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172-609: The SnoCore Tour , occasionally typeset as Sno-Core , was an annual festival tour of the United States. It featured performances by some of the most popular groups largely of the alternative rock and metal spectrum. The event took place every year since its inception in December 1995 until 2015 (with the exception of 2008). SnoCore was marketed towards the winter sports culture. John Boyle, Eric Lochtefeld and Rick Bonde established SnoCore as an entertainment opportunity for fans during

344-497: A dirge -like music that was the beginning of northwest grunge. The Melvins were the most influential of the early grunge bands. Sub Pop producer Jack Endino described grunge as "seventies-influenced, slowed-down punk music". Leighton Beezer, who played with Mark Arm and Steve Turner in the Thrown Ups, state that when he heard Green River play Come On Down , he realized that they were playing punk rock backwards. He noted that

516-453: A revival of the genres. In the past, popular music tastes were largely dictated by music executives within large entertainment corporations. Record companies signed contracts with those entertainers who were thought to become the most popular, and therefore who could generate the most sales. These bands were able to record their songs in expensive studios, and their works were then offered for sale through record store chains that were owned by

688-466: A sellout ?" Clothing commonly worn by grunge musicians in Washington were a "mundane everyday style", in which they would wear the same clothes on stage that they wore at home. This Pacific Northwest "slacker style" or "slouch look" contrasted sharply with the "wild" mohawks , leather jackets and chains worn by punks. This everyday clothing approach was used by grunge musicians because authenticity

860-419: A snare drum and, for cymbals , Zildjian instruments, including "... 14-inch K Light [Hi-] hats ; 17-inch K Custom Dark crash [cymbal] and 18-inch K Crash Ride; 19-inch Projection crash; a 20-inch Rezo crash; ... and a ... 22-inch A Medium ride [cymbal]". A second example is Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl 's set-up during 1990 and 1991. He used a four-piece Tama drumset, with an 8" × 14" birch snare drum,

1032-407: A "desire to 'crucify the insincere ' ", an approach which fans appreciated for its authenticity . Grunge lyrics have been criticized as "violent and often obscene." In 1996, conservative columnist Rich Lowry wrote an essay criticizing grunge, entitled "Our Hero, Heroin"; he called it a music that is mostly "... shorn of ideals and the impulse for political action". A number of factors influenced

1204-420: A "low-rent studio named Reciprocal ", where producer Jack Endino created the grunge genre's aesthetic, a "raw and unpolished sound with distortion , but usually without any added studio effects ". Endino is known for his stripped-down recording practices and his dislike of 'over-producing' music with effects and remastering . His work on Soundgarden's Screaming Life and Nirvana's Bleach as well as for

1376-514: A 14" × 15" rack tom, a 16" × 18" floor tom, and a 16" × 24" bass drum (this kit "was demolished at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, 10/12/91"). Like Matt Cameron, Dave Grohl used Zildjian cymbals. Grohl used the company's A Series Medium cymbals, including an 18" and a 20" crash cymbal, a 22" ride cymbal, and a pair of 15" hi-hat cymbals. Although other instruments are generally not included in grunge, Seattle band Gorilla created controversy by breaking

1548-443: A Bone EP in a Sub Pop record company catalogue as "gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps, ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation". Although the word "grunge" has been used to describe bands since the 1960s, this was the first association of grunge with the grinding, sludgy sound of Seattle. It is expensive and time-consuming to get a recording to sound clean, so for those northwestern bands just starting out it

1720-484: A confessional tone. Rites of Spring has been described as the first "emo" band. Former Minor Threat singer Ian MacKaye founded Dischord Records which became the center for the city's emo scene. Gothic rock developed out of late-1970s British post-punk . With a reputation as the "darkest and gloomiest form of underground rock", gothic rock uses a synthesizer-and-guitar based sound drawn from post-punk to construct "foreboding, sorrowful, often epic soundscapes", and

1892-523: A cynical response to an "authentic" rock movement. Bush , Candlebox and Collective Soul were labelled almost pejoratively as post-grunge which, according to Tim Grierson of About.com , is "suggesting that rather than being a musical movement in their own right, they were just a calculated, cynical response to a legitimate stylistic shift in rock music." Post-grunge morphed during the late 1990s and 2000s as newer bands such as Foo Fighters , Matchbox Twenty , Creed and Nickelback emerged, becoming among

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2064-465: A decade in the underground, ska punk , a mixture of earlier British ska and punk acts, became popular in the United States. Rancid was the first of the "third-wave ska revival" acts to break. From the mid-1990s to early 2000s, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones , No Doubt , Sublime , Goldfinger , Reel Big Fish , Less Than Jake and Save Ferris charted or received radio exposure. During

2236-475: A desire for freedom . An article by MIT states that grunge "lyrics [were] obsessed with disenfranchisement" and described a mood of "resigned despair". Catherine Strong, in her book Grunge: Music and Memory, states that grunge songs were usually about "negative experiences or feelings", with the main themes being alienation and depression , but with an "ironic sneer." Grunge artists expressed "strong feelings" in their lyrics about "societal ills", including

2408-493: A desire for freedom . The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop and the region's underground music scene. The owners of Sub Pop marketed the style shrewdly, encouraging the media to describe it as "grunge"; the style became known as a hybrid of punk and metal . By the early 1990s, its popularity had spread, with grunge bands appearing in California, then emerging in other parts of

2580-505: A drug related to Ecstasy , "was a vital contributor to grunge", because it gave users a "body high" (in contrast to marijuana's "head high") that made them appreciate "bass-heavy grooves ". Pat Long's History of the NME states that scene members involved with the Sub Pop label would have multi-day MDMA parties in the woods, which shows that what Long calls Ecstasy's "warm glow" had an impact even in

2752-837: A feeling of burnout in the culture at large. Kids are depressed about the future". The topics of grunge lyrics– homelessness , suicide , rape , "broken homes, drug addiction and self-loathing"–contrasted sharply to the glam metal lyrics of bands like Poison , which described "life in the fast lane", partying, and hedonism. Grunge lyrics developed as part of " Generation X malaise", reflecting that demographic's feelings of "disillusionment and uselessness". Grunge songs about love were usually about "failed, boring, doomed or destructive relationships" (e.g., " Black " by Pearl Jam). The Alice in Chains songs "Sickman", "Junkhead", "God Smack", and " Hate to Feel " have references to heroin . Grunge lyrics tended to be more introspective and aimed to enable

2924-478: A few bands, such as R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction , were signed to major labels . Most alternative bands at the time, like the Smiths , one of the key British alternative rock bands during the 1980s, remained signed to independent labels and received relatively little attention from mainstream radio, television, or newspapers. With the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in

3096-591: A few notes apart but sound unalike. He took the same rhythm with the same chord, however descending the neck made it sound darker, and therefore grunge. Early grunge bands would also copy a riff from metal and slow it down, play it backwards, distort it and bury it in feedback, then shout lyrics with little melody over the top of it. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock (specifically American hardcore punk such as Black Flag) and heavy metal (especially traditional, earlier heavy metal groups such as Black Sabbath), although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or

3268-454: A high level of distortion and fuzz, typically created with small 1970s-style stompbox pedals, with some guitarists chaining several fuzz pedals together and plugging them into a tube amplifier and speaker cabinet. Grunge guitarists use very loud Marshall guitar amplifiers and some used powerful Mesa-Boogie amplifiers, including Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl (the latter in early, grunge-oriented Foo Fighters songs). Grunge has been called

3440-683: A higher one." Steve Albini was another important influence on the grunge sound. Albini preferred to be called a "recording engineer", because he believed that putting record producers in charge of recording sessions often destroys the band's real sound, while the role of the recording engineer is to capture the actual sound of the musicians, not to threaten the artists' control over their creative product. Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad , who stated that Albini's "recordings were both very basic and very exacting: like Endino, Albini used few special effects ; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure

