10 Perfect Indie Albums Of The 1990s

There's a lot more freedom that comes with being on an indie label. Instead of the usual suits of the music industry, the people behind these local upstarts and more willing to just let their artists do their thing and make the kind of albums that they want to create. Every now and again though, you do have to settle for the mandatory compilation release...and have it become legendary no less.

Coming in right before the grunge revolution got into full swing, Deep Six from Sub Pop is pretty much a litmus test for the kind of music that Seattle would spit out in the next few years. Outside of the usual metal sounding stuff, you can hear the beginnings of the genre, with acts like the Melvins and Malfunkshun toeing that line between mud soaked riffs and the occasional sing along chorus sprinkled in.

There are even the genesis of the real legends of the scene accounted for on here, with some of Soundgarden's first recordings turning up on Heretic and songs by Green River, whose members would break up and form the basis of Mudhoney and Pearl Jam a few years down the road. Even though it would take the world a few more years to catch up, this is where the raw sound of grunge started coming into clearer focus.