Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
and
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
that emerged during the in the American
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, particularly in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of
punk rock and
heavy metal, but without punk's structure and speed.
[ The genre featured the distorted ]electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
, bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
bands such as Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation
Social alienation is a person's feeling of disconnection from a group whether friends, family, or wider society to which the individual has an affinity. Such alienation has been described as "a condition in social relationships reflected by (1) ...
, self-doubt
Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them.
Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, ...
, abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
, neglect
In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...
, betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Ofte ...
, social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and emotional isolation
Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one may have a well-functioning social network but still feels emotionally separated from others.
Population-based research indicates that one in five middle-aged and elderly men (50–80 years) i ...
, addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
, psychological trauma
Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...
and a desire for freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
.
The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
and the region's underground music
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
scene. The owners of Sub Pop marketed the style shrewdly, encouraging the media to describe it as "grunge"; the style became known as a hybrid of punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
. By the early 1990s, its popularity had spread, with grunge bands appearing in California, then emerging in other parts of the United States and in Australia, building strong followings and signing major record deals. Grunge was commercially successful in the early-to-mid-1990s due to releases such as Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
's ''Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'', Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
's '' Ten'', Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
's ''Superunknown
''Superunknown'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on March 8, 1994, through A&M Records. It is the band's second album with bassist Ben Shepherd, and features new producer Michael Beinhorn. Soundgarden began ...
'', Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
' ''Dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains
* Dust: a genera ...
'', and Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...
' ''Core
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber
* Core, the central ...
''. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
at the time.
Several factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. During the , many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
, labeled by ''Time'' as "the John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
of the swinging Northwest", struggled with an addiction to heroin before his death in 1994. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, they influenced modern rock
Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music.
Radio format
Mod ...
music, as their lyrics brought socially conscious issues into pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* Pop (Gas al ...
and added introspection and an exploration of what it means to be true to oneself.[Felix-Jager, Steven. ''With God on Our Side: Towards a Transformational Theology of Rock and Roll''. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017. p. 134] Grunge was also an influence on later genres such as post-grunge
Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective So ...
.
Origin of the term
The word "grunge" is American slang for "someone or something that is repugnant" and also for "dirt". The word was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in July 1987 when Bruce Pavitt
Bruce S. Pavitt (born March 7, 1959) is the Chicago-born co-founder of independent record label Sub Pop. He attended Evergreen State College where he hosted a show on Evergreen's KAOS radio station before founding Sub Pop.
History
After briefly ...
described Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
's '' Dry as a Bone'' EP in a Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
record company catalogue as "gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps, ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation". Although the word "grunge" has been used to describe bands since the 1960s, this was the first association of grunge with the grinding, sludgy sound of Seattle.[ It is expensive and time-consuming to get a recording to sound clean, so for those northwestern bands just starting out it was cheaper for them to leave the sound dirty and just turn up their volume.][ This dirty sound, due to low budgets, unfamiliarity with recording, and a lack of professionalism may be the origin of the term "grunge".]
The "Seattle scene" refers to that city's alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music:
*Alternative rock
*Alternative pop
*Alternative R&B
*Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul
*Alternative reggaeton
*Alternative hip hop
*Alternative dance
*Alternative metal
*Chris ...
movement that was linked to the University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
and the Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...
. Evergreen is a progressive college which does not use a conventional grading system and has its own radio station, KAOS
KaOS is a desktop Linux distribution that features the latest version of the KDE desktop environment, the LibreOffice office suite, and other popular software applications that use the Qt toolkit.
History
The first version of KaOS was released ...
. Seattle's remoteness from Los Angeles led to a perceived purity of its music. The music of these bands, many of which had recorded with Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop, became labeled as "grunge".[Shuker, Roy. ''Understanding Popular Music Culture'', 4th Edition. Routledge, 2013. p. 182] Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
, in one of his final interviews, credited Jonathan Poneman
Jonathan Poneman is an American record executive and co-founder of two record labels: Sub Pop and Hardly Art.
Early life and education
The third child of Harold and Beverly Poneman, Jonathan Poneman was born October 9, 1959 in Toledo, Ohio and ...
, cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term "grunge" to describe the music.
The term "Seattle sound" became a marketing ploy for the music industry. In September 1991, the Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
album ''Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'' was released, bringing mainstream attention to the music of Seattle. Cobain loathed the word "grunge"[ and despised the new scene that was developing, feeling that record companies were signing old " cock-rock" bands who were pretending to be grunge and claiming to be from Seattle.][
Some bands associated with the genre, such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, have not been receptive to the label, preferring instead to be referred to as "]rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
" bands. Ben Shepherd
Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden.
Early life
Shepherd was bor ...
from Soundgarden stated that he "hates the word" grunge and hates "being associated with it." Seattle musician Jeff Stetson states that when he visited Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a touring musician, the local musicians did not refer to themselves as "grunge" performers or their style as "grunge" and they were not flattered that their music was being called "grunge".
''Rolling Stone'' noted the genre's lack of a clear definition. Robert Loss acknowledges the challenges of defining "grunge"; stating that while he can recount stories about grunge, they do not serve to provide a useful definition. Roy Shuker states that the term "obscured a variety of styles." Stetson states that grunge was not a movement, "monolithic musical genre", or a way to react to 1980s-era metal pop; he calls the term a misnomer mostly based on hype. Stetson states that prominent bands considered to be grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and Hammerbox
Hammerbox was an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band formed around 1990 and disbanded in 1994 when lead singer Carrie Akre left the band to form Goodness.
History
Hammerbox formed around 1990 in Seattle and re ...
) all sound different. Mark Yarm, author of ''Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge'', pointed out vast differences between grunge bands, with some being punk and others being metal-based.
Musical style
In 1984, the punk rock band Black Flag toured small towns across the US to bring punk to the more remote parts of the country. By this time, their music had become slow and sludgy, less like the Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
and more like Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
. Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana.
Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...
, later the bass player with Nirvana, recalled going with the Melvins
Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...
to see one of these shows, after which Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne
Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept.
Biography
Born in Morton, Was ...
began writing "slow and heavy riffs" to form a dirge
A dirge ( la, dirige, naenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies ...
-like music that was the beginning of northwest grunge.[ The Melvins were the most influential of the early grunge bands.][ Sub Pop producer Jack Endino described grunge as "seventies-influenced, slowed-down punk music".][
Leighton Beezer, who played with ]Mark Arm
Mark Arm (born Mark Thomas McLaughlin; February 21, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. His former group, Green River, was one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun, So ...
and Steve Turner in the Thrown Ups, state that when he heard Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
play ''Come On Down'', he realized that they were playing punk rock backwards. He noted that the diminished fifth
Diminished may refer to:
*Diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which ...
note was used by Black Sabbath to produce an ominous feeling but it is not used in punk rock. In the 1996 grunge film documentary ''Hype!
''Hype!'' (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early b ...
'', Beezer demonstrated on guitar the difference between punk and grunge. First he played the riff from "Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
that ascends the neck of the guitar, then "Come On Down" by Green River that descends the neck. The two pieces are only a few notes apart but sound unalike.[ He took the same rhythm with the same chord, however descending the neck made it sound darker, and therefore grunge.][ Early grunge bands would also copy a riff from metal and slow it down, play it backwards, distort it and bury it in feedback, then shout lyrics with little melody over the top of it.][
Grunge fuses elements of punk rock (specifically American ]hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...
such as Black Flag) and heavy metal (especially traditional, earlier heavy metal groups such as Black Sabbath), although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Alex DiBlasi feels that indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
was a third key source, with the most important influence coming from Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
's "free-form" noise. Grunge shares with punk a raw, lo fi sound and similar lyrical concerns, and it also used punk's haphazard and untrained approach to playing and performing. However, grunge was "deeper and darker"-sounding than punk rock and it decreased the "adrenaline"-fueled tempos of punk to a slow, "sludgy" speed, and used more dissonant
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
harmonies. Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross
Charles R. Cross is a Seattle-based music journalist, author and editor. He is primarily known for his coverage of Bruce Springsteen, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.
Career
He was the Editor of '' The Rocket'' in Seattle for fifteen years (1 ...
defines "grunge" as distortion-filled, down-tuned and riff-based rock that uses loud electric guitar feedback and heavy, "ponderous" bassline
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...
s to support its song melodies. Robert Loss calls grunge a melding of "violence and speed, muscularity and melody", where there is space for all people, including women musicians. ''VH1'' writer Dan Tucker feels that different grunge bands were influenced by different genres; that while Nirvana drew on punk, Pearl Jam was influenced by classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
, and that "sludgy, dark, heavy bands" such as Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
and Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
had a sinister metal tone.
Grunge music has what has been called an "ugly" aesthetic, both in the roar of the distorted electric guitars and in the darker lyrical topics. This approach was chosen both to counter the "slick" elegant sound of the then-predominant mainstream rock and because grunge artists wanted to mirror the "ugliness" they saw around them and shine a light on unseen "depths and depravity" of the real world. Some key individuals in the development of the grunge sound, including Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
producer Jack Endino
Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...
and the Melvins
Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...
, described grunge's incorporation of heavy rock influences such as Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
as "musical provocation". Grunge artists considered these bands "cheesy" but nonetheless enjoyed them; Buzz Osborne of the Melvins described it as an attempt to see what ridiculous things bands could do and get away with.[Pray, D., Helvey-Pray Productions (1996). '']Hype!
''Hype!'' (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early b ...
'' Republic Pictures. In the early 1990s, Nirvana's signature "stop-start" song format and alternating between soft and loud sections became a genre convention.
In the book ''Accidental Revolution: The Story of Grunge'', Kyle Anderson wrote:
Instrumentation
Electric guitar
Grunge is generally characterized by a sludgy electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
sound with a thick middle register and rolled-off treble tone and a high level of distortion
In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...
and fuzz, typically created with small 1970s-style stompbox
A stomp box (or stompbox) is a percussion instrument consisting of a small box placed under the foot, which is tapped or stamped on rhythmically to produce a sound similar to that of a bass drum. A stomp box allows a performer such as a singe ...
pedals, with some guitarists chaining several fuzz pedals together and plugging them into a tube amplifier
A valve amplifier or tube amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that uses vacuum tubes to increase the amplitude or power of a signal. Low to medium power valve amplifiers for frequencies below the microwaves were largely replaced by sol ...
and speaker cabinet. Grunge guitarists use very loud Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
guitar amplifiers and some used powerful Mesa-Boogie amplifiers, including Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl (the latter in early, grunge-oriented Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
songs). Grunge has been called the rock genre with the most "lugubrious sound"; the use of heavy distortion and loud amps has been compared to a massive "buildup of sonic fog". or even dismissed as "noise" by one critic. As with metal and punk, a key part of grunge's sound is very distorted power chord
A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on am ...
s played on the electric guitar.[Felix-Jager, Steven. ''With God on Our Side: Towards a Transformational Theology of Rock and Roll''. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017. p. 135]
Whereas metal guitarists' overdriven sound generally comes from a combination of overdriven amplifiers and distortion pedals, grunge guitarists typically got all of their "dirty" sound from overdrive and fuzz pedals, with the amp just used to make the sound louder. Grunge guitarists tended to use the Fender Twin Reverb
The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characteristi ...
and the Fender Champion 100 combo amps (Cobain used both of these amps). The use of pedals
A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to:
Computers and other equipment
* Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse
* In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...
by grunge guitarists was a move away from the expensive, studio-grade rackmount
A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or "ears" that protrude from each side of the equ ...
effects unit
An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in el ...
s used in other rock genres. The positive way that grunge bands viewed stompbox pedals can be seen in Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...