3612-581: A highly amplified electric guitar is held in front of its speaker, were used to create high-pitched, sustained sounds that are not possible with regular guitar technique. Grunge guitarists were influenced by the raw, primitive sound of punk, and they favored "... energy and lack of finesse over technique and precision"; key guitar influences included the Sex Pistols , the Dead Boys , Celtic Frost , King's X , Voivod , Neil Young ( Rust Never Sleeps , side two),

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3784-420: A majority of groups that were signed to indie labels drew from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a sharp break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years. "Alternative music is music that hasn't yet achieved a mainstream audience, Alternative isn't new wave any more, it's a disposition of mind. Alternative music is any kind of music that has the potential to reach

3956-450: A non-conformist move against the "manufactured image", often pushing musicians to dress in authentic ways and to not glamorize themselves. At the same time, Sub-Pop utilized the 'grunge look' in their marketing of their bands. In an interview with VH1, photographer Charles Peterson commented that members from grunge band Tad "were given blue collar identities that weren't entirely earned. Bruce (Pavitt) really got him to dress up in flannel and

4128-419: A real chain saw and really play up this image of a mountain man and it worked." Dazed magazine called Courtney Love one of "ten women who defined the 1990s" from a style perspective: the "... image of Courtney Love's too-short baby doll dress, tattered fur coat and shock of platinum hair", a look dubbed " kinderwhore ", "... topped with a tiara, of course – is seared on the memory of anyone who lived through

4300-411: A savanna landscape wearing grunge-styled clothing. This shoot made McMenamy the face for grunge, as she had her eyebrows shaved and her hair cropped short. Designers like Christian Lacroix , Donna Karen and Karl Lagerfeld incorporated the grunge influence into their looks. In 1993, James Truman, editor of Details , said: "to me the thing about grunge is it's not anti-fashion, it's unfashion. Punk

4472-572: A slow, "sludgy" speed, and used more dissonant harmonies. Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross defines "grunge" as distortion-filled, down-tuned and riff-based rock that uses loud electric guitar feedback and heavy, "ponderous" basslines to support its song melodies. Robert Loss calls grunge a melding of "violence and speed, muscularity and melody", where there is space for all people, including women musicians . VH1 writer Dan Tucker feels that different grunge bands were influenced by different genres; that while Nirvana drew on punk, Pearl Jam

4644-489: A technique of "ripping, shredding and remaking letters" and using "overprinted, disharmonious letters" and experimental design approaches, including "deliberate 'mistakes' in alignment". Carson's art used "messy and chaotic design" and he did not "respect any rule of composition", using an "experimental, personal and intuitive" approach. Another "grunge graphic designer" was Elliott Earls , who used "distorted ... older typefaces" and "aggressively illegible" type which adopted

4816-414: A wider audience. It also has real strength, real quality, real excitement, and it has to be socially significant, as opposed to Whitney Houston, which is pablum." Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock remained mainly an underground phenomenon. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit, or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like Rolling Stone , alternative rock in

4988-460: A woman's and a man's wardrobe, and his Seattle thrift-store look ran the gamut of masculine lumberjack workwear and 40s-by-way-of-70s feminine dresses. It was completely counter to the shellacked, flashy aesthetic of the 1980s in every way. In disheveled jeans and floral frocks, he softened the tough exterior of the archetypal rebel from the inside out, and set the ball in motion for a radical, millennial idea of androgyny." Cobain's way of dressing "was

5160-492: Is Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez 's setup. He uses four powerful Ampeg SVT -2 PRO tube amplifier heads, two of them plugged into four 1×18" subwoofer cabinets for the low register, and the other two plugged into two 8×10" cabinets. Krist Novoselic and Jeff Ament are also known for using Ampeg SVT tube amplifiers. Ben Shepherd uses a 300 watt all-tube Ampeg SVT-VR amp and a 600 watt Mesa/Boogie Carbine M6 amplifier. Ament uses four 6×10" speaker cabinets. In contrast to

5332-451: Is a progressive college which does not use a conventional grading system and has its own radio station, KAOS . Seattle's remoteness from Los Angeles led to a perceived purity of its music. The music of these bands, many of which had recorded with Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop, became labeled as "grunge". Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain , in one of his final interviews, credited Jonathan Poneman , cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining

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5504-460: Is about a "man who finds faith after his girlfriend's suicide"; it depicts "irony and ugliness" as a way of dealing with these "dark issues". Like punk, grunge's sound came from a lo fi (low fidelity) recording and production approach. Before the arrival of major labels, early grunge albums were recorded using low-budget analogue studios: "Nirvana's first album Bleach , was recorded for $ 606.17 in 1989." Sub Pop recorded most of their music at

5676-474: Is as comatose as alternative rock right now". Despite these changes in style however, alternative rock remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century. During the latter half of the 1990s, grunge was supplanted by post-grunge . Many post-grunge bands lacked the underground roots of grunge and were largely influenced by what grunge had become, namely "a wildly popular form of inward-looking, serious-minded hard rock."; many post-grunge bands emulated

5848-505: Is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word. Alternative can describe music that challenges the status quo and that is "fiercely iconoclastic, anticommercial, and antimainstream", and the term is also used in the music industry to denote "the choices available to consumers via record stores, radio, cable television, and the Internet." However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as

6020-595: The Billboard 200 album chart. Soundgarden 's album Badmotorfinger , Alice in Chains ' Dirt and Stone Temple Pilots ' Core along with the Temple of the Dog album collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top-selling albums of 1992. The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted Rolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the new Liverpool ". Major record labels signed most of

6192-559: The Billboard charts. Pearl Jam also continued to perform well commercially with its second album, Vs. (1993), which topped the Billboard charts by selling a record 950,378 copies in its first week of release. In 1993, the Smashing Pumpkins released their major breakthrough album, Siamese Dream —which debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 4 million copies by 1996, receiving multi-platinum certification by

6364-520: The Indie Chart was published in January 1980; it immediately succeeded in its aim to help these labels. At the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status. The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s; at

6536-517: The RIAA . The strong influence of heavy metal and progressive rock on the album helped to legitimize alternative rock to mainstream radio programmers and close the gap between alternative rock and the type of rock played on American 1970s Album Oriented Rock radio. In 1995, the band released their double album, Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness — which went on to sell 10 million copies in

6708-848: The Seattle sound ) is an alternative rock genre and subculture which emerged during the mid-1980s in the U.S. state of Washington , particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal . The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar , bass guitar , drums and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth . Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation , self-doubt , abuse , neglect , betrayal , social and emotional isolation , addiction , psychological trauma and

6880-622: The Small Clone chorus effect , used by Kurt Cobain on " Come As You Are " and by the Screaming Trees on " Nearly Lost You ". The DS-1 (later DS-2) distortion pedal played a key role in Cobain's switching from quiet to loud and back to quiet approach to songwriting. The use of small pedals by grunge guitarists helped to start off the revival of interest in boutique, hand-soldered, 1970s-style analog pedals. The other effect that grunge guitarists used

7052-513: The Warped Tour and remains strictly a musical festival. The tour commonly hosts a sponsor; examples include Airwalk in 1997, Levi's in 1999, and Winterfresh in 2005. On March 10, 1998, Foil Records released the Sno-Core Compilation which features various bands that have partaken in the festival. In 2001, SnoCore split into two tours: the funk / jam based SnoCore Icicle Ball and

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7224-467: The diminished fifth note was used by Black Sabbath to produce an ominous feeling but it is not used in punk rock. In the 1996 grunge film documentary Hype! , Beezer demonstrated on guitar the difference between punk and grunge. First he played the riff from "Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones that ascends the neck of the guitar, then "Come On Down" by Green River that descends the neck. The two pieces are only

7396-532: The grunge subgenre in the United States, and the Britpop and shoegaze subgenres in the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this period, many record labels were looking for "alternatives", as many corporate rock , hard rock , and glam metal acts from the 1980s were beginning to grow stale throughout the music industry . The emergence of Generation X as a cultural force in the 1990s also contributed greatly to

