Zardnaar
Legend
In terms of skill and range. For purposes of a grunge band for the most part (for arguments sake) I'll consider Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots. Yes I know there are others such as Mother Love Bone, Screaming Trees, Temple of the Dog etc but a lot of people won't be that familiar with them. Note that this is also not for the best band or the most commercially successful.
From top to bottom.
5. Eddie Vedder- Pearl Jam.
Pearl Jam is still going and of the grunge bands they were the least grunge of the lot which probably explains it. Eddie is not a bad singer by any means but he tends to mumble a bit and can be hard to understand and doesn't seem to have that much of a vocal range relative to the others. PJ was also the closest to a more traditional rock band and basically evolved into one.
4. Kurt Cobain- Nirvana. Basically the pinnacle of the Grunge movement in terms of commercial and cultural success Nirvana burned bright for 3 years. Kurt might be the best songwriter of the grunge bands and is a good singer but I think the other 3 are better. Nirvanas sound is a bit more raw than most of them due to somewhat simplistic music and vocals. Not staying that is a bad thing it just is. Smells Like Teen Spirit is still a great song, the main problem is it has been overplayed on radio.
3. Alice in Chains.- Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell.
Sort of cheating here as AiC was almost a duet between these two members although Layne is the lead singer. They barely toured relative to the other Grunge bands due to his drug addictions but I find their songs have more variety and range in them. A personal favourite of the 5 "big" grunge bands the album Dirt holds up well today (along with Nevermind). The new lead singer William DuVall+ Jerry Cantrell can still put out some good new music which a few contemporary bands struggle with (Metallica, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilli Peppers).
2. Scott Weiland-Stone Temple Pilots
In the 90's they were kind of mocked due to not being from Seattle and perhaps being more radio friendly espicially compared with Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Core is still a good album now and it wasn't until his death people seemed to realise how under rated Scott's vocals were. Scott also got to show off his pipe in other groups such as Velvet Revolver which were quite different to STP. You have radio friendly songs like Plush something like Sex Type Thing through to hard rock Slither. Overall I think his vocals are a bit more interesting than the 3 bands I put lower on the list.
1. Chris Cornell- Soundgarden.
No real shocker here. Not only is Chris one of the best rock singers of the late 80's/early 90's he is one of the best ever IMHO. Of his contemporary's he is really only beaten by Mike Patton of Faith No More who can cover rock, rap, opera, pop, and who has one of the greatest vocal ranges of any singer ever. Also his solo work, Temple of the Dog and that other group Audioslave you may have heard of.
From top to bottom.
5. Eddie Vedder- Pearl Jam.
Pearl Jam is still going and of the grunge bands they were the least grunge of the lot which probably explains it. Eddie is not a bad singer by any means but he tends to mumble a bit and can be hard to understand and doesn't seem to have that much of a vocal range relative to the others. PJ was also the closest to a more traditional rock band and basically evolved into one.
4. Kurt Cobain- Nirvana. Basically the pinnacle of the Grunge movement in terms of commercial and cultural success Nirvana burned bright for 3 years. Kurt might be the best songwriter of the grunge bands and is a good singer but I think the other 3 are better. Nirvanas sound is a bit more raw than most of them due to somewhat simplistic music and vocals. Not staying that is a bad thing it just is. Smells Like Teen Spirit is still a great song, the main problem is it has been overplayed on radio.
3. Alice in Chains.- Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell.
Sort of cheating here as AiC was almost a duet between these two members although Layne is the lead singer. They barely toured relative to the other Grunge bands due to his drug addictions but I find their songs have more variety and range in them. A personal favourite of the 5 "big" grunge bands the album Dirt holds up well today (along with Nevermind). The new lead singer William DuVall+ Jerry Cantrell can still put out some good new music which a few contemporary bands struggle with (Metallica, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilli Peppers).
2. Scott Weiland-Stone Temple Pilots
In the 90's they were kind of mocked due to not being from Seattle and perhaps being more radio friendly espicially compared with Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Core is still a good album now and it wasn't until his death people seemed to realise how under rated Scott's vocals were. Scott also got to show off his pipe in other groups such as Velvet Revolver which were quite different to STP. You have radio friendly songs like Plush something like Sex Type Thing through to hard rock Slither. Overall I think his vocals are a bit more interesting than the 3 bands I put lower on the list.
1. Chris Cornell- Soundgarden.
No real shocker here. Not only is Chris one of the best rock singers of the late 80's/early 90's he is one of the best ever IMHO. Of his contemporary's he is really only beaten by Mike Patton of Faith No More who can cover rock, rap, opera, pop, and who has one of the greatest vocal ranges of any singer ever. Also his solo work, Temple of the Dog and that other group Audioslave you may have heard of.
