History of Rock and Roll
There possibly isn't an album in history that is as genre defining as Nirvana's Nevermind. Released in 1991, it single handedly was responsible for the birth of what became to be known as grunge and has gone on to sell over 10 million copies in the United States alone (Stuessy, Joe). It reached number 1 in 1991 and was the first album to bring Seattle grunge to the mainstream audience (Stuessy, Joe). Nevermind is a mix of slow, dark songs and fast paced grunge rock songs. With its grinding guitars, pounding drums, and lead singer, Kurt Cobain's distinctive voice, Nevermind found a distinctive way to fuse alternative punk with 70's rock (Nirvana, Nevermind).
The biggest influential song on Nirvana’s Nevermind album was the first song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It reached number 6 on the Top 40 Charts. This song was groundbreaking for Nirvana and the alternative music scene as a whole. After the release of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” white, middle-class youth of the United States finally had a style of music to call their own and express their “teenage anthems” (Stuessy, Joe). This was the first song to emerge from alternative rock and to be known in the mainstream of rock and roll, expressing their generation’s expectations, “...here we are now, entertain us”(Stuessy, Joe). “Smells like Teen Spirit” was Curt Cobain’s “attempt to write the ultimate pop song”(Nevermind, Nirvana). He used the soft-loud dynamics of his favorite band, the Pixies. The insidious hooks also showed his admiration for the Beatle’s John Lennon(Nevermind, Nirvana). The style used in this song is simple, plain, loud, and straight-forward. Musically, there is nothing very “innovative” or difficult. However, the reason it is important to rock history is because it brought America’s attention to the once before underground style of grunge. “A driving drum beat, powered by Novelsek’s rhythmic bass, and a memorable guitar riff and solo, mix perfectly with Kurt Cobain’s depressing yet humorous lyrics” (Kastner, Patrick). While it has certainly been overplayed in the past years, it is still an essential part of Rock history.
“Come As You Are” and “Polly” showcase that Nirvana were not only a band interested in seeing people jump up and down and scream at shows. Many people, fans and celebrities alike consider “Polly” to be Kurt Cobain’s most well written song. “Polly”, number six, is a story of a girl who got molested and tortured and sexually abused.
He’s been called everything from the “The Mayor,” to the “The G-Don” but anyone associated with entertainment here in New Jersey; specifically the Jersey Shore music scene, should know who Gordon Brown is. Whether you've heard about his major label accomplishments thru bands such as Mr. Reality or Highway 9, or you’ve spent an evening watching one of your favorite acoustic artist at The Count Basie theater or Monmouth University, he has affected your musical experiences thru his business savvy and compositional skills, helping to create new outlets for some of New Jerseys best performers while coming up with events such as Writers In The Raw and The Wave Gathering Music Festival.
The main character is a boy named Ledge. In the book when someone turns 13 they will receive a special power called a Savvy. When Ledge received his Savvy, he was hoping he could impress his father by gaining the power to run really fast. Later he found out he gained the power to build and destroy objects. He was really disappointed and only thought of his father. Later he learned that running isn’t what he wanted to do, and learned that he can use his Savvy for good. He found he is a great sculptor and he can create great works of art. Ledge didn’t discover he could build at first. He thought he could only break things. He discovered he could fix things when Ledge and his cousin took his cousin’s car
This is probably one of my favourite CD’s of all time. It has so many of Nirvana’s greatest hits. I think (and I’m probably the only one) that Nirvana is a lot like Marilyn Manson in many ways. They completely created a new genre, and have the largest modern cult followings. Nirvana totally brought grunge to the world, and Manson brought us Alternative Music.
The Rock album I have chosen is “Dookie” by Green Day. This album was released in February 1st, 1994 by Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California or Reprise Records in New York. Green Day's band members include Billie Joe Armstrong (Guitar and Vocalist), Tre Cool (Drums), Mike Dirnt (Bass), Jason White (Guitar), and Al Sobrante (Drums.) The main composers of this album was the band Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt as the main composers. The engineers were Neill King and Casey McCrankin. The producer was Rob Cavallo. This album is 39 minutes and 40 seconds long and has 15 songs. The songs are as follows: “Burnout,” “Having A Blast,” “Chump,” “Longview,” “Welcome To Paradise,” “Pulling Teeth,” “Basket Case,” “She,” “Sassafras Roots,” “When I Come Around,” “Coming Clean,” Emenius Sleepus,” “In The End,” “F.O.D,” and finally “All By Myself.” The song “All By Myself is a 'secret' song that was added at the every end, only if you heard the whole album, past the silence. The album has sold about 15 to 20 million of sales to date. This is the album that allowed Green Day to gain super star fame.