7568-495: The hair metal that had dominated rock music at that time fell out of favor in the face of music that was authentic and culturally relevant. The breakthrough success of Nirvana led to the widespread popularization of alternative rock in the 1990s. It heralded a "new openness to alternative rock" among commercial radio stations, opening doors for heavier alternative bands in particular. In the wake of Nevermind , alternative rock "found itself dragged-kicking and screaming ... into

7740-547: The hippie counterculture and reggae , both of which are associated with marijuana and psychedelics. In the 1990s, the media focused on the use of heroin by musicians in the Seattle grunge scene, with a 1992 New York Times article listing the city's "three principal drugs" as " espresso , beer and heroin" and a 1996 article calling Seattle's grunge scene the "... subculture that has most strongly embraced heroin". Tim Jonze from The Guardian states that "... heroin had blighted

7912-419: The rhythm section slammed as one." Nirvana's In Utero is a typical example of Albini's recording approach. He preferred to have the entire band play live in the studio, rather than use mainstream rock's approach of recording each instrument on a separate track at different times, and then mixing them using multi-track recording . While multitracking results in a more polished product, it does not capture

8084-735: The " Eric Clapton of grunge", a reference to the British blues guitarist who Time magazine has named as number five in their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players". Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready has been praised for his blues-influenced, rapid licks. The Smashing Pumpkins ' guitarist Billy Corgan has been called the "arena rock genius of the '90s" for pioneering guitar playing techniques and showing through his playing skill that grunge guitarists do not have to be sloppy players to rebel against mainstream music. Thayil stated that when other major grunge bands, such as Nirvana, were reducing their guitar solos, Soundgarden responded by bringing back

8256-501: The "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing of punk rock, disco , and hip hop in previous years. As a result of the genre's popularity, a backlash against grunge developed in Seattle. Nirvana's follow-up album In Utero (1993) was an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record." Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993 In Utero topped

8428-402: The "guitars only" approach and using a 1960s-style Vox organ in their group. In 2002, Pearl Jam added a keyboard player, Kenneth "Boom" Gaspar , who played piano , Hammond organ , and other keyboards; the addition of a keyboardist to the band would have been "inconceivable" in the band's "grungy" early years, but it shows how a group's sound can change over time. The grunge singing style

8600-400: The "heroin is not a big part of the [Seattle music] culture", and that "marijuana and alcohol ... are far more prevalent". Jeff Gilbert, one of the editors of Guitar World magazine, stated in 1994 that the media association of the Seattle grunge scene with heroin was "really overblown"; instead, he says that Seattle musicians were "... all a bunch of potheads." Gil Troy's history of America in

8772-412: The "live" sound of the band playing together. Albini used a range of different microphones for the vocals and instruments. Like most metal and punk recording engineers, he mics the guitar amp speakers and bass amp speakers to capture each performer's unique tone. Grunge concerts were known for being straightforward, high-energy performances. Grunge shows were "celebrations, parties [and] carnivals", where

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8944-435: The "massive drum kits " used in 1980s pop metal , grunge drummers used relatively smaller drum kits. One example is the drumkit used by Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron 's set-up. He uses a six-piece kit (this way of describing drumkits counts only the wooden drums, and does not count the cymbals ), including a "12×8-inch rack tom ; 13×9-inch rack tom; 16×14-inch floor tom ; 18×16-inch floor tom; 24×14-inch bass drum " and

9116-470: The "ugliness" they saw around them and shine a light on unseen "depths and depravity" of the real world. Some key individuals in the development of the grunge sound, including Sub Pop producer Jack Endino and the Melvins , described grunge's incorporation of heavy rock influences such as Kiss as "musical provocation". Grunge artists considered these bands "cheesy" but nonetheless enjoyed them; Buzz Osborne of

9288-549: The "unkempt expressiveness" of the "grunge [music] aesthetic"; this radical, anti-establishment approach in graphic design was influenced by the 1910s-era avant-garde Dada movement. Hat Nguyen's Droplet, Harriet Goren's Morire and Eric Lin's Tema Canante were all "signature grunge fonts." Sven Lennartz states that grunge design images have a "realistic, genuine look" which is created by adding simulated torn paper, dog-eared corners, creases, yellowed scotch tape, coffee cup stains, hand-drawn images and handwritten words, typically over

9460-553: The 1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 radio formats by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According to one former DJ and promoter, "Somehow this term 'alternative' got rediscovered and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk, indie, or underground-whatever music." At first the term referred to intentionally non-mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by "heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave" and "high-energy dance anthems". Usage of

9632-479: The 1980s was primarily featured on independent record labels, fanzines and college radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and by regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit filled with different scenes in various parts of the country. College radio formed an essential part of breaking new alternative music. In

9804-463: The 1980s, alternative bands generally played in small clubs, recorded for indie labels, and spread their popularity through word of mouth . As such, there is no set musical style for alternative rock as a whole, although in 1989 The New York Times asserted that the genre is "guitar music first of all, with guitars that blast out power chords, pick out chiming riffs, buzz with fuzztone and squeal in feedback." More often than in other rock styles since

9976-405: The 1980s, he preferred to make noise and do feedback during the guitar solo. Baeble Music calls the grunge guitar solos of the 1990s "raw", "sloppy", and "basic". Not all sources support the "grunge killed the guitar solo" argument. Sean Gonzalez states that Pearl Jam has plentiful examples of guitar solos. Michael Azerrad praises the guitar playing of Mudhoney's Steve Turner , calling him

10148-455: The 1990s states that in the Seattle grunge scene, the "... drug of choice switched from upscale cocaine [of the 1980s] to blue-collar marijuana." Rolling Stone magazine reported that members of Seattle's grunge scene were "coffee-crazed" by day on espresso and "... by night, they quaff[ed] oceans of beer – jolted by Java and looped with liquor, no wonder the [grunge] music sounds like it does." "Some [Seattle] scene veterans maintain that MDA ",

10320-645: The 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream, and many alternative bands became successful. Emo found mainstream success in the 2000s with multi-platinum acts such as Fall Out Boy , My Chemical Romance , Paramore and Panic! at the Disco . Bands such as the White Stripes and the Strokes found commercial success in the early 2000s, influencing an influx of new alternative rock bands that drew inspiration from garage rock , post-punk and new wave , establishing

10492-498: The 1990s. One of the main indie rock movements of the 1990s was lo-fi . The movement, which focused on the recording and distribution of music on low-quality cassette tapes , initially emerged in the 1980s. By 1992, Pavement, Guided by Voices and Sebadoh became popular lo-fi cult acts in the United States, while subsequently artists like Beck and Liz Phair brought the aesthetic to mainstream audiences. The period also saw alternative confessional female singer-songwriters. Besides

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10664-486: The 2009 band lineup the leanest in SnoCore history. Jägermeister sponsored the first Canadian SnoCore tour in 2010. The schedule ran just under two weeks and included cities such as Calgary , Edmonton , Toronto , and Vancouver . Rock Icicle Ball Rock Icicle Ball Saliva was originally scheduled to co-headline but canceled due to Josey Scott 's prolonged recovery from ulcer surgery. Hawthorne Heights

10836-505: The British indie scene through the end of the decade, as various bands drew from singer Morrissey 's English-centered lyrical topics and guitarist Johnny Marr 's jangly guitar-playing style. The C86 cassette, a 1986 NME premium featuring Primal Scream , the Wedding Present and others, was a major influence on the development of indie pop and the British indie scene as a whole. Other forms of alternative rock developed in

11008-700: The British music press at the end of the decade along with the Madchester scene. Performing for the most part in the Haçienda , a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order and Factory Records , Madchester bands such as Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses mixed acid house dance rhythms with melodic guitar pop. The Amerindie of the early '80s became known as alternative or alt-rock, ascendant from Nirvana until 1996 or so but currently very unfashionable, never mind that

