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Before Pearl Jam, there was Mother Love Bone. Future Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard (guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass) were founders of thisSeattle-based glam/punk outfit, which was fronted by flamboyant singer Andrew Wood. But despite countless accolades from the press and theirpeers, thegroup's career was cut short before it could truly blossom due to tragedy.
Both Gossard and Ament had previously been members of Seattle garage rockers Green River (a group that also included future MudhoneymembersMark Arm and Steve Turner), and upon the group's breakup in 1988, the guitarist and bassist stuc ...read more
Before Pearl Jam, there was Mother Love Bone. Future Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard (guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass) were founders of thisSeattle-based glam/punk outfit, which was fronted by flamboyant singer Andrew Wood. But despite countless accolades from the press and theirpeers, thegroup's career was cut short before it could truly blossom due to tragedy.
Both Gossard and Ament had previously been members of Seattle garage rockers Green River (a group that also included future MudhoneymembersMark Arm and Steve Turner), and upon the group's breakup in 1988, the guitarist and bassist stuck together, looking to form a groupmore a kin to thearena rockers of their youth (Kiss, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc.). Joining Gossard and Ament was drummer GregGilmore, second guitaristBruce Fairweather, and the aforementioned Wood on vocals. Wood (who was previously known as Landrew the LoveChild as a member of anotherSeattle outfit, Malfunkshun) was the complete opposite of the prototypical Seattle frontman as he patterned hislook and vocal style after suchrenowned frontmen as Freddie Mercury, Paul Stanley, and Marc Bolan. But although the group had a fewsimilarities to the then-flourishing glam metalscene, the group's sound was tougher and more rooted in classic rock than their soon-to-bedisposable glam contemporaries.
The group created a buzz from the get-go as the quintet inked a deal with Polygram shortly after forming and were given their own label,Stardog,resulting in the release of the six-track EP Shine in 1989. The year was spent touring and plotting their full-length debut, which waseventuallycompleted by the end of the year, with a projected release in spring of 1990. Expectations for the disc were high and sensing this,Wood wanted to beat his best, so the singer checked himself into a rehab center to try and conquer an addiction to heroin. But on March 16,1990, Wood was found by hisfiancée unconscious in his bed, having overdosed on the drug. Despite efforts to revive him, Wood was eventuallypronounced dead three days later.Devastated, the group called it quits as the resulting album, Apple, was issued several months later in the fallof 1990.
Gossard and Ament slowly worked their way back into music, as they joined up with Soundgarden members Matt Cameron and Chris Cornell (thelattera good friend and former roommate of Wood's) to record a pair of songs that Cornell had penned for the late singer. But the sessions soontook on alife of their own and a full album's worth of tunes was recorded, issued as a self-titled release in 1991 under the name of Temple of theDog (a phrasefrom one of Wood's lyrics). The album also saw contributions from guitarist Mike McCready and singer Eddie Vedder, twomusicians who Gossard andAment had been jamming with, soon resulting in the formation of Pearl Jam. With both Soundgarden and Pearl Jamenjoying massive commercialsuccess in 1992, Temple of the Dog enjoyed a second wind on the charts and became a sizeable hit, as interest inMother Love Bone perked up as well.Sensing this, Polygram reissued both Shine and Apple together as a self-titled release, as well as a homevideo Love Bone Earth Affair. In addition, theepic Mother Love Bone song "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" was included on the hit soundtrack tothe movie Singles the same year. Besides Gossardand Ament, the other surviving members of Mother Love Bone have subsequently issuedrecordings as part of other bands, as well (Fairweather withLove Battery and Gilmore with a host of others, including Carrie Clark, Doghead,etc.). « hide |
Similar Bands: Motley Crue, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Malfunkshun, Guns N' Roses Contributors: arcane, discovolante, rockandmetaljunkie, Matski, Draven65, Nagrarok, Glueman, LynchMobster, Alex101, Nagrarok, Iai,
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