When people picture grunge, the first few things that spring to mind are black, outsider, flannel, and Doc Martens. When thinking of grunge bands, we typically immediately think of bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney. These early grunge bands all happen to be great ones that emerged out of the growing Seattle scene.
Olympia, the capital of Washington falls within the border of Seattle- the coined birthplace of grunge music. Olympia was known to be the “independent music mecca”, and Olympia’s Evergreen College could be thought of as the equivalent of The Holy Kaaba, the gathering center. (Tow 2011, 45.) Evergreen college was rather liberal, having a radio station that since the 1970’s did not give airtime to the mainstream bands,
…show more content…
Bands would play small spots such as at the Gorilla Room and The Showbox. Many times, sound check was unavailable for the playing bands to rehearse. (Bell 1998, 38) In April of 1988, Bruce Pavitt and Jon Poneman created Sub Pop Records, the first indie label in Seattle with aspirations to reach beyond their region. They acted as any other label, without the high funding. Opting for bands such as Mudhoney, who played loud, distorted, and not too sincerely. Sub Pop was bold and was the first to hype up the term grunge, which was initially used as a joke to describe the type of music of bands that the company signed. (Tow 2011, …show more content…
(Mazullo 2000, 718.) The theme of generational politics is a critical element in understanding the cultural politics of grunge. (733) Those in the generation of grunge were typically referred to being in Generation X. In 1991, Douglas Coupland conceived the term having shared it in his popular book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. He described the generation, born after the baby boomers roughly from the early 1960s to late 1970s, as lacking in ambition, being indecisive with short attention spans, and preoccupied with blaming their parents for America’s political and economic issues. (730) Generation X is not without valid reason to have so much pent up angst, however, as they grew up in Raegan’s America. They were the first generation in which their parents practiced birth control, abortion, and some 40 percent of children were products of divorce. (Losyk 1997,
“Why The Grateful Dead Were the Greatest American Rock Band:, BlogCritics, BlogCritics, 2014, web, 16 April 2014
Drug references, homosexuality, anonymous homosexual encounters, trans gender characters, cultural/sexual identity, a father’s sexual abuse towards his cross dressing son, place, and swearing are the elements in Loaded, besides the swearing and drug references none of these elements are in grunge music. What exactly makes it grunge? Grunge music is about freedom, being free to do what you want, social discomforts, and social observations/commentary. Loaded on the other hand are 151 pages of subtle complaining since it is difficult to recall him liking anything. The lead character Ari is torn between his cultural and sexual identity, hates conformity, the consumption of drugs to get out of his hated reality, use of music when he has no drugs, coming up with narrow-minded conclusions based on generalizations, and lack of future direction which all doesn’t sound very grunge.
Woodstock became a symbol for a whole generation by the coming together of the political environment, the pop culture, and the current events of the time. The ‘baby boomers’ were searching for ways to separate themselves from their parents’ generation and see themselves as a more loving, compassionate, tolerant group of people. Woodstock came at a time of the youths desperation for authority and gave them beliefs they could live with. They wanted to revolt against the political chaos that they had been enduring during this memorable decade, and Woodstock was a symbol of this for the youth.
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.
In this essay I will talk about the music in the 60's, noteworthy that in some cases I will compare some situations with the Latino-American situation, I know is has nothing to do with the topic, but who is the guy who is writing in this sheet of paper? ME, Is my essay and I will write what I want (This is an example of Freedom Of Expression, we will see it more on that later)
Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam, Alternative Grunge bands from the 90s, were very influential to today’s bands. Grunge music started in the early 90s, mainly from the Seattle scene. Metallica, Kiss, and even Led Zeppelin helped make alternative music start. Although these bands were very famous in the 90s, many of them suffered from substance abuse and even depression. After years of being famous some bands split completely, some formed new bands with members in other bands, and even some stayed together and play together today. All bands believed that people should be able to afford music and listen to what they enjoy, not what other people want you to listen to. Bands from the 90s have influenced some of
...le genres of music have been accused of selling out during the 80's Heavy Metal and Glam Rock were fused by bands such as Motley Crue and Poison to make Glam Metal which hardcore metal fans hated as it was not deemed authentic due to its over the top and feminine feel.
As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the American way of life.
There are many artists and bands that started the punk scene in the late 1970's and the 1980's. These bands include The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Patti Smith, Velvet Underground, NOFX, Dead Kennedy's, Iggy Pop, and MC5 (or Motor...
In the isolated city of Seattle during the mid 1980's a new sound and attitude was developing. Although it didn't yet have a coined term it would later become know as Grunge, "originally a tounge-in cheek term for the pungent guitar noise propagated by the cultish independent label Sub Pop" ("Grunge"). This mix of 70's metal and early 80's punk blasted into mainstream America and brought the hard rock sound of the 70's back to life, but the sudden, unexpected and to some unwanted, fame and popularity would prove to much for it and like so many pop culture movements before, it would fade away under the pressure("History").
Seventies punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug use. This was often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism an...
To many Rock musicians who have helped popularize Rock in the more modern era, they describe rock as having a blues genre mixed in it. It is characterized as music with heavy beats and melodies when it first started to come up. It is also described as Black Rhythm, blues, and country white music. These bands usually consist of a guitar, drums, bass, and keyboard or their instrument that gives Rock it’s uniqueness. It is generally based on twelve-bar blues, and the first and third beats are heavily accented.
It was no coincidence that rock ‘n’ roll and the civil rights movement started at the same time. The genre originated from African American music and was greatly discriminated against. Traditional white Americans would target anything bad about it. But as the teenager demographic of the 1950s started increasing the sales of the music, the genre started gaining more popularity. It was the style of Elvis Presley and his new voice that made girls weak in the knees and boys want to be him. Artists such as Presley had enough influence to change the view of their devoted fans on civil rights issues. Soon as protest songs and rock ‘n’ roll became more popular and influential, it began a gap between the young adult generation and their parents which led to the rebellion of the civil rights movement. Through these factors rock ‘n’ roll influenced a great deal over the civil rights movement.
90’s was separated from bands like Nirvana who changed the scene of the rock industry
In this essay, I'm going to introduce to the reader a topic not touched a