11180-532: The Britpop phenomenon culminated in a rivalry between its two chief groups, Oasis and Blur, symbolized by their release of competing singles " Roll With It " and " Country House " on the same day on 14 August 1995. Blur won " The Battle of Britpop ", but they were soon eclipsed in popularity by Oasis whose second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), went on to become the third best-selling album in

11352-561: The Killers , and Yeah Yeah Yeahs , found commercial success in the early and mid 2000s. Owing to the success of these bands, Entertainment Weekly declared in 2004, "After almost a decade of domination by rap-rock and nu-metal bands, mainstream alt-rock is finally good again." Arctic Monkeys were a prominent act to owe their initial commercial success to the use of Internet social networking , with two UK No. 1 singles and Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), which became

11524-481: The Melvins described it as an attempt to see what ridiculous things bands could do and get away with. In the early-1990s, Nirvana's signature "stop-start" song format and alternating between soft and loud sections became a genre convention. In the book Accidental Revolution: The Story of Grunge , Kyle Anderson wrote: The twelve songs on Sixteen Stone sound exactly like what grunge is supposed to sound like, while

11696-537: The Perry Ellis collection they received from Marc Jacobs back in 1993. In 2016, grunge inspired an upscale "reinvention" of the style by A$ AP Rocky , Rihanna and Kanye West . However, "dressing grunge is no longer a badge of authenticity, though: the signifiers of rebellion (Dr Martens boots, tartan shirts) are omnipotent on the high street", says Lynette Nylander, deputy editor of i-D magazine . Many music subcultures are associated with particular drugs, such as

11868-458: The Replacements , Hüsker Dü , Black Flag , and the Melvins . Grunge guitarists often downtuned their instruments for a lower, heavier sound. Soundgarden 's guitarist, Kim Thayil , did not use a regular guitar amplifier ; instead, he used a bass combo amp equipped with a 15-inch speaker as he played low riffs, and the bass amp gave him a deeper tone. Grunge guitarists "flatly rejected"

12040-609: The Replacements upended a number of underground scene conventions; Azerrad noted that "along with R.E.M., they were one of the few underground bands that mainstream people liked." By the late 1980s, the American alternative scene was dominated by styles ranging from quirky alternative pop ( They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven ), to noise rock ( Sonic Youth , Big Black , the Jesus Lizard ) and industrial rock ( Ministry , Nine Inch Nails). These sounds were in turn followed by

12212-512: The Smashing Pumpkins also died from heroin. After Cobain's death, his "... widow, singer Courtney Love, characterized Seattle as a drug mecca, where heroin is easier to get than in San Francisco or Los Angeles." However, Daniel House , who owned C/Z Records , disputed these perceptions in 1994. House stated that there was "... no more (heroin) here [in Seattle] than anyplace else"; he stated that

12384-580: The Top 40 and spawned a number of jangle pop followers. One of the many jangle pop scenes of the early 1980s, Los Angeles' Paisley Underground revived the sounds of the 1960s, incorporating psychedelia, rich vocal harmonies and the guitar interplay of folk rock as well as punk and underground influences such as the Velvet Underground . American indie record labels SST Records , Twin/Tone Records , Touch and Go Records , and Dischord Records presided over

12556-504: The UK during the 1980s. the Jesus and Mary Chain 's sound combined the Velvet Underground's "melancholy noise" with Beach Boys pop melodies and Phil Spector 's " Wall of Sound " production, while New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk band Joy Division and experimented with disco and dance music . The Mary Chain, along with Dinosaur Jr. , C86 and the dream pop of Cocteau Twins , were

12728-424: The UK's history. Long synonymous with alternative rock as a whole in the U.S., indie rock became a distinct form following the popular breakthrough of Nirvana. Indie rock was formulated as a rejection of alternative rock's absorption into the mainstream by artists who could not or refused to cross over, and a wariness of its "macho" aesthetic. While indie rock artists share the punk rock distrust of commercialism,

12900-526: The US alone, certifying it as a Diamond record. With the decline of the Madchester scene and the unglamorousness of shoegazing, the tide of grunge from America dominated the British alternative scene and music press in the early 1990s. As a reaction, a flurry of British bands emerged that wished to "get rid of grunge" and "declare war on America", taking the public and native music press by storm. Dubbed " Britpop " by

13072-577: The US by a more pop-oriented focus (marked by an equal emphasis on albums and singles, as well as greater openness to incorporating elements of dance and club culture) and a lyrical emphasis on specifically British concerns. As a result, few British alternative bands have achieved commercial success in the US. Since the 1980s, alternative rock has been played extensively on the radio in the UK, particularly by disc jockeys such as John Peel (who championed alternative music on BBC Radio 1 ), Richard Skinner , and Annie Nightingale . Artists with cult followings in

13244-610: The US received greater exposure through British national radio and the weekly music press, and many alternative bands had chart success there. Early American alternative bands such as the Dream Syndicate , the Bongos , 10,000 Maniacs , R.E.M. , the Feelies and Violent Femmes combined punk influences with folk music and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; their debut album, Murmur (1983), entered

13416-469: The United States and in Australia, building strong followings and signing major record deals. Grunge was commercially successful in the early-to-mid-1990s due to releases such as Nirvana 's Nevermind , Pearl Jam 's Ten , Soundgarden 's Badmotorfinger , Alice in Chains ' Dirt , and Stone Temple Pilots ' Core . The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge

13588-473: The Velvet Underground , which influenced many alternative rock bands that would come after it. Eccentric and quirky figures of the 1960s, such as Syd Barrett have influence on alternative rock in general. The Dead Kennedys formed the independent record label Alternative Tentacles in 1979, releasing influential underground music such as the 1983 self-titled EP from the Butthole Surfers . By 1984,

13760-405: The [grunge] scene ever since its inception in the mid-80s" and he argues that the "... involvement of heroin mirrors the self-hating, nihilistic aspect to the music"; in addition to the heroin deaths, Jonze points out that Stone Temple Pilots ' Scott Weiland , as well as Courtney Love , Mark Lanegan , Jimmy Chamberlin and Evan Dando "... all had their run-ins with the drug, but lived to tell

13932-504: The advent of Boston 's Pixies and Los Angeles' Jane's Addiction. Around the same time, the grunge subgenre emerged in Seattle , Washington, initially referred to as "The Seattle Sound" until its rise to popularity in the early 1990s. Grunge featured a sludgy, murky guitar sound that syncretized heavy metal and punk rock. Promoted largely by Seattle indie label Sub Pop , grunge bands were noted for their thrift store fashion which favored flannel shirts and combat boots suited to

14104-526: The aforementioned Liz Phair, PJ Harvey fit into this sub group. In the mid-1990s, Sunny Day Real Estate defined the emo genre. Weezer 's album Pinkerton (1996) was also influential. Post-rock was established by Talk Talk 's Laughing Stock and Slint 's Spiderland albums, both released in 1991. Post-rock draws influence from a number of genres, including Krautrock , progressive rock , and jazz . The genre subverts or rejects rock conventions, and often incorporates electronic music. While

14276-576: The alternative rock community" including Henry Rollins , Butthole Surfers , Ice-T , Nine Inch Nails , Siouxsie and the Banshees (as second headliners) and Jane's Addiction (as the headlining act). Covering for MTV the opening date of Lollapalooza in Phoenix in July 1991, Dave Kendall introduced the report saying the festival presented the "most diverse lineups of alternative rock". That summer, Farrell had coined

14448-437: The alternative/independent scene and dryly tore it apart." David Lowery , then frontman of Camper Van Beethoven, later recalled: "I remember first seeing that word applied to us... The nearest I could figure is that we seemed like a punk band, but we were playing pop music, so they made up this word alternative for those of us who do that." DJs and promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of

