10 Most Underrated Grunge Albums

From the outset, grunge was never a genre that could be described as happy-go-lucky. While there are definitely some more pop-friendly songs like Pearl Jam's Better Man and Nirvana's All Apologies, the actual lyric sheets to these songs end up telling a far more bleak story that the instrumentation might suggest. Just for a second though, it seemed that the Gin Blossoms had actually found a way to make the flannel crowd sound like a good time.

As it stands, New Miserable Experience is just something that shouldn't work on paper. Even though there were tons of grunge bands mining a relatively similar style, the idea of reversing the dynamic of the tunes turned out pretty well on here. Down to the cheeky title, these songs are all-out pop songs in grunge clothing, which sound absolutely magnificent when playing off Robin Wilson's vocal delivery.

For as much as something like Hey Jealousy shouldn't be able to fit into the grunge aesthetic, this is one of the more imaginative ways for a grunge act to get their point across. It did end up being a bit of a mixed bag though, with this starting the adult alternative scene with more sappy acts like Train and Matchbox Twenty a few years later. Despite having some pop flavored hooks, this is still solid enough to classify as a grunge album. Except...you know...the kind of grunge you could play around your mom.