's use of the name of two overdrive pedals, the Univox Super-Fuzz
The Univox Super-Fuzz was a Distortion (music), fuzzbox produced by the Univox company, primarily for use with the electric guitar or bass. History Origin
The circuit was designed in the late 1960s by the Japanese company Honey, in the form of ...
and the Big Muff
The Big Muff Pi (π), often known simply as the Big Muff, is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar. It is used by bassists a ...
, in the title of their "debut EP ''Superfuzz Bigmuff
''Superfuzz Bigmuff'' is the debut EP and first major release by the Seattle grunge band Mudhoney. It was released on October 20, 1988 through record label Sub Pop. The album was later re-released in 1990 in the form of '' Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus E ...
''".[Shepherd, John and Horn, David. ''Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Volume 8: Genres: North America''. A&C Black, 2012. p. 23] In the song "Mudride", the band's guitars were said to have "growled malevolently" through its "Cro-magnon slog".
Other key pedals used by grunge bands included four brands of distortion pedals (the Big Muff
The Big Muff Pi (π), often known simply as the Big Muff, is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar. It is used by bassists a ...
, DOD and Boss DS-2 and Boss DS-1
The Boss DS-1 is a distortion pedal for guitar, manufactured by the Roland Corporation under the brand name Boss since 1978. The first distortion effects unit made by Boss, it has become a classic effect, used by many notable guitar players.
B ...
distortion pedals) and the Small Clone
Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of g ...
chorus effect
Chorus (or chorusing, choruser or chorused effect) is an audio effect that occurs when individual sounds with approximately the same time, and very similar pitches, converge. While similar sounds coming from multiple sources can occur naturally, ...
, used by Kurt Cobain on " Come As You Are" and by the Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the tim ...
on " Nearly Lost You". The DS-1 (later DS-2) distortion pedal played a key role in Cobain's switching from quiet to loud and back to quiet approach to songwriting. The use of small pedals by grunge guitarists helped to start off the revival of interest in boutique, hand-soldered, 1970s-style analog pedals. The other effect that grunge guitarists used was one of the most low-tech effects devices, the wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The p ...
. Both " im Thayil and Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
' Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internation ...
... were great advocates of the wah wah pedal." Wah was also used by the Screaming Trees, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.
The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ...
.
Grunge guitarists played loud, with Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
's early guitar sound coming from an unusual set-up of four 800 watt PA system
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
power amplifier
An audio power amplifier (or power amp) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals, such as the signal from a radio receiver or an electric guitar pickup, to a level that is high enough for driving loudspea ...
s. Guitar feedback
Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation which may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for examp ...
effects, in which a highly amplified electric guitar is held in front of its speaker, were used to create high-pitched, sustained sounds that are not possible with regular guitar technique. Grunge guitarists were influenced by the raw, primitive sound of punk, and they favored "... energy and lack of finesse over technique and precision"; key guitar influences included the Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
, the Dead Boys
The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv B ...
, Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...
, King's X
King's X is an American rock band that originated in 1979 in Springfield, Missouri. They were first called The Edge and later became Sneak Preview before settling on its current name in 1985. The band's current lineup has remained intact for m ...
, Voivod, Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
(''Rust Never Sleeps
''Rust Never Sleeps'' is an album with both studio and live tracks by Canadian American singer-songwriter Neil Young and American band Crazy Horse. It was released on June 22, 1979, by Reprise Records. Most of the album was recorded live, then o ...
'', side two), the Replacements, Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...
, Black Flag and the Melvins
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
.[Prown, Pete and Newquist, Harvey P. ''Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists''. Hal Leonard Corporation, 1997. p. 242-243] Grunge guitarists often downtuned their instruments for a lower, heavier sound. Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
's guitarist, Kim Thayil, did not use a regular guitar amplifier; instead, he used a Bass amplifier, bass combo amp equipped with a 15-inch speaker as he played low riffs, and the bass amp gave him a deeper tone.
Guitar solos
Grunge guitarists "flatly rejected" the virtuoso shred guitar, "shredding" guitar solos that had become the centerpiece of heavy metal songs, instead opting for melodic, blues-inspired solos – focusing "on the song, not the guitar solo". Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internation ...
of Alice in Chains stated that solos should be to serve the song, rather than to show off a guitarist's technical skill. In place of the strutting guitar heroes of metal, grunge had "guitar anti-heroes" like Cobain, who showed little interest in mastering the instrument.
In Will Byers' article "Grunge committed a crime against music—it killed the guitar solo", in ''The Guardian'', he states that while the guitar solo managed to survive through the punk rock era, it was weakened by grunge. He states that when Kurt Cobain played guitar solos that were a restatement of the main vocal melody, fans realized that they did not need to be a Jimi Hendrix-level virtuoso to play the instrument; he says this approach helped to make music feel accessible by fans in a way not seen since the 1960s folk music movement. The producer of Nirvana's ''Nevermind'', Butch Vig, stated that this album and Nirvana "killed the guitar solo". Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
guitarist Kim Thayil stated he feels in part to be responsible for the "death of the guitar solo"; he said that his punk rocker aspects made him feel that he did not want to solo, so in the 1980s, he preferred to make noise and do Audio feedback, feedback during the guitar solo. Baeble Music calls the grunge guitar solos of the 1990s "..raw", "sloppy" and "basic".
Not all sources support the "grunge killed the guitar solo" argument. Sean Gonzalez states that Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
has plentiful examples of guitar solos. Michael Azerrad praises the guitar playing of Mudhoney's Steve Turner, calling him the "... Eric Clapton of grunge", a reference to the British blues guitarist who ''Time'' magazine has named as number five in their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players". Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
guitarist Mike McCready has been praised for his blues-influenced, rapid licks. The Smashing Pumpkins' guitarist Billy Corgan has been called the "... arena rock genius of the '90s" for pioneering guitar playing techniques and showing through his playing skill that grunge guitarists do not have to be sloppy players to rebel against mainstream music. Thayil stated that when other major grunge bands, such as Nirvana, were reducing their guitar solos, Soundgarden responded by bringing back the solos.
Bass guitar
The early Seattle grunge album ''Skin Yard (album), Skin Yard'' recorded in 1987 by the Skin Yard, band of the same name included fuzz bass (Distortion (music), overdriven bass guitar) played by Jack Endino
Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...
and Daniel House (musician), Daniel House. Some grunge bassists, such as Ben Shepherd
Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden.
Early life
Shepherd was bor ...
, layered power chord
A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on am ...
s with distorted low-end density by adding a fifth and an octave-higher note to a bass note.
An example of the powerful, loud bass amplifier systems used in grunge is Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
bassist Mike Inez's setup. He uses four powerful Ampeg SVT-2 PRO tube amplifier heads, two of them plugged into four 1x18" subwoofer cabinets for the low register, and the other two plugged into two 8x10" cabinets. Krist Novoselic and Jeff Ament are also known for using Ampeg SVT tube amplifiers. Ben Shepherd uses a 300 watt all-tube Ampeg SVT-VR amp and a 600 watt Mesa/Boogie Carbine M6 amplifier. Ament uses four 6x10" speaker cabinets.
Drums
In contrast to the "massive drum kits" used in 1980s pop metal, grunge drummers used relatively smaller drum kits. One example is the drumkit used by Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron's set-up. He uses a six-piece kit (this way of describing drumkits counts only the wooden drums, and does not count the cymbals), including a "12x8-inch rack Tom-tom drum, tom; 13x9-inch rack tom; 16x14-inch floor tom; 18x16-inch floor tom; 24x14-inch bass drum" and a snare drum and, for cymbals, Zildjian instruments, including "... 14-inch K Light [Hi-]Hi-hat, hats; 17-inch K Custom Dark Crash cymbal, crash [cymbal] and 18-inch K Crash Ride; 19-inch Projection crash; a 20-inch Rezo crash; ... and a ... 22-inch A Medium Ride cymbal, ride [cymbal]".
A second example is Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl's set-up during 1990 and 1991. He used a four-piece Tama Drums, Tama drumset, with an 8" × 14" birch snare drum, a 14" × 15" rack tom, a 16" × 18" floor tom and a 16" × 24" bass drum (this kit "... was demolished at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 10/12/91"). Like Matt Cameron, Dave Grohl used Zildjian cymbals. Grohl used the company's A Series Medium cymbals, including an 18" and a 20" crash cymbal, a 22" ride cymbal and a pair of 15" hi-hat cymbals.
Other instruments
Although keyboards are generally not used in grunge, Seattle band Gorilla created controversy by breaking the "guitars only" approach and using a 1960s-style Vox (musical equipment), Vox organ in their group.
In 2002, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
added a keyboard player, Kenneth "Boom" Gaspar, who played piano, Hammond organ and other keyboards; the addition of a keyboardist to the band would have been "inconceivable" in the band's "grungy" early years, but it shows how a group's sound can change over time.
Vocals
The grunge singing style was similar to the "outburst" of loud, heavily distorted electric guitar in tone and delivery; Kurt Cobain used a "gruff, slurred articulation and gritty timbre" and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam made use of a "wide, powerful vibrato" to show his "depth of expression." In general, grunge singers used a "deeper vocal style" which matched the lower-sounding, downtuned guitars and the darker-themed lyrical messages used in the style. Grunge singers used "gravelly, raspy" vocals, "... growls, moans, screams and mumbles" and "plaintive groans"; this range of singing styles was used to communicate the "varied emotions" of the lyrics. Cobain's reaction to the "bad times" and discontent of the era was that he screamed his lyrics.[Talley, Tara. "Grunge and Blues, A Sociological Comparison:How Space and Place Influence the Development and Spread of Regional Musical Styles". ''Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research, School of Humanities and Social Sciences'', College of Charleston Volume 4, 2005: pp. 228–240. p. 233] In general, grunge songs were sung "simply, often somewhat unintelligibly"; the virtuoso "operatics of hair-metal were shunned." Grunge singing has been characterized as "borderline out-of-tune vocals".
