. Their sound was undefinable, comprising doomy and deep riffs that shaped the future of more experimental rock, providing ample inspiration for genre offshoots like stoner and doom metal. Grunge was hard to define, drawing from various genres, like punk and hard rock. Osborne was a fastidious curator of its best efforts, watching the grunge era take hold and taking note of its most enduring albums.
As you might expect for a round-up of the best grunge albums of all time, Nirvana and Soundgarden each make two appearances. Kurt Cobain himself was an avid Melvins fan, helping produce Houdini (until he was later fired), and hailed Osborne as an icon. In turn, Osborne heaped similar praise on Nevermind and Bleach, naming the former as “their best record” when speaking to Rolling Stone. Osborne said one of his favourite tracks, the iconic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, wore its influences on its sleeve and “really solidified what was good about them, to begin with”.
Osborne has often mentioned that grunge got slightly lost in translation as it became popular, but its origins stayed true to punk rock rather than hair metal. To that end, Bleach was a strong choice, if not only because Osborne felt his own band’s influence on it. Tales of Terror, meanwhile, was another band that was strong on the punk rock element. “They had a simultaneous destruction and reinvention to their music,” said Osborne. “You could tell their influences were really cool, like the Stooges and the Dead Boys with some hardcore thrown in there.”
Nodding to the difficulty of singling out one purely grunge album, he said Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger was “the one record I’ve listened to most that’s quote-unquote ‘grunge'”. It’s odd time signatures and tunings had instant appeal, but Osborne admits initially overlooking it. “It’s buried in the music in a way that you don’t really realize exactly what it is you’re listening to. Most of the bands that were like them or trying to rip them off never did that,” he said. “I always admire anything that’s outside the box.”
U-Men is an album Osborne also recommends, swearing the group were “one of the best bands from the era that nobody knows about”. Deviating from the low-effort attitude of grunge, U-Men were cohesive and well-rehearsed on stage. “I loved them live,” said Osborne, who was floored by how good 1984’s U-Men was. “I think it’s a fucking great record. I will never stop loving it”.
Likewise, Flipper’s Generic was one of his top five albums of all time, outside of the confines of grunge, too. “They’re another band that simultaneously destroyed and invented rock and roll music,” he said. “They wrote the bible on what was possible with punk-rock music. It was so far beyond anything I had heard before. Its genius is in its simplicity, its end-of-the-world quality. It made me want to make music that sounded like the end of the world, as well.”
While ranking his favourite grunge records, Osborne reflected on how strange it was the sub-genre took off, largely citing obvious favourites Nirvana and Soundgarden. “I was always very excited about Nirvana and Soundgarden becoming famous, rich, and successful,” he said. “I felt like something that I was involved in was right – my sensibilities were right. Watching that happen with those guys only gave me more confidence.”
Buzz Osborne’s favourite grunge albums:
- Spanking Machine (1990) – Babes in Toyland
- Return to Olympus (1995) – Malfunkshun
- Superunknown (1994) – Soundgarden
- Badmotorfinger (1991) – Soundgarden
- Nevermind (1991) – Nirvana
- Bleach (1989) – Nirvana
- U-Men (1984) – U-Men
- Tales of Terror (1984) – Tales of Terror
- Generic Flipper (1982) – Flipper
