A year had passed since, but we were nowhere near done with the bummer attitudes and unintelligible lyrics. In fact, we were just getting started. Once Nirvana broke out, there was an avalanche of grunge bands that went rolling into mainstream rock radio. Chief among them--at least in the beginning--was Pearl Jam, a group that, like Nirvana, shared a lot of classic rock influences. But their sound was easily molded to fit the doom and gloom narrative we were all holding onto so strongly now, and so of course a song like "Jeremy" was destined to be a success. "Alive" and "Even Flow" had done well enough on rock radio, but it wasn't until PJ released the music video for "Jeremy," which focused heavily on the aspects of bullying and adolescent rage, that Pearl Jam started receiving mainstream attention. You could say that Pearl Jam and Nirvana are two sides of the same coin--Cobain and company brought in the punk ethos while Vedder and his crew provided the hard rock elements, both equally important in defining the "grunge sound"--but there's no doubt that Pearl Jam was establishing its own, distinct identity. Honorable Mentions: Metallica - "Nothing Else Matters,"Guns N Roses - "November Rain," Nirvana - "Come As You Are," U2 - "One"
