Your order of preference for these:

*Alice In Chains
*Nirvana
*Pearl Jam
*Soundgarden

Nirvana
Alice In Chains
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden

Alice In Chains
(technically were not a grunge band, but a very dark, trashy hair metal band in the beginning. They were always a metal band but didn't have all that much in common with their peers.)
Soundgarden
(were very sludgy Sabbath-y but borrowed much from underground punk and avant-garde groups in the '80's. They became a very different band, more commercial sounding on 'Superunknown'. Not what they were originally known for.)
Nirvana
(had a very pop streak to their sound which was heavily influenced by punk and their peers in The Melvins, as well as other local Seattle favorites. Kurt Cobain did not want or expect 'Nevermind' to sound so "metal-ish", and expected the album to sell at least as well as, say, Motorhead. But fate conspired to make him a tragic icon.)
Pearl Jam
(were a sad-sack spinoff of Mother Love Bone, whose flamboyant lead singer Andrew Wood died from a heroin overdose in 1990. Heard from local sources that their decision to hire new singer Eddie Vedder was a corporate decision to capitalize on MLB's posthumous success and create a hip, trendy image of a down-and-out frontman, all keeping with Seattle's "loser" vibe. Totally opposite of the trippy persona of Andrew Wood. Pearl Jam were lambasted by Nirvana for being "wannabe corporate hippies".)

Interesting, there's no Mudhoney listed here. :confused:

- Nirvana
- Pearl Jam
- Alice In Chains
- Soundgarden