The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record labelSub Pop and the region'sunderground music scene, with local bands such asGreen River, theMelvins, andMudhoney playing key roles in the genre's development. Sub Pop marketed the style shrewdly, encouraging media outlets to describe the Seattle sound as "grunge"; the style became known as a hybrid ofpunk andmetal.[7] By the early 1990s, its popularity had spread, with grunge bands appearing in California, then emerging in other parts of the United States and Australia, building strong followings and signing major record deals.
Several factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. During themid-to-late 1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Nirvana'sKurt Cobain, labeled byTime as "theJohn Lennon of the swinging Northwest", struggled with an addiction to heroin beforehis suicide in 1994. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, they influencedmodern rock music, as their lyrics brought socially conscious issues intopop culture[9] and added introspection and an exploration of what it means tobe true to oneself.[10] Grunge was also an influence on later genres such aspost-grunge.
The word "grunge" is American slang for "someone or something that is repugnant" and also for "dirt".[11][12] The word was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in July 1987 whenBruce Pavitt describedGreen River'sDry as a Bone EP in aSub Pop record company catalogue as "gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps, ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation".[13] 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.[14][15] It is expensive and time-consuming to get a recording to sound clean, so for those northwestern bands just starting out it was cheaper for them to leave the sound dirty and just turn up their volume.[14] This dirty sound, due to low budgets, unfamiliarity with recording, and a lack of professionalism may be the origin of the term "grunge".[16]
The "Seattle scene" refers to a regional Pacific Northwestalternative music movement that was linked to theUniversity of Washington in Seattle, andthe Evergreen State College in Olympia. Evergreen 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[clarification needed] 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".[17] Nirvana's frontmanKurt Cobain, in one of his final interviews, creditedJonathan Poneman, cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term "grunge" to describe the music.[18]
The term "Seattle sound" became a marketing ploy for the music industry.[17] In September 1991, theNirvana albumNevermind was released, bringing mainstream attention to the music of Seattle. Cobain loathed the word "grunge"[3] 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.[19]
Some bands associated with the genre 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."[20] Seattle musician Jeff Stetson states that when he visited Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a touring musician, 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".[21]
Rolling Stone noted the genre's lack of a clear definition.[22] Robert Loss acknowledges the challenges of defining "grunge"; he stated that, while he can recount stories about grunge, they do not serve to provide a useful definition.[23] Roy Shuker states that the term "obscured a variety of styles."[17] Stetson states that grunge was not a movement, "monolithic musical genre", or a way to react to 1980s-erametal pop; he calls the term a misnomer mostly based on hype.[21] Stetson states that prominent bands considered to be grunge (Nirvana,Pearl Jam,Soundgarden,Alice in Chains, Mudhoney andHammerbox) all sound different.[21] Mark Yarm, author ofEverybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge, pointed out vast differences between grunge bands, with some being punk and others being metal-based.[20]
Chris Cornell, in a 1994 interview withRolling Stone noted the limitation of the "Seattle scene":
... the rest of the country and the world and probably a lot of the bands that play in Seattle now think that what the Seattle scene was about is Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice in Chains — guitar-based rock with punk influences and ’70s influences. Period. End of story. And that's so far from what was going on. What was left out was the completely experimental music, from free jazz to theatrical bands to a lot of very Gothic-bent bands.[24]
In 1984, the punk rock bandBlack 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 theSex Pistols and more likeBlack Sabbath.Krist Novoselic, later thebassist withNirvana, recalled going with theMelvins to see one of these shows, after which Melvins frontmanBuzz Osborne began writing "slow and heavy riffs" to form adirge-like music that was the beginning of northwest grunge.[25] The Melvins were the most influential of the early grunge bands.[3]Malfunkshun have also been cited as an influence on the early sound of grunge by figures such asKurt Cobain[26] andMark Arm.[27] Sub Pop producer Jack Endino described grunge as "seventies-influenced, slowed-down punk music".[28][29]
