Grunge!!!!

[skibum1321]

Since we have all of the music threads going, I decided to dedicate one to my favorite - Grunge. Some of the bands have been touched in the hard rock thread, but as Riverc0il (I think it was him) pointed out, Grunge is its own category all together. What are you favorite bands/albums from back in the day?

Grunge Bands (prob forgetting some): AIC, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, Toadies, Sponge, Candlebox, Blind Melon, Better than Ezra

Derivatives of Grunge: Foo Fighters, Days of the New, Silverchair

 

[Mike P.]

PJ & AIC, favorite three songs, Rooster, Alive & Hunger Strike

 

[skibum1321]

Hunger Strike

It's one of your favorite songs and you don't even list the band that sung it?

It's Temple of the Dog btw

 

[Marc]

Did you know that Cornell was actually supposed to handle lead vocal for Hunger Strike but was written too low for him, which is why they worked with Vedder at all.




My favorite song to come from that group is still Say Hello 2 Heaven. Just superb.


Soundgarden will always be at the top of my grunge list with AIC and PJ not far behind as well as Mad Season and Candlebox.




And let's not forget Hum for bringing us "Stars" either...

 

[riverc0il]

i am impressed that other folks list candlebox. i still listen to their first album often, not sure if i would call them grunge even though they got caught up in that scene. they are so much more of a straight forward rock with blues incorporated to my ears. the first album kicked it, after that they really blew chunks. AIC dirt is in my opinion the defining grunge album. i love soundgarden but i don' think they really left a lasting mark. pearl jam is the only grunge band that stood the test of time. i was not a big PJ fan until their later albums starting with vitalology and i really appreciated their sound more once matt from SG teamed up with them, matt is such a great drummer with so many off beat hits, i love that stuff.

a lot of people put nirvana at the top of the grunge pyramid, but eh... it doesn't have the replayability. nirvana is one of the few 90s bands i just can't listen to any more, completely played out and hyped out. i absolutely hate the foo fighters too, so that doesn't help out much even though the sound is completely different.

 

[Marc]

Anyone listened to Mudhoney's new album? I believe they released a new one early March.

I, like most people I know, like their first album best, but I think they've always turned out solid stuff. Not spectacular, but solid.

Also, and I've been looked at like I have three heads for saying this before, but I think Three Doors Down has a noticeable grunge influence.

*Prepares to dodge rotten fruit*

 

[awf170]

a lot of people put nirvana at the top of the grunge pyramid, but eh... it doesn't have the replayability. nirvana is one of the few 90s bands i just can't listen to any more, completely played out and hyped out. i absolutely hate the foo fighters too, so that doesn't help out much even though the sound is completely different.

Nirvana has to one of the most overated bands ever. Out of the major grunge bands I would say they are the worst. My favorate is AIC, then soundgarden in second.

 

[riverc0il]

*Prepares to dodge rotten fruit*

*aims to throw carefully aimed rotten fruit at marc*

Nirvana has to one of the most overated bands ever.

*throws said rotten fruit not so carefully at austin*

over played yes, but over rated? although the seattle scene was well on its way when "smells like teen spirit" first hit MTV, it can be argued that nirvana was the beginning of grunge and was hugely influential on a LOT of people. kurt cobain has a legit placement amongst the best stars that rock n roll'd themselves to death including presley, morrison, staley, bonham, etc. each hugely influential to music during their generations but terrible chemical dependance ended their lives tragically. i would put nirvana amongst the top 20 most influential bands of all time without question.

 

[NYDrew]

Oh Austin, how the young is so mislead. (not that I can talk, only have maybe 6 years on you) Nirvana is one of the greatest bands of my generation. Right up there with metallica and Green Day (yeah, so the latter two still play...but their old stuff so out rocks the new stuff)

I agree with steve, over played but not over rated. And they are definately the MOST influential band of generation X/Y. I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out Kirk Cobain died. (on an overnight feild trip with my 5th grade class, we just arrived and was getting off the bus when the only other real Nirvana fan pulled me off to the side cause she just heard it on the radio, it was just before 11AM)

 

[kickstand]

And they are definately the MOST influential band of generation X/Y. I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out Kirk Cobain died. (on an overnight feild trip with my 5th grade class, we just arrived and was getting off the bus when the only other real Nirvana fan pulled me off to the side cause she just heard it on the radio, it was just before 11AM)

15 years later, I am still struggling with WHY Nirvana was the most influential grunge band of the 1990's. I was a freshman in college when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out. Great song, great album, great timing. Personally, I think Kurt Cobain did a better job of playing the loner rock star - or whatever the gimmick was - than Eddie Vedder. I thought Pearl Jam was far superior musically and, from the clips I heard, in concert.

