The Mother Lode of the Seattle Rock Scene

Sometimes the record industry moves forward by going backward.

This summer, A&M; Records reached back to early 1991 for an album that got only faint attention the first time around: a Seattle “supersession” release titled “Temple of the Dog.”

The thinking was that the album would have a better chance now because the key members of the “Temple” project have gone on to fame as members of either Pearl Jam or Soundgarden.

And sure enough: In one of the most dramatic revivals ever in rock, “Temple of the Dog” has leaped into the national Top 10.

Now, the success of that album has spurred Mercury Records to reach back to 1990 and reissue an album by Mother Love Bone, another Seattle band that got scant attention the first time around.

In fact, Mother Love Bone seemed poised to be the first big breakout from the highly publicized Seattle scene when singer Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose on the eve of the release of the band’s debut album, “Apple.”

The irony is that it was Wood’s death that made “Temple of the Dog” and Pearl Jam possible in the first place

“Temple of the Dog,” whose lyrics were written by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, was in fact a memorial album to Wood, and Pearl Jam was founded by Love Bone alums Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament.

The two-CD “Mother Love Bone” package consists of the band’s album, a 1989 EP, “Shine,” and one previously unreleased track.

“Now people are finally catching the wave that started in Seattle years ago,” says Gregg Steele, program director of hard-rock station KNAC-FM in Long Beach. He’s enthusiastic about “Stardog Champion,” the first single from the album, and feels the album may break into the Top 20.

“It’s easy to say in hindsight, but when we signed Mother Love Bone we really believed it could be the band of the ‘90s,” says Bob Skoro, Mercury Records senior vice president of A&R.; “When Andy died the band was devastated and we all were destroyed. . . . I think it would have been the band of the world now.”

For the former members of Mother Love Bone, though, both the “Temple” success and this new release bring mixed blessings. While Gossard and Ament could be in the perhaps unprecedented position of being on four current hit albums (Pearl Jam is also on the soundtrack to the movie “Singles,” which is set in the Seattle rock scene), there’s a sense of the past haunting them.

“If the band had its druthers they might not want it out,” says Kelly Curtis, who managed Mother Love Bone and now manages Pearl Jam. “The guys are well beyond Mother Love Bone and that band doesn’t exist anymore. Pearl Jam won’t be performing any Mother Love Bone songs. It’s old news to them. . . . It’s not painful. We believe those are great records. It’s just funny how it’s working out because of the success of Pearl Jam.”