Leighton Beezer, who played withMark Arm andSteve Turner in the Thrown Ups, state that when he heardGreen River playCome On Down, he realized that they were playing punk rock backwards. He noted that thediminished 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 documentaryHype!, Beezer demonstrated on guitar the difference between punk and grunge. First he played the riff from "Rockaway Beach" bythe Ramones that ascends the neck of the guitar, then "Come On Down" by Green River that descends the neck. The two pieces are only a few notes apart but sound unalike.[30][31] He took the same rhythm with the same chord, however descending the neck made it sound darker, and therefore grunge.[32] 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.[14]
Grunge fuses elements ofpunk rock (specifically Americanhardcore punk such as Black Flag) andheavy metal (especially traditional, earlier heavy metal groups such as Black Sabbath), although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other.[8][better source needed] Alex DiBlasi feels thatindie rock was a third key source, with the most important influence coming fromSonic Youth's "free-form" noise.[4] Grunge shares with punk a raw,lo fi sound and similar lyrical concerns,[8][better source needed] 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 a slow, "sludgy" speed,[33] and used moredissonant harmonies. Seattle music journalistCharles R. Cross defines "grunge" as distortion-filled, down-tuned and riff-based rock that uses loudelectric guitar feedback and heavy, "ponderous"basslines to support its song melodies.[34] Robert Loss calls grunge a melding of "violence and speed, muscularity and melody", where there is space for all people, includingwomen musicians.[23]VH1 writer Dan Tucker feels that different grunge bands were influenced by different genres; that while Nirvana drew on punk, Pearl Jam was influenced byclassic rock, and that "sludgy, dark, heavy bands" such asSoundgarden andAlice in Chains had a sinister metal tone.[35]
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 the "ugliness" they saw around them and shine a light on unseen "depths and depravity" of the real world.[36] Some key individuals in the development of the grunge sound, includingSub Pop producerJack Endino and theMelvins, described grunge's incorporation of heavy rock influences such asKiss as "musical provocation". Grunge artists considered these bands "cheesy" but nonetheless enjoyed them; Buzz Osborne of the Melvins described it as an attempt to see what ridiculous things bands could do and get away with.[37] In the early-1990s, Nirvana's signature "stop-start" song format and alternating between soft and loud sections became a genre convention.[8][better source needed]
In the bookAccidental Revolution: The Story of Grunge, Kyle Anderson wrote:
The twelve songs onSixteen Stone soundexactly like what grunge is supposed to sound like, while the whole point of grunge was that it didn't really sound likeanything, 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.[38]
Grunge guitarists likeKurt Cobain often used "offset" guitars like the Fender Jaguar, Fender Jazzmaster, or Mustang. They used primarily offset guitars because at 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 value for money.[39] Grunge is generally characterized by a sludgyelectric guitar sound with a thick middle register and rolled-off treble tone and a high level ofdistortion and fuzz, typically created with small 1970s-stylestompbox pedals, with some guitarists chaining several fuzz pedals together and plugging them into atube amplifier and speaker cabinet.[40] Grunge guitarists use very loudMarshall guitar amplifiers[41] and some used powerfulMesa-Boogie amplifiers, including Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl (the latter in early, grunge-orientedFoo Fighters songs).[42] Grunge has been called 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".[43] or even dismissed as "noise" by one critic.[44] As with metal and punk, a key part of grunge's sound is very distortedpower chords played on the electric guitar.[33]
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 the amp just used to make the sound louder.[42] Grunge guitarists tended to use theFender Twin Reverb and theFender Champion 100 combo amps (Cobain used both of these amps).[42] The use ofpedals by grunge guitarists was a move away from the expensive, studio-graderackmounteffects units used in other rock genres. The positive way that grunge bands viewed stompbox pedals can be seen inMudhoney's use of the name of two overdrive pedals, theUnivox Super-Fuzz and theBig Muff, in the title of their debut EPSuperfuzz Bigmuff.[45] In the song "Mudride", the band's guitars were said to have "growled malevolently" through its "Cro-magnon slog".[46]
The relatively affordable, widely availableBoss DS-2 distortion pedal was one of the key effects (including the relatedDS-1) that created the growling, overdriven guitar sound in grunge.
