Grunge music

From ArticleWorld

Grunge music is an alternative genre of rock inspired by punk, heavy metal and indie rock sounds. It was the music that defined Generation X and differentiated the 1990's from the 1980's musically. The bands that helped put the genre on the map are known as the big four of grunge; Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Originally popularized in the Pacific Northwest, it came to be known as the Seattle Sound.

Roots

Grunge music is most known for its dirty guitar, heavy riffs and powerful drumming. For the dirty sound, guitar distortion and feedback was used. In addition, the lyrics to most of the songs were angst ridden. Anger and frustration were common themes throughout. This is a possible reason as to why the style became so popular, teenagers could relate. In addition, depression, sadness and fear are elements that were explored within the lyrics of the genre. The genre was said to have been created in 1983 by a band called Green River. The hard sound of the music is what typifies grunge music though that changed with Nirvana who opted for a softer verse with a hard chorus sound.

Mainstream

In 1991, with the release of the album Nevermind, Nirvana unconsciously brought grunge to mainstream America. The success of the album and subsequent videos caught on and made way for more bands to be successful. Pearl Jam, interestingly, had released their debut album Ten 10 months prior to the release of Nevermind. It was then that sales picked up. Grunge was embraced largely due to the decline of the metal hair bands of the 80's. The media seemed to focus on the clothing of grunge bands: flannels, t-shirts, thermals and jeans. No one seemed to remember that the climate of the Pacific Northwest was the cause for such outdoorsy clothing. In addition, most of the grunge bands didn't make much money in the beginning and wore what was warm and affordable. Retailers began to produce grunge inspired clothing at high prices. Such superficiality bothered grunge purists but mainstream fans embraced the style.

End of an era

Most grunge fans note the end of grunge came in 1997 when the band Soundgarden broke up. Many attribute the decline to the fact that many grunge bands were so against mainstream influences that they never had a chance of lasting. Record labels tried to force radio-friendly lyrics and when the bands didn't budge, they moved on to more watered down versions of the genre causing an overall collapse of grunge in general. Pearl Jam is one of the few bands from the grunge era to continue recording albeit to slower sales and not as much hype.