Nirvana had 2 studio albums (I'm not counting "Bleach", since no one knew who they were until "Nevermind"). "Nevermind" and "Ten" - flip a coin for best album. After that, I thought PJ blew them away. "Vs." was definitely better than "In Utero", and then it was pretty much over for Nirvana. Cobain - and Nirvana - was dead by 1994. Nirvana's entire mainstream music career was shorter than my undergrad program.

The sad thing is, much of Nirvana's music never really made to album. Now you're hearing about all these compilations of unreleased recordings and such. They had tons of stuff in the vault ("Outcesticide" alone is 5 albums), most of which I bet is better than what had already made it to album.

One other note about Nirvana - everyone sings the praises of Kurt Cobain and what a great songwriter and musician he was. I wonder if it was him or Dave Grohl who really made things run, or if Cobain was holding back Grohl. Grohl has done quite well in little band called Foo Fighters.

 

[Npage148]

I dont know if the Toadies are really grunge but i love them.

AIC tops it for grunge for me. My brother listened to it non stop when we were both in school

Ill agree with Austin, nirvana is a overrated, overplayed and over praised

 

[riverc0il]

what ever your personal feelings towards nirvana, take an analytical look at the musical landscape that followed and it is impossible to argue that they are over rated, regardless of musical quality which has nothing to do with good music that excites people. take a look at the sex pistols for instance. sid vicious is perhaps the worst guitar player to ever play on an album that sold millions of copies. does his musicianship detract from the fact that the sex pistols were hugely influential? heck no. any one that believes musicianship has anything to do with being highly rated or influential need only turn on the radio and tune the dial to any frequency playing pop music. most rock bands are comprised of horrible musicianship; however, many still make very energetic, meaningful, and influential recordings that inspire other people. as i mentioned in my first post on this topic, i can't listen to nirvana any more, way played out. that doesn't detract from the influence that they band had.

 

[awf170]

what ever your personal feelings towards nirvana, take an analytical look at the musical landscape that followed and it is impossible to argue that they are over rated, regardless of musical quality which has nothing to do with good music that excites people. take a look at the sex pistols for instance. sid vicious is perhaps the worst guitar player to ever play on an album that sold millions of copies. does his musicianship detract from the fact that the sex pistols were hugely influential? heck no. any one that believes musicianship has anything to do with being highly rated or influential need only turn on the radio and tune the dial to any frequency playing pop music. most rock bands are comprised of horrible musicianship; however, many still make very energetic, meaningful, and influential recordings that inspire other people. as i mentioned in my first post on this topic, i can't listen to nirvana any more, way played out. that doesn't detract from the influence that they band had.

So what your saying is that a band cannot be overated or underated?

 

[kickstand]

what ever your personal feelings towards nirvana, take an analytical look at the musical landscape that followed and it is impossible to argue that they are over rated, regardless of musical quality which has nothing to do with good music that excites people. take a look at the sex pistols for instance. sid vicious is perhaps the worst guitar player to ever play on an album that sold millions of copies. does his musicianship detract from the fact that the sex pistols were hugely influential? heck no. any one that believes musicianship has anything to do with being highly rated or influential need only turn on the radio and tune the dial to any frequency playing pop music. most rock bands are comprised of horrible musicianship; however, many still make very energetic, meaningful, and influential recordings that inspire other people. as i mentioned in my first post on this topic, i can't listen to nirvana any more, way played out. that doesn't detract from the influence that they band had.

to me, that makes it even more sad that people were actually putting Kurt Cobain that high up on a pedestal. Sure, they were writing about things that people could relate to, but so were a dozen or two other bands out there. Sure, I think it was tragic/sad/whatever that he committed suicide, but let's face it, this was not John Lennon getting assassinated. How come Gen X/Yer's weren't in such mourning when Shannon Hood died of an overdose? Similar situation, although Blind Melon came along a couple years after Nirvana, but similar thing - 2 albums, lots of exposure, unlimited potential....but it was a by-line on MTV News.