Other key pedals used by grunge bands included four brands of distortion pedals (theBig Muff,DOD, andBoss DS-2 andBoss DS-1 distortion pedals) and theSmall Clonechorus effect, used by Kurt Cobain on "Come As You Are" and by theScreaming Trees on "Nearly Lost You".[42] 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.[47] The use of small pedals by grunge guitarists helped to start off the revival of interest in boutique, hand-soldered, 1970s-style analog pedals.[40] The other effect that grunge guitarists used was one of the most low-tech effects devices, thewah-wah pedal. Both "[Kim]Thayil andAlice in Chains'Jerry Cantrell ... were great advocates of the wah wah pedal."[40] Wah was also used by the Screaming Trees, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney andDinosaur Jr.[42]
Grunge guitarists played loud, with Kurt Cobain's early guitar sound coming from an unusual set-up of four 800 wattPA systempower amplifiers.[40]Guitar feedback effects, in which 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 theSex Pistols,the Dead Boys,Celtic Frost,King's X,Voivod,Neil Young[48] (Rust Never Sleeps, side two),the Replacements,Hüsker Dü,Black Flag, andthe Melvins.[49] Grunge guitarists oftendowntuned their instruments for a lower, heavier sound.[40]Soundgarden's guitarist,Kim Thayil, did not use a regularguitar amplifier; instead, he used abass combo amp equipped with a 15-inch speaker as he played low riffs, and the bass amp gave him a deeper tone.[40]
Soundgarden guitaristKim Thayil's punk attitudes encouraged him to downplay soloing in the 1980s; however, when other leading grunge bands such as Nirvana started to de-emphasize the role of the solo during the early 1990s, he began to do solos again.
Grunge guitarists "flatly rejected" the virtuoso"shredding"guitar solos that had become the centerpiece ofheavy metal songs, instead opting for melodic,blues-inspired solos – focusing "on the song, not the guitar solo".[50]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.[51] In place of the strutting guitar heroes of metal, grunge had "guitaranti-heroes" like Cobain, who showed little interest in mastering the instrument.[49]
In Will Byers' article "Grunge committed a crime against music—it killed the guitar solo" inThe Guardian, he states that while the guitar solo managed to survive through the punk rock era, it was weakened by grunge.[52] 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 aJimi Hendrix-level virtuoso to play 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.[53] The producer of Nirvana'sNevermind,Butch Vig, stated that this album and Nirvana "killed the guitar solo".[54]Soundgarden guitaristKim Thayil stated he feels in part to be responsible for the "death of the guitar solo"; he said that hispunk rocker aspects made him feel that he did not want to solo, so in the 1980s, he preferred to make noise and dofeedback during the guitar solo.[55] Baeble Music calls the grunge guitar solos of the 1990s "raw", "sloppy", and "basic".[56]
Not all sources support the "grunge killed the guitar solo" argument. Sean Gonzalez states thatPearl Jam has plentiful examples of guitar solos.[54]Michael Azerrad praises the guitar playing of Mudhoney'sSteve Turner, calling him the "Eric Clapton of grunge", a reference to the British blues guitarist[57] whoTime magazine has named as number five in their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players".[58]Pearl Jam guitaristMike McCready has been praised for his blues-influenced, rapid licks.[59]The Smashing Pumpkins' guitaristBilly 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.[59] Thayil stated that when other major grunge bands, such as Nirvana, were reducing their guitar solos, Soundgarden responded by bringing back the solos.[55]
An example of the powerful, loudbass amplifier systems used in grunge isAlice in Chains bassistMike Inez's setup. He uses four powerfulAmpeg 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.[62] Krist Novoselic and Jeff Ament are also known for using Ampeg SVT tube amplifiers.[63][64] Ben Shepherd uses a 300 watt all-tube Ampeg SVT-VR amp and a 600 wattMesa/Boogie Carbine M6 amplifier.[65] Ament uses four 6×10" speaker cabinets.[64]
