what do you all think of Mother Love Bone?

Just wandering what you all think of Mother Love Bone. I know most of you would write them off as some crappy Seattle grunge band but realisticly they are glam rock NOT grunge firstly because the singer Andrew Wood sounds more like Vince Neil from Motley Crue than a grunge singer and the lyrics are NOT depressive. But anyway I reckon out of those seattle bands throughout that era Id say they are the best. I reckon it was a great shame they lost Andrew Wood and became Pearl jam when they got Eddie Vedder to replace him who killed the band's potential and started writing boring and depressive lyrics.

I agree, I have them in my hard hairband rotation, not grunge. It's been on my playlist for 15 years now. Other stuff in that section are Briney Fox "Bite Down Hard", Babylon AD, stuff like that. I think of them a similar to "The Big F", if anyone knows them.

I wouldn't call them a hair band, but they're a bit removed from grunge to be labeled that. I think grunge is probably the best label, though. Or glam grunge would work. Haha.

Anyway, Mother Love Bone are excellent. But let me tell ya, I was pissed when I finally found a copy of Apple. It's their extremely rare debut. Unfortunately their self-titled is just a re-release of it. Cool to have, of course, but what I thought it was. Haha. Dammit.

Great band either way.

Alternative glam would be the best label I think

fingers wrote:

Alternative glam would be the best label I think

That's works, too; probably better.

never got into them

Never got into them either. I dig quite a lot glam bands, but MLB definitely fall on the wrong side on that definition with me.
I'd say they were grunge - sound, imagewise, and all.

I'm thinking that this was a very interesting era, underneath all of the grunge and industrial. In addition to Mother Love Bone, there were a whole bunch of bands that I found very difficult to pigeonhole. Masters of Reality, Warrior Soul, G.Cowboys, Thin White Rope, Drivin'& Cryin'; The Big F, Manic Streeet Preachers, etc., etc. I suppose if you condsider the label "Grunge" the same way one considers the label "NWOBHM"; then it is more about a time and place than about a certain sound, and Mother Love Bone would be included. While there is a classic Grunge sound (Nirvana) and a classic NWOBHM sound (Diamond Head or Saxon); it didn't nescessarily mean one typical sound. For example Pearl Jam sounded nothing to me like Tad or Helmet. For the NWOBHM Motorhead or Saxon had little in common soundwise to White Spirit or Grand Prix; it was more about a time and place.

Just picked up a Drivin N Cryin album the other day. =)

I don't know too much about D & C; but the album I have (Smoke) is said to have alienated thier fans by "rocking too hard"; so I guess that is the one we would want. It's a very common cut out in the bargain bin. Similar to 4 Horsemen I guess generally.

Eyesore wrote:

Just picked up a Drivin N Cryin album the other day. =)

What do you have of theirs ? I keep seeing a used copy everytime I'm at the shop and consider getting it but haven't yet.I only know their excellent song Fly Me Courageous. What do you think....recommend them ?

I LOVE MOTHER LOVE BONE...have since the day I snagged "Shine" at Coconuts in Altoona....a zillion years ago.

Now DRIVIN' N' CRYIN'.....Awesome Band!!!

"Mystery Road" is my fave D N' C disc...but all are good....

very unique rok band...

"Scarred But Smarter" is their first offering....great!!

"Whisper Tames The Lion" 2nd..great-er!

"Mystery Road"---3rd...excellent!!!

"Fly Me Courageous" 4th...good solid rock...but they removed alot of the "folkish" tinges that made them unique...

"Smoke" more of the same...

Lost track after that one...but they are a great ban...

I lumped MLB in with the rest of the Seattle/grunge movement back in the day and paid them no attention. I've since broadened my musical horizon, so to speak, and enjoy them quite a bit. I only wish that Andrew Wood survived, if only for the fact that it would have kept Pearl Jam from ever forming.

From the few songs I heard years ago, I think they're pretty good.

"Alternative glam"? Good call. Although how they ever got lumped into the grunge category, I'll never know.

Quote :

"Alternative glam"? Good call. Although how they ever got lumped into the grunge category, I'll never know.

For me, I never heard of them until after Pearl Jam hit the big time. Since they were linked to them and the whole Seattle/grunge scene at the time, I just assumed MLB was grunge as well and therefor a sucky Seattle/grunge band.

See what happens when you assume, kids? Let that be a lesson to you. Listen to the music yourself and make up your own mind. Don't believe what others tell you or you could miss out on something really cool!

There were actually a few good bands that were lost inb the whole grunge wave....Bands that were not reallygrunge just had the misfortune of being from the area at that time:

WAR BABIES (great hard rock/metal from former members of TKO)

MOTHER LOVE BONE (see above discussion)

TAD (beefy redneck lumberjack metal more than grunge)

I'll second the Drivin' N' Cryin' recommendation. Great band. Their last studio album (self-titled) is also very, very good.

And may I also say that Tad is the best band from that whole Seattle explosion! Such an awesome band, and sadly they only had one minor hit with "Leafy Incline." Inhaler has got to be one of the best CDs I've ever heard. Killer stuff.

Yeah Tad "Inhaler" is way too beefy to have gotten tredy. It almost sounds like a stripped down version of Crowbar to me at times. I was lucky enough to see Tad with Clutch at a club back when.

SAHB Healer wrote:

Yeah Tad "Inhaler" is way too beefy to have gotten tredy. It almost sounds like a stripped down version of Crowbar to me at times. I was lucky enough to see Tad with Clutch at a club back when.

Nice! That would have been awesome to see.

TAD had a video rejected by MTV because their singer was deemed "Visually Unpalatable"...how trite is that!!!

TAD was great...my fave disc being "8-Way Santa"

Ever listened to HOG MOLLY? That was Tad Doyle's "after-TAD" band...just as sweet!!!

Shiney wrote:

TAD had a video rejected by MTV because their singer was deemed "Visually Unpalatable"...how trite is that!!!

TAD was great...my fave disc being "8-Way Santa"

Ever listened to HOG MOLLY? That was Tad Doyle's "after-TAD" band...just as sweet!!!

Yep. Hog Molly was great. Too bad they only released one CD. Ever heard Hoof? Doyle started/joined (not sure) this band after Hog Molly. This is all I've ever heard by them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Js6QHZmfs

Oooh...look what I just found!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubFPojZ0pqk

A Tad DVD is coming out!

i have heard of them but if they are a lower profile american band i doubt they would be heard off over here in england

Stick to the topic

fingers wrote:

Stick to the topic

Calm down.