Lyrics and themes
Grunge lyrics are typically dark, nihilism, nihilistic, wretched, angst-filled and anguished, often addressing themes such as social alienation
Social alienation is a person's feeling of disconnection from a group whether friends, family, or wider society to which the individual has an affinity. Such alienation has been described as "a condition in social relationships reflected by (1) ...
, self-doubt
Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them.
Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, ...
, abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
, assault, neglect
In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...
, betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Ofte ...
, social isolation/emotional isolation
Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one may have a well-functioning social network but still feels emotionally separated from others.
Population-based research indicates that one in five middle-aged and elderly men (50–80 years) i ...
, psychological trauma
Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...
and a desire for freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
.[ An article by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT states that grunge "lyrics [were] obsessed with disenfranchisement" and described a mood of "resigned despair". Catherine Strong states that grunge songs were usually about "negative experiences or feelings", with the main themes being alienation and Major depressive disorder, depression, but with an "ironic sneer."][Strong, Catherine. ''Grunge: Music and Memory''. Routledge, 2016. p.19] Grunge artists expressed "strong feelings" in their lyrics about "societal ills", including a "desire to 'crucify the insincere, an approach which fans appreciated for its Authenticity (philosophy), authenticity. Grunge lyrics have been criticized as "... violent and often obscene." In 1996, conservative columnist Rich Lowry wrote an essay criticizing grunge, entitled "Heroin, Our Hero"; he called it a music that is mostly... shorn of ideals and the impulse for political action".
A number of factors influenced the focus on such subject matter. Many grunge musicians displayed a general disenchantment with the state of society, as well as a discomfort with social prejudices. Grunge lyrics contained "... explicit political messages and ... questioning about ... society and how it might be changed ...". While grunge lyrics were less overtly political than punk songs, grunge songs still indicated a concern for social issues, particularly those affecting young people. The main themes in grunge were "tolerance of difference", "support of women", "mistrust of authority" and "cynicism towards big corporations." Grunge song themes bear similarities to those addressed by punk rock musicians. In 1992, music critic Simon Reynolds said that "there's a feeling of Occupational burnout, burnout in the culture at large. Kids are depressed about the future". The topics of grunge lyrics–homelessness, suicide, rape, "broken homes, drug addiction and self-loathing"–contrasted sharply to the glam metal lyrics of Poison (American band), Poison, which described "life in the fast lane",[Gina Misiroglu. ''American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History''. Routledge, 2015. p. 343] partying and hedonism.
Grunge lyrics developed as part of "Generation X malaise", reflecting that demographic's feelings of "disillusionment and uselessness".[''Music Cultures in the United States: An Introduction''. Ed. Ellen Koskoff. Routledge, 2005. p. 359] Grunge songs about love were usually about "... failed, boring, doomed or destructive relationships." (e.g., "Black (Pearl Jam song), Black" by Pearl Jam). The Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
songs "Sickman", "Junkhead", "God Smack" and "Hate to Feel" have references to heroin. Grunge lyrics tended to be more introspective and aimed to enable the listener to see into "hidden" personal issues and examine the "depravity" of the world. This approach can be seen in Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...
's song "Touch Me I'm Sick", which includes lyrics with "deranged imagery" which depict a "broken world and a fragmented self-image"; the song includes the lines "I feel bad, and I've felt worse" and "I won't live long and I'm full of rot". Nirvana's song "Lithium (Nirvana song), Lithium", from their 1991 album ''Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'', is about a "... man who finds faith after his girlfriend's suicide"; it depicts "... irony and ugliness" as a way of dealing with these "dark issues".
Recording production
Like punk, grunge's sound came from a lo fi (low fidelity) recording and production approach. Before the arrival of major labels, early grunge albums were recorded using low-budget analogue studios: "Nirvana's first album ''Bleach (Nirvana album), Bleach'', was recorded for $606.17 in 1989." Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
recorded most of their music at a "... low-rent studio named Reciprocal", where producer Jack Endino
Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...
created the grunge genre's aesthetic, a "raw and unpolished sound with distortion (music), distortion, but usually without any added effects unit, studio effects". Endino is known for his stripped-down recording practices and his dislike of 'over-producing' music with effects units, effects and audio mastering, remastering. His work on Soundgarden's ''Screaming Life'' and Nirvana's ''Bleach'' as well as for the bands Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
, Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the tim ...
, L7 (band), L7, the Gits, Hole (band), Hole, 7 Year Bitch, and Tad (band), Tad helped to define the grunge sound. An example of the lower cost production approach is Mudhoney; even after the band signed to Warner Music, "[t]rue to [the band's] indie roots ... [they are] ... probably one of the few bands that would have to fight [their label] to record for a lower budget rather than a higher one."
Steve Albini was another important influence on the grunge sound. Albini prefers to be called a "recording engineer", because he believes that putting record producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys the band's real sound, while the role of the recording engineer is to capture the actual sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their creative product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who stated that Albini's "recordings were both very basic and very exacting: like Endino, Albini used few Effects unit, special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one."
Nirvana's ''In Utero (album), In Utero'' is a typical example of Albini's recording approach. He preferred to have the entire band play live in the studio, rather than use mainstream rock's approach of recording each instrument on a separate track at different times, and then mixing them using multi-track recording. While multitracking results in a more polished product, it does not capture the "live" sound of the band playing together. Albini used a range of different microphones for the vocals and instruments. Like most metal and punk recording engineers, he mics the guitar amp speakers and bass amp speakers to capture each performer's unique tone.
Concerts
Grunge concerts were known for being straightforward, high-energy performances. Grunge shows were "... celebrations, parties [and] carnivals" where the audience expressed its spirit by stagediving, moshing and thrashing.[Henderson, Justin. ''Grunge: Seattle''. Roaring Forties Press, 2016. Ch. 5] Simon Reynolds states that in "... some of the most masculine forms of rock —thrash metal, grunge, moshing becomes a form of surrogate combat" in which "male bodies" can contact in the "sweat-and-bloodbath" of the moshpit. As with punk shows, grunge "... performances were about frontmen who screamed and jumped around on stage and musicians who thrashed wildly on their instruments." While grunge lyrical themes focused on "angst and rage", the audience at shows were positive and created a "life-affirming" attitude. Grunge bands rejected the complex and high budget presentations of many mainstream musical genres, including the use of complex digitally controlled light arrays, pyrotechnics, and other visual effects then popular in "hair metal" shows. Grunge performers viewed these elements unrelated to playing the music. Stage acting and "onstage theatrics" were generally avoided.
Instead the bands presented themselves as no different from minor local bands. Jack Endino said in the 1996 documentary ''Hype!'' that Seattle bands were inconsistent live performers, since their primary objective was not to be entertainers, but simply to "rock out". Grunge bands gave enthusiastic performances; they would thrash their long hair during shows as "a symbolic weapon" for releasing "pent-up aggression" (Dave Grohl was particularly noted for his "head flips").[Fournier, Karen. ''The Words and Music of Alanis Morissette''. ABC-CLIO, 2015. p. 44] One of the philosophies of the grunge scene was authenticity (philosophy), authenticity. Dave Rimmer writes that with the revival of punk ideals of stripped-down music in the early 1990s, "for Cobain, and lots of kids like him, rock & roll ... threw down a dare: Can you be pure enough, day after day, year after year, to prove your authenticity (philosophy), authenticity, to live up to the music ... And if you can't, can you live with being a poseur, a phony, a sellout?"
Clothing and fashion
1980s–1990s
commonly worn by grunge musicians in Washington were a "mundane everyday style", in which they would wear the same clothes on stage that they wore at home. This Pacific Northwest "slacker style" or "slouch look" contrasted sharply with the "wild" mohawk (hairstyle), mohawks, leather jackets and chains worn by punks. This everyday clothing approach was used by grunge musicians because authenticity (philosophy), authenticity was a key principle in the Seattle scene. The grunge look typically consisted of second-hand clothes or Charity shop, thrift store items and the typical outdoor clothing (most notably flannel shirts) of the region, as well as a generally unkempt appearance and long hair. For grunge singers, long hair was used "as a mask to conceal the face" so they can "expres[s their] innermost thoughts"; Cobain is a notable example. Male grunge musicians were "... unkempt ... [and] ... unshaven [,] with ... tousled hair" that was often unwashed, greasy and "... matted [into a] sheep-dog mop".
The lumberjack attire was a common sight in the thrift stores near Seattle for the low prices that musicians could afford. Grunge style consisted of ripped jeans, thermal underwear, Doc Martens boots or combat boots (often unlaced), band T-shirts, oversized knit sweaters, long and droopy skirts, ripped tights, Birkenstocks, hiking boots, and eco-friendly clothing made from Textile recycling, recycled textiles or fair trade organic cotton. As well, since women in the grunge scene wore the "... same plaid [shirt]s, boots, and short cropped heads as their male counterparts", women showed "... that they are not defined by their sex appeal."
"Grunge ... became an Consumerism, anti-consumerist movement where the less you spent on clothes, the more 'coolness' you had." The style did not evolve out of a conscious attempt to create an appealing fashion; music journalist Charles R. Cross
Charles R. Cross is a Seattle-based music journalist, author and editor. He is primarily known for his coverage of Bruce Springsteen, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.
Career
He was the Editor of '' The Rocket'' in Seattle for fifteen years (1 ...
said, "[Nirvana frontman] Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
was just too lazy to shampoo", and Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman said, "This [clothing] is cheap, it's durable, and it's kind of timeless. It also runs against the grain of the whole flashy aesthetic that existed in the 80s." The flannel and "... cracked leatherette coats" in the grunge scene were part "... of the Pacific Northwest's Thrift store, thrift-shop esthetic. Grunge fashion was very much an anti-fashion response and a non-conformist move against the "manufactured image", often pushing musicians to dress in authentic ways and to not glamorize themselves. At the same time, Sub-Pop utilized the 'grunge look' in their marketing of their bands. In an interview with VH1, photographer Charles Peterson commented that members from grunge band Tad "were given blue collar identities that weren't entirely earned. Bruce (Pavitt) really got him to dress up in flannel and a real chain saw and really play up this image of a mountain man and it worked."