In contrast to the "massivedrum kits" used in 1980spop metal,[66] grunge drummers used relatively smaller drum kits. One example is the drumkit used by Soundgarden drummerMatt Cameron's set-up. He uses a six-piece kit (this way of describing drumkits counts only the wooden drums, and does not count thecymbals), including a "12×8-inch racktom; 13×9-inch rack tom; 16×14-inchfloor tom; 18×16-inch floor tom; 24×14-inchbass drum" and asnare drum and, forcymbals,Zildjian instruments, including "... 14-inch K Light [Hi-]hats; 17-inch K Custom Darkcrash [cymbal] and 18-inch K Crash Ride; 19-inch Projection crash; a 20-inch Rezo crash; ... and a ... 22-inch A Mediumride [cymbal]".[67]
A second example is Nirvana drummerDave Grohl's set-up during 1990 and 1991. He used a four-pieceTama drumset, with an 8" × 14" birch snare drum, 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").[68] 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.[68]
Although other instruments are generally not included in grunge, Seattle band Gorilla created controversy by breaking the "guitars only" approach and using a 1960s-styleVox organ in their group.[69]In 2002,Pearl Jam added a keyboard player,Kenneth "Boom" Gaspar, who playedpiano,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.[70]
The grunge singing style 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" andEddie Vedder of Pearl Jam made use of a "wide, powerfulvibrato" to show his "depth of expression."[45]Layne Staley voiced lyrics with a "heaviness" andtremolo.[71] In general, grunge singers used a "deeper vocal style" which matched the lower-sounding, downtuned guitars and the darker-themed lyrical messages used in the style.[40] Grunge singers used "gravelly, raspy" vocals,[33] "... growls, moans, screams and mumbles"[72] and "plaintive groans"; this range of singing styles was used to communicate the "varied emotions" of the lyrics.[73] Cobain's reaction to the "bad times" and discontent of the era was that he screamed his lyrics.[74] In general, grunge songs were sung "simply, often somewhat unintelligibly"; the virtuoso "operatics of hair-metal were shunned."[74] Grunge singing has been characterized as "borderline out-of-tune vocals".[75]
An article byMIT states that grunge "lyrics [were] obsessed with disenfranchisement" and described a mood of "resigned despair".[76] Catherine Strong, in her bookGrunge: Music and Memory, states that grunge songs were usually about "negative experiences or feelings", with the main themes being alienation anddepression, but with an "ironic sneer."[77] Grunge artists expressed "strong feelings" in their lyrics about "societal ills", including a "desire to 'crucify the insincere'", an approach which fans appreciated for itsauthenticity.[78] Grunge lyrics have been criticized as "violent and often obscene."[79] In 1996, conservative columnistRich 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".[80]
A number of factors influenced the focus on such subject matter. Many grunge musicians displayed a general disenchantment with the state of society, as well as a discomfort withsocial prejudices. Grunge lyrics contained "explicit political messages and ... questioning about ... society and how it might be changed."[81] While grunge lyrics were less overtly political than punk songs, grunge songs still indicated a concern for social issues, particularly those affecting young people.[77] The main themes in grunge were "tolerance of difference", "support of women", "mistrust of authority" and "cynicism towards big corporations."[77] Grunge song themes bear similarities to those addressed by punk rock musicians.[8][better source needed] In 1992, music criticSimon Reynolds said that "there's a feeling ofburnout in the culture at large. Kids are depressed about the future".[82] The topics of grunge lyrics–homelessness,suicide,rape,[77] "broken homes, drug addiction and self-loathing"–contrasted sharply to theglam metal lyrics of bands likePoison, which described "life in the fast lane",[83] partying, and hedonism.
