Okay, let's pretend the grunge fad never existed. Why ? Simply because bands like Mother Love Bone and My Sister's Machine were so much more than that sickly trend. 'Diva' is one of the best albums of the '90s, a dark-edged but ultra-cool rock 'n' roll records that was criminally ignored. This sits alongside Alice In Chains 'Facelift' because the sick reality is, Nirvana made grunge big, which meant that the kids only seemed to buy and appreciate the stuff from around that time. Soungarden's 'Superunknown', AIC's 'Dirt' and Pearl Jam's 'Ten' were good records, but they weren't a patch on 'Diva', or the earlier records by Soundgarden and Mother Love Bone. 'Diva' is a truly monstrous record, Nick Pollock one of metal's finest vocalists, effortlessly wheezing through those gargantuan riffs and mysterious dynamics. However, this was just too good to be true...too good to fit into the scene as such, because My Sister's machine did play ball with the commercialism which the scene quickly succumbed too. 'I Hate You' and the brilliant 'I'm Sorry' slide in unnoticed, then slip out the back door, consumed by the shadow of Kurt and all his troops....and yet 'Diva' is more than grunge, it's a mighty fine rock record, a slab of fluent brilliance which pulls the listener in via quicksand melody, before shocking the listener into trance with so many instant choruses. Again, just like AIC's 'Facelift', 'Diva' creates a dark corner for itself, it's labyrinthine riffs and black wells to wallow in are simply too dangerous for the kids to endure. And so, with the bands equally cool 'Wallflower' to follow, My Sister's Machine tragically melted into their own hip slime whilst the big boys escaped the grunge plunge and headed for the charts.
8.5/10
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