10 Perfect Albums That Started Rock Genres

There is probably never going to be a genre that affects the rock community quite as viscerally as grunge did back in the '90s. Although these bands out of Seattle may have wanted to play their music to anyone that would have them, no one expected acts like Nirvana and Soundgarden to become some of the biggest bands since the Beatles, killing off the rest of hair metal and paving the way for alternative rock in the mainstream. Every one of the Big 4 of Grunge have their hands in the early days of the Seattle sound, but ground zero began in the mind of Sub Pop.

Being the mainstay label for all Seattle based bands at the time, Deep Six was the first compilation album to really showcase the grunge sound to its fullest extent. While some bands like the U Men and Skin Yard certainly haven't stood the test of time, you can hear the seeds of grunge rock poking through, from the punk rock mentality to the heavy as hell riffs blaring out of the speakers.

Across the rest of the album, you can also hear the other facets of what grunge was meant to be, from Soundgarden's first few stabs at classic rock to The Melvins sulking in their Sabbath sounding riffs to Malfunkshun giving the world its first taste of Andy Wood. It may have come out all the way back in 1985, but this became the holy grail for any band that came out of the Pacific Northwest in 1992.