Sites used were:
Wikipedia.org
geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/8578/main2.htm
Sub-pop.com
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Grunge
“Grunge; noun.
1. Chiefly North American. Grime; dirt. 2. A style of rock music characterized by a raucous guitar sound and lazy vocal delivery. 3. A casual style of fashion including loose, layered clothing and ripped jeans.” From askoxford.com
Grunge is an Alternative rock sub-genre that became apparent in the mid 1980’s and gained successful mainstream popularity during the early 1990’s. It originated from the north-west American city of Seattle, Washington.
Features
Grunge is a riff orientated genre with a consistent use of distorted Guitars drawn from 1970’s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Hardcore Punk bands such Black Flag, most of the Seattle bands in Grunge tended to favour either one or the other, with bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drawing more on Heavy Metal whereas bands like Nirvana, The Melvins and Screaming Trees lend more to the Punk Rock sound.
Also used is varying dynamic changes incorporated into the structure of songs, a common example in the genre being having a quiet verse leading to a loud chorus, this style of song writing was derived from Indie Rock; most notably The Pixies. This Indie influence provided a basis of Acoustic guitar based tracks such as “Polly” by Nirvana.
There is also a strong use of guitar feedback, a good example of this is in the intro to Soundgarden’s “Jesus Christ Pose”
The lyrics had there own distinctive styling, generally being quite angst-ridden, callous and aggressive in tone.
Lyrical Content
The lyrical content in Grunge bares a striking resemblance to that of Punk Rock, often having a dark subject matter such as social prejudice, detachment from the world around them, domestic issues and a desire for freedom which was a considerable detachment from the mainstream Rock of the 80’s where Glam Metal was the dominant force, who’s subject matter revolved mainly around Sex, alcohol and drugs. By the late 80’s a clichéd formula in the way these artists were marketed had become apparent, by releasing a Hard-Rock anthem followed by a power ballad. Nirvana; One of the biggest acts in Grunge had a theme of social alienation and disinterest in the music scene as well as the state of society at that time e.g.
“When I was an alien, cultures weren't opinions
Gotta find a wayA better wayWhen I'm mad (there)Gotta find a wayA better wayI better wait”(“Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana)(from nirvana-music.com)
This show’s a sense of Scepticism and mistrust in society at the time.
Influences/Influenced
As I have already stated, Grunge was primarily influenced by Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk.
Black Sabbath were a huge influence on the Grunge sound, they are a four piece band from Birmingham, England and are credited as the inventors of Heavy Metal. The group found their sound when they were rehearsing in a studio across the road from a cinema and guitarist Tony Iommi said that he found it strange that people would pay to go see a horror film to be scared. This inspired them to try and emulate the effect of horror films in their music by using bluesy power chord based riffs on distorted guitars which were often detuned to give a “Heavy” sound. It was purposely dark in response to the pop music of the 1960’s.
Band’s like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains drew heavily on this approach, using distorted guitars and down tuning them to retain the dark sound but dropping the blues influence in favour of a sound more focused on energy. Pearl Jam on the other hand in used this blues element as a basis to create hook laden style in the vain of classic rock as can be heard on their single “Even Flow”.
Another huge influence on Grunge was the hardcore punk act Black Flag.
Black Flag are known to be the first band to be given the title of hardcore punk and featured distorted guitars to create a “Sludgy” sound, as well as utilizing tempo shifts and more complex song structures not featured in that of their Punk rock contemporaries as well as dissonant guitar solos. Their lyrics had a recurring theme of isolation, poverty and mental issues. 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."(Commenting the Black Flag album “My War”)(From Wikipedia.org)
This influence can be heard on nearly all of the albums released from the Seattle bands of the time, from Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” and Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings”
Important albums/singles
Most Grunge acts at one point or another were signed to a local Independent label called Sub Pop, it’s acts have included Nirvana, Soundgarden, Tad, and Green river among others. Releases on this label worth noting are Nirvana’s debut album “Bleach”, Mudhoney’s “Superfuzz Bigmuff” and Soundgarden’s “Screaming life”.
After these albums were released most of the acts on Sub Pop departed for major labels.
The biggest album of the Grunge movement was easily Nirvana’s “Nevermind”.
Released September 24, 1991, it was a surprise hit that had ousted Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” from the top of US album Billboard chart and is regarded as bringing Alternative Rock to the mainstream.
Another pivotal album was Soundgarden’s “Badmotorfinger” which was released October 8, 1991 and was nominated for “Best Metal performance” at the Grammy awards that same year.
Image/fashion
Grunge bands were known to play down image in favour of a straight to the point approach by wearing clothes purchased from charity shops and general outdoor wear. The most famous item of clothing from the Seattle scene was easily the Flannel shirt which was a common site in Seattle’s lumber industry.
Grunge musicians never appeared “presentable”, often appearing on stage with ragged three-quarter length trousers, ripped jeans and un-kempt hair. The musician’s desire was to place emphasis on the music not on the image which was an attitude that was counter to that of the Glam Rock scene of the 80’s.
Relationship between the music and society and culture of the time
When Grunge first hit the mainstream the general populous of America who were born roughly between 1960 and 1965 (making them aged between 20 and 25 during the mid-eighties) had found that they felt that they bore no connection between them and the generation of their parents (who were aged 20-25 in post-war America)aka “The Baby Boomers”. A lot of young people around the Seattle at the time viewed the older generation’s ideas with scepticism and appeared apathetic and disaffected by their values. This generation was dubbed “Generation X” for its lack of identity. Music was simply a way for the musicians to express their feelings and attitude towards the way society was and how they disagreed with it.
