Eddie Vedder will be David Letterman's second-to-last musical guest.

I'll bet I know what song he's going to sing . . .



(Correction: I originally said he'd be the last guest — he'll be the second-to-last musical guest. Also, no guests have been announced for the last show, so there might be surprise guests.)


UPDATE: I was wrong:

The 40 greatest grunge songs (15-11)

(Click here for the whole list.)


15. Hum - Stars

This starts out underwhelming, and then it blows you away.




14. Alice in Chains - No Excuses

Vocal harmonies have been largely neglected in rock music from the '90s onward, so it's nice to hear this kind of arrangement. The result doesn't really fit into "grunge" or any other category I can think of. It's just plain good music. (From their excellent acoustic EP Jar of Flies.)




13. Pearl Jam - Even Flow

The rockingest portrait of homelessness I've ever heard.

Freezin', rests his head on a pillow made of concrete...




12. Weezer - Undone (The Sweater Song)

Perfect nerd rock.

Watch out for the dogs!

If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away...




11. The Breeders - Cannonball

How to make a great rock recording by stringing together one gimmick after another.

The album this is from, Last Splash, and their debut album, Pod, are both essential items in the music library of anyone who's into good '90s music.

Check, check, check, ah-ooooohhh-ooh...



>>> Go to #10-6 >>>

The 40 greatest grunge songs (30-26)

(Click here for the whole list.)


30. Sonic Youth - Kool Thing

Pure rock 'n' roll.




29. Beck - Loser

You might say this is hip-hop as much as it is grunge, but I'm including it because it defined the era with its self-effacing refrain. Oh, and it was the song that got me interested in music in 7th grade.




28. Temple of the Dog - Hungerstrike

What could be more perfectly grunge than Soundgarden's Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder both singing lead in the same song?




27. Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs

Yeah, I know: Nine Inch Nails is "industrial," not "grunge."

But this is a special case. They took the unusual step of not using the album version of the song for the music video, but instead just shooting a live performance on a bare studio floor and using the audio from that performance. The result is as grungy as NIN gets.

7/8! 7/8! 7/8! 4/4!




26. Shudder to Think - X-French T-shirt

This band unfortunately never really made it, probably because their music was just too dissonant, too asymmetrical, too disorienting. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I believe this song was the closest they came to mainstream success. I love the unpredictable melody and the "Hey Jude"-like song structure.



If you like this kind of thing, I highly recommend the album Pony Express Record.

>>> Go to #25-21 >>>