Grunge lyrics developed as part of "Generation X malaise", reflecting that demographic's feelings of "disillusionment and uselessness".[84] Grunge songs about love were usually about "failed, boring, doomed or destructive relationships" (e.g., "Black" by Pearl Jam).[77] TheAlice in Chains songs "Sickman", "Junkhead", "God Smack", and "Hate to Feel" have references toheroin.[85][86] Grunge lyrics tended to be more introspective and aimed to enable the listener to see into "hidden" personal issues and examine the "depravity" of the world.[36] This approach can be seen inMudhoney'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".[33] Nirvana's song "Lithium", from their 1991 albumNevermind, 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".[36]
Like punk, grunge's sound came from alo fi (low fidelity) recording and production approach.[33] Before the arrival of major labels, early grunge albums were recorded using low-budget analogue studios: "Nirvana's first albumBleach, was recorded for $606.17 in 1989."[87]Sub Pop recorded most of their music at a "low-rent studio namedReciprocal", where producerJack Endino created the grunge genre's aesthetic, a "raw and unpolished sound withdistortion, but usually without any addedstudio effects".[88] Endino is known for his stripped-down recording practices and his dislike of 'over-producing' music witheffects andremastering. His work on Soundgarden'sScreaming Life and Nirvana'sBleach as well as for the bandsGreen River,Screaming Trees,L7,the Gits,Hole,7 Year Bitch, andTAD helped to define the grunge sound. An example of the lower cost production approach is Mudhoney; even after the band signed toWarner 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 a higher one."[57]
Steve Albini was another important influence on the grunge sound. Albini preferred to be called a "recording engineer", because he believed that puttingrecord 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.[89] Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such asMichael Azerrad, who stated that Albini's "recordings were both very basic and very exacting: like Endino, Albini used fewspecial effects; got an aggressive, often violentguitar sound; and made sure therhythm section slammed as one."[90]
Nirvana'sIn 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 usingmulti-track recording.[citation needed] While multitracking results in a more polished product, it does not capture 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.[citation needed]
Grunge concerts, like the heavy metal, punk rock, and hardcore shows that influenced grunge's development, were loud. Pictured isPearl Jam's bassistJeff Ament in front of a wall ofbass stacks.
Grunge concerts were known for being straightforward, high-energy performances. Grunge shows were "celebrations, parties [and] carnivals", where the audience expressed its spirit by stagediving,moshing and thrashing.[91] 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.[92] As with punk shows, grunge "performances were about frontmen who screamed and jumped around on stage and musicians who thrashed wildly on their instruments."[93] While grunge lyrical themes focused on "angst and rage", the audience at shows were positive and created a "life-affirming" attitude.[91] 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.[83]
Instead the bands presented themselves as no different from minor local bands. Jack Endino said inHype! that Seattle bands were inconsistent live performers, since their primary objective was not to be entertainers, but simply to "rock out".[37] Grunge bands gave enthusiastic performances; they would thrash their long hair during shows as "a symbolic weapon" for releasing "pent-up aggression" (Dave Grohl was particularly noted for his "head flips").[94] 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 aposeur, a phony, asellout?"[95]
Courtney Love has been considered one of the top ten women who defined 1990s style by popularizing the "kinderwhore" style.