14620-582: The amp just used to make the sound louder. Grunge guitarists tended to use the Fender Twin Reverb and the Fender Champion 100 combo amps (Cobain used both of these amps). The use of pedals by grunge guitarists was a move away from the expensive, studio-grade rackmount effects units used in other rock genres. The positive way that grunge bands viewed stompbox pedals can be seen in Mudhoney 's use of

14792-614: The antithesis of the macho American man", because he "... made it cooler to look slouchy and loose, no matter if you were a boy or a girl." Music and culture writer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd wrote that with Cobain's style of dress "Not only did he make it okay to be a freak, he made it desirable." Grunge music hit the mainstream in the early 1990s with bands such as Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana being signed to major record labels. Grunge fashion began to break into mainstream fashion in mid-1992 for both sexes and peaked in late 1993 and early 1994. As it picked up momentum,

14964-461: The audience at shows were positive and created a "life-affirming" attitude. Grunge bands rejected the complex and high budget presentations of many mainstream musical genres, including the use of complex digitally controlled light arrays, pyrotechnics, and other visual effects then popular in " hair metal " shows. Grunge performers viewed these elements unrelated to playing the music. Stage acting and "onstage theatrics" were generally avoided. Instead

15136-516: The audience expressed its spirit by stagediving, moshing and thrashing. Simon Reynolds states that in "... some of the most masculine forms of rock— thrash metal , grunge, moshing becomes a form of surrogate combat" in which "male bodies" can contact in the "sweat-and-bloodbath" of the moshpit. As with punk shows, grunge "performances were about frontmen who screamed and jumped around on stage and musicians who thrashed wildly on their instruments." While grunge lyrical themes focused on "angst and rage",

15308-450: The bands Green River , Screaming Trees , L7 , the Gits , Hole , 7 Year Bitch , and TAD helped to define the grunge sound. An example of the lower cost production approach is Mudhoney; even after the band signed to Warner Music , "[t]rue to [the band's] indie roots ... [they are] ... probably one of the few bands that would have to fight [their label] to record for a lower budget rather than

15480-446: The bands presented themselves as no different from minor local bands. Jack Endino said in Hype! that Seattle bands were inconsistent live performers, since their primary objective was not to be entertainers, but simply to "rock out". Grunge bands gave enthusiastic performances; they would thrash their long hair during shows as "a symbolic weapon" for releasing "pent-up aggression" ( Dave Grohl

15652-597: The decade." The kinderwhore look consisted of torn, ripped tight or low-cut babydoll and Peter-Pan-collared dresses, slips, heavy makeup with dark eyeliner, barrettes, and leather boots or Mary–Jane shoes. Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland was the first to define it, while Courtney Love of Hole was the first to popularize it. Love has claimed that she took the style from Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett . The look became very popular in 1994. Vogue stated in 2014 that "Cobain pulled liberally from both ends of

15824-520: The disbanding of both the Cranberries and Stone Temple Pilots in 2003. Britpop also began fading after Oasis ' third album, Be Here Now (1997), was met with lackluster reviews. A signifier of alternative rock's changes was the hiatus of the Lollapalooza festival after an unsuccessful attempt to find a headliner in 1998. In light of the festival's troubles that year, Spin said, "Lollapalooza

15996-453: The early 2000s, when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock, the terms "indie rock" and "alternative rock" were often used interchangeably; while there are aspects which both genres have in common, "indie rock" was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American "alternative rock". The name "alternative rock" essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in

16168-499: The early 21st century, many alternative rock bands that experienced mainstream success struggled following the suicide of Nirvana 's Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Pearl Jam 's failed lawsuit against concert venue promoter Ticketmaster , Soundgarden 's break-up in 1997, the Smashing Pumpkins losing its original members in 2000, L7 's hiatus in 2001, the death of Layne Staley and the subsequent disbanding of Alice in Chains in 2002, and

16340-403: The entertainment corporations, along with eventually selling the merchandise into big box retailers . Record companies worked with radio and television companies to get the most exposure for their artists. The people making the decisions were business people dealing with music as a product, and those bands who were not making the expected sales figures were then excluded from this system. Before

16512-512: The fastest-selling debut album in British chart history. By 2000 and on into the new decade, emo was one of the most popular rock music genres. Popular acts included the sales success of Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World (2001) and Dashboard Confessional 's The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (2003). The new emo had a much more mainstream sound than in the 1990s and a far greater appeal among adolescents than its earlier incarnations. At

16684-740: 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 . Grunge lyrics contained "explicit political messages and ... questioning about ... society and how it might be changed." While grunge lyrics were less overtly political than punk songs, grunge songs still indicated a concern for social issues, particularly those affecting young people. The main themes in grunge were "tolerance of difference", "support of women", "mistrust of authority" and "cynicism towards big corporations." Grunge song themes bear similarities to those addressed by punk rock musicians. In 1992, music critic Simon Reynolds said that "there's

16856-429: The formative influences for the shoegazing movement of the late 1980s. Named for the band members' tendency to stare at their feet and guitar effects pedals onstage rather than interact with the audience, shoegazing acts like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive created an overwhelmingly loud "wash of sound" that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs, distortion, and feedback. Shoegazing bands dominated

17028-492: The former having also co-founded Lollapalooza , purchased the tour from Boyle. They still make a point to schedule dates in a number of resort towns despite having strayed somewhat from its original concept. Corresponding with its name, SnoCore features large video screens playing footage of freestyle snowboarding and skiing between performances. Local shops have set up at concerts and local resorts have tied in with them. However, SnoCore does not feature sideshows as showcased at

17200-430: The foundation for its large cult following. The key British alternative rock band to emerge during the 1980s was Manchester 's the Smiths . Music journalist Simon Reynolds singled out the Smiths and their American contemporaries R.E.M. as "the two most important alt-rock bands of the day", commenting that they "were eighties bands only in the sense of being against the eighties". The Smiths exerted an influence over

17372-418: The genre does not entirely define itself against that, as "the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place". Labels such as Matador Records , Merge Records , and Dischord , and indie rockers like Pavement , Superchunk , Fugazi , and Sleater-Kinney dominated the American indie scene for most of

17544-400: The genre, such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, have not been receptive to the label, preferring instead to be referred to as " rock and roll " bands. Ben Shepherd from Soundgarden stated that he "hates the word" grunge and hates "being associated with it." Seattle musician Jeff Stetson states that when he visited Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a touring musician,

17716-427: The group to release their first acoustic album, One Cold Night . Saliva was scheduled to co-headline the 2009 tour but frontman Josey Scott needed more time to recover from a recent ulcer surgery. As a result, the band intended to cancel the first two weeks and substitute Scott with Walt Lafty of Silvertide beginning April 17. Ultimately, they decided in the interest of the fans to drop out entirely. This made

17888-457: The grunge scene wore the "... same plaid [shirt]s, boots, and short cropped heads as their male counterparts", women showed "... that they are not defined by their sex appeal." "Grunge ... became an anti-consumerist movement where the less you spent on clothes, the more 'coolness' you had." The style did not evolve out of a conscious attempt to create an appealing fashion; music journalist Charles R. Cross said, "[Nirvana frontman] Kurt Cobain

18060-476: The grunge tag was being used by shops selling expensive flannelette shirts to cash in on the trend. Ironically, the non-conformist look suddenly became a mainstream trend. In the fashion world, Marc Jacobs presented a show for Perry Ellis in 1992 (the Spring 1993 Collection,) featuring grunge-inspired clothing mixed with high-end fabrics. Jacobs found inspiration in the " realism " of grunge streetwear; he mixed it with

18232-438: The habit of choice for many a grunger". The title of Nirvana's debut album Bleach was inspired by a harm reduction poster aimed at heroin injection users, which stated "Bleach your works [e.g., syringe and needle ] before you get stoned". The poster was released by the U.S. State Health Department which was trying to reduce AIDS transmission caused through sharing used needles. Alice in Chains' song "God Smack" includes

