What killed grunge music? In my opinion, the death of Kurt Cobain coupled with some disappointing releases by Pearl Jam. Also, didn't help that Soundgarden broke up, Alice in Chains can't get past their drug problems, and Smashing Pumpkins and STP were constantly changing their sound with every release. Plus Hole only had one really good CD in "Live Through This" when Courtney was "focused". Then came this new "rap-rock" like Limp Bizkit, System of a Down, Disturbed, Deftones, etc. and that sorta finished grunge off. I miss grunge. I read somewhere that a lot of people think that Bush and Everclear are still "grunge" bands, and then there is still Mudhoney, which I think is still around. But Cobain was the leader & when he left this world, it wasn't long after that grunge somewhat disappeared.
Music had been on the downfall since the early 90's ... and the way it looks, its only going to get worse. Grunge can stay gone. Nirvana was overrated anyways. This alone should tell you wants wrong with the music industry. Instead of writing about what you think WE want to hear, write about something you like. Let US decide, not the music companines, MTV, and Top 40 stations. Creed is a group that you like but you want to hate. They are the first sign of a recovering guttered music industry.
"You see, today kids like the rapped music! With the hippin' and hoppin' and the bippin' and the boppin'...and that causes the brain damage!" That's just my opinion anyway, taken from Bill Cosby.
AS a freind of mine once said. Music goes in cycles man. He was a butt rocker of the 80's Mullet and everything. He was still strumming out his power anthems. He truley beleived that 80's rock would come back. "WE LOVE YOU WHITESNAKE" anyways, mabey he is right and 20 years from now there will be another "grunge" phase. I honestly think the main prob was that people tried to limit grunge to the seattle area. And if they were not playing grunge in seattle it was no good. There were a ton of great seattle bands that never made it because of their sound. Black Happy being my favorite. Sorry to go off there, what was I saying?, but there were only 4 mabey 5 real good "grunge" bands, I really dont think thats enough to make a style of music last. there were not enough Seattle bands to fill the gaps, so "grunge" died. Smashing pumpkins should not be considered a Grunge band. they were popular before the whole grunge period, they were just lumped into the group for the conveniece.
What killed Grunge? I'd agree that Kurt Cobain's death, as well as a change in Pearl Jam's style, as well as a lack of other good grunge music to take that place killed it. Basically what everyone said already. As for when it will be back, ask the RIAA. They control what radio stations play, and what radio stations play is what people decide they like. Pop has become the easiest way to make money -- the songs are short (GREAT for radio play), very repetitive (easy to remember and get in your head), and dance-inducing (remember the macarena? dancing helps music sales). Plus the pop stars are unnaturally handsome and beautiful, which only adds to the appeal, especially for things other than music (movie roles, posters, TV cameos, branded-merchandise). I was just helping my sister for a class project (she's 13) -- she had to come up with a song that embodies all these "Christian" values (faith being among them). And all she could come up with were these AWFUL pop songs, and she couldn't be pointed towards anything but NSync and Destiny's Child. Heck, I thought Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" would be perfect, as it has all the messages the song needs to have, and it has the element of pop with it so it would fit with her "style", but she just snubbed her nose at the thought of anything longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and wasn't sung by a guy named "JC" or "JT" or some other pop name. *frustrated* The simple fact is that the RIAA will pimp music that sells well. They've found that pop-crap sells well among a HUGE market (pre-teens and teenagers . . . and their parents buying it). They can sell posters, CDs, notebooks, folders, action figures, everything. The pop-stars are made by companies (there's a company that finds these people and makes them into a pop band, then gets a percentage), and they are MUCH, MUCH more conducive to the sell-out commercialization than the grunge bands of the 90s. Looking at the Nirvana "Nevermind" CD liner, there is a picture of Kurt Cobain with his middle finger up at the camera. You would NEVER see "JC" or "JT" or "the other JC" do that. None of the Nirvana members is particularly good looking, and parents wouldn't buy it for their kids if they listened to the lyrics. You'd NEVER see this in the pop bands of today. Now, pop-crap will go out of style eventually, but not without a fight by the record industry. They care about making good money, not making good music. I'm sure that there is more at work, but I've seen what the RIAA and MPAA are trying to force on consumers, both in terms of product AND in terms of legislation, and it's always been greed-motivated. Seems the same way with this . . . I guess this post should be in the "next Nirvana" thread, but eh, I'm too lazy to copy it. And it fits here too.
Hey Manny, I think Celebrity Skin is a great album too. I'd love it if Scott Stapp and Gavin Rossdale were on Celebrity Deathmatch. But only if both of them died.
Freakin' nice post, Vengeance. I agree completely. Radio pisses me off. So do record execs, damn capitalism!
I thought Celebrity Skin was the only Hole album? IMO, Grunge 'died' because it is a very limited style of music. I mean, In Utero completely sucked in my opinion. Soundgarden and AIC always both seemed more metal than grunge. Chris Cornell can actually sing, which automatically makes him anti-grunge. When I think grunge, I think 'go to a concert and watch a guy wearing flannel, b****ing about life, and staring at his shoes for 90 minutes'. I want to be entertained, damnit. I don't want to hear about how you've sold a buttload of albums but your life somehow still sucks. Put on a freaking show, fer chrissakes. Grunge didn't die soon enough for me. Manny, Everclear is NOT grunge.....they know about melody and write songs with hooks. And I like to refer to STP as CLONE Temple Pilots.
Vengeance, I don't think that the music industry has ever been pop crap vs. good music. The music industry is so huge that it is always a giant layer of crap that sells well mixed in with a few great bands. A great band comes along every once in a while. They may or may not make it big, but someone is always there to spin about 50 derivative projects off of the one good band's formula. I can't ever remember a time when I thought there was 10 good albums that I had to go out and buy. As for the people that made grunge: Pearl Jam, although they don't sell nearly as many records, is a better band now than they were at the height of the Seattle craze. Nirvana is gone, but Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters are one of my favorite bands. No need to explain AIC. I don't think that Soundgarden was ever so brilliant that they should stick around forever. Who else was there? There is just as much good music out there right now as there was in the 90's... and I'm definetly not talking about N'Sync.
Freak: You're right about Everclear. I should have said that they were "heavily influenced" by Nirvana...at least they seemed like it to me.
