Mother Love Bone [Extra tracks]

Mother Love Bone | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001DWG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,534 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

It wasn't death but life that brought Mother Love Bone to the attention of the world in the end. Andrew Wood's premature passing was a personal tragedy to all who knew him and to the band's hometown fanbase, but the group had barely made a mark beyond the --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A strange, beautiful amalgomation of grunge and stadium rock, March 16, 2000

By 

Logan Snyder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Love Bone (Audio CD)

The only disappointing thing about this collection is that this small but authoratative compilation of various album songs, demos, and soundtrack work is all that remains of what could have been a truly, truly amazing band.

But for what's here, this is truly a masterpiece. Thankfully the person(s) in charge of putting this comp. together managed to squeeze every drop of music possible in, clocking in at some 75 minutes long. Some of the songs ("This Is Shangrila") jump right out at you in a riffing, cocky way, while others ("Bone China," "Stargazer") take a few listens to really assimilate as beautiful. The stand-out song is definitely "Stardog Champion," the feel and power and subdued grace stand out brilliantly among the other fantastic songs.

But, unfortunately, the tragic death of Andy Wood trainwrecked the wonder of Mother Love Bone. However, through his death he gave birth to two of the most powerfully brilliant bands of our time: the Temple Of The Dog project (Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament & Matt Cameron) and Pearl Jam (Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament & Dave Krusen, Dave Abbruzzese, Jack Irons and now Matt Cameron). The Temple Of The Dog project, an outlet for Cornell's sorrow, brought some of the most moving music I've ever heard in my life to the forefront of the music scene, and Pearl Jam obviously still thunders on to this day.

You have to wonder while you're listening to this that, had Andy Wood lived, would there even have ever been a Pearl Jam? And, if there weren't, would that be so bad, so long as Mother Love Bone was still around?

65 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, Powerful, Emotive, Beautiful...sad., January 10, 2002

By 

Ariel Meadow Stallings "Author, Offbeat Bride" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Love Bone (Audio CD)

This is truly one of the most beautiful and sad albums to come out of Seattle. I'll echo what almost all other reviewers have said: a cloud raining "what if?" hangs over this whole album.

Andrew Wood...so brilliant, so tortured, so glam. His voice has a bit of that Led Zepplin/'80s metal tinge to it, but Andy's lyrics are timeless, especially if you know anyone who has stuggled with drug or alcohol abuse. Even if you're lucky enough not to, you'll still find an aching beauty in each of these epic songs.

I'm not sure if this album really qualifies as "grunge," since Mother Love Bone really predated the commercial explosion that happened in the early '90s (Andy died in March of 1990, and most of these songs were written in '88 and '89). MLB influenced the genre, definitely, but isn't always as angry and thrashing as much the music recorded by Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Mother Love Bone is much more emotive and lovely.

After listening to this Mother Love Bone CD and then Pearl Jam's "Ten," I realized that I actually like Andy Wood's voice better much more than Eddie Vedder's--a surprise for me as a Pearl Jam fan. All you have to do is compare the original version of "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" with the Pearl Jam cover (an Mp3 I downloaded). Eddie Vedder simply can't bring the magic to that song that Andy could...Eddie's voice sounds bleating and overdone instead of Andy's simple ease.

Stone Gossard's power riffs give me tingles, especially on "Stardog Champion." But it's the lyrics that almost make me cry:

You ever heard the story,
of Mister Faded Glory?
Say he who rides the pony must someday fall,
I been talking to my altar
It says life is what you make it,
And if you make it death well rest your soul.
Away, away, away.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artist, April 17, 2000

By 

Mud Pyramid "rilaly" (Omaha, Nebraska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Love Bone (Audio CD)

Every once in awhile an artist comes along that affects our lives in ways we have never been affected before. We can never really understand the total why's and how's of this affect, but we know that the art has put us in a place we truly enjoy being--no matter how temporary. A truly beautiful piec of art can make us look at our surroundings a little differently than we ever had before, it can make us interact with others in a manner we never have before, and we can eek out just a little bit more enjoyment from life because of it. As a young man, I picked up this album on a whim (I just liked their name). Little did I know how much I would be affected by this brilliant man's take on life. Did it entirely change my life, no, but it did enhance my outlook on life for a time...A gift from this brilliant artist, named Andrew Wood, for which I will be forever grateful.