Historians can argue if Green River were well and truly the first grunge band, but of the groups that emerged on the Seattle underground in the '80s, they were the first that successfully blended the key ingredients of punk attitude, hard rock guitars, heavy metal low end, and a dash of garage rock snark for seasoning. While Green River made their recorded debut with the 1985 EP Come on Down, their second 12-inch, 1987's Dry as a Bone, sounded tougher and livelier, and they seemed to have better worked out the proportions of their influences (which was ultimately as important as the ingredients themselves). Where Come on Down often seemed sludgy and out of focus, the five songs on Dry as a Bone hit their targets with greater force, and the snarl of Mark Arm's vocals was better integrated into their arrangements. Bruce Fairweather's and Stone Gossard's guitars gained a degree of bombast that hasn't aged especially well (especially on "Baby Takes" and "PCC"), but Fairweather was a better fit for this band's more metallic side than Steve Turner was on Come on Down (he would show his greatest skills later on in Mudhoney), and bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Alex Vincent aren't afraid to hit hard and draw sweat. Green River's greatest flaw was their habit of sounding like they were trying a bit too hard -- it's clear that some of these guys already had arena-sized ambitions that they had not learned how to temper -- but as an exercise in both snarl and swagger, Dry as a Bone still connects, and was a solid calling card for the group's talents. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

1		This Town
2		PCC
3		Ozzie
4		One More Stitch
5		Unwind
6		Baby Takes
7		Searchin'
8		Hangin' Tree
9		Together We'll Never
10		Ain't Nothin' to Do
11		Bleeding Sheep
12		Bazaar
13		Thrown Up
14		This Little Boy
15		10000 Things
16		Your Own Best Friend