Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, Greg Prato's in-depth history of the Seattle rock scene, traces the history of the era going as far back as the 1950's, the unofficial "start" of the genre, up into the 80's when it finally began to emerge as a major force in the industry. The book also follows the formation of Seattle record labels like K Records and C/ Z Records, as well as how mainstream labels were able to tap into the scene.
Oral histories are notoriously hard to read not because they are boring, but they tend to stitch random quotes from interviews into one document. Prato does a great job of bunching the interviews together so the make sense, but even then seeing how everything fits together is a task left mostly to the reader. The interviews featured in the book are impressive including Eddie Vedder who gives one of the first ever interviews about the band's history, making the book a must-have for Pearl Jam fans.
Even thought the title advertises itself as an "Oral History of Seattle Rock Music," the title can be a little misleading. Prato also goes in-depth on certain groups and individuals. In addition to the aforementioned Eddie Vedder/ Pearl Jam retrospective, Prato dedicates two chapters to Kurt Cobain, as well as several chapters dedicated to the drug problems that ultimately led to the scene's downfall, such as an interview with Lane Staley's (Alice in Chains) mother about his death. However, most of the book follows the underground scene, which will probably leave more "casual" fans out in the dark. Though easy to follow, I sometimes found myself combing through previous chapters trying to piece together who certain people were. If the book has any major failings, it is a lack of useful reference points or introductory summaries stating who certain people are. A "Cast of Characters" is included at the end of the book, but unless you're the type of person to thumb through the entire book before reading, it is likely you'll miss it.
At the very least, I can say that Grunge is Dead finally gave me an answer to the question, "What kind of music do you like?" However, the book manages to accomplish much more than that. Even with its flaws, Grunge is Dead is a great book for music lovers or products of the 90's who, like me, are looking to reconnect with the music you grew up with.
