Transcript
Popular Music Studies: Alternative Rock
Week 4
US Alternative in the 90s
The ‘Seattle Sound’
• Grunge / Sub Pop
• Garage rock, Alternative Rock,
Hardcore, Heavy Metal
• Mudhoney
Nirvana
Nirvana
• Bleach (Sub Pop, 1989)
• $606.17
Nirvana
• ‘Nevermind marks the coming of age of alternative rock and the death of some cherished and deep-seated beliefs about authenticity, selling out, and the artistic purity of the rock & roll underground.’
• ‘The beginning of one era… and the end of another.’
Nirvana
• Nevermind (DGC, 1991)
• Initial $65,000 budget
In Bloom
He’s the one who likes all the pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he don’t know what it means
Nirvana
• In Utero (1993)
• Produced by
Steve Albini
• MTV Unplugged
in New York (1994)
Kurt Cobain
Grunge…
• Green River – Mother Love Bone – Pearl Jam
• Ten (1991) outsold Nevermind on initial release
• ‘…saddled with the same meaningless genre tag.’
• Large classic rock influence – little musical similarity to Nirvana?
Pearl Jam
• Vs (1993)
• Protracted battle with Ticketmaster
• Used the hype and then shunned mainstream interference to retain their creative control
• No Code (1996)
Soundgarden
• Formed 1984
• “Hunted Down” (Sub Pop, 1987)
• Ultramega OK (SST, 1988)
Soundgarden
Alice in Chains
Dirt (1992)
‘Girl’ bands in grunge
• L7
• Formed in 1985
• Started “Rock for Choice” (1991-2001)
• Bricks Are Heavy (1992)
‘Girl’ bands in grunge
• Hole (formed in 1989)
Riot Grrrl
• Named for a fanzine put out from 1991 by Allison Wolfe, Kathleen Hanna and other female musicians
• Frequently associated with grunge
• Bikini Kill (1990-97)
• Pussy Whipped (Kill Rock Stars, 1993)
• Sleater-Kinney
PJ Harvey
• Rid of Me (Island, 1993) produced by Steve Albini
• First solo album To Bring You My Love (1995) still highly US country, blues, folk influenced; produced by Flood.
• Success in both US and UK
Liz Phair
Rage Against the Machine
• Blended rock/metal with rap
• Rage Against the Machine (Epic, 1992)
• Politically charged music and agenda
• Addressing of authenticity…?
The Aftermath of Grunge…
• Dave Grohl formed Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain’s death
• Colour and the Shape (1997)
• Some bands, like Pavement, continued to actively avoid the mainstream.
Smashing Pumpkins
• The standout alternative rock band of the 1990s, after Nirvana
• Began with numerous UK influences –
goth rock, shoegaze, psychedlia
• Soon incorporated hard rock, metal, grunge
Smashing Pumpkins
• Siamese Dream (1992)
• Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Punk revival
Weird Rock
• A line from Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa
• Through the Minutemen, Butthole Surfers, etc…
• Primus
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