1. Chiefly North American. Grime; dirt. 2. A style of rock music characterized by a raucous guitar sound and lazy vocal delivery. 3. A casual style of fashion including loose, layered clothing and ripped jeans.” From askoxford.com
Grunge is an Alternative rock sub-genre that became apparent in the mid 1980’s and gained successful mainstream popularity during the early 1990’s. It originated from the north-west American city of Seattle, Washington.
Features
Grunge is a riff orientated genre with a consistent use of distorted Guitars drawn from 1970’s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Hardcore Punk bands such Black Flag, most of the Seattle bands in Grunge tended to favour either one or the other, with bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drawing more on Heavy Metal whereas bands like Nirvana, The Melvins and Screaming Trees lend more to the Punk Rock sound.
Also used is varying dynamic changes incorporated into the structure of songs, a common example in the genre being having a quiet verse leading to a loud chorus, this style of song writing was derived from Indie Rock; most notably The Pixies. This Indie influence provided a basis of Acoustic guitar based tracks such as “Polly” by Nirvana.
There is also a strong use of guitar feedback, a good example of this is in the intro to Soundgarden’s “Jesus Christ Pose”
The lyrics had there own distinctive styling, generally being quite angst-ridden, callous and aggressive in tone.
Lyrical Content
The lyrical content in Grunge bares a striking resemblance to that of Punk Rock, often having a dark subject matter such as social prejudice, detachment from the world around them, domestic issues and a desire for freedom which was a considerable detachment from the mainstream Rock of the 80’s where Glam Metal was the dominant force, who’s subject matter revolved mainly around Sex, alcohol and drugs. By the late 80’s a clichéd formula in the way these artists were marketed had become apparent, by releasing a Hard-Rock anthem followed by a power ballad. Nirvana; One of the biggest acts in Grunge had a theme of social alienation and disinterest in the music scene as well as the state of society at that time e.g.
“When I was an alien, cultures weren't opinions
Gotta find a wayA better wayWhen I'm mad (there)Gotta find a wayA better wayI better wait”(“Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana)(from nirvana-music.com)
This show’s a sense of Scepticism and mistrust in society at the time.
Influences/Influenced
As I have already stated, Grunge was primarily influenced by Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk.
Black Sabbath were a huge influence on the Grunge sound, they are a four piece band from Birmingham, England and are credited as the inventors of Heavy Metal. The group found their sound when they were rehearsing in a studio across the road from a cinema and guitarist Tony Iommi said that he found it strange that people would pay to go see a horror film to be scared. This inspired them to try and emulate the effect of horror films in their music by using bluesy power chord based riffs on distorted guitars which were often detuned to give a “Heavy” sound. It was purposely dark in response to the pop music of the 1960’s.
Band’s like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains drew heavily on this approach, using distorted guitars and down tuning them to retain the dark sound but dropping the blues influence in favour of a sound more focused on energy. Pearl Jam on the other hand in used this blues element as a basis to create hook laden style in the vain of classic rock as can be heard on their single “Even Flow”.
Another huge influence on Grunge was the hardcore punk act Black Flag.
Black Flag are known to be the first band to be given the title of hardcore punk and featured distorted guitars to create a “Sludgy” sound, as well as utilizing tempo shifts and more complex song structures not featured in that of their Punk rock contemporaries as well as dissonant guitar solos. Their lyrics had a recurring theme of isolation, poverty and mental issues. 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."(Commenting the Black Flag album “My War”)(From Wikipedia.org)
This influence can be heard on nearly all of the albums released from the Seattle bands of the time, from Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” and Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings”
Important albums/singles
Most Grunge acts at one point or another were signed to a local Independent label called Sub Pop, it’s acts have included Nirvana, Soundgarden, Tad, and Green river among others. Releases on this label worth noting are Nirvana’s debut album “Bleach”, Mudhoney’s “Superfuzz Bigmuff” and Soundgarden’s “Screaming life”.
After these albums were released most of the acts on Sub Pop departed for major labels.
The biggest album of the Grunge movement was easily Nirvana’s “Nevermind”.
Released September 24, 1991, it was a surprise hit that had ousted Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” from the top of US album Billboard chart and is regarded as bringing Alternative Rock to the mainstream.
Another pivotal album was Soundgarden’s “Badmotorfinger” which was released October 8, 1991 and was nominated for “Best Metal performance” at the Grammy awards that same year.
Image/fashion
Grunge bands were known to play down image in favour of a straight to the point approach by wearing clothes purchased from charity shops and general outdoor wear. The most famous item of clothing from the Seattle scene was easily the Flannel shirt which was a common site in Seattle’s lumber industry.
Grunge musicians never appeared “presentable”, often appearing on stage with ragged three-quarter length trousers, ripped jeans and un-kempt hair. The musician’s desire was to place emphasis on the music not on the image which was an attitude that was counter to that of the Glam Rock scene of the 80’s.
Relationship between the music and society and culture of the time
When Grunge first hit the mainstream the general populous of America who were born roughly between 1960 and 1965 (making them aged between 20 and 25 during the mid-eighties) had found that they felt that they bore no connection between them and the generation of their parents (who were aged 20-25 in post-war America)aka “The Baby Boomers”. A lot of young people around the Seattle at the time viewed the older generation’s ideas with scepticism and appeared apathetic and disaffected by their values. This generation was dubbed “Generation X” for its lack of identity. Music was simply a way for the musicians to express their feelings and attitude towards the way society was and how they disagreed with it.
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