Mother Love Bone
Biography
Before Pearl Jam, there was Mother Love Bone. Future Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard (guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass) were founders of this Seattle-based glam/punk outfit, which was fronted by flamboyant singer Andrew Wood. But despite countless accolades from the press and their peers, the group's career was cut short before it could truly blossom due to tragedy.
Both Gossard and Ament had previously been members of Seattle garage rockers Green River (a group that also included future Mudhoney members Mark Arm and Steve Turner), and upon the group's breakup in 1988, the guitarist and bassist stuck together, looking to form a group more a kin to the arena rockers of their youth (Kiss, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc.). Joining Gossard and Ament was drummer Greg Gilmore, second guitarist Bruce Fairweather, and the aforementioned Wood on vocals. Wood (who was previously known as Landrew the Love Child as a member of another Seattle outfit, Malfunkshun) was the complete opposite of the prototypical Seattle frontman as he patterned his look and vocal style after such renowned frontmen as Freddie Mercury, Paul Stanley, and Marc Bolan. But although the group had a few similarities to the then-flourishing glam metal scene, the group's sound was tougher and more rooted in classic rock than their soon-to-be disposable glam contemporaries.
The group created a buzz from the get-go as the quintet inked a deal with Polygram shortly after forming and were given their own label, Stardog, resulting in the release of the six-track EP Shine in 1989. The year was spent touring and plotting their full-length debut, which was eventually completed by the end of the year, with a projected release in spring of 1990. Expectations for the disc were high and sensing this, Wood wanted to be at his best, so the singer checked himself into a rehab center to try and conquer an addiction to heroin. But on March 16, 1990, Wood was found by his fiancée unconscious in his bed, having overdosed on the drug. Despite efforts to revive him, Wood was eventually pronounced dead three days later. Devastated, the group called it quits as the resulting album, Apple, was issued several months later in the fall of 1990.
Gossard and Ament slowly worked their way back into music, as they joined up with Soundgarden members Matt Cameron and Chris Cornell (the latter a good friend and former roommate of Wood's) to record a pair of songs that Cornell had penned for the late singer. But the sessions soon took on a life of their own and a full album's worth of tunes was recorded, issued as a self-titled release in 1991 under the name of Temple of the Dog (a phrase from one of Wood's lyrics). The album also saw contributions from guitarist Mike McCready and singer Eddie Vedder, two musicians who Gossard and Ament had been jamming with, soon resulting in the formation of Pearl Jam. With both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam enjoying massive commercial success in 1992, Temple of the Dog enjoyed a second wind on the charts and became a sizeable hit, as interest in Mother Love Bone perked up as well. Sensing this, Polygram reissued both Shine and Apple together as a self-titled release, as well as a home video Love Bone Earth Affair. In addition, the epic Mother Love Bone song "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" was included on the hit soundtrack to the movie Singles the same year. Besides Gossard and Ament, the other surviving members of Mother Love Bone have subsequently issued recordings as part of other bands, as well (Fairweather with Love Battery and Gilmore with a host of others, including Carrie Clark, Doghead, etc.). ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

Mother Love Bone
1992

Apple
1990
addiction isn't a disease. Basehead. I wouldn't say they are like alice in chains at all, I would say more like the Cult, Jane's Addiction or Aerosmith
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man of the golden words
words and music .... living in the temple of the dog pure excellence forever live on mother love bone |
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Growing up in Seattle as a teenager, before grunge really hit, these guys were a huge buzz. You could just tell that big things were coming for the regions music.
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Mother Love Bone, in it's short time, was 10x better than Pearl Jam. And I liked Pearl Jam's early stuff. Apple was an incredible album. They will always have a huge impact.
Hey Angel, you don't like them, that cool. Stop posting on this place. |
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i like this band but then agian i like guns and roses i may just like this band becuase i compare them to Pearl Jam which in my opinion these guys are better than PJ
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wait did they break up-great glam band-allurin g lead singer-great band name-yea !
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I loved em.. They were a good band that had a lot of original music... only post Im leaving here
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Dude why are you so f**ked up i was just saying their a good band and got cut short and you got to throw your insults my way just mellow out and stop being a dick. if you dont like them just say it and leave the discussion board you have nothing useful to say so get the f**k off
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'' landrew the love child'' hahahahahaha - g i v e me a fucckin break-chris- a r e you the reincarnatio n of landrew the love child-but gosh that would explain a lot...
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yaow-this like motley crue-pass me the dirty needle b**ch-i believe-holy holy roller-fucck y e a - g i v e me a little guitar-haven ' t read the bio yet but it sounds like these guys going to od in some gas station bathrooom fuccking soooooon...
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great band i like them almost more than pearl jam i think wood might be better than vedder its a crime thats they could never fully blossom into what was surley to come a great rock band who would have stayed on the charts and cranked out some great tunes for years
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Every time I hear them, I am there in the crowd, and I miss Mother Love Bone.
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c.o.t. is truly a timeless song, it sounds different everytime i hear it through my mlb station. it brings out differing feelings, emotions, visions, etc. i wish i lived in the seattle area during the genesis of their music scene at the time, i would totally have rocked my brains out. rip andrew...
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WHAT HAPPENED TO MUSICANS WHO THOUGHT 4 THEMSELVES AND WROTE SONGS WITH CONVICTION AND GUTS AND PRACTICING THERE CRAFT. gROOVIN bASS
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Chris Cornel may have a better singing voice but man, Andrew had all the personality! More than even Bon,to me. Great timeless rock! Breakin Kurt Cobain and all them dead Seattle bands backs- I think he even bathed regularly... . F e e l groovey music with songs about life&livin.. Awesome!!! Do ya think Eddie Vetter's knows how pathetic his work sounds compared to Andrew's one job???? ..... Kurt knew.
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Have been a huge fan since way back, Like dogg (below) says, an excellent thinking and drinking music. Andrew's lyrics are very powerful.App l e has been in my disc changer or not to far from it since it came out!!!
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ONE OF THE BEST BANDS EVER!!! VERY ORIGINAL! LYRICS ARE AWESOME. VERY INTERESTING AND MIND CHALLANGING. SAD THERE NOT HERE ANYMORE.
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This band is one of my two favorites out of Seattle, the other being Alice in Chains. Queensryche ranks a close second.
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