As much as I love the music I listened to in college, I think it's sad that he was our "spokesman". I give Nirvana the band credit for helping to usher in a new genre of music, but when I look at the way people revered Cobain, it almost makes me sick.

 

[riverc0il]

blind mellon did not even get close to the level as nirvana. you really can't even compare the two bands. i wouldn't call kurt cobain our "spokesman." i don't really think Gen X had a spokesperson, no one was motivated to do that... not with the generation of apathy.

austin, a band can be over rated or under rated, absolutely. i disagree 100% that nirvana is over rated though based on the impact they had on many people and upcoming musicians and on the field of music in general. grunge might have died in seattle without nirvana, who knows? their impact can not be understated however.

 

[dmc]

Going to see PearlJam next week.. Psyched!

 

[dmc]

Ill agree with Austin, nirvana is a overrated, overplayed and over praised

I love Nirvana... An amazing band... But you youngins gotta understand what was going on musically at the time.. MTV had it's grip on the music world and the "hairbands" were pushing out those friggin "power ballads".. The modern hard rock music scene was in a spandex induced power slide...

And then came Nirvana.. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... A breath of fresh air.... And soon the hair metal was replaced by grunde and not a moment too soon...

 

[kickstand]

blind mellon did not even get close to the level as nirvana. you really can't even compare the two bands. i wouldn't call kurt cobain our "spokesman." i don't really think Gen X had a spokesperson, no one was motivated to do that... not with the generation of apathy.

but that's exactly what Cobain was considered - the "spokesman", a "posterchild" for my generation, much moreso than Eddie Vedder was. A drug addict who commited suicide after having a child with his psycho wife - yeah, I want HIM speaking for my generation. And I don't know if I'd call it a generation of apathy. Without Gen-Xer's, we wouldn't be participating on web sites and internet forums such as this.

a few posts back you put Layne Staley in the same catergory as Elvis, Jim Morrison and Jason Bonham. THAT is a wee bit of a stretch. You're grouping him in with arguably the greatest entertainer, greatest American songwriter and greatest drummer in the history of music. I can think of a few dozen musicians to put in that group before Layne Staley. He's just another rocker who gets lumped into a group like that because he's dead.

As for Blind Melon, their first album was great. The second album, I've only heard select songs from, but I enjoyed the ones I heard. The comparison was meant from this standpoint - new grunge band, very successful first album, solid second effort, showing a lot of promise and then the lead singer turns up dead. Sure, Nirvana had more success, but the general scenario was the same.

 

[NYDrew]

Blind Melon - Lame (just like smashing pumpkins)

Pearl Jam - Amazing...even more impressed by their predictions made in the song Jeremy. If you don't know what I'm talking about...listen real hard to the lyrics. The story is obvious...and what is foresaw is very accurately depicted.

Foo Fighter.. yeah, when I wrote my first post, I was thinking that myself. How does D.G. figure into the Nirvana equation after establishing himself with the Foo Fighter.

 

[riverc0il]

but that's exactly what Cobain was considered - the "spokesman", a "posterchild" for my generation, much moreso than Eddie Vedder was. A drug addict who commited suicide after having a child with his psycho wife - yeah, I want HIM speaking for my generation. And I don't know if I'd call it a generation of apathy. Without Gen-Xer's, we wouldn't be participating on web sites and internet forums such as this.

my generation too my man. i just didn't see cobain speaking for it. though the internet technology was invented by our fathers, the first real TCP/IP wide area network was launched when i was only five years old. i have gen x'er friends that worked in IT during the 'tech bomb.' their idea of work back then was showing up at 10am, taking a 2 hour lunch break to go to the mall, and leaving early around 2 or 3pm. they never really did much of anything to apply the tech knowledge they acquired. reality bites wasn't too far off the mark.