Seattle 20 years later - All Rules Still Need Not Apply

Musically, 1991 was a year that defied conventional wisdom. It was the endgame for hair metal, having long gone past its "sell by" date. It was bands such as REM and Metallica who had spent the 80's slowly percolating up from the underground becoming megastars. It was the summer of Perry Farrell and his idea for a traveling freak show called Lollapalooza that served as a prolonged farewell for Jane's Addiction. It was “Loveless”, "Achtung Baby", "The Low End Theory", and "International Pop Overthrow". And late in 1991, it was a 5 minute bomb from the Pacific Northwest called "Smells Like Team Spirit" that wound up turning the world on it's ear.

While the world saw the sudden rise of Nirvana and, a couple of months later, Pearl Jam as if they were singular events, that could be no further from the truth. The success of these two bands along with other bands such as Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were culmination of a scene that had grown very organically over the course of the past decade and by it's own rules. It's also a scene that has continued to reinvent itself and thrives to this day.

Unlike many of the regional scenes that popped up in the post punk era such as Minneapolis, Washington DC, or Orange County, there was no central standard that the Seattle bands adhered to. Many of these bands were inspired equally by the music that they listened to in their basements such as the Who and Led Zeppelin as they were by the punk bands that came through town such as Big Black, the Minutemen, and the Replacements. This mix of influences led to a scene whose only rule was that there was no rules. That ethos was apparent in the variety of bands that appeared from the toxic sludge of the Melvins to the sorrowful soul of Screaming Trees to the sweet pop of Beat Happening.

With this background, it's not too shocking that bands as different as Nirvana and Pearl Jam were able to co-exist. Nirvana, despite the intensity of "Smell's Like Team Spirit" was really a masterful power-pop band fueled by equal parts of the Pixies, the Raincoats, and the Vaselines. This becomes glaringly apparent as you listen to songs such as "Drain You" or "On a Plain" from "Nevermind" along with the treasure cove of singles that were included on the criminally under-appreciated collection "Incesticide".

Along with the bands that they were in beforehand such Green River and Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, were completely and totally fueled by classic rock. While their punk sides occasionally reared it's head, particularly on Vs and Vitalogy, songs like "Alive" and the epic "Release" were completely based on in classic, old-school FM rock of the seventies and early eighties.

The changes that were happening in 1991 provided the perfect opportunity for both bands and the almost immediate mass acceptance proved that. And while many of the bands from that magic era of the early 90's have come and gone, the Seattle scene continues to crank out compelling musical acts such as Death Cab for Cutie, Sunn-O, and Band of Horses.

Still alive the Seattle scene very much is....