10 Greatest Tribute Albums In Hard Rock
2. Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
It's not hard to see why people point to Kurt Cobain's death as the end of the grunge era. Since Smells Like Teen Spirit lit up the airwaves and punched a hole in the future of rock and roll, losing that generation spokesman was bound to have some repercussions. If you want to know when the real innocence was gone though, that would be the death of Andy Wood.
Forming the crux of Mother Love Bone, Wood was supposed to be the breakout star of Seattle before dying of a heroin overdose just a few days shy of their first album release. Though the rest of Mother Love Bone would soon morph into Pearl Jam with Eddie Vedder, they found a way to get over their fallen bandmate with a little help from Chris Cornell. Being the roommate of Wood around the same time, Cornell started to write tribute songs for Andy that became the foundation for Temple of the Dog.
Instead of just releasing a few singles, the only album from this project feels like a hard rock Irish wake, with each band member coming together to both mourn their friend and make beautiful music. While making an album like this already has its heart in the right place, the fact that it sounds this good is just icing on the cake.