''Dazed'' magazine called Courtney Love one of "ten women who defined the 1990s" from a style perspective: the "... image of Courtney Love's too-short baby doll dress, tattered fur coat and shock of platinum hair", a look dubbed "kinderwhore", "... topped with a tiara, of course – is seared on the memory of anyone who lived through the decade." The kinderwhore look consisted of torn, ripped tight or low-cut babydoll and Peter Pan collar, Peter-Pan-collared dresses, slips, heavy makeup with dark eyeliner, barrettes, and leather boots or Mary Jane (shoe), Mary–Jane shoes. Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland (band), Babes in Toyland was the first to define it, while Courtney Love of Hole (band), Hole was the first to popularize it. Love has claimed that she took the style from Divinyls frontwoman Christina Amphlett. The look became very popular in 1994.
''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' stated in 2014 that "Cobain pulled liberally from both ends of a woman's and a man's wardrobe, and his Seattle thrift-store look ran the gamut of masculine lumberjack workwear and 40s-by-way-of-70s feminine dresses. It was completely counter to the shellacked, flashy aesthetic of the 1980s in every way. In disheveled jeans and floral frocks, he softened the tough exterior of the archetypal rebel from the inside out, and set the ball in motion for a radical, millennial idea of androgyny." Cobain's way of dressing "was the antithesis of the macho American man", because he "... made it cooler to look slouchy and loose, no matter if you were a boy or a girl." Music and culture writer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd wrote that with Cobain's style of dress "Not only did he make it okay to be a freak, he made it desirable."
Adoption by mainstream
Grunge music hit the mainstream in the early 1990s with Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana being signed to major record labels. Grunge fashion began to break into mainstream fashion in mid-1992 for both sexes and peaked in late 1993 and early 1994. As it picked up momentum, the grunge tag was being used by shops selling expensive flannelette shirts to cash in on the trend. Ironically, the non-conformist look suddenly became a mainstream trend. In the fashion world, Marc Jacobs presented a show for Perry Ellis in 1992 (the Spring 1993 Collection,) featuring grunge-inspired clothing mixed with high-end fabrics. Jacobs found inspiration in the "realism (arts), realism" of grunge streetwear; he mixed it with the luxury of fashion by sending models down the catwalk in beanies, floral dresses and silk flannel shirts. This did, however, not sit well with the brand owners and Jacobs was dismissed. Other designers like Anna Sui, also drew inspiration from grunge during the spring/summer 1993 season.
In the same year, ''Vogue'' did a spread called "Grunge & Glory" with fashion photographer Steven Meisel who shot supermodels Kristen McMenamy, Naomi Campbell, and Nadja Auermann in a savanna landscape wearing grunge-styled clothing. This shoot made McMenamy the face for grunge, as she had her eyebrows shaved and her hair cropped short. Designers like Christian Lacroix, Donna Karen and Karl Lagerfeld incorporated the grunge influence into their looks. In 1993, James Truman, editor of ''Details (magazine), Details'', said: "to me the thing about grunge is it's not anti-fashion, it's unfashion. Punk was anti-fashion. It made a statement. Grunge is about not making a statement, which is why it's crazy for it to become a fashion statement." The unkempt fashion sense defined the look of the "slacker generation", who "skipped school, smoked pot ... [and] cigarettes and listened to music" hoping to become a Celebrity, rock star one day.
2000s–2010s
Even though the grunge movement died down in 1994 after the death of Kurt Cobain, designers have continued to draw inspiration from the movement from time to time. Grunge appeared as a trend again in 2008, and for Fall/Winter 2013, Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Saint Laurent brought back grunge to the Runway (fashion), runway. With Courtney Love as his muse for the collection, she reportedly loved the collection. "No offense to MJ [Marc Jacobs] but he never got it right," Courtney said. "This is what it really was. Hedi knows his shit. He got it accurate, and MJ and Anna [Sui] did not." Both Cobain and Love apparently burnt the Perry Ellis collection they received from Marc Jacobs back in 1993. In 2016, grunge inspired an upscale "reinvention" of the style by A$AP Rocky, Rihanna and Kanye West. However, "dressing grunge is no longer a badge of authenticity, though: the signifiers of rebellion (Dr Martens boots, plaid shirts) are omnipotent on the high street", says Lynette Nylander, deputy editor of ''i-D magazine''.
Alcohol and drugs
Many music subcultures are associated with particular drugs, such as the hippie counterculture and reggae, both of which are associated with marijuana and psychedelics. In the 1990s, the media focused on the use of heroin by musicians in the Seattle grunge scene, with a 1992 ''New York Times'' article listing the city's "three principal drugs" as "espresso, beer and heroin" and a 1996 article calling Seattle's grunge scene the "... subculture that has most strongly embraced heroin". Tim Jonze from ''The Guardian'' states that "... heroin had blighted the [grunge] scene ever since its inception in the mid-80s" and he argues that the "... involvement of heroin mirrors the self-hating, Nihilism, nihilistic aspect to the music"; in addition to the heroin deaths, Jonze points out that Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...
' Scott Weiland, as well as Courtney Love, Mark Lanegan, Jimmy Chamberlin and Evan Dando "... all had their run-ins with the drug, but lived to tell the tale." A 2014 book stated that whereas in the 1980s, people used the "stimulant" cocaine to socialize and "... celebrate good times", in the 1990s grunge scene, the "depressant" heroin was used to "retreat" into a "cocoon" and be "... sheltered from a harsh and unforgiving world which offered ... few prospects for ... change or hope."[Marion, Nancy E and Oliver, Willard M. ''Drugs in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture. and the Law''. ABC-CLIO, 2014 . p. 888.] Justin Henderson states that all of the "downer" opiates, including "heroin, morphine, etorphine, codeine, opium, [and] hydrocodone ... seemed to be the habit of choice for many a grunger".[Henderson, Justin. ''Grunge: Seattle''. Roaring Forties Press, 2016. Ch. 5 "the really big time", section: "here come the tabloids!"]
The title of Nirvana's debut album ''Bleach (Nirvana album), Bleach'' was inspired by a harm reduction poster aimed at heroin injection users, which stated "Bleach your works [e.g., syringe and Hypodermic needle, needle] before you get stoned". The poster was released by the U.S. State Health Department which was trying to reduce AIDS transmission caused through sharing used needles. Alice in Chains' song "God Smack" includes the line "stick your arm for some real fun", a reference to injecting heroin. Seattle musicians known to use heroin included Cobain, who was using "heroin when he shot himself in the head"; "Andrew Wood (singer), Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone [who] overdosed on heroin in 1990"; "Stefanie Sargent of 7 Year Bitch [who] died of an overdose of the same opiate in 1992 ... [and] Layne Staley of Alice in Chains [who] publicly detailed his battles with heroin ...". Mike Starr (musician), Mike Starr of Alice in Chains and Jonathan Melvoin from the Smashing Pumpkins also died from heroin. After Cobain's death, his "... widow, singer Courtney Love, characterized Seattle as a drug mecca, where heroin is easier to get than in San Francisco or Los Angeles."
However, Daniel House (musician), Daniel House, who owned C/Z Records, disputed these perceptions in 1994. House stated that there was "... no more (heroin) here [in Seattle] than anyplace else"; he stated that the "heroin is not a big part of the [Seattle music] culture", and that "marijuana and alcohol ... are far more prevalent". Jeff Gilbert, one of the editors of ''Guitar World'' magazine, stated in 1994 that the media association of the Seattle grunge scene with heroin was "really overblown"; instead, he says that Seattle musicians were "... all a bunch of potheads." Gil Troy's history of America in the 1990s states that in the Seattle grunge scene, the "... drug of choice switched from upscale cocaine [of the 1980s] to blue-collar marijuana." ''Rolling Stone'' magazine reported that members of Seattle's grunge scene were "coffee-crazed" by day on espresso and "... by night, they quaff[ed] oceans of beer – jolted by Java and looped with liquor, no wonder the [grunge] music sounds like it does." "Some [Seattle] scene veterans maintain that 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine, MDA", a drug related to MDMA, Ecstasy, "was a vital contributor to grunge", because it gave users a "body high" (in contrast to marijuana's "head high") that made them appreciate "bass-heavy Groove (music), grooves". Pat Long's '' History of the NME'' states that scene members involved with the Sub Pop label would have multi-day MDMA parties in the woods, which shows that what Long calls Ecstasy's "warm glow" had an impact even in the wet, grey and isolated Pacific Northwest region.
Graphic design
Regarding graphic design and images, a common feature of grunge bands was the use of "lo-fi" (low fidelity) and deliberately unconventional album covers, for example presenting intentionally murky or miscolored photography, collage or Distressing, distressed lettering. Early grunge "[a]lbum covers and concert flyers appeared Xeroxed not in allegiance to some DIY aesthetic" but because of "economic necessity", as "bands had so little money". This was already a common feature of punk rock design, but could be extended in the grunge period due to the increasing use of Macintosh computers for desktop publishing and digital image processing. The style was sometimes called 'grunge typography' when used outside music. A famous example of 'grunge'-style experimental design was ''Ray Gun (magazine), Ray Gun'' magazine, art directed by David Carson (graphic designer), David Carson.
Carson developed a technique of "ripping, shredding and remaking letters" and using "overprinted, disharmonious letters" and experimental design approaches, including "deliberate 'mistakes' in alignment".[Eskilon, Stephen. ''Graphic Design: A New History, Second Edition''. Yale University Press, 2012.] Carson's art used "... messy and chaotic design" and he did not "..respect any rule of composition", using an "..experimental, personal and intuitive" approach. Another "grunge graphic designer" was Elliott Earls, who used "distorted ... older typefaces" and "aggressively illegible" type which adopted the "unkempt expressiveness" of the "grunge [music] aesthetic"; this radical, anti-establishment approach in graphic design was influenced by the 1910s-era avant-garde Dada movement. Hat Nguyen's Droplet, Harriet Goren's Morire and Eric Lin's Tema Canante were all "signature grunge fonts." Sven Lennartz states that grunge design images have a "realistic, genuine look" which is created by adding simulated torn paper, dog-eared corners, creases, yellowed scotch tape, coffee cup stains, hand-drawn images and handwritten words, typically over a "dirty" background texture which is done with dull, subdued colors.
A key figure in creating the "look" of the grunge scene for outsiders was music photographer Charles Peterson (photographer), Charles Peterson. Peterson's black and white, uncropped, and sometimes blurry shots of the underground Pacific Northwest music scene's members playing and jamming, wearing their characteristic everyday clothes, were used by Sub Pop to promote its Seattle bands.
