Before the internet killed everything, video killed the radio star. When MTV was created in 1981, cable TV and not FM radio became the way youth discovered new music. The songs and the art behind them made the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna the biggest stars on the planet. In the 1990s, music videos were bigger than ever, and grunge was there to take advantage of the platform. From 1991 to 1994, long hair, flannel shirts, and Chuck Taylors dominated MTV. Three decades later, even though MTV is no more, these ten grunge music videos remain timeless on YouTube.
10
“Tomorrow” by Silverchair (1994)
In grunge’s last big year emerged a post-grunge band from Australia made up of three 14-year-olds. Despite their youth, Silverchair didn’t sound young and green. This was best shown in their breakout hit “Tomorrow.” The video has the perfect grunge aesthetic, as close-up shots of Daniel Johns screaming mix with yellow-hued clips of the band walking in the shadows. Throw in those creepy images of the pig man spitting out coins and sitting on a throne, and you have a video that is so much more grown up than you’d expect.
9
“Nearly Lost You” by Screaming Trees (1992)
As grunge blew up in the early 90s, some bands didn’t quite make the mainstream. Screaming Trees were one of those acts, but for a moment, with their song “Nearly Lost You,” they broke through. In the music video, the Seattle band rocks out in the dirt of an empty outdoor rodeo stadium. Black and white photo effects, shots of the Singles poster (the song was on the soundtrack), and flashes of bright color add another layer to Mark Lanegan‘s gravelly voice.
8
“Interstate Love Song” by Stone Temple Pilots (1994)
Stone Temple Pilots were just outside of the big four of the 90s grunge bands, but on the charts, they were as popular. In the early to mid 90s, STP were all over the radio. In 1994, their second album, Purple, produced several big hits, including “Interstate Love Song.” The music video for the single was nominated for multiple MTV Video Music Awards. It’s easy to see why. The video doesn’t have some huge concept. The art does not outweigh the music. After opening on a silent film, where a face-painted man is kicked out by the woman he hurt, the following video is filled with exaggerated purples. The chaotic man runs through while Scott Weiland and company chill out before driving through the desert. It’s so effortlessly cool.
7
“I Stay Away” by Alice in Chains (1994)
There are so many great Alice in Chains music videos that could be on the list. For the sake of the effort it took to make it, we’ll go with “I Stay Away.” Coming out in 1994 for the Jar of Flies EP, “I Stay Away” is a stop-motion masterpiece. With exaggerated, and honestly terrifying, puppet representations of the band, they are the background for a story about a boy at a circus who releases a jar of flies which cause everyone to go mad. The video is chaotic violence, a chilling story played over a just as chilling song. Thirty years later, the puppets from the music video now reside at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
6
“Violet” by Hole (1995)
In the early 90s, Courtney Love was the goddess of grunge as the lead singer in her band Hole. She was also the controversial wife of Kurt Cobain. Her husband died right as her iconic album, Live Through This, was about to be released. The music video for the third single, “Violet,” was filmed months after his passing. In it, Love is clad in white, swaying in the snow and screaming her lungs. “Go on, take everything,” she wails as videos of innocent girls as ballerinas give way to half-dressed women in burlesque shows. The song is about taking power back from men. The video shows us the power that needed to be reclaimed in the first place.
5
“Today” by Smashing Pumpkins (1993)
The Smashing Pumpkins‘ music video for “Today” was the second single from their second album, Siamese Dream, a song so old that Billy Corgan still sports hair on his head. The video begins on an ice cream truck, with Corgan as the worker in white daydreaming about young couples making out. It’s what he sees, even as he drives his truck into a yellow-stained field. Along the way, he picks up others members of the band, who go about painting the van to look like it’s something out of Woodstock. The grainy video quality only adds to the aura of the era. You can’t take your eyes away from it.
4
“Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog (1992)
Temple of the Dog was a one-album supergroup formed between members of Mother Love Bone (the future Pearl Jam) and Soundgarden to play tribute to the former’s fallen lead singer, Andrew Wood. The lead single, “Hunger Strike,” is a grunge epic framed by the heavenly voices of Chris Cornell and the then unknown Eddie Vedder. The video knows their voices and the songwriting are the focal point. Instead of getting in the way, the video’s best quality is the setting. Starting at a lighthouse at night, and moving to the band on a beach, Cornell sings in the dark before Vedder emerges for the first time in the tall grass. Moving from a day lit beach to a dark forest, the band lets it all out. What an introduction to the man who still stands tall as the last remaining face of grunge.
3
“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden (1994)
It’s very tempting to put “Outshined,” which just screams grunge, in this spot, but Soundgarden’s most well known song and video, “Black Hole Sun,” can’t be denied. After beginning on a stretched-out shot of the band on a hill, the story moves to a bizarre suburbia of bright colors where the people who live there jump rope, torture bugs, and kneel in front of the TV, all with creepy smiles plastered on their faces. By the end of the song, they are all swallowed up by a black hole, Chris Cornell wailing upwards as everything rains down upon him. Here, surrealistic art and grunge rock converge into the unforgettable.
2
“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam (1992)
Pearl Jam only released a few music videos during the peak of their early fame following the release of their debut album, Ten. Those first batch of songs are filled with alt-rock classics, but one in particular is impossible to listen to without thinking of the video that goes with it. “Jeremy” begins with a barrage of TV news sound-bites and the voice of Ronald Reagan playing over words like “an affluent suburb” and “3:30 in the afternoon.” As Eddie Vedder sings about the inner turmoil of a boy named Jeremy, we watch a kid running through the woods and standing in front of flames. Then comes the shocking ending, as the youth walks into his class at school and, in front of everyone, puts a gun in his mouth. It’s a heartbreaking ending based on the tragic true story of Jeremy Wade Delle. The added detail in the video adds another layer not made explicit in the lyrics of the song. After seeing it, you’ll never listen to “Jeremy” the same way ever again.
1
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana (1991)
Sure, maybe this is the predictable choice to top the list, but there is still truth in the easily guessed because Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” as both a song and a music video, changed not just rock and roll but the entire face of music. The iconic video is like a Gen X pep rally from hell, with darkly dressed cheerleaders and a smoky haze over everything. Kurt Cobain stands in the gym, a legend being born, with his blonde hair in his face, and his body clad in a simple striped green shirt. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was a revolution. The video is all energy and dirt, a far cry from the usual MTV gloss. It changed not only the sound of rock and roll but its aesthetic and fashion sense. Here we are now, entertain us.