Grunge Music

1
Grunge Music

• Late 1980s Early 1990s

2
The Grunge scene

• Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle
  Sound) is a subgenre of alternative rock that
  emerged during the mid-1980s in the US state of
  Washington, particularly in the Seattle area.
  Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie
  rock, grunge is generally characterized by
  heavily distorted electric guitars, and apathetic
  or angst-filled lyrics.

3

• The early grunge movement coalesced around
  Seattle independent record label Sub Pop in the
  late 1980s. Grunge became commercially successful
  in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the
  release of Nirvanas Nevermind and Pearl Jams
  Ten. The success of these bands boosted the
  popularity of alternative rock and made grunge
  the most popular form of hard rock music at the
  time. However, many grunge bands were
  uncomfortable with this popularity. Although most
  grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by
  the late 1990s, their influence continues to
  impact modern rock music.

4
Where it started

• The road had been opened in the late 1980s by
  Seattle bands Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Melvins and
  Mudhoney, with four distinctive styles.
• Many used grunge as a descriptive term rather
  than a genre term, but it eventually came to
  describe the punk/metal hybrid sound of the
  Seattle music scene.
• Hype video

5
Characteristics

• Grunge is generally characterized by a sludgy
  guitar sound that uses a high level of
  distortion, fuzz and feedback effects. Grunge
  fuses elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal.
• The music shares with punk a raw sound and
  similar lyrical concerns. However, it also
  involves much slower tempos and dissonant
  harmonies.

6
Lyrics

• Lyrics are typically angst-filled, often
  addressing themes such as social alienation,
  apathy, confinement, and a desire for freedom. 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.

7
Live shows

• Grunge bands rejected the complex and high budget
  presentations of many musical genres, including
  the use of complex light arrays, pyrotechnics,
  and other visual effects unrelated to playing the
  music.
• concerts did involve a level of interactivity
  fans and musicians alike would participate in
  stage diving, crowd surfing, headbanging, and
  moshing.

8
Nirvana

• For a while, it seemed there were nothing but
  grunge bands Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains,
  Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Green River, Screaming
  Trees-- and virtually all of them hailed from
  Seattle.
• Nirvana, with their flannel overshirts and ripped
  jeans and greasy hair, would be lumped in with
  the movement.

9

• Nirvana songs dont have all the actual
  attributes of true grunge music. Grunge, as we
  came to know it through MTV and commercial
  alternative radio, consisted of craggy and/or
  heavily reverbed, jangly guitars, mumbling
  ponytailed vocalists, and giant stadium drums.
• Nirvana are, a decade later, still regarded as
  the greatest and most legendary band of the
  1990s. This band proved to a whole new generation
  that technical prowess has no bearing on quality,
  inspired their fans to seek out the music that
  slipped beneath the commercial radar

10

• In September 1991, the band released its major
  label debut, Nevermind. The album was at best
  hoped to be a minor success on par with Sonic
  Youth's Goo, which Geffen had released a year
  previous. 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.
• 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.
• Live Sold Out Tonight video

11
The Smashing Pumpkins

• Out of Chicago also came the only hard-rocking
  band that could compete with the popularity of
  Seattle's grunge the Smashing Pumpkins
• Siamese Dream (1993) gave the idea psychological
  depth and dramatic emphasis languid melodies
  were delivered in a neurotic register by Billy
  Corgan while James Iha's guitar screeched a wall
  of noise.

12
Australian Grunge

• Notable Australian albums of grunge included
  Magic Dirts Friends In Danger (1997), and
  Silverchair's Frogstomp (1995)

13
Seattle Grunge

• Alice in Chains
• Blood Circus
• Green River
• Gruntruck
• Hammerbox
• Love Battery
• Mad Season
• Malfunkshun
• Melvins
• Mono Men
• Mother Love Bone

• Mudhoney
• My Sister's Machine
• Nirvana
• Pearl Jam
• Screaming Trees
• Skin Yard
• Soundgarden
• Tad
• Temple of the Dog
• Truly
• The U-Men