Literature
Zines
Following the tradition in the 1980s US punk subculture of amateur, fan-produced zines, members of the grunge scene also produced DIY publications which were "distributed at gigs or by mail order". The zines were typically photocopied and contained handwritten, "hand-colored pages", "typing errors and grammatical mistakes, misspellings and jumbled pagination", all proof of their amateur nature.[Leonard, Marion. ''Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power.'' Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007. p. 140] ''Backlash'' was a zine that was published from 1987 to 1991 by Dawn Anderson, covering the "... dirtier, heavier, more underground and rock side of Seattle's music scene", including "... punk, metal, underground rock, grunge before it was called grunge and even some local hip-hop." ''Grunge Gerl #1'' was one early 1990s grunge zine, was written by and for riot grrrls in the Los Angeles area. It stated that "... we're girls, we're angry, we're powerful."
Local newspapers
In 1992, ''Rolling Stone'' music critic Michael Azerrad called ''The Rocket (newspaper), The Rocket'' the Seattle music "scene's [most] respected commentator". ''The Rocket'' was a free newspaper about the Pacific Northwest music scene which was launched in 1979. Edited by Charles R. Cross
Charles R. Cross is a Seattle-based music journalist, author and editor. He is primarily known for his coverage of Bruce Springsteen, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.
Career
He was the Editor of '' The Rocket'' in Seattle for fifteen years (1 ...
, the paper only covered "fairly obscure alternative bands" in the local area, such as the Fartz and others.[McChesney, Robert W. "Balancing Things Left of Center", ''The Rocket'', Issue #195, December 7–21, 1994, p. 12, 14.] In the mid-1980s, the paper had stories on Slayer, Wild Dogs, Queensrÿche, and Metal Church. By 1988, the metal scene had faded, and ''The Rocket'' focus shifted to covering the pre-grunge local alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
bands. Dawn Anderson states that in 1988, long before any other publication took notice of them, Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
and Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
were ''Rocket'' cover stars.[Anderson, Dawn. "Timeline: 1988", ''The Rocket'', Issue #195, December 7–21, 1994, p. 38.] In 1991, ''The Rocket'' expanded to include a Portland, Oregon edition.
Fiction
Grunge lit is an Australian literary genre of fictional or Autobiographical novel, semi-autobiographical writing in the early 1990s about young adults living in an "inner cit[y]" "... world of disintegrating futures where the only relief from ... boredom was through a nihilism, nihilistic pursuit of sex, violence, drugs and alcohol". Often the central characters are disfranchised, alienated, and lacking drive and determination beyond the desire to satisfy their basic needs. It was typically written by "new, young authors"[Leishman, Kirsty, 'Australian Grunge Literature and the Conflict between Literary Generations', ''Journal of Australian Studies'', 23.63 (1999), pp. 94–102] who examined "gritty, dirty, real existences" of everyday characters. It has been described as both a sub-set of dirty realism and an offshoot of Generation X literature. Stuart Glover states that the term "grunge lit" takes the term "grunge" from the "late '80s and early '90s— ... Seattle [grunge] bands". Glover states that the term "grunge lit" was mainly a marketing term used by publishing companies; he states that most of the authors who have been categorized as "grunge lit" writers reject the label. The Australian fiction authors McGahan, McGregor and Tsiolkas criticized the "homogenizing effect" of conflating such a different group of writers. Tsiolkas called the "grunge lit" term a "media creation".
Role of women
Many All-female band, all-female or woman-led bands are associated with grunge including L7 (band), L7, Lunachicks, Dickless, 7 Year Bitch, the Gits, Courtney Love's band Hole (band), Hole, and Babes in Toyland (band), Babes in Toyland. ''VH1'' writer Dan Tucker described L7 as an "all-female grunge band [that] emanated from the fertile L.A. underground scene and [which] had strong ties with ... Black Flag and could match any male band in attitude and volume." Grunge was also closely linked with Riot Grrrl, an underground feminist punk rock, punk movement.
Riot Grrrl pioneer and Bikini Kill frontwoman Kathleen Hanna was the source for the name of Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", a reference to a Teen Spirit (deodorant), deodorant marketed specifically to young women. Notable women instrumentalists include the bassists D'arcy Wretzky and Melissa Auf der Maur from the Smashing Pumpkins, and drummers Patty Schemel of Hole (band), Hole and Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland (band), Babes in Toyland. The inclusion of women instrumentalists in grunge is notable, because professional Women in music#Popular music, women instrumentalists are uncommon in most rock genres.
Bam Bam (Seattle band), Bam Bam, formed in Seattle in 1983, was fronted by an African American woman named Tina Bell, breaking the norm of what was predominantly a White dominated scene. Bam Bam also included future Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
and Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
drummer Matt Cameron. Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
was a roadie for Bam Bam before he was famous and was also a fan of the band. Bell died in 2012. Observers have speculated that the lack of recognition in her lifetime as one of the progenitors of grunge music was due to sexism and racism.
Women also played active non-musician roles in the underground grunge scene, such as riot grrrls who produced zines about grunge bands and indie record labels (e.g., ''Grunge Gerl #1'') and writer Dawn Anderson of the Seattle fanzine ''Backlash'' which supported many local bands before they achieved greater fame. Tina Casale was the co-founder of C/Z Records in the 1980s (along with Chris Hanzsek), a Seattle indie label that released the seminal grunge compilation ''Deep Six (album), Deep Six'' in 1986.
Susan Silver was the first female manager of the Seattle music scene. She started her career in 1983 and managed several bands such as the U-Men, Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
and Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the tim ...
. In 1991, ''The Seattle Times'' called Silver "the most powerful figure in local rock management". Silver was also an advisor for Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
. Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
and bassist Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana.
Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...
consulted Silver for advice when they were not satisfied with Sub Pop's lack of promotion for their debut album, ''Bleach (Nirvana album), Bleach''. Silver looked at their contract with the label and told them they needed a lawyer. Silver then introduced them to agent Don Muller and music business attorney Alan Mintz, who started sending out Nirvana's demo tape to major labels looking for deals. The band ended up choosing DGC Records, DGC and the label released their breakthrough album ''Nevermind (album), Nevermind'' in 1991. When Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, Novoselic thanked Silver during his speech for "introducing them to the music industry properly".
History
1965–1985: Roots, predecessors, and influences
The term proto-grunge has been used to describe artists as having elements of grunge well before the genre appeared in the mid-late 1980s. Perhaps the earliest proto-grunge album is ''Here Are the Sonics'', released in 1965 by the Sonics. Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
's albums ''Rust Never Sleeps
''Rust Never Sleeps'' is an album with both studio and live tracks by Canadian American singer-songwriter Neil Young and American band Crazy Horse. It was released on June 22, 1979, by Reprise Records. Most of the album was recorded live, then o ...
'' (1979) and ''Ragged Glory'' (1990) have been proclaimed examples of proto-grunge and grunge music. Additionally, he has been cited as an influence by Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
, which led to them backing Young for the ''Mirror Ball (Neil Young album), Mirror Ball'' album, released in 1995. Other acts described as proto-grunge include Wipers (band), Wipers and their album ''Youth of America'' (1981), Elvis Costello and his ''Blood & Chocolate'' album which Will Birch hailed as "6 or 8 years ahead of its time" (1986), and the Stooges and their album ''Fun House (The Stooges album), Fun House'' (1970).
Grunge's sound partly resulted from Seattle music scene, Seattle's isolation from other music scenes. As Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman noted, "Seattle was a perfect example of a secondary city with an active music scene that was completely ignored by an American media fixated on Los Angeles and New York [City]." Mark Arm claimed that the isolation meant, "this one corner of the map was being really inbred and ripping off each other's ideas". Seattle "... was a remote and provincial city" in the 1980s; Bruce Pavitt states that the city was "... very working class", a place of deprivation, and so the scene's "... whole aesthetic – work clothes, thriftstore truckers' hats, pawnshop guitars" was not just a style, it was done because Seattle "... was very poor." Indeed, when "... ''Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'' reached number one in the U.S. charts, Cobain was living in a car."
Bands began to mix metal and punk in the Seattle music scene around 1984, with much of the credit for this fusion going to the U-Men. However, some critics have noted that in spite of the U-Men's canonical place as original grunge progenitors, that their sound was less indebted to heavy metal and much more akin to However the idiosyncrasy of the band may have been the bigger inspiration, more than the aesthetics themselves. Soon Seattle had a growing and "varied music scene" and "diverse urban personality" expressed by local "post-punk garage bands". Grunge evolved from the local punk rock scene, and was inspired by bands such as the Fartz, the U-Men, 10 Minute Warning, the Accüsed, and the Fastbacks. Additionally, the slow, heavy, and sludgy style of the Melvins
Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...
was a significant influence on the grunge sound. Roy Shuker states that grunge's success built on the "foundations ... laid throughout the 1980s by earlier alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music:
*Alternative rock
*Alternative pop
*Alternative R&B
*Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul
*Alternative reggaeton
*Alternative hip hop
*Alternative dance
*Alternative metal
*Chris ...
scenes."[Shuker, Roy. ''Understanding Popular Music Culture, 4th Edition. Routledge, 2013. p. 183''] Shuker states that music critics "... emphasized the perceived purity and authenticity of the Seattle scene.
Outside the Pacific Northwest, a number of artists and music scenes influenced grunge. Alternative rock bands from the Northeastern United States, including Sonic Youth, Pixies (band), Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr., are important influences on the genre. Through their patronage of Seattle bands, Sonic Youth "inadvertently nurtured" the grunge scene, and reinforced the fiercely independent attitudes of its musicians. Nirvana introduced into the Seattle scene the noise-inflected influences of Scratch Acid and the Butthole Surfers.
Several Australian bands, including the Scientists, Cosmic Psychos and Feedtime, are cited as precursors to grunge, their music influencing the Seattle scene through the college radio broadcasts of Sub Pop founder Jonathan Poneman and members of Mudhoney on KEXP-FM#KCMU: The early years, KCMU.[Zan Rowe, Rowe, Zan (September 26, 2008)]
"Jonathan Poneman from Sub-Pop takes five with the albums he wishes he'd released..."
, ''Mornings with Zan''. Retrieved October 8, 2015. The influence of Pixies on Nirvana was noted by Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
, who commented in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview, "I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard." In August 1997, in an interview with ''Guitar World'', Dave Grohl said: "From Kurt, Krist Novoselic, Krist [Novoselic] and I liking the Knack, Bay City Rollers, The Beatles, Beatles and ABBA, Abba just as much as we liked Flipper (band), Flipper and Black Flag ... You listen to any Pixies record and it's all over there. Or even Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
's "War Pigs"—it's there: the power of the dynamic. We just sort of abused it with pop rock, pop songs and got sick with it."
