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Nirvana edged out the competition to snag the top spot in a new listing of best grunge covers. The writers at Ultimate-Guitar.com rated the “Top 10 Grunge Covers That Beat The Originals,” with Nirvana’s 1989 cover of Shocking Blue‘s “Love Buzz” coming in at Number One. The Number Two spot was filled by Pearl Jam‘s take on Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ In The Free World,” and Number Three was the Melvins‘ rendition of the early-Kiss favorite “Goin’ Blind.”

Coming in at Number Four was Soundgarden‘s cover Devo‘s “Girl You Want,” with the Top Five rounded out by Smashing Pumpkins‘ version of David Bowie‘s “Space Oddity.”

Not too long ago, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil told us that he and his fellow Seattle musicians were all heavily influenced in their early days by both heavy rock and punk: “I turned 17 around the time that the Sex Pistols were getting a lot of news. It was perfect. I’d been playing guitar for a year or two, so my background of Sabbath and Kiss all of a sudden starts moving towards the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. And that kind of says not just where I came from, but I think it’s a good blueprint of where the Seattle music scene came from.”

The “Top 10 Grunge Covers That Beat The Originals” according to Ultimate-Guitar.com:

1. Nirvana – “Love Buzz” – by Shocking Blue
2. Pearl Jam – “Rockin’ In The Free World” – by Neil Young
3. Melvins – “Goin’ Blind” – by Kiss
4. Soundgarden – “Girl U Want” – by Devo
5. Smashing Pumpkins – “Space Oddity” – by David Bowie
6. Mad Season – “I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier” – by John Lennon
7. Hole – “Gold Dust Woman” – by Fleetwood Mac
8. Mudhoney – “Editions Of You” – by Roxy Music
9. Screaming Trees – “What Goes On” – by The Velvet Underground
10. Stone Temple Pilots – “Andy Warhol” – by David Bowie