Grunge

Loaded with angst and disenchantment, coated in a dirty film of dissonant harmonies, and propelled by industrial strength drumming, grunge exploded out of the '80s and made the '90s something to scream about. With its nerve centre in Seattle, the movement was indie, punk, and heavy all at once. Kick off with grunge gods Nirvana.

When the swirling molecules of grunge first began to coalesce into a solid entity, the sound was heavier than mercury. Check out the metal footsteps of Soundgarden on "Outshined" and bone-scraping backbeat on "Again" by Alice In Chains. Along with Pearl Jam and Nirvana, these bands make up the "big four" of Seattle grunge.

Grunge flourished like a glorious spore on the world's fetid Petri dish during the early '90s, but flash back a decade and you'll find Naked Raygun ("Love Battery"), who tore up Chicago with a post-punk approach to melody and lyrical confrontation. At the other end of grunge's lifespan sits Veruca Salt, more power pop than glowering rock.

The most effective grunge, like the best punk before it, was a brilliant, explosive reaction: a provocation that rattled cages, questioned the status quo, and sent rock spinning off into a virgin orbit. Grunge instinctively fought a mainstream it could not avoid — so we've done our best to distill its essence into this multi-song Molotov mix-up. The rage; the noise; the classic soft/heavy, good cop/bad cop verse/chorus structure — it's all here. Get stuck into grunge.