Aside from the genre's punk and alternative rock roots, many grunge bands were equally influenced by heavy metal of the early 1970s. Clinton Heylin, author of ''Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge'', cited Black Sabbath as "perhaps the most ubiquitous pre-punk influence on the northwest scene". Black Sabbath played a role in shaping the grunge sound, through their own records and the records they inspired. Musicologist Bob Gulla asserted that Black Sabbath's sound "shows up in virtually all of grunge's most popular bands, including Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
, and Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
". The influence of Led Zeppelin is also evident, particularly in the work of Soundgarden, whom ''Q'' magazine noted were "in thrall to '70s rock, but contemptuous of the genre's overt sexism and machismo". Jon Wiederhorn of ''Guitar World'' wrote: "So what exactly is grunge? ... Picture a supergroup made up of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Black Sabbath and the Stooges, and you're pretty close." Catherine Strong states that grunge's strongest metal influence was thrash metal, which had a tradition of "equality with the audience", based on the notion that "anyone could start a band" (a way of thinking also shared by US hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...
, which Strong also cites as an influence on grunge) which was also taken up by grunge bands. Strong states that grunge musicians were opposed to the then-popular "hair metal" bands.
Strong states that "... sections of what was [US] Hardcore punk, hardcore became known as grunge." Seattle songwriter Jeff Stetson states that "[t]here is no real difference ... between Punk and Grunge." Like punk bands, grunge groups were "embraced as back-to-basics rock 'n' roll bands which reminded the public that the music was supposed to be raw and raunchy", and they were a response to "bloated and over-the-top ... progressive rock ... or "not seriou[s groups] like the Hair metal, hair bands of the '80s." One example of the influence of US hardcore on grunge is the impact that the Los Angeles hardcore punk band Black Flag had on grunge. Black Flag's 1984 record ''My War'', on which the band combined heavy metal with their traditional sound, made a strong impact in Seattle. Mudhoney's Steve Turner commented, "A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it was really great ... we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and fucked-up sounding."[Michael Azerrad, Azerrad, Michael. ''Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991''. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001. , p. 419.] Turner explained grunge's integration of metal influences, noting, "Hard rock and metal was never that much of an enemy of punk like it was for other scenes. Here, it was like, 'There's only twenty people here, you can't really find a group to hate.'" Charles R. Cross states that grunge was the "... culmination of twenty years of punk rock" development. Cross states that the bands most representing the grunge genre were Seattle bands Blood Circus (band), Blood Circus, Tad, and Mudhoney and Sub Pop's Denver band the Fluid; he states that Nirvana, with its pop influences and blend of Sonic Youth and Cheap Trick, was lighter-sounding than bands like Blood Circus.
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
played a few concerts with Pearl Jam and recorded the album ''Mirror Ball (Neil Young album), Mirror Ball''. This was grounded not only in his work with his band Crazy Horse (band), Crazy Horse and his regular use of distorted guitar—most notably on the album ''Rust Never Sleeps
''Rust Never Sleeps'' is an album with both studio and live tracks by Canadian American singer-songwriter Neil Young and American band Crazy Horse. It was released on June 22, 1979, by Reprise Records. Most of the album was recorded live, then o ...
''—but also his dress and persona. A similarly influential yet often overlooked album is ''Neurotica (album), Neurotica'' by Redd Kross, about which Jonathan Poneman said, "''Neurotica'' was a life changer for me and for a lot of people in the Seattle music community."
The context for the development of the Seattle grunge scene was a "...golden age of failure, a time when a swath of American youth embraced the ... vices of indolence and lack of motivation". The "... idlers of Generation X [were] trying to forestall the dread day of corporate enrollment" and embrace the "cult of the loser"; indeed Nirvana's 1991 song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" "... opens with Cobain intoning 'It's fun to lose.'"
1985–1991: Early development and rise in popularity
In 1985, the band Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
released their debut EP ''Come on Down (EP), Come on Down'', which is cited by many as being the first grunge record. Another seminal release in the development of grunge was the ''Deep Six (album), Deep Six'' compilation, released by C/Z Records in 1986. The record featured multiple tracks by six bands: Green River, Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
, Melvins
Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...
, Malfunkshun, Skin Yard, and the U-Men. For many of them it was their first appearance on record. The artists had "a mostly heavy, aggressive sound that melded the slower tempos of heavy metal with the intensity of hardcore". The recording process was low-budget; each band was given four hours of studio time. As Jack Endino recalled, "People just said, 'Well, what kind of music is this? This isn't metal, it's not punk, What is it?' ... People went 'Eureka! These bands all have something in common.'" Later that year Bruce Pavitt
Bruce S. Pavitt (born March 7, 1959) is the Chicago-born co-founder of independent record label Sub Pop. He attended Evergreen State College where he hosted a show on Evergreen's KAOS radio station before founding Sub Pop.
History
After briefly ...
released the ''Sub Pop 100'' compilation and Green River's ''Dry As a Bone'' EP as part of his new label, Sub Pop. An early Sub Pop catalog described the Green River EP as "ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation".[Azerrad (2001), p. 420.] Sub Pop's Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, inspired by other regional music scenes in music history, worked to ensure that their label projected a "Seattle sound", reinforced by a similar style of production and album packaging. While music writer Michael Azerrad acknowledged that early grunge bands like Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Tad had disparate sounds, he noted "to the objective observer, there were some distinct similarities."
Early grunge concerts were sparsely attended (many by fewer than a dozen people) but Sub Pop photographer Charles Peterson (photographer), Charles Peterson's pictures helped create the impression that such concerts were major events. Mudhoney, which was formed by former members of Green River, served as the flagship band of Sub Pop during their entire time with the label and spearheaded the Seattle grunge movement. Other record labels in the Pacific Northwest that helped promote grunge included C/Z Records, Estrus Records, EMpTy Records and PopLlama Records.
Grunge attracted media attention in the United Kingdom after Pavitt and Poneman asked journalist Everett True from the British magazine ''Melody Maker'' to write an article on the local music scene. This exposure helped to make grunge known outside of the local area during the late 1980s and drew more people to local shows. The appeal of grunge to the music press was that it "promised the return to a notion of a regional, authorial vision for American rock". Grunge's popularity in the underground music
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
scene was such that bands began to move to Seattle and approximate the look and sound of the original grunge bands. Mudhoney's Steve Turner said, "It was really bad. Pretend bands were popping up here, things weren't coming from where we were coming from." As a reaction, many grunge bands diversified their sound, with Nirvana and Tad in particular creating more melodic songs. Dawn Anderson of the Seattle fanzine ''Backlash'' recalled that by 1990 many locals had tired of the hype surrounding the Seattle scene and hoped that media exposure had dissipated.
Chris Dubrow from ''The Guardian'' states that in the late 1980s, Australia's "sticky-floored ... alternative pub scene" in seedy inner-city areas produced grunge bands with "raw and awkward energy" such as the Scientists, X (Australian band), X, Beasts of Bourbon, feedtime, Cosmic Psychos and Lubricated Goat. Dubrow said "Cobain ... admitted the Australian wave was a big influence" on his music. Everett True states that "[t]here's more of an argument to be had for grunge beginning in Australia with the Scientists and their scrawny punk ilk."[True, Everett]
"Ten Myths about Grunge, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain"
''The Guardian''. August 24, 2011
Grunge bands had made inroads to the musical mainstream in the late 1980s. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label when they joined the roster of A&M Records in 1989. Soundgarden, along with other major label signings Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
and Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the tim ...
, performed "okay" with their initial major label releases, according to Jack Endino. Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, originally from Aberdeen, Washington, was also courted by major labels, while releasing its first album ''Bleach (Nirvana album), Bleach'' in 1989. Nirvana got signed by Geffen Records in 1990.
Alice in Chains signed with Columbia Records in 1989, and their debut album, ''Facelift (album), Facelift'', was released on August 21, 1990. The album's second single, "Man in the Box", was released in January 1991, spent 20 weeks on the Top 20 of Billboard (magazine), Billboard's Mainstream Rock (chart), Mainstream Rock chart and its music video received heavy rotation on MTV. ''Facelift'' became the first album from the grunge movement to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on September 11, 1991, for selling over 500,000 copies.
1991–1997: Mainstream success
Peak of influence
In September 1991, Nirvana released its major label debut, ''Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
''. The album was at best hoped to be a minor success on par with Sonic Youth's ''Goo (album), Goo'', which Geffen had released a year earlier. It was the release of the album's first single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that "marked the instigation of the grunge music phenomenon". Due to constant airplay of the song's music video on MTV, ''Nevermind'' was selling 400,000 copies a week by Christmas 1991, and was certified gold on November 27, 1991. In January 1992, ''Nevermind'' replaced pop music, pop superstar Michael Jackson's ''Dangerous (Michael Jackson album), Dangerous'' at number one on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200. ''Nevermind'' was certified diamond by the RIAA in 1999.
The success of ''Nevermind'' surprised the music industry. ''Nevermind'' not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general." Michael Azerrad asserted that ''Nevermind'' symbolized "a sea-change in rock music" in which the glam metal that had dominated rock music at that time fell out of favor in the face of music that was perceived as authenticity (philosophy), authentic and culturally relevant. Grunge made it possible for genres thought to be of a niche audience, no matter how radical, to prove their marketability and be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture. Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success. Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
, which featured former Mother Love Bone members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, had released its debut album '' Ten'' in August 1991, a month before ''Nevermind'', but album sales only picked up the following year. By the second half of 1992 ''Ten'' had become a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on the ''Billboard'' charts. ''Ten'' by Pearl Jam was certified 13× platinum by the RIAA.
The band Soundgarden's album ''Badmotorfinger'' and the band Alice in Chains' album ''Dirt
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains
* Dust: a genera ...
'', along with the band Temple of the Dog's Temple of the Dog (album), self-titled album, a collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top selling albums of 1992. The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted ''Rolling Stone'' to nickname Seattle "the new Liverpool". Major record labels signed most of the prominent grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success. The grunge scene was the backdrop in the 1992 Cameron Crowe film ''Singles (1992 film), Singles''. There were several small roles, performances, and cameos in the film by popular Seattle grunge bands including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Filmed in and around Seattle in 1991, the film was not released until 1992 during the height of grunge popularity.
