What is Grunge?
Is it dead?
We already know you think Nirvana is an overrated band, and in the late 80s and early 90s the Grunge style dominated the music charts, surprising considering the "underground" sound of most productions.
Basic concepts
- Metal, Alternative Rock and Punk’s child: Grunge is what you get if you ever wanted to mix alternative rock’s characteristics, metal’s violent sound and punk’s attitude.
- Simple and repetitive melodies: If we listen closely to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and various hits of the genre, we’ll notice that the melodies aren’t complicated nor presumptuous, they go straight to the point and could even be considered minimalist.
- Attitude: Just like Punk, grunge had an anti-system and anti-opulence attitude, characterized by a search for identity by going against trends, which led to anarchic attitudes. Bands didn’t have flashy stages, they often looked for simple ones as they considered they were more in tune with their philosophy
- “Underground” sound: Although many records ended up having high production standards, the sound and concept sought was intimate and homemade. Ironically, grunge dominated a lot of the early nineties’ charts.
- Distorted Guitars: Great contrasts between verses and backing vocals like Nirvana were thanks to the guitars’ distortion. Fuzz pedals caused extreme saturation in the signal to add harmony, but sacrificing clarity.
- Sensitive lyrics: A contrast with metal’s sexual victories, narcissism and endless parties flaunting. Grunge composers opened their hearts, their fears, and exposed their weaknesses. Sometimes with violence, other times with humor.
- Seattle: Strangely enough, this city was the movement’s cradle, as many successful bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains came out of there.
- Meaning: The word Grunge is an English slang for dirty.
- It's probably dead and it’s been a while since: Unless there is some top-secret underground band who can bring the genre back from the grave, grunge is metaphorically and literally dead. The most important vocalists such as Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell and Scott Weiland, who gave grunge its style, have sadly passed away. Fortunately, Pearl Jam is still relatively active.
Harmony
There was a deep search for new sounds in Grunge tracks. Perhaps the best way to classify them would be with a modal harmony, since they generally avoided commercial music patterns. But then again, they sometimes threw out the window whatever harmony knowledge they had and let themselves be carried away by their guts to compose their songs. As we mentioned earlier, there were great contrasts between the sections of a song, both in sound and harmony. They could even have opposite riffs in the same piece.
Stone Temple Pilots -Plush :
Common assemblies
· Lead vocal, electric bass, 2 electric guitars and drums: A well-balanced ensemble, since having 2 electric guitars offers more energy when distorting, and adds harmonic support for instrumental sections.
· Voice (instrumentalist), electric guitar, bass and drums: Nirvana's power trio, but it wasn’t unusual to see them using an extra guitarist on live performances.
Nirvana – Live At The Paramount 1991:
· Voice, electric guitars, bass and drums: The Alice In Chains lineup.
Alice in Chains (Live) – From The Archives:
Prominent subgenera
Post Grunge: Late nineties’ genre that sought to emulate certain grunge characteristics, but with a clearer sound. Foo Fighters and Bush are post grunge
Foo Fighters – I’ll Stick Around:
Nu Metal: A genre that arose from fusing grunge, heavy metal, rap, alternative rock and funk. Its boom lasted from the late nineties to the early 2000s. Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Sevendust are big names in the genre.
Famous Grunge Artists
Nirvana:
Pearl Jam:
Alice In Chains:
Stone Temple Pilots:
What grunge bands do you like? Tell us about them!
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunge
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-grunge
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu_metal
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