18404-400: The hard rock/heavy metal based SnoCore Rock . This carried on once more the following year. During the 2006 tour, stomach flu ran its course through all participating bands. Most severely affected was Seether frontman Shaun Morgan who, rather than cancel altogether, opted to perform acoustic sets for their last few shows. This alternative met with high approval from fans and influenced

18576-457: The instigation of the grunge music phenomenon". Helped by constant airplay of the song's music video on MTV, their album Nevermind was selling 400,000 copies a week by Christmas 1991. Its success surprised the music industry. Nevermind not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general." Michael Azerrad asserted that Nevermind symbolized "a sea-change in rock music" in which

18748-482: The instrument. In Will Byers' article "Grunge committed a crime against music—it killed the guitar solo" in The Guardian , he states that while the guitar solo managed to survive through the punk rock era, it was weakened by grunge. He also states that when Kurt Cobain played guitar solos that were a restatement of the main vocal melody, fans realized that they did not need to be a Jimi Hendrix -level virtuoso to play

18920-461: The instrument; he then says this approach helped to make music feel accessible by fans in a way not seen since the 1960s folk music movement. The producer of Nirvana's Nevermind , Butch Vig , stated that this album and Nirvana "killed the guitar solo". Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil stated he feels in part to be responsible for the "death of the guitar solo"; he said that his punk rocker aspects made him feel that he did not want to solo, so in

19092-506: The late 1990s and early 2000s, several alternative rock bands emerged, including the Strokes , Franz Ferdinand , Interpol , and the Rapture that drew primary inspiration from post-punk and new wave, establishing the post-punk revival movement. Preceded by the success of bands such as the Strokes and the White Stripes earlier in the decade, an influx of new alternative rock bands, including several post-punk revival artists and others such as

19264-516: The late 1990s, they influenced modern rock music, as their lyrics brought socially conscious issues into pop culture and added introspection and an exploration of what it means to be true to oneself . Grunge was also an influence on later genres such as post-grunge . The word "grunge" is American slang for "someone or something that is repugnant" and also for "dirt". The word was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in July 1987 when Bruce Pavitt described Green River 's Dry as

19436-515: The line "stick your arm for some real fun", a reference to injecting heroin. Seattle musicians known to use heroin included Cobain, who was using "heroin when he shot himself in the head"; " Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone [who] overdosed on heroin in 1990"; " Stefanie Sargent of 7 Year Bitch [who] died of an overdose of the same opiate in 1992 ... [and] Layne Staley of Alice in Chains [who] publicly detailed his battles with heroin ...". Mike Starr of Alice in Chains and Jonathan Melvoin from

19608-440: The listener to see into "hidden" personal issues and examine the "depravity" of the world. This approach can be seen in Mudhoney 's song " Touch Me I'm Sick ", which includes lyrics with "deranged imagery" which depict a "broken world and a fragmented self-image"; the song includes the lines "I feel bad, and I've felt worse" and "I won't live long and I'm full of rot". Nirvana's song " Lithium ", from their 1991 album Nevermind ,

19780-427: The local musicians did not refer to themselves as "grunge" performers or their style as "grunge" and they were not flattered that their music was being called "grunge". Rolling Stone noted the genre's lack of a clear definition. Robert Loss acknowledges the challenges of defining "grunge"; stating that while he can recount stories about grunge, they do not serve to provide a useful definition. Roy Shuker states that

19952-420: The local weather. Early grunge bands Soundgarden and Mudhoney found critical acclaim in the U.S. and UK, respectively. By the end of the decade, a number of alternative bands began to sign to major labels. While early major label signings Hüsker Dü and the Replacements had little success, acts who signed with majors in their wake such as R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction achieved gold and platinum records, setting

20124-473: The lower-sounding, downtuned guitars and the darker-themed lyrical messages used in the style. Grunge singers used "gravelly, raspy" vocals, "... growls, moans, screams and mumbles" and "plaintive groans"; this range of singing styles was used to communicate the "varied emotions" of the lyrics. Cobain's reaction to the "bad times" and discontent of the era was that he screamed his lyrics. In general, grunge songs were sung "simply, often somewhat unintelligibly";

20296-489: The luxury of fashion by sending models down the catwalk in beanies, floral dresses and silk flannel shirts. This did, however, not sit well with the brand owners and Jacobs was dismissed. Other designers like Anna Sui , also drew inspiration from grunge during the spring/summer 1993 season. In the same year, Vogue did a spread called "Grunge & Glory" with fashion photographer Steven Meisel who shot supermodels Kristen McMenamy , Naomi Campbell , and Nadja Auermann in

20468-436: The mainstream rock, with record companies using the term "alternative" to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach. Using a broad definition of the genre, Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock cites the formation of the Sex Pistols as well as the release of the albums Horses by Patti Smith and Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed as three key events that gave birth to alternative rock. Until

20640-559: The mainstream" and record companies, confused by the genre's success yet eager to capitalize on it, scrambled to sign bands. The New York Times declared in 1993, "Alternative rock doesn't seem so alternative anymore. Every major label has a handful of guitar-driven bands in shapeless shirts and threadbare jeans, bands with bad posture and good riffs who cultivate the oblique and the evasive, who conceal catchy tunes with noise and hide craftsmanship behind nonchalance." However, many alternative rock artists rejected success, for it conflicted with

20812-494: The mainstreaming of rock music, alternative rock lyrics tend to address topics of social concern, such as drug use, depression, suicide, and environmentalism . This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s and early 1990s. Precursors to alternative rock existed in the 1960s with proto-punk . The origins of alternative rock can be traced back to The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) by

20984-490: The media, and represented by Pulp , Blur , Suede , and Oasis , this movement was the British equivalent of the grunge explosion, in that the artists propelled alternative rock to the top of the charts in their home country. Britpop bands were influenced by and displayed reverence for British guitar music of the past, particularly movements and genres such as the British Invasion , glam rock , and punk rock . In 1995,

21156-502: The mid-1980s, college station KCPR in San Luis Obispo, California , described in a DJ handbook the tension between popular and "cutting edge" songs as played on "alternative radio". Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success. On September 10, 1988, an Alternative Songs chart

21328-408: The mid-1990s. In comparison to post-rock, math rock relies on more complex time signatures and intertwining phrases. By the end of the decade a backlash had emerged against post-rock due to its "dispassionate intellectuality" and its perceived increasing predictability, but a new wave of post-rock bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós emerged who further expanded the genre. In

21500-460: The more melodic, diverse music of college rock that emerged. Azerrad wrote, "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical." The band also set an example by being the first group from the American indie scene to sign to a major record label, which helped establish college rock as "a viable commercial enterprise". By focusing on heartfelt songwriting and wordplay instead of political concerns,

21672-464: The most popular form of rock music . Several factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. During the mid-to-late 1990s , many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain , labeled by Time as "the John Lennon of the swinging Northwest", struggled with an addiction to heroin before his suicide in 1994. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by

21844-468: The most popular rock bands in the United States. At the same time Britpop began to decline, Radiohead achieved critical acclaim with its third album OK Computer (1997), and its follow-ups Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), which were in marked contrast with the traditionalism of Britpop. Radiohead, along with post-Britpop groups like Travis , Stereophonics and Coldplay , were major forces in British rock in subsequent years. After almost

22016-720: The most successful tour in North America in July and August 1991. For Dave Grohl of Nirvana who attended the festival at an open-air amphitheater in Southern California , "it felt like something was happening, that was the beginning of it all". The tour helped change the mentalities in the music industry: "by that fall, radio and MTV and music had changed. I really think that if it weren't for Perry [Farrell], if it weren't for Lollapalooza , you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now". The release of Nirvana's single " Smells Like Teen Spirit " in September 1991 "marked