The popularity of grunge resulted in a large interest in the Seattle music scene's perceived cultural traits. While the Seattle music scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s in actuality consisted of various styles and genres of music, its representation in the media "served to depict Seattle as a music 'community' in which the focus was upon the ongoing exploration of one musical idiom, namely grunge". The fashion industry marketed "grunge fashion" to consumers, charging premium prices for items such as knit ski hats and plaid shirts. Critics asserted that advertising was co-opting elements of grunge and turning it into a fad. ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented in a 1993 article, "There hasn't been this kind of exploitation of a subculture since the media discovered hippies in the '60s". Marketers used the "grunge" concept to sell grunge air freshener, grunge hair gel and even CDs of "easy-listening music" called "grunge light". ''The New York Times'' compared the "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing of punk rock, disco, and hip hop music, hip hop in previous years. Ironically the ''New York Times'' was tricked into printing a fake list of slang terms that were supposedly used in the grunge scene; often referred to as the grunge speak hoax. This media hype surrounding grunge was documented in the 1996 documentary ''Hype!
''Hype!'' (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early b ...
''. As mass media began to use the term "grunge" in any news story about the key bands, Seattle scene members began to refer to the term as "the G-word".
A backlash against grunge began to develop in Seattle; in late 1992, Jonathan Poneman said that in the city, "All things grunge are treated with the utmost cynicism and amusement [. . .] Because the whole thing is a fabricated movement and always has been." Grunge and grunge bands received criticism from musicians such as Blur (band), Blur's Damon Albarn, who was quoted saying "fuck grunge" and "The Smashing Pumpkins can kiss my fucking ass" while performing onstage. Many grunge artists were uncomfortable with their success and the resulting attention it brought. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain told Michael Azerrad, "Famous is the last thing I wanted to be." Pearl Jam also felt the burden of success, with much of the attention falling on frontman Eddie Vedder.
Nirvana's follow-up album ''In Utero (album), In Utero'' (1993) featured an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana.
Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...
described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record". Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993, ''In Utero'' topped the ''Billboard'' charts. In 1996, ''In Utero'' was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA. Pearl Jam also continued to perform well commercially with its second album, ''Vs. (Pearl Jam album), Vs.'' (1993). The album sold a record 950,378 copies in its first week of release, topped the ''Billboard'' charts, and outperformed all other entries in the top ten that week combined. In 1993, the grunge band Candlebox released their Candlebox (album), self-titled album, which was certified by the RIAA. In February 1994, Alice in Chains' EP, ''Jar of Flies'' peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart.[Alice in Chains – Billboard 200 chart history](_blank)
billboard.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016. Soundgarden's album ''Superunknown
''Superunknown'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on March 8, 1994, through A&M Records. It is the band's second album with bassist Ben Shepherd, and features new producer Michael Beinhorn. Soundgarden began ...
'', which was also released in 1994, peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA. In 1995, Alice in Chains' Alice in Chains (album), self-titled album became their second number 1 album on the ''Billboard'' 200, and was certified 2× platinum.
At the height of grunge's commercial success in the early 1990s, the commercial success of grunge put record labels on a nationwide search for undiscovered talent to promote. This included San Diego, California-based Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...
, Texas-based Tripping Daisy and Toadies, Paw (band), Paw, Chicago-based Veruca Salt, and Australian band Silverchair, bands whose early work continues to be identified broadly (if not in Seattle itself) as "grunge". In 2014, ''Paste'' ranked Veruca Salt's "All Hail Me" #39 and Silverchair's "Tomorrow" #45 on their list of the 50 best grunge songs of all time. ''Loudwire'' named Stone Temple Pilots one of the ten best grunge bands of all time. Grunge bands outside of the United States emerged in several countries. In Canada, Eric's Trip, the first Canadian band signed by the Sub Pop label, has been classified as grunge[Barclay, Michael; Schneider, Jason; Jack, Ian. ''Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, 1985–1995''. ECW Press, 2011] and Nickelback's debut album was considered to be grunge. Silverchair achieved mainstream success in the 1990s; the band's song "Tomorrow (Silverchair song), Tomorrow" went to number 22 on the Radio Songs (chart), Radio Songs chart in September 1995 and the band's debut album ''Frogstomp'', released in June 1995, was certified 2× platinum by the RIAA in February 1996.
During this period, grunge bands that were not from Seattle were often panned by critics, who accused them of being bandwagon-jumpers. Grunge band Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...
in particular fell victim to this. In a January 1994 ''Rolling Stone'' poll, Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...
was simultaneously voted "Best New Band" by ''Rolling Stone'' readers and "Worst New Band" by the magazine's music critics, highlighting the disparity between critics and fans. Stone Temple Pilots became very popular; their album ''Core
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber
* Core, the central ...
'' was certified 8× platinum by RIAA and their album ''Purple (Stone Temple Pilots album), Purple'' was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA. The British grunge band Bush (British band), Bush released their debut album ''Sixteen Stone'' in 1994. In a review of their second album ''Razorblade Suitcase'', ''Rolling Stone'' criticized the album and called Bush "the most successful and shameless mimics of Nirvana's music". In the book ''Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota'', Chuck Klosterman wrote, "Bush was a good band who just happened to signal the beginning of the end; ultimately, they would become the grunge Warrant (American band), Warrant".
Decline in popularity and end of subculture
A number of factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. Critics and historians do not agree on the exact point that grunge ended. Catherine Strong states that "... at the end of 1993 ... [,] grunge had become unstable, and was entering the first stages of being killed off"; she points out that the "... scene had become so successful" and widely known that "imitators had begun to enter the field".[Strong, Catherine. ''Grunge: Music and Memory''. Routledge, 2016. p.55] ''Paste'' magazine states by 1994, grunge "... was fading fast", with "... Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
retreating from the spotlight as fast as they could; Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
, Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...
and hordes of others were battling horrid drug addictions and struggling for survival." In ''Grunge: Seattle'', Justin Henderson states that the "downward spiral" began in mid-1994, as the influx of major label money into the scene changed the culture and it had "nowhere to go but down"; he states the death of Hole (band), Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff on June 16, 1994, from a heroin overdose, was "another nail in grunge's coffin."
In Jason Heller's 2013 article "Did grunge really matter?", in ''The A.V. Club'', he stated that Nirvana's ''In Utero (album), In Utero'' (September 1993) was "grunge's death knell. As soon as Cobain grumbled, 'Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old,' it was all over." Heller states that after Cobain's death in 1994, the "hypocrisy" in the grunge of the time "became ... glaring" and "idealism became embarrassing", with the result being that "grunge became the new [mainstream] Aerosmith". Heller states that "grunge became an evolutionary dead end", because "it stood for nothing and was built on nothing, and that ethos of negation was all it was about."
During the mid-1990s many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; Nirvana summarily disbanded. After Cobain's death, Bruce Hardy wrote in ''Time'' magazine that he was "the John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
of the swinging Northwest", that he had struggled with a heroin addiction, and claimed that during the last weeks of his life there had been rumors in the music industry that Cobain had suffered a drug overdose and that Nirvana was breaking up. Cobain's suicide "served as a catalyst for grunge's ... demise", because it "... deflated the energy from grunge and provided the opening for saccharine and corporate-formulated music to regain" its lost footing."
That same year Pearl Jam canceled its summer tour in protest of ticket vendor Ticketmaster's unfair business practices. Pearl Jam then began a boycott of the company; however, Pearl Jam's initiative to play only at non-Ticketmaster venues effectively, with a few exceptions, prevented the band from playing shows in the United States for the next three years. In 1996, Alice in Chains gave their final performances with their ailing and estranged lead singer, Layne Staley, who subsequently died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin in 2002. In 1996, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees released their final studio albums of the 1990s, ''Down on the Upside'' and ''Dust (Screaming Trees album), Dust'', respectively. Strong states that Roy Shuker and Stout have written that the "... end of grunge" can be seen as being "... as late as the breakup of Soundgarden in 1997".
Emergence of post-grunge
During the latter half of the 1990s, grunge was supplanted by post-grunge
Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective So ...
, which remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century. Post-grunge "... transformed the thick guitar sounds and candid lyrical themes of the Seattle bands into an accessible, often uplifting mainstream aesthetic". These artists were seen as lacking the underground roots of grunge and were largely influenced by what grunge had become, namely "a wildly popular form of inward-looking, serious-minded hard rock". was a more commercially viable genre that tempered the distorted guitars of grunge with polished, radio-ready production. When grunge became a mainstream genre, major labels started signing bands that sounded similar to these bands' sonic identities. Bands labeled as that emerged when grunge was mainstream such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective Soul all are noted for emulating the sound of the bands that launched grunge into the mainstream.
In 1995, ''SPIN'' writer Charles Aaron stated that with grunge "spent", pop punk in a slump, Britpop a "giddy memory" and album-oriented rock over, the music industry turned to "Corporate[-produced] Alternative", which he calls "soundalike fake grunge" or "scrunge".[Charles, Aaron. "Singles". SPIN. November 1995. p. 131] Bands Aaron lists as "scrunge" groups include: Better Than Ezra; Bush; Collective Soul; Garbage (band), Garbage; Hootie & the Blowfish; Hum (band), Hum; Silverchair; Sponge (band), Sponge; Tripping Daisy; Jennifer Trynin and Weezer; Aaron includes the Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
in his list, but states that Dave Grohl avoided becoming a "scrunge fall gu[y]" by combining 1980s hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...
with 1970s arena trash music in his post-Nirvana group. Bands described as grunge like Bush and Candlebox also have been largely categorized as These two bands became popular after 1992. Other bands categorized as post-grunge that emerged when Bush and Candlebox became popular include Collective Soul and Live (band), Live.
Reaction by Britpop
Conversely, another rock music, rock genre, Britpop, emerged in part as a reaction against the dominance of grunge in the United Kingdom. In contrast to the dourness of grunge, Britpop was defined by "youthful exuberance and desire for recognition". The leading Britpop bands, "Blur (band), Blur and Oasis (band), Oasis existed as reactionary forces to [grunge's] eternal downcast glare." Britpop artists' new approach was inspired by Blur's tour of the United States in the spring of 1992. Justine Frischmann, formerly of Suede (band), Suede and leader of Elastica (and at the time in a relationship with Damon Albarn) explained, "Damon and I felt like we were in the thick of it at that point ... it occurred to us that Nirvana were out there, and people were very interested in American music, and there should be some sort of manifesto for the return of Britishness."
Britpop artists were vocal about their disdain for grunge. In a 1993 ''NME'' interview, Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur (band), Blur agreed with interviewer John Harris (critic), John Harris' assertion that Blur was an "anti-grunge band", and said, "Well, that's good. If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I'm getting rid of grunge" (ironically Kurt Cobain once cited Blur as his favorite band). Noel Gallagher of Oasis (band), Oasis, while a fan of Nirvana, wrote music that refuted the pessimistic nature of grunge. Gallagher noted in 2006 that the 1994 Oasis single "Live Forever (Oasis song), Live Forever" "was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called 'I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,' and I was like ... 'Well, I'm not fucking having that.' As much as I fucking like him [Cobain] and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on heroin, smack [heroin], fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish." In an interview during Pinkpop Festival, Pinkpop Festival 2000, Oasis' Liam Gallagher attacked Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
, who were also performing, criticizing their depressing lyrical content and writing them off as "rubbish".
