Rehab Doll by Green River

Rehab Doll was the only full-length Green River ever made, and by the time Sub Pop put it out in June 1988 the band had already fallen apart. They went back to work in July 1987, hard on the heels of Dry as a Bone, starting with Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle before moving over to Steve Lawson Productions with Bruce Calder producing.

Somewhere in there the band split down the middle. Bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard wanted a bigger rock sound, singer Mark Arm wanted to keep it punk, and on October 31, 1987, Ament, Gossard and fellow guitarist Bruce Fairweather quit. They stayed to finish the record anyway, wrapping it up in January 1988, and you can hear the tug-of-war: sludgy, swaggering riffs straining toward something heavier and grander, Arm's sneer dragging it back to the gutter. One of the first grunge bands had just broken up, and the pieces would turn into Pearl Jam, Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone.

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