If you're a huge history and music buff like I am, you'll find the story behind this short-lived band interesting reading. I've been reading a lot of music-related discussions/topics on Reddit in my spare-time over the past week or so and one band which I have since learnt more information about is Mother Love Bone. Formed in 1987, they were apart of the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the Late '80s/Early '90s and by the end of the '80s, they had catapulted to the top of the Seattle wave of Grunge/alt-rock bands. This was largely in part due to lead-singer Andrew Wood, who was known for his very charismatic and flamboyant approach to music. His unique personality ultimately gave the band attention.
Mother Love Bone are notable for having been the first Seattle group to have a release through a major record label. Their debut EP, Shine, was released through Mercury Records on the 20th March 1989. With their future looking bright and the band gaining more attention among underground and mainstream circles, Mother Love Bone were poised to be the band which would lead Grunge into the mainstream, but those hopes were unfortunately never fulfilled as Andrew Wood died from a heroin overdose just days before their debut album was set to be released. This effectively killed off the band. Apple was eventually released in July of 1990, but as it was released four months after the passing of Wood, all hopes of achieving success had been lost.
Even though the band only released one album and never made it big in the mainstream, they are pretty significant from a historical context. Mother Love Bone are perceived as being a very influential band in the development of Grunge and alternative-metal. Things could have been very different if Andrew Wood's untimely death had never happened:
* "Grunge" could have emerged into the mainstream a year earlier. It's entirely plausible that if Andrew Wood had survived to have seen the release of Apple (their debut album) on it's intended release date in March 1990, Mother Love Bone very well could have experienced the success that Nirvana had and Andrew Wood would have been the "face" of the cultural scene. I guess we'll never know how successful MLB would have become if their career wasn't cut-short, but the scenario I gave above really isn't out of the question.
* People's perception of Grunge likely would have been entirely different. Stylistically, Mother Love Bone's music was essentially a crossover between the '80s Glam-Metal scene and '90s Alt-rock. The music bares striking similarities to the music of Guns 'N Roses and Def Leppard, but the lyrical themes of the songs have more in common with the artists/bands of the Seattle wave. The transition between the two genres wouldn't have been as abrupt as it ultimately turned out to be.
* This also puts into question the longevity of the '80s hair metal scene. If they had of been successful in the mainstream, it's possible that Mother Love Bone would have been viewed as being the last "big" Glam Metal band, as their music really isn't too dissimilar from the hair-metal bands of the Mid-Late '80s.
* Pearl Jam never would have existed. Mother Love Band was made up of two Pearl Jam members, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. Pearl Jam was only formed after Gossard and Ament had started collaborating with Mike McCready in the months after MLB's demise and the trio decided to audition for a singer (Eddie Vedder)
* Alice in Chains' "Would?", Candlebox's "Far Behind", Chris Cornell's "Reach Down" and "Say Hello 2 Heaven", as well as the "Temple of the Dog" project, all wouldn't have existed either.
The circumstances surrounding Andrew Wood and the band itself are pretty tragic. Wood had actually checked himself into rehab just months before his untimely passing, as he wanted to get clean for the release of the album and he was enthusiastic about the future of the band. He was only 24 years old when he passed away. To get a taste of what Mother Love Bone's music was like, here is the lead-single off Apple:
Mother Love Bone are notable for having been the first Seattle group to have a release through a major record label. Their debut EP, Shine, was released through Mercury Records on the 20th March 1989. With their future looking bright and the band gaining more attention among underground and mainstream circles, Mother Love Bone were poised to be the band which would lead Grunge into the mainstream, but those hopes were unfortunately never fulfilled as Andrew Wood died from a heroin overdose just days before their debut album was set to be released. This effectively killed off the band. Apple was eventually released in July of 1990, but as it was released four months after the passing of Wood, all hopes of achieving success had been lost.
Even though the band only released one album and never made it big in the mainstream, they are pretty significant from a historical context. Mother Love Bone are perceived as being a very influential band in the development of Grunge and alternative-metal. Things could have been very different if Andrew Wood's untimely death had never happened:
* "Grunge" could have emerged into the mainstream a year earlier. It's entirely plausible that if Andrew Wood had survived to have seen the release of Apple (their debut album) on it's intended release date in March 1990, Mother Love Bone very well could have experienced the success that Nirvana had and Andrew Wood would have been the "face" of the cultural scene. I guess we'll never know how successful MLB would have become if their career wasn't cut-short, but the scenario I gave above really isn't out of the question.
* People's perception of Grunge likely would have been entirely different. Stylistically, Mother Love Bone's music was essentially a crossover between the '80s Glam-Metal scene and '90s Alt-rock. The music bares striking similarities to the music of Guns 'N Roses and Def Leppard, but the lyrical themes of the songs have more in common with the artists/bands of the Seattle wave. The transition between the two genres wouldn't have been as abrupt as it ultimately turned out to be.
* This also puts into question the longevity of the '80s hair metal scene. If they had of been successful in the mainstream, it's possible that Mother Love Bone would have been viewed as being the last "big" Glam Metal band, as their music really isn't too dissimilar from the hair-metal bands of the Mid-Late '80s.
* Pearl Jam never would have existed. Mother Love Band was made up of two Pearl Jam members, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. Pearl Jam was only formed after Gossard and Ament had started collaborating with Mike McCready in the months after MLB's demise and the trio decided to audition for a singer (Eddie Vedder)
* Alice in Chains' "Would?", Candlebox's "Far Behind", Chris Cornell's "Reach Down" and "Say Hello 2 Heaven", as well as the "Temple of the Dog" project, all wouldn't have existed either.
The circumstances surrounding Andrew Wood and the band itself are pretty tragic. Wood had actually checked himself into rehab just months before his untimely passing, as he wanted to get clean for the release of the album and he was enthusiastic about the future of the band. He was only 24 years old when he passed away. To get a taste of what Mother Love Bone's music was like, here is the lead-single off Apple:
I've only ever listened to the lead-single and another album-track, so it's probably unfair of me to dismiss their entire discography as being "bad" or "uninteresting". However, from what I've heard so far, their music doesn't really do anything for me. I think Andrew Wood was generally a good vocalist and there are interesting qualities to their music, but the glam-metal element just doesn't appeal to me. They remind me too much of Guns 'N Roses, which isn't a good thing.
With that said, I do think it's a shame though that the band never fulfilled their potential and made a name for themselves in the mainstream. Mother Love Bone could have potentially made more experimental and innovative music as their career went on, so you've got to give them the benefit of the doubt.
With that said, I do think it's a shame though that the band never fulfilled their potential and made a name for themselves in the mainstream. Mother Love Bone could have potentially made more experimental and innovative music as their career went on, so you've got to give them the benefit of the doubt.
It would be interesting to know what an alternative universe (where Andrew Wood had never died) would have looked like. You can't help but wonder what the state of rock music would be like today if Mother Love Bone had of been able to enjoy some time in the limelight...
Great article on such an underrated band!
ReplyDeleteThankyou! :)
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