1997–present: Successors and revivals
Second-wave post-grunge
Following the end of the original grunge movement, post-grunge increased in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s with newer bands such as Creed, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down and Puddle of Mudd. Other bands include Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
, Staind and Matchbox Twenty. These post-grunge artists were criticized for their commercialized sound as well as their "worldview built around the comforts of community and romantic relationships", as opposed to grunge's lyrical exploration of "troubling issues such as suicide, societal hypocrisy and drug addiction." Adam Steininger criticized post-grunge bands' "diluted ditties filled with watered-down lyrics, all seemingly revolving around suffering through romance." Criticizing many bands that have been described as post-grunge, Steininger criticized Candlebox for their "pop-filled" sound, focus on "love lyrics, and writing songs without "versatility and creativity; Three Days Grace for their "diluted" and "radio-friendly music"; 3 Doors Down for focusing on "... snagging hit singles instead of creating quality albums"; Finger Eleven for going in a "pop rock" direction; Bush's "random phrasings of nonsense"; Live (band), Live's "pseudo pop poetry" that "strangled the essence of grunge", Puddle of Mudd's "watered down post-grunge sound"; Lifehouse (band), Lifehouse, for tearing "... down ... grunge's sound and groundbreaking structure to appeal more to the masses"; and Nickelback, which he calls the "featherweight ... punching bags of post-grunge" whose music is "dull as dishwater".
Grunge revivals
Many major grunge bands continued recording and touring with success in the 2000s and 2010s. Perhaps the most notable grunge act of the 21st century has been Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
. In 2006 ''Rolling Stone'' writer Brian Hiatt described Pearl Jam as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame", he noted the band developed a loyal concert following akin to that of the Grateful Dead. They saw a return to wide commercial success with 2006's Pearl Jam (album), ''Pearl Jam'', 2009's ''Backspacer'' and 2013's ''Lightning Bolt (Pearl Jam album), Lightning Bolt''. Alice In Chains reformed for a handful of reunion dates in 2005 with several different vocalists replacing Layne Staley. Eventually settling on William DuVall as Staley's replacement, in 2009 they released ''Black Gives Way to Blue,'' their first record in 14 years. The band's 2013 release, ''The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here'', reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Soundgarden reformed in 2010 and released their album ''King Animal'' two years later which reached the top five of the national albums charts in Denmark, New Zealand, and the United States. Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd joined Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) and Dimitri Coats (Off!) to form side project Ten Commandos in 2016.
Despite Kurt Cobain's death, the remaining members of Nirvana have continued to be successful posthumously. Due to the high sales for Kurt Cobain's ''Journals (Cobain), Journals'' and the band's best-of compilation ''Nirvana (Nirvana album), Nirvana'' upon their releases in 2002, ''The New York Times'' argued Nirvana "are having more success now than at any point since Mr. Cobain's suicide in 1994." This trend has continued through the century's second decade, with the reissuing of the band's discography and release of the authorized documentary ''Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck''. In 2012, the surviving members of Nirvana re-united, with Paul McCartney in place of Cobain, to record a track for the soundtrack Dave Grohl's documentary ''Sound City (film), Sound City'' titled "Cut Me Some Slack".
One of the most successful rock groups of the 21st Century, Queens of the Stone Age, has featured major contributions from various grunge musicians. Josh Homme had briefly played in Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the tim ...
with off-and-on QOTSA member Mark Lanegan, before forming the group. Nirvana's Dave Grohl and Eleven (band), Eleven's Alain Johannes have also provided notable contributions. Homme and Grohl joined with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones to form the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures in 2009. Johannes also performed with the group as a touring member.
In the early 2000s, grunge would make multiple regionally based resurgences, albeit minor ones. In 2005, ''The Seattle Times'' made note of groups returning in the Seattle scene. Similarly, ''The Guardian'' reported of grunge-influenced groups from Yorkshire and the Humber, Yorkshire, including Dinosaur Pile-Up, Pulled Apart by Horses, and Wonderswan (band), Wonderswan. Also, in 2003, the ''New York Times'' noted a resurgence in grunge fashion.
The 2010s have birthed a number of bands influenced by grunge. Unlike their forebears, some of these acts ascribe the label to themselves willingly. Many acts have been noted for affiliating and/or collaborating with prominent figures from the original alternative rock era. Steve Albini has produced for or worked with members of bands such as Bully (band), Bully, Vomitface, and Shannon Wright, while Emma Ruth Rundle of Marriages (band), Marriages has toured with Buzz Osborne
Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept.
Biography
Born in Morton, Was ...
of the Melvins
Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...
. Other notable acts that have been labelled as grunge or as heavily influenced by the grunge era, include Courtney Barnett, Wolf Alice, Yuck (band), Yuck, Speedy Ortiz, the Kut, Mitski, 2:54, False Advertising (band), False Advertising, Slothrust, Baby in Vain, Big Thief, Torres (musician), Torres, Lullwater, and Red Sun Rising.
Media outlets also began referring to a revival of the grunge sound around the mid-2010s, with the label being given to bands such as Title Fight, InCrest, Fangclub, Code Orange (band), Code Orange, My Ticket Home, Citizen (band), Citizen, Milk Teeth and Muskets (band), Muskets, some of which have been described as merging the genre with emo.
Legacy
In 2011, music critic Dave Whitaker wrote, "every generation since the beginning of recorded music has introduced a game-changing genre", from swing music in the 1930s, rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
in the 1950s, punk rock in the 1970s, and then grunge in the 1990s. However, he states "grunge was the last American musical revolution", as no post-grunge generation has introduced a new genre which radically changed the music scene. He states that the "digital revolution" (online music, file sharing, etc.) has meant that there has not been a "... generation-defining genre since grunge", because, for "one genre to so completely saturate the market requires ... a music industry with immense control over the market". In 2016, Rob Zombie stated that grunge caused the death of the "rock star"; he states that unlike previous stars like "Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons and Elton John", who "might as well have been from another fuckin' planet", with grunge the attitude was "[we] need all our rock stars to look just like us."
Bob Batchelor states that the indie record mindset and values in Seattle which provided guidance for the development and emergence of Nirvana and Pearl Jam "... conflicted with the major recording label desire to sell millions of CDs." Batchelor also states that despite grunge musicians' discomfort with the major labels' commercial goals, and the resistance by some key bands to do the promotional activities required by the labels, including music videos, MTV's video programs "... played an instrumental role in making [grunge]" become "... mainstream, since many music fans received their first exposure" on MTV, rather than on local or "niche radio." Gil Troy states that the "... grunge rebellion, like most others" in America's "consumerist" culture, ended up being "commodified, mass-produced, ritualized, and thus sanitized" by major corporations.
In 2011, John Calvert stated that "timing" is the reason why a grunge revival did not happen; he says that the cultural mood of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which inspired the movement, were no longer present. Seattle songwriter Jeff Stetson states that people from the 2010s who are listening to grunge should learn about the "... context and history of how it all came to be" and "... respect for what a truly amazing thing it was that happened here [in Seattle,] because you probably won't see anything like it again." ''Paste'' magazine's Michael Danaher states that the grunge "... movement changed the course of rock 'n' roll, bringing ... tales of abuse and depression" and socially conscious issues" into pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* Pop (Gas al ...
.
Calvert stated that Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has an "iconic place in history" as it had "generation-defining resonance" for Generation X, young people from its era"; he states that "no other band ... made the urge to self-destruct ... as listenable", with "authentic" pain and "disaffection". Calvert also calls the record "chart history's most ferocious, dark and intense" music since early punk rock, and he says it was "heavy when heavy was needed" by young people of that era, "jarr[ing] young America awake" and giving them something to "cling to" in difficult times. A 2017 book stated that grunge "..forever changed the identity of rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
in a way analogous to punk"; moreover, grunge added "introspective" lyrics about "Existentialism, existential authenticity" and "what it means to be Authenticity (philosophy), true to oneself". Grunge's Kurt Cobain has been called the "voice of Generation X", playing the same role for this demographic as Bob Dylan played for 1960s youth and that John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
played for the 1970s generation. Bob Batchelor states that Nirvana was "as important as Elvis or the Beatles."
In 2008, Darragh McManus of ''The Guardian'' states that grunge was not simply a young person's trend or a musical fad; she states that grunge synthesized the key philosophies of the modern era, from "Feminism, liberalism, irony, apathy, cynicism/idealism ..., anti-authoritarianism, [to] wry post-modernism". McManus states that grunge dealt with serious, "weighty" topics, which does not occur often in popular music. McManus stated that for Generation X, grunge was not just music, it was a key cultural influence. Marlen Komar states that Nirvana's success popularized "non-heterosexist", non-binary ways of thinking about "gender and sexuality", emphasized how men and women were alike and promoted progressive political thinking.
When asked about the '90s grunge movement in 2021, Mark Lanegan commented, "It’s not something that was contrived or cooked up around the campfire somewhere. It just happened organically. It’s hard for me to comment, because there’s always great new music and there probably always will be – as long as the sun keeps shining."
See also
* List of grunge bands
* List of grunge albums
* Riot grrrl
References
Bibliography
*
*
*Humphrey, Clark (1999). ''Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story''. Harry N. Abrams. .
*
*Masco, Maire (2015). ''Desperate Times: The Summer of 1981''. Fluke Press. .
*Bruce Pavitt, Pavitt, Bruce (2014). ''SUB POP U.S.A.: The Subterraneanan Pop Music Anthology, 1980–1988'' Bazillion Points. .
*Pavitt, Bruce (2013). ''Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989''. Bazillion Points. .
*Peterson, Charles (1995). ''Screaming Life: A Chronicle of the Seattle Music Scene''. HarperCollins. .
*Prato, Greg (2010). ''Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music''. ECW Press. .
*Tow, Stephen (2011). ''The Strangest Tribe: How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge''. Sasquatch Books. .
{{Authority control
Grunge,
Music of the Pacific Northwest
Alternative rock genres
20th-century music genres
American styles of music
American rock music genres
Music of Seattle
Music of Washington (state)
1980s in Australian music
1990s in Australian music
1980s in American music
1990s in American music
1990s in Canadian music
1990s in British music
1990s fads and trends
Musical subcultures
Generation X
Underground culture
Washington (state) culture