Artist · chart history
Melvins
Band Montesano United States Formed 1983 US band
Melvins formed in 1983 in Montesano, United States. Melvins has 8 chart appearances on 7 radio countdowns from 3 stations on RockLists, spanning 1995–2019. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Revolve”, which appears on 5 lists with a best position of #353. The station that charted Melvins most often is KISW (Seattle-Tacoma, WA), with 6 appearances.
The Melvins crawled out of Montesano, Washington, in 1983, and they have been making the ground shake at their own glacial pace ever since. Buzz Osborne, with his guitar and his howl, and Dale Crover, pounding the drums like he's driving fence posts, have been the only constants since 1984; the bass has changed hands again and again, passing through Matt Lukin, Lori Black, Joe Preston, Mark Deutrom and JD Pinkus, among others.
What they do is simple to describe and hard to survive: riffs slowed down until they sound like tectonic plates grinding, then twisted into strange, eclectic shapes. Call it sludge metal: the Melvins get credit as its pioneers, along with a big share of the blame for grunge and alternative metal. Houdini, in 1993, gave them "Hooch", and "Instant Larry" rumbled along the next year.
They've mostly worked as a trio, but they've also turned up as a four-piece, sometimes with two bassists and sometimes with two drummers. The labels have run from C/Z and Alternative Tentacles to Atlantic, and the output is staggering: over 25 studio albums and counting.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Melvins on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Revolve | 5 | #353 | – | – | |
| 2 | Hooch | 1 | #473 | – | – | |
| 3 | Instant Larry | 1 | #1502 | – | – | |
| 4 | Queen | 1 | #900 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 473 | Hooch | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time |
| 2002 | 690 | Revolve | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) |
| 2002 | 1502 | Instant Larry | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) |
| 1999 | 555 | Revolve | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) |
| 1998 | 469 | Revolve | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) |
| 1996 | 353 | Revolve | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) |
| 1995 | 491 | Revolve | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) |
| 1995 | 900 | Queen | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) |
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