22188-464: The movement. Grunge appeared as a trend again in 2008, and for Fall/Winter 2013, Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent brought back grunge to the runway . With Courtney Love as his muse for the collection, she reportedly loved the collection. "No offense to MJ [Marc Jacobs] but he never got it right," Courtney said. "This is what it really was. Hedi knows his shit. He got it accurate, and MJ and Anna [Sui] did not." Both Cobain and Love apparently burnt

22360-452: The music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture . According to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red , NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called "Alternative Charts". The first national chart based on distribution called

22532-409: The music is still there. By the start of the 1990s, the music industry was enticed by alternative rock's commercial possibilities and major labels had already signed Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dinosaur Jr. In early 1991, R.E.M. went mainstream worldwide with Out of Time while becoming a blueprint for many alternative bands. The first edition of the Lollapalooza festival became

22704-591: The name of the genre was coined by music journalist Simon Reynolds in 1994 referring to Hex by the London group Bark Psychosis , the style of the genre was solidified by the release of Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996) by the Chicago group Tortoise . Post-rock was the dominant form of experimental rock music in the 1990s and bands from the genre signed to such labels as Thrill Jockey , Kranky , Drag City , and Too Pure . A related genre, math rock , peaked in

22876-517: The name of two overdrive pedals, the Univox Super-Fuzz and the Big Muff , in the title of their debut EP Superfuzz Bigmuff . In the song "Mudride", the band's guitars were said to have "growled malevolently" through its "Cro-magnon slog". Other key pedals used by grunge bands included four brands of distortion pedals (the Big Muff , DOD , and Boss DS-2 and Boss DS-1 distortion pedals) and

23048-439: The other. Alex DiBlasi feels that indie rock was a third key source, with the most important influence coming from Sonic Youth 's "free-form" noise. Grunge shares with punk a raw, lo fi sound and similar lyrical concerns, and it also used punk's haphazard and untrained approach to playing and performing. However, grunge was "deeper and darker"-sounding than punk rock and it decreased the "adrenaline"-fueled tempos of punk to

23220-674: The prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock's distinct styles (and music scenes), such as noise pop , indie rock , grunge , and shoegaze . In September 1988, Billboard introduced "alternative" into their charting system to reflect the rise of the format across radio stations in the United States by stations like KROQ-FM in Los Angeles and WDRE-FM in New York, which were playing music from more underground , independent, and non-commercial rock artists. Initially, several alternative styles achieved minor mainstream notice and

23392-418: The prominent grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success. At the same time, critics asserted that advertising was co-opting elements of grunge and turning it into a fad. Entertainment Weekly commented in a 1993 article, "There hasn't been this kind of exploitation of a subculture since the media discovered hippies in the '60s." The New York Times compared

23564-437: The punk rock band Black Flag toured small towns across the US to bring punk to the more remote parts of the country. By this time, their music had become slow and sludgy, less like the Sex Pistols and more like Black Sabbath . Krist Novoselic , later the bassist with Nirvana , recalled going with the Melvins to see one of these shows, after which Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne began writing "slow and heavy riffs" to form

23736-427: The rebellious, DIY ethic the genre had espoused before mainstream exposure and their ideas of artistic authenticity. Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success. Pearl Jam had released its debut album Ten a month before Nevermind in 1991, but album sales only picked up a year later. By the second half of 1992 Ten became a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on

23908-480: The rise of alternative rock. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial rock or pop. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to musicians influenced by the musical style or independent, DIY ethos of late-1970s punk rock . Traditionally, alternative rock varied in terms of its sound, social context, and regional roots. Throughout the 1980s, magazines and zines , college radio airplay , and word of mouth had increased

24080-533: The rock genre with the most "lugubrious sound"; the use of heavy distortion and loud amps has been compared to a massive "buildup of sonic fog". or even dismissed as "noise" by one critic. As with metal and punk, a key part of grunge's sound is very distorted power chords played on the electric guitar. Whereas metal guitarists' overdriven sound generally comes from a combination of overdriven amplifiers and distortion pedals, grunge guitarists typically got all of their "dirty" sound from overdrive and fuzz pedals, with

24252-433: The same time, the use of the term "emo" expanded beyond the musical genre, becoming associated with fashion, a hairstyle and any music that expressed emotion. Emo's mainstream success continued with bands emerging in the 2000s, including multi-platinum acts such as Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance and mainstream groups such as Paramore and Panic! at the Disco . Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as

24424-421: The shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. Minneapolis bands Hüsker Dü and the Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started out as punk rock bands, but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic. Michael Azerrad asserted that Hüsker Dü was the key link between hardcore punk and

24596-482: The solos. The early Seattle grunge album Skin Yard recorded in 1987 by the band of the same name included fuzz bass ( overdriven bass guitar) played by Jack Endino and Daniel House . Some grunge bassists, such as Ben Shepherd , layered power chords with distorted low-end density by adding a fifth and an octave-higher note to a bass note. An example of the powerful, loud bass amplifier systems used in grunge

24768-478: The sound and style of grunge, "but not necessarily the individual idiosyncracies of its original artists." Post-grunge was a more commercially viable genre that tempered the distorted guitars of grunge with polished, radio-ready production. Originally, post-grunge was a label used almost pejoratively on bands that emerged when grunge was mainstream and emulated the grunge sound. The label suggested that bands labelled as post-grunge were simply musically derivative, or

24940-514: The stage for alternative's later breakthrough. Some bands such as Pixies had massive success overseas while they were ignored domestically. In the middle of the decade, Hüsker Dü's album Zen Arcade influenced other hardcore acts by tackling personal issues. Out of Washington, D.C.'s hardcore scene what was called "emocore" or, later, " emo " emerged and was noted for its lyrics which delved into emotional, very personal subject matter (vocalists sometimes cried) and added free association poetry and

25112-513: The subgenre's lyrics often address literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and supernatural mysticism. Bands of this subgenre took inspiration from two British post-punk groups, Siouxsie and the Banshees , and Joy Division . Bauhaus ' debut single " Bela Lugosi's Dead ", released in 1979, is considered to be the proper beginning of the gothic rock subgenre. The Cure 's "oppressively dispirited" albums including Pornography (1982) cemented that group's stature in that style and laid

25284-555: The tale." A 2014 book stated that whereas in the 1980s, people used the "stimulant" cocaine to socialize and "... celebrate good times", in the 1990s grunge scene, the "depressant" heroin was used to "retreat" into a "cocoon" and be "... sheltered from a harsh and unforgiving world which offered ... few prospects for ... change or hope." Justin Henderson states that all of the "downer" opiates, including "heroin, morphine , etorphine , codeine , opium , [and] hydrocodone ... seemed to be

25456-644: The term Alternative Nation . In December 1991, Spin magazine noted: "this year, for the first time, it became resoundingly clear that what has formerly been considered alternative rock —a college-centered marketing group with fairly lucrative, if limited, potential—has in fact moved into the mainstream." In the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. In 1997, Neil Strauss of The New York Times defined alternative rock as "hard-edged rock distinguished by brittle, '70s-inspired guitar riffing and singers agonizing over their problems until they take on epic proportions." Defining music as alternative

25628-408: The term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sorts of music to which it refers were known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about. In 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled "Rock and Roll Alternative". " College rock " was used in the United States to describe

25800-533: The term "grunge" to describe the music. The term "Seattle sound" became a marketing ploy for the music industry. In September 1991, the Nirvana album Nevermind was released, bringing mainstream attention to the music of Seattle. Cobain loathed the word "grunge" and despised the new scene that was developing, feeling that record companies were signing old " cock-rock " bands who were pretending to be grunge and claiming to be from Seattle. Some bands associated with

25972-561: The term "obscured a variety of styles." Stetson states that grunge was not a movement, "monolithic musical genre", or a way to react to 1980s-era metal pop ; he calls the term a misnomer mostly based on hype. Stetson states that prominent bands considered to be grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and Hammerbox ) all sound different. Mark Yarm, author of Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge , pointed out vast differences between grunge bands, with some being punk and others being metal-based. In 1984,