Each person brings a special quality and gift to life that creates an individualistic style to the world that we live in. The poem Perfection Wasted was written by John Updike in the year 1990; this poem accentuates the flair that can never be replaced when a loved one dies. One way to better understand a poem is to paraphrase it into your own words. Paraphrase of Perfection Wasted:
Cooling by Tori Amos Tori Amos is an unabashedly truthful songwriter and singer who builds her lyrics on personal experiences, uncertainties concerning religion and faith, and an undying desire to get in touch with her inner self. Amos’ song “Cooling” is a biography of one woman’s life from childhood to death, and ultimately the heroic journey for purity. The first stanza of “Cooling” begins with Amos referring to the death of Speed Racer, a cartoon character. This image is essential in creating a childlike innocence shattered by the semi-realistic microcosm of adolescence.
Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the infamous band Nirvana was discovered outside of his Seattle home three days after his death by Garry Smith on April 8, 1994. While Cobain’s official death certificate reads suicide, many theories have cropped up over the years that claim to explain neglected attributes to the original case.
Our entire lives have been shaped by the events happening around us. Along with us many factors in our day to day lives have evolved too, including musical genre. One such genre is rock. Rock is a genre for the youth, by the youth, it has evolved to stay with the times and stand up for what’s right. In this essay I will prove why rock is a good example to show how genre has been defined, maintained, constructed and negotiated through the past 60-70 years since the very first Proto Rock song came out.
Although the style of ‘Rock music’ is easily adaptable to many different sounds, it is still thoroughly identified by its definingly amplified rhythm. The sudden worldwide popularity of rock and roll resulted in an unparalleled social impact. Rock ‘n’ Roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language in a way few other social developments have equaled. The social impact is so large that rock stars are worshipped worldwide. In its early years, many adults condemned the style of music, placing a stigma on its name, and forbid their children from listening and following its ways.
Kurt Cobain was at the peak of his career when it all came crashing down. Nirvana was the new band that everyone liked. But it all changed the night Cobain’s body was found in his Washington home. Everyone originally thought it was suicide. But was it really? Looking back on his death more and more people are arguing everyday if it was suicide or homicide.
Kurt Cobain the singer and guitarist of the 90s band Nirvana which was an alternative rock band from 1988 to 1994. Cobain was born in the town of Aberdeen Washington. Aberdeen is a rural white trash town that borders Seattle the birth place of “Grunge”. Before them at record stores there were special sections for alternative music, they popularized it. However many grunge bands were around such as Mud Honey and The Melvins.
The late 1970s gave birth to a punk culture that further distended into an evolution of the genre during the mid-1980s, particularly in Seattle, USA. A punk inspired movement called grunge became internationally recognized after Nirvana’s debut release album ‘Nevermind’, in 1995. Grunge gained a mass recognition for its punk ideology, attire and music, which stemmed further away, and was in itself a rejection to the mainstream metal and pop boom in the music industry of that time. Grunge incorporated a fusion of cultural and social threads that linked themes like feminism, liberalism, anti-authoritarianism, wry post-modernism, and not least a love of dirty, abrasive music; grunge reconciled all these into a seminal whole. (Standard grunge definition, Internet source)
Rock ‘n’ roll and 20th Century Culture According to Philip Ennis, rock ‘n’ roll emerged from the convergence of social transformations which resulted from World War II (Ryan 927). Despite its pop culture origins, rock music is arguably one of the strongest cultural factors to develop in this century. Artists such as Lennon, McCartney and Dylan defined the emotions of a generation and, in the last decade, it as even been acknowledged by members of the establishment which it hoped to change as a major influence in the country. In order to understand how rock went from a sign of rebellion to a cultural icon, it is necessary to understand where it came from.
This article demonstatres how important Kurt Cobain was both as a rock and roll icon and a philosopher. His songs which he recorded himself are still popular today, over 20 years after his death. The author argues how Cobain influences other young artists and his effect on the direction of the music industry.
Punk has played such a significant role in my life, then as a teenager now as a not teenager. My politics, my interactions, the way I view the world; have all been shaped by punk. It was the late 70’s; I was a teenager who just didn’t feel like I fit in. There was a group of us who couldn’t look at the world around us with optimism. We hung out together, discovering music, books, fashion and ourselves. We shopped at thrift stores and dyed our hair in an effort to recognize each other. Do you see that kid with the purple hair coming towards you, wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket, that style is his nametag, his calling card. If you saw him, you knew he probably felt as alienated as you did, he in all probability listened to the same music, went to the same places. “What people don’t understand is when punk started it was so innocent and not aware of being looked at or being a phenomenon and that’s what everyone gets wrong. You can’t consciously create something that’s important, it’s a combination of chemistry, conditions, the environment, everything.”- Siouxsie Sioux, singer/songwriter, formerly of Siouxsie and the Banshees.