Which was the best band at their peak? Who produced the best material?

Duran Duran

Prefer Candlebox actually

I think Ten is the best album of the grunge era. Nirvana ended after three albums and I think Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins declined after their first three albums. If I were to judge the bands on just their first three, I'd probably go Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins.

I've never been a huge AIC fan. I like their hits, but could never really get into their albums. Actually, of all the "grunge" bands, STP is the one I find myself listening to the most.

Weezer

The Clash

Smashing Pumpkins

The Siamese Dream - Mellon Collie era was top notch. So much great material that never even got published. Look up session tracks from that era. I still listen to all of that regularly.

Professor Frick said:

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Soundgarden

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Tough call, but I agree that PJ is the best band, SP had the best album (Siamese Dream), and Nirvana was great but their run was too short.

Potato wave

Stp- Pearl Jam ripped them off

Pumpkins. They produced a large volume of awesome material, and even if it wasn't your cup of tea, Billy was pretty progressive to try out so many different sounds and keep experimenting. I agree that SD-MCIS is the peak, but even still a handful of tracks from Adore-Machina are really cool.

To answer the given question:

1. Pearl Jam
2. Smashing Pumpkins
3. Nirvana

To post my actual answer that some others already threw in:

Soundgarden. A group where in a ton of their songs, everyone in the band is doing something cool.

My personal enjoyment of the bands mentioned in this thread:

1. AIC
2. Soundgardan
3. STP
4. Nirvana
5. Pearl Jam
6. Smashing Pumpkins

My list is very similar to Dan's

1. AIC
2a. Soundgarden
2b. STP
3. Smashing Pumpkins
4. Nirvana
5. PJ

Wife loves PJ but I just seem to switch the radio more often than not when they come on.

Pearl Jam was the best of the three, but I skip their songs now.

None of these bands were truly great.

Of the 3 I listened to PJ the most, although lord knows Nirvana was permanently burned into my brain as much as I listened to it.

In no particular order, what they represented to me:

Nirvana - since I had just started playing guitar, Nirvana didn't do much for me upon first listen. Sure it was great that SLTS was easy to play, but the music was pretty boring. However, Nevermind was an album that drastically opened up the more I listened. It went from being noise to suddenly having melody. Once I heard the melody, the simplicity was amazing.

PJ - I remember buying 10 and SG's BadMotorFinger at the same time, a few days before seeing PJ open for SG at the Bronco Bowl. I was barely 16 and had zero business (nor balls) to drive from my small town into Dallas. My best friend's parents drove a few of us down, then picked us up afterwards. We were the first people in line that already had tickets. I remember standing outside and hearing PJ soundcheck to "Once". PJ was also a band that took a few listens for the hook to set, but once it did I was mesmerized. Like the progression of the intensity in each of their songs from the start of the song to the end, I almost felt like I began to vibrate as I lost myself in the music.

SP - I instantly loved them when I first heard Cherub Rock, then was ecstatic when I heard the rest of the album had the same hard rock, extremely melodic, and <gasp> guitar solos that weren't blues based noodling but sounded crafted for the song....Loved SP. Oddly, it was the album I listened to the least of these however. I don't own it today, but keep telling myself to add it to Spotify. I never bought another SP album, although there future radio hits were hummable.

I still listen to AIC and Soundgarden, going on a kick at least once a year. I still go to their concerts occasionally. I can't say the same for PJ, and SP is a moot point.