The grunge album that changed Dave Grohl’s life: “I’d never heard anything like that”
Dave Grohl has never pretended to be a purist when it comes to rock music. For him, if a song sounded good, that was enough for him, regardless of genre. This open-mindedness was evident when he turned Foo Fighters into a disco outfit with the Dee Gees project, a move that might have shocked fans but didn’t faze him as long as the music held up. However, Grohl, who thought he had seen it all in the heavy music scene, was completely floored the first time he heard the Melvins. Their raw, intense sound made a profound impact on him, showing that there was always something new to discover in the world of music.
Before Dave Grohl even encountered the term “grunge”, he had already found his true calling in hardcore punk. Having graduated from playing drums on his bed along to Rush records and miming to Beatles songs, Grohl was captivated by the early days of hardcore coming out of Washington, D.C. Bands like Minor Threat and, later, Fugazi resonated deeply with him, perfectly aligning with his desire to create the most raucous, high-energy music possible. This raw, intense sound would become the foundation of his musical identity long before he became a central figure in the grunge movement.
More importantly, Grohl’s taste in rock and roll wasn’t interested in being fancy rock stars. That was meant for the Jimmy Pages of the world, and as long as it had a fast beat and talked about real problems going on in everyone’s lives, it was fair game.
Then again, Melvins were an odd beast coming out of Seattle. While the grunge movement hadn’t officially started, hearing Buzz Osborne’s eclectic approach to hard rock music fit somewhere between Black Sabbath’s gloom, the emergence of stoner rock, and just the slightest hint of Frank Zappa’s insane sense of humour.
Although Grohl was more than happy in Scream when Melvins made their first records, he was knocked out by what Gluey Porch Treatments had to offer, saying, “I’d never heard anything like that. I always thought I knew the definition of heavy, but hearing The Melvins Gluey Porch Treatments completely turned my musical perception on it’s side. It’s a testament to that band and what they are capable of. Dale Crover is still the best, heaviest drummer in the world. He influenced my drumming more than anybody else, I think. That album really shook things around for me. I still listen to it all the time.”
Even though Crover briefly joined another little upstart called Nirvana before Grohl moved to Seattle, Osborne was the one who suggested that Kurt Cobain try out this scrawny hardcore drummer. Although Crover did have a great sense of timing and gelled fairly well with Cobain and Krist Novoselic, Grohl gave them their version of John Bonham, putting every muscle he had into making their songs come alive.
But when listening to Nevermind, there are little bits and pieces of what Crover was doing on Melvins’ greatest records. Grohl has already admitted to taking influence from disco acts like The Gap Band on ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, but his reliance on the tom-toms during the heaviest sections of Nirvana’s material is definitely something he picked up by listening to Melvins a few times.
While Osborne never saw the same amount of attention that Cobain and co. had, his contribution to the next wave of alternative rock flies under the radar far too often by mainstream fans. Because had Melvins not paved the way for heavy music out of Seattle, the entire grunge explosion would have just been limited to a couple of decent bands.