26144-514: The term would broaden to include new wave , pop, punk rock , post-punk , and occasionally " college "/" indie " rock, all found on the American "commercial alternative" radio stations of the time such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM . Journalist Jim Gerr wrote that Alternative also encompassed variants such as "rap, trash, metal and industrial". The bill of the first Lollapalooza , an itinerant festival in North America conceived by Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell , reunited "disparate elements of

26316-410: The time they were unpopular enough to offer a new image as opposed to more frequently seen Gibson Les Pauls or Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster used by mainstream pop & rock bands. Being unpopular when grunge started, offset guitars also offered excellent bang for buck. Grunge is generally characterized by a sludgy electric guitar sound with a thick middle register and rolled-off treble tone and

26488-522: The time, the common music industry terms for cutting-edge music were new music and postmodern , respectively indicating freshness and a tendency to recontextualize sounds of the past. A similar term, alternative pop , emerged around 1985. In 1987, Spin magazine categorized college rock band Camper Van Beethoven as "alternative/indie", saying that their 1985 song "Where the Hell Is Bill" (from Telephone Free Landslide Victory ) "called out

26660-472: The virtuoso "shredding" guitar solos that had become the centerpiece of heavy metal songs, instead opting for melodic, blues -inspired solos – focusing "on the song, not the guitar solo". Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains stated that solos should be to serve the song, rather than to show off a guitarist's technical skill. In place of the strutting guitar heroes of metal, grunge had "guitar anti-heroes " like Cobain, who showed little interest in mastering

26832-399: The virtuoso " operatics of hair-metal were shunned." Grunge singing has been characterized as "borderline out-of-tune vocals". Grunge lyrics are typically dark, nihilistic , wretched, angst -filled and anguished, often addressing themes such as social alienation , self-doubt , abuse , assault, neglect , betrayal , social isolation / emotional isolation , psychological trauma , and

27004-405: The wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Throughout much of its history, alternative rock has been largely defined by its rejection of the commercialism of mainstream culture, although this could be contested since some of the major alternative artists have eventually achieved mainstream success or co-opted with the major labels from the 1990s onward (especially into the 2000s, and beyond). In

27176-497: The wet, grey and isolated Pacific Northwest region. Regarding graphic design and images, a common feature of grunge bands was the use of "lo-fi" (low fidelity) and deliberately unconventional album covers, for example presenting intentionally murky or miscolored photography, collage or distressed lettering. Early grunge "[a]lbum covers and concert flyers appeared Xeroxed not in allegiance to some DIY aesthetic" but because of "economic necessity", as "bands had so little money". This

27348-533: The whole point of grunge was that it didn't really sound like anything , including itself. Just consider how many different bands and styles of music have been shoved under the "grunge" header in this discography alone, and you realize that grunge is probably the most ill-defined genre of music in history. Grunge guitarists like Kurt Cobain often used "offset" guitars like the Fender Jaguar, Fender Jazzmaster, or Mustang. They used primarily offset guitars because at

27520-545: The year's slow point in live music, the winter season. Originally began as a mini tour in December 1995 headlined by Sublime , it would also serve as an excuse for bands to perform for Western mountain resort towns and go snowboarding. SnoCore originally focused predominantly on punk and ska groups and routed through ski communities. But as it became a national tour, SnoCore aimed toward hard rock and heavy metal and engaged larger, more traditional concert venues. In late 1997, ARTISTdirect principals Marc Geiger and Don Muller,

27692-513: Was a key principle in the Seattle scene. The grunge look typically consisted of second-hand clothes or thrift store items and the typical outdoor clothing (most notably flannel shirts) of the region, as well as a generally unkempt appearance and long hair. For grunge singers, long hair was used "as a mask to conceal the face" so they can "expres[s their] innermost thoughts"; Cobain is a notable example. Male grunge musicians were "... unkempt ... [and] ... unshaven [,] with ... tousled hair" that

27864-409: Was already a common feature of punk rock design, but could be extended in the grunge period due to the increasing use of Macintosh computers for desktop publishing and digital image processing. The style was sometimes called 'grunge typography' when used outside music. A famous example of 'grunge'-style experimental design was Ray Gun magazine, art directed by David Carson . Carson developed

28036-469: Was anti-fashion. It made a statement. Grunge is about not making a statement, which is why it's crazy for it to become a fashion statement." The unkempt fashion sense defined the look of the "slacker generation", who "skipped school, smoked pot ... [and] cigarettes and listened to music" hoping to become a rock star one day. Even though grunge fashion had declined in popularity by the late 1990s, designers have continued to occasionally draw inspiration from

28208-592: Was cheaper for them to leave the sound dirty and just turn up their volume. This dirty sound, due to low budgets, unfamiliarity with recording, and a lack of professionalism may be the origin of the term "grunge". The "Seattle scene" refers to a regional Pacific Northwest alternative music movement that was linked to the University of Washington in Seattle, and the Evergreen State College in Olympia. Evergreen

28380-520: Was created by Billboard , listing the 40 most-played songs on alternative and modern rock radio stations in the US: the first number one was " Peek-a-Boo " by Siouxsie and the Banshees . By 1989, the genre had become popular enough that a package tour featuring New Order , Public Image Limited and the Sugarcubes toured the US arena circuit. Early on, British alternative rock was distinguished from that of

28552-439: Was influenced by classic rock , and that "sludgy, dark, heavy bands" such as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains had a sinister metal tone. Grunge music has what has been called an "ugly" aesthetic, both in the roar of the distorted electric guitars and in the darker lyrical topics. This approach was chosen both to counter the "slick" elegant sound of the then-predominant mainstream rock and because grunge artists wanted to mirror

28724-473: Was just too lazy to shampoo", and Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman said, "This [clothing] is cheap, it's durable, and it's kind of timeless. It also runs against the grain of the whole flashy aesthetic that existed in the 80s." The flannel and "... cracked leatherette coats" in the grunge scene were part of the Pacific Northwest's thrift-shop aesthetic. Grunge fashion was very much an anti-fashion response and

28896-538: Was often unwashed, greasy and "... matted [into a] sheep-dog mop". The lumberjack attire was a common sight in the thrift stores near Seattle for the low prices that musicians could afford. Grunge style consisted of ripped jeans, thermal underwear , Doc Martens boots or combat boots (often unlaced), band T-shirts , oversized knit sweaters , long and droopy skirts, ripped tights, Birkenstocks , hiking boots, and eco-friendly clothing made from recycled textiles or fair trade organic cotton. As well, since women in

29068-516: Was one of the most low-tech effects devices, the wah-wah pedal . Both "[Kim] Thayil and Alice in Chains ' Jerry Cantrell ... were great advocates of the wah wah pedal." Wah was also used by the Screaming Trees, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Dinosaur Jr . Grunge guitarists played loud, with Kurt Cobain's early guitar sound coming from an unusual set-up of four 800 watt PA system power amplifiers . Guitar feedback effects, in which

29240-401: Was particularly noted for his " head flips "). Dave Rimmer writes that with the revival of punk ideals of stripped-down music in the early 1990s, "for Cobain, and lots of kids like him, rock & roll ... threw down a dare: Can you be pure enough, day after day, year after year, to prove your authenticity, to live up to the music ... And if you can't, can you live with being a poseur , a phony,

29412-406: Was scheduled to take part in the tour, but were forced to drop off due to immigration paperwork issues. Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music , alt-rock or simply alternative ) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s with the likes of

29584-404: Was similar to the "outburst" of loud, heavily distorted electric guitar in tone and delivery; Kurt Cobain used a "gruff, slurred articulation and gritty timbre" and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam made use of a "wide, powerful vibrato " to show his "depth of expression." Layne Staley voiced lyrics with a "heaviness" and tremolo . In general, grunge singers used a "deeper vocal style" which matched

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