“Over Now” is the last track from Alice in Chains last studio album, which was their self-titled 1995 release. The track also appears on the band’s Unplugged performance and the compilation The Essential Alice in Chains.

Despite “Over Now” never being released as a single, it still charted on the Billboard rock charts.

A very cool and eerie tune, that seemed to foreshadow the end of one of Seattle’s finest.

Remember to visit Evolvor if you want to keep up with 90’s alt rock.

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While all the performers were good, Pearl Jam, as usual, stole the show. Heck, they even outperformed their idols The Who on that night.

Pearl Jam once again proves that their the best around with their rendition of “The Real Me”, from The Who’s 1973 masterpiece Quadrophenia. My boys absolutely tear this song up. I can’t stop listening to it!

As you watch this, check out the smooth bass skills by one Jeff Ament, he really stole this performance from the other guys.

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And, for some reason, I’ve been listening to “Redemption Song” a lot lately. Maybe because of the lines “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”. Man, gives me chills just typing out the words.

“Redemption Song” appears as the last track on Marley’s final studio album, which was from 1980’s Uprising. Marley had already been diagnosed with cancer and was apparently dealing with his own mortality during the writing/recording of the album. He would pass away a year after the release of Uprising.

The song has been covered by a ton of artists ranging from legends like Stevie Wonder and U2 to newer acts like Alicia Keyes to his son Ziggy with the Chieftans, but 90’s folks have done their fair share of takes on the song.

Chris Cornell

Pearl Jam

Ween

Arrested Development

Ben Harper

Dave Matthews Band

Joe Strummer, although he’s not a 90’s act the Clash frontman delivers a great version that gives me chills like the original.

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However, I’m not feeling as bad now, so the music’s been getting a bit more upbeat. And, one song comes to mind, which would be Audioslave’s “Be Yourself”. Yes, I know that Audioslave isn’t a pure 90’s band, but we’ll let em’ slide since the band is made up of Cornell and Rage Against The Machine. I am also well aware at how played out the song is.

“Be Yourself” was the first single from Audioslave’s second album, Out of Exile in 2005. The song quickly shot up to the top of both the Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. It was even used in the Scrubs episode “My Mirror Image”, man I love that show.

The song is rather simple, and since it came from Chris Cornell and the guys from RATM, I thought they were getting a bit too soft and poppy. But, the more I listen to “Be Yourself”, it makes sense to me now.

Sure, Cornell is saying “be yourself”, but it’s not that obvious. I think he means that only you have to answer for your mistakes and accomplishments in life. And, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you, because at the end of the day there’s only one person you really have to answer to…which would be yourself. So, if you’re content with who you are, then that’s what really matters.

Enjoy the video.

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Not to mention that it was on this day in 1776 that the Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain, however, the Declaration of Independence wasn’t adopted until July 4. I already knew that little fun fact, seriously. So, just make your 4th of July festivities start two days earlier.

Anyways, “American Idiot” was the first single from the album of the same name , released on September 14, 2004. It’s a great in your face track that helped re-spark Green Day’s career. It would also land the number one spot on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks.

I think the theme behind this song is pretty obvious, as if the title didn’t give it away. It’s still a great track to remind us during this time of year that we have the freedom to express ourselves. Let’s not forget that.

Here’s the video, which was directed by Samuel Bayer, who directed all the videos for American Idiot. Oh yeah, he also directed the video for a little number entitled “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

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“All Night” has been getting a lot play recently, mainly because it’s a cool tune, and the fact that the band have been playing at some shows on their current tour. The song just received it’s live debut this past Saturday at Bonnaroo. Man, it would be awesome if they played when I see them.

Anyways, this gem of a song was an outtake from the band’s 1996 release No Code. “All Night” finally saw daylight when it appeared on the band’s 2-disc rarities compilation Lost Dogs in 2003.

Have a listen to the song and tell me that it’s not great.

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How true.

“#1 Crush” first appeared as a b-side on the band’s 1995 single debut “Vow”. The track was then remixed by Nelee Hooper (who has also worked with Bjork, No Doubt, U2, Massive Attack) and Marius De Vries (who has worked with David Gray, PJ Harvey, Bjork, Rufus Wainwright) for the soundtrack to the updated 1996 flick William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.

The remixed version of the track eventually reached the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot Modern Rock Tracks for four weeks. It would also appear on the band’s greatest hits compilation Absolute Garbage in 2007.

It’s a great tune, so check it out and enjoy.

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“Sappy” was supposedly one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite songs that he had written, but he was never satisfied with how it turned it. This probably would explain why the song was recorded several times. There was a demo by Kurt in 1988, which was titled “Sad”, then a full band version recorded in 1990 and yet another version recorded in 1990 during a session with Butch Vig. The song was also part of the Nevermind sessions and the final recording took place in 1993 during the In Utero sessions, which appears on the box set With The Lights Out. However, the final version of “Sappy” ,which was known at the time as “Verse Chorus Verse”, appeared on the No Alternative AIDS benefit compilation as an unlisted track. Fans eventually caught on and began requesting the song during Nirvana concerts.

It’s a great tune, so check out this fan video for “Sappy”. * Note: The video is actually from the tribute that Dave and Krist made for Kurt in 1994, but this fan changed the music to “Sappy”.

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The track was written for the 1997 David Lynch flick Lost Highway, which starred Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. “The Perfect Drug”, as an audio release, has only appeared on the soundtrack to Lost Highway in North America. It did, however, have it’s own EP, known as Halo 11, which contained remixes of the song. It has also appeared on the 1999 3-disc single for “We’re In This Together” and the “Into the Void” single in 2000.

“The Perfect Drug” has never been preformed live by Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor has stated that it’s his least favorite creation. Why? Because of the short production time and overblown video.

Sorry, I don’t agree with you there Trent. I think this song is sick. I love how it ends with the line, “without you everything falls apart”. It’s good stuff.

Here’s the “overblown” video, which was directed by Mark Romanek.

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I actually put aside the soundtrack to Into The Wild for some time, but now I’m going back to it full blast.

It’s perfect timing. As the weather warms up, the sun beating down on the Earth and the road looking ever so tempting. So naturally “Hard Sun” has been sticking out the most.

I know “Hard Sun” has been played out a bit, but it should be mentioned that yesterday was a cold and rainy day, but this morning I woke up to a warm and sunny day. Weird, since I fell asleep with “Hard Sun” ringing in my ears.

Anyways, the song was the first single from the Into The Wild soundtrack released last September. The song was originally done by a Canadian named Gordon Peterson, aka Indio, on his album Big Harvest. Vedder’s version features his friend Corin Tucker, formerly of Sleater-Kinney, on background vocals, which adds so much goodness to the song.

While “Hard Sun” isn’t the best track on the album, it’s still great. It’s catchy and upbeat. A perfect song to enjoy on a beautiful spring day.

Vedder’s version.

The original by Gordon Peterson.

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