Before Perl Jam and Soundgarden there was
MOTHER LOVE BONEAndrew Wood...so brilliant, so tortured, so glam. His voice has a bit of that Led Zepplin/'80s metal tinge to it, but Andy's lyrics are timeless, especially if you know anyone who has stuggled with drug or alcohol abuse. Even if you're lucky enough not to, you'll still find an aching beauty in each of these epic songs.
I'm not sure if this album really qualifies as "grunge," since Mother Love Bone really predated the commercial explosion that happened in the early '90s (Andy died in March of 1990, and most of these songs were written in '88 and '89). MLB influenced the genre, definitely, but isn't always as angry and thrashing as much the music recorded by Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Mother Love Bone is much more emotive and lovely.
