YOU’RE NO BIG DEAL | Grunge, The American Underground and Beyond (1984 -1994)

You’re No Big Deal is a 4CD box set charting the rise of grunge and the American alternative underground between 1984 and 1994. Compiled with Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm, it features over 80 tracks from iconic artists including Soundgarden, Dinosaur Jr, Pixies, Hole, Melvins, Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, Babes In Toyland, Pavement, Screaming Trees, Temple of the Dog and many more.

During the late 1980s, whilst pop, rap and glam metal dominated the American airwaves, underground musicians sought an antidote. During the middle of the decade, from Seattle in the west to New York in the east, bands immersed in a less highly polished, raw and more powerful sound began to emerge, fusing punky garage band attitude with meaningful, often disenchanted lyrics and lashings of distortion to create something new. The “grunge” tag quickly took hold, absorbing bands from all over the States and becoming a social phenomenon, drawing countless other underground and college circuit bands into its orbit in the process. Overnight, macho rock was dead.

Featuring an embarrassment of key bands and classic tracks, alongside lesser-known nuggets and a hand-picked selection of Australasian artists who were inadvertently feeding into the scene, ‘You’re No Big Deal’ explores a vital period in post-punk American musical history, the rebirth of rock music and its new place among the underground elite. With sleevenotes from Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, whose previous band Green River were the first to be given the “grunge” tag, this is an on-the-ground, broad reaching dive into a time and place that saw the unlikeliest of anti-rock stars recalibrate what American guitar-based music could be, reconnecting it with ordinary suburban kids and reigniting punk rock’s spirit.

Packed with over 80 tracks spanning a decade, and presented in roughly chronological order, ‘You’re No Big Deal’ tells a story that spread far beyond the ambitions of its key players.

Tracklist:

DISC ONE

1. Green River: Come On Down
2. Red Kross: Linda Blair 1984
3. 10 Minute Warning: Stooge
4. Bam Bam: Villains (Also Wear White)
5. Poison 13: One Step Closer
6. Meat Puppets: Swimming Ground
7. Feast: Look For The Light
8. The Scientists: If It’s The Last Thing I Do
9. Husker Du: Crystal
10. Malfunkshun: My Only Fan
11. Dinosaur Jr: Little Fury Things
12. Soundgarden: Hunted Down
13. U-Men: Solid Action
14. Pixies: Caribou
15. feedtime: Curtains
16. The Replacements: The Ledge
17. The Flaming Lips: Maximum Dream For Evil Knievel
18. Green River: This Town
19. Cosmic Psychos: Can’t Come In
20. The Celibate Rifles: Jesus On TV
21. Happy Flowers: Mom and Dad Like The Baby More Than Me

DISC TWO

1. Mudhoney: Touch Me I’m Sick
2. Bundle Of Hiss: Rabies
3. The Fluid: Cold Outside
4. Cat Butt: 64 Funny Cars
5. Blood Circus: Two Way Street
6. Babes In Toyland: Dust Cake Boy
7. Scream: Fucked Without A Kiss
8. Ultra Vivid Scene: Mercy Seat
9. Girl Trouble: Riverbed
10. Crunchbird: Subway Circle
11. Soundgarden: Flower
12. Tad: Behemoth
13. Kill Sybil: Olympia (Single Version)
14. Love Battery: Between The Eyes
15. Seaweed: Inside
16. Skin Yard: Start At The Top
17. Gas Huffer: Firebug
18. Mudhoney: In And Out Of Grace
19. Helltrout: Smoking Lounge
20. Mother Love Bone: Thru Fade Away

DISC THREE

1. Sonic Youth: Kool Thing
2. L7: Shove
3. Toadies: I Hope You Die
4. Pavement: From Now On
5. The Thrown Ups: Stockboy, Superhero
6. Poison Idea: Feel the Darkness
7. The Breeders: Glorious
8. Dinosaur Jr: The Wagon
9. Hole: Teenage Whore
10. Nomeansno: Body Bag
11. 7 Year Bitch: Lorna
12. Screaming Trees: Uncle Anesthesia
13. Mercury Rev: Syringe Mouth
14. Calamity Jane: Say It
15. Eric’s Trip: Lost
16. Thrillhammer: Bleed
17. Cop Shoot Cop: Discount Rebellion
18. Treepeople: Ballard Bitter
19. Nubbin: Macaroni

DISC FOUR

1. Temple Of The Dog: Pushin’ Forward Back
2. The Monkeywrench: I’m Blown
3. Stone Temple Pilots: Sex Type Thing
4. Honcho Overload: Sugarfoot (Single Version)
5. Luscious Jackson: Keep On Rockin’ It
6. Cheater Slicks: Murder (Live at CBGBs)
7. Beasts Of Bourbon: Just Right
8. The Gits: Here’s To Your Fuck
9. Superchunk: Precision Auto
10. Dead Moon: It’s O.K
11. Melvins: Set Me Straight
12. Patchouli Sewer: Beauty Sleep
13. Wool: Kill The Crow
14. Kim Salmon & the Surrealists: Non Stop Action Groove
15. Veruca Salt: All Hail Me (Remix)
16. Sleep Capsule: Eat It’s Tongue
17. Steel Wool: Four Winds
18. Wicker Biscuit: Creepy Doll
19. Gary Young: Plant Man
20. Cellophane: Tripping Fields
21. St. Johnny: I Hate Rock And Roll

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/various-artists-you-re-no-big-deal-grunge-the-us-underground-and-beyond-1984-1994-4cd-box-set