Grunge wasn’t dead yet by the time 1996 came around. And some seriously great music in the alt-rock subgenre hit the charts that year. Let’s take a look at a few grunge songs from 1996 that I, personally, can’t get enough of, decades after they were released.
“Again” by Alice In Chains
I couldn’t leave this single off our list of the best grunge songs from 1996. “Again” by Alice In Chains comes from the band’s self-titled 1995 album. However, it was not released as a single until the following year. While the band’s later work doesn’t get as much love as their 1992 release, Dirt, a lot of songs from their self-titled record are very, very good. “Again” is one of them, and I can see why this song did so well on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and earned a Grammy nom in 1997.
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“Pepper” by Butthole Surfers
This song might be a controversial entry. A lot of diehard grunge fans don’t think this 1996 gem from alt-rock outfit Butthole Surfers is considered grunge. However, there are a lot of grunge elements on it, just with a lot of spoken word, psychedelic rock elements in the mix. Either way, I’m including it here because this is one of my favorite alternative rock and grunge-leaning songs from 1996. It’s a fun ride from start to finish. I really think this song should have charted higher than it did back in the day.
“Swallowed” by Bush
Bush got a lot of flak back in the day for being more post-grunge than grunge, but I think there are enough grunge elements on “Swallowed” from Razorblade Suitcase to warrant an entry on our list of great grunge songs from 1996. This is a stellar power ballad from the band, and the inspiration (oddly enough) came from none other than The Beatles’ 1965 song “Help!”. I definitely wasn’t expecting that, considering the two songs couldn’t be more different. Still, “Swallow” is a great and mellow grunge tune, and it did quite well on the charts when it first debuted. If you were an MTV kid, you probably remember the Jamie Morgan-directed music video for this song.
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