Mark Yarm - Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge

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HMW

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
145
744
Sweden
It was this thread that lead me to this book. First of all, the fact that an author called Mark Yarm wrote this book is absolutely hysterical. If you don't know why, then you know absolutely nothing about the so-called grunge scene.

This is not the best music biography (if you can call it that, Seattle in the 90's is hardly a person) I have ever read, and the chronology was a bit hard to follow at times. Also, I don't really get why a crap band (yes, children) like Candlebox got so many pages. As the book itself will tell you, they sucked. Move on.

But... it did take me back. And if you too ”were there” and experienced this musical revolution you will probably enjoy it too. Personally I am looking forward to a supposedly upcoming book about Alice In Chains - one of my favourite bands from this era.

As a side note; reading Yarms book finally made me check out the remix version of Pearl Jam's debut album Ten, and holy hell what a difference it makes. Don't get me wrong, I listened to Ten a lot when it came out, and I loved it. But it's not an album I have gone back to a lot over the years, mostly due to the rather muddy mix.
 

ghost19

"Have I run too far to get home?"
Sep 25, 2011
8,926
56,578
51
Arkansas
It was this thread that lead me to this book. First of all, the fact that an author called Mark Yarm wrote this book is absolutely hysterical. If you don't know why, then you know absolutely nothing about the so-called grunge scene.

This is not the best music biography (if you can call it that, Seattle in the 90's is hardly a person) I have ever read, and the chronology was a bit hard to follow at times. Also, I don't really get why a crap band (yes, children) like Candlebox got so many pages. As the book itself will tell you, they sucked. Move on.

But... it did take me back. And if you too ”were there” and experienced this musical revolution you will probably enjoy it too. Personally I am looking forward to a supposedly upcoming book about Alice In Chains - one of my favourite bands from this era.

As a side note; reading Yarms book finally made me check out the remix version of Pearl Jam's debut album Ten, and holy hell what a difference it makes. Don't get me wrong, I listened to Ten a lot when it came out, and I loved it. But it's not an album I have gone back to a lot over the years, mostly due to the rather muddy mix.
I like your post sir. The early 90's were my most self-destructive but also, weirdly, also encompass the most interesting and fondest memories of my life. The constant undercurrent of that whole time frame of my life was the music scene. All the cover bands in my area were doing their best to belt out Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, or Soundgarden songs on a nightly basis. Everywhere I hung out or any party I attended seemed to be punctuated by Smashing Pumpkins or Stone Temple Pilots being played on a stereo at ear-splitting levels or sometimes just being played in the background on someone's CD player. It seemed as if everyone I knew or associated with dressed in flannel and was immersed as much at I was in that particular place in history. Looking back thru the lens of twenty years now, it still seems so real, so visceral, the memories are so clear of that era. The music still seems so powerful to me even after all this time and every time I hear a song from one of the Seattle bands, it seems to be permanently attached to some kind of story or memory. Not all the stories or memories are good, but they all still seem very real. Good to meet you sir.
 

HMW

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
145
744
Sweden
I like your post sir. The early 90's were my most self-destructive but also, weirdly, also encompass the most interesting and fondest memories of my life. The constant undercurrent of that whole time frame of my life was the music scene. All the cover bands in my area were doing their best to belt out Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, or Soundgarden songs on a nightly basis. Everywhere I hung out or any party I attended seemed to be punctuated by Smashing Pumpkins or Stone Temple Pilots being played on a stereo at ear-splitting levels or sometimes just being played in the background on someone's CD player. It seemed as if everyone I knew or associated with dressed in flannel and was immersed as much at I was in that particular place in history. Looking back thru the lens of twenty years now, it still seems so real, so visceral, the memories are so clear of that era. The music still seems so powerful to me even after all this time and every time I hear a song from one of the Seattle bands, it seems to be permanently attached to some kind of story or memory. Not all the stories or memories are good, but they all still seem very real. Good to meet you sir.
Very pleased to meet you too. Thank you for the kind words. I can see that this era meant a lot to you, as it did for me, although we were not close at all geographically.

Again, thank you for the kind words, appreciate it.
 

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
62
120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
I like your post sir. The early 90's were my most self-destructive but also, weirdly, also encompass the most interesting and fondest memories of my life. The constant undercurrent of that whole time frame of my life was the music scene. All the cover bands in my area were doing their best to belt out Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, or Soundgarden songs on a nightly basis. Everywhere I hung out or any party I attended seemed to be punctuated by Smashing Pumpkins or Stone Temple Pilots being played on a stereo at ear-splitting levels or sometimes just being played in the background on someone's CD player. It seemed as if everyone I knew or associated with dressed in flannel and was immersed as much at I was in that particular place in history. Looking back thru the lens of twenty years now, it still seems so real, so visceral, the memories are so clear of that era. The music still seems so powerful to me even after all this time and every time I hear a song from one of the Seattle bands, it seems to be permanently attached to some kind of story or memory. Not all the stories or memories are good, but they all still seem very real. Good to meet you sir.

I loved the early 90s music and especially the Seattle bands. After the wretched 80s with all the vomit inducing synthesizers and hair bands, the Seattle bands were a breath of fresh air (probably as long as you weren't standing close to one of them ;-D) I still listen to Soundgarden, Alice, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana.
 

ghost19

"Have I run too far to get home?"
Sep 25, 2011
8,926
56,578
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Arkansas
I loved the early 90s music and especially the Seattle bands. After the wretched 80s with all the vomit inducing synthesizers and hair bands, the Seattle bands were a breath of fresh air (probably as long as you weren't standing close to one of them ;-D) I still listen to Soundgarden, Alice, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana.
The Seattle bands are pretty much all I listen to, still after all these years. I've got a few non-Seattle bands like AC/DC and The Rolling Stones that I listen to but I have to agree with my wife's always astute observation of my musical tastes. She told me one day, "You checked out musically after Layne Staley died."
 

Ragan

Free-Zone Committee Reject
Aug 3, 2011
620
963
Idaho
The movie Pearl Jam 20 was pretty good at showing the early days of "grunge", although it didn't spend too much time there (it was focused on one band, after all). It could have gone into more detail.

If you don't like the original mix of Ten, a few years back the band remixed a new version of the album. They didn't like it either.
 

HMW

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
145
744
Sweden
The movie Pearl Jam 20 was pretty good at showing the early days of "grunge"
Yeah, you're right. It was a pretty good documentary. It should be, come to think of it, it was after all made by Cameron Crowe, who also made Singles and is a big fan.
 
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EMTP513

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Oct 31, 2012
503
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I don't know anything about Our Town except that on a comedy show, one woman was telling a story about her childhood and the other responded by asking "Are you telling a story or performing a version of Our Town?"
I've never read the book or seen the play. Not yet anyway.
 
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