10 Severely Underrated Grunge Albums

6. Skin Yard - 1000 Smiling Knuckles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGrk5tHWu_M As far as the musical concoction of grunge is concerned (mainly a combo of punk and heavy metal), grunge legend Jack Endino led his fiery warriors Skin Yard firmly into the heavy metal camp, creating their most comprehensive work in 1991 with the balls to the wall, take no prisoners barn-burner, 1000 Smiling Knuckles. Once genre innovators, by 1991 other bands had caught up with Skin Yard on musical terms and surpassed them in some respects, but that doesn't take away from what is a stellar grunge outing in 1000 Smiling Knuckles. These musical mystics sound as tight a unit as can be on the record with every nook and cranny filled with virtuoso levels of instrument playing. The bass work is of particular note - it really is among the cream of the crop of alternative 90's rock guitar playing. The record didn't do much from a commercial standpoint, but it would be wrong to just put fantastic grunge tracks like the interlocking roadrunner 'River Throat' or the skewed, math rock brute 'Living Pool' down as merely footnotes in the history books. One track particularly worthy of more appraisal is the weaving guitar menace 'Jezechrist', a track that hits its fast moving stride and refuses to loosen its grip throughout its tongue tripping duration. Few possessed the same fiery passion than that of influential grunge outfit Skin Yard and 1000 Smiling Knuckles is their ultimate nonconformist, statement of intent.