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.[33] 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 becauseauthenticity was a key principle in the Seattle scene.[33] The grunge look typically consisted ofsecond-hand clothes orthrift store items and the typical outdoor clothing (most notablyflannel shirts) of the region, as well as a generally unkempt appearance and long hair.[83] 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.[94] Male grunge musicians were "... unkempt ... [and] ... unshaven[96] [,] with ... tousled hair"[97] that was often unwashed, greasy and "... matted [into a] sheep-dog mop".[98]
The lumberjack attire was a common sight in the thrift stores near Seattle for the low prices that musicians could afford.[99] Grunge style consisted of ripped jeans,thermal underwear,[84]Doc Martens boots or combat boots (often unlaced), bandT-shirts, oversized knitsweaters, long and droopy skirts, ripped tights,Birkenstocks, hiking boots,[100][101][102] and eco-friendly clothing made fromrecycled textiles orfair trade organic cotton.[103] As well, since women in 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."[104]
"Grunge ... became ananti-consumerist movement where the less you spent on clothes, the more 'coolness' you had."[105] The style did not evolve out of a conscious attempt to create an appealing fashion; music journalistCharles R. Cross said, "[Nirvana frontman]Kurt Cobain 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."[82] The flannel and "... cracked leatherette coats" in the grunge scene were part of the Pacific Northwest'sthrift-shop aesthetic.[98] Grunge fashion was very much an anti-fashion response and a non-conformist move against the "manufactured image",[106] 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 a real chain saw and really play up this image of a mountain man and it worked."[107]
Dazed magazine calledCourtney 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 the decade."[108] The kinderwhore look consisted of torn, ripped tight or low-cutbabydoll andPeter-Pan-collared dresses, slips, heavy makeup with dark eyeliner,[109] barrettes, and leather boots orMary–Jane shoes.[110][111][112]Kat Bjelland ofBabes in Toyland was the first to define it, while Courtney Love ofHole was the first to popularize it. Love has claimed that she took the style fromDivinyls frontwomanChrissy Amphlett.[110] The look became very popular in 1994.[113]
Vogue stated in 2014 that "Cobain pulled liberally from both ends of 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."[114] Cobain's way of dressing "was 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."[114] 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."[114]
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.[100][115][116] As it picked up momentum, the grunge tag was being used by shops selling expensive flannelette shirts to cash in on the trend.[105] 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 the luxury of fashion by sending models down the catwalk in beanies, floral dresses and silk flannel shirts.[117] This did, however, not sit well with the brand owners and Jacobs was dismissed. Other designers likeAnna Sui, also drew inspiration from grunge during the spring/summer 1993 season.[106]
In the same year,Vogue did a spread called "Grunge & Glory" with fashion photographerSteven Meisel who shot supermodelsKristen McMenamy,Naomi Campbell, andNadja Auermann in a savanna landscape wearing grunge-styled clothing.[118][119] This shoot made McMenamy the face for grunge, as she had her eyebrows shaved and her hair cropped short. Designers likeChristian Lacroix,Donna Karen andKarl Lagerfeld incorporated the grunge influence into their looks.[117] In 1993, James Truman, editor ofDetails, said: "to me the thing about grunge is it's not anti-fashion, it's unfashion. Punk 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."[120] 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 arock star one day.[107]
Even though grunge fashion had declined in popularity by the late 1990s, designers have continued to occasionally draw inspiration from the movement. Grunge appeared as a trend again in 2008, and for Fall/Winter 2013,Hedi Slimane atYves Saint Laurent brought back grunge to therunway. WithCourtney 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."[121] Both Cobain and Love apparently burnt the Perry Ellis collection they received from Marc Jacobs back in 1993.[122] In 2016, grunge inspired an upscale "reinvention" of the style byA$AP Rocky,Rihanna andKanye West.[123] 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 ofi-D magazine.[123]
The title of Nirvana's debut albumBleach referred to the 1980s-era public health posters which urged heroin injectors to usebleach to clean their needles, to preventAIDS transmission.
Many music subcultures are associated with particular drugs, such as thehippiecounterculture andreggae, both of which are associated withmarijuana and psychedelics. In the 1990s, the media focused on the use of heroin by musicians in the Seattle grunge scene, with a 1992New York Times article listing the city's "three principal drugs" as "espresso, beer and heroin"[87] and a 1996 article calling Seattle's grunge scene the "... subculture that has most strongly embraced heroin".[124]Tim Jonze fromThe Guardian states that "... heroin had blighted 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 thatStone Temple Pilots'Scott Weiland, as well asCourtney Love,Mark Lanegan,Jimmy Chamberlin andEvan Dando "... all had their run-ins with the drug, but lived to tell the tale."[125] 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."[126] Justin Henderson states that all of the "downer" opiates, including "heroin,morphine,etorphine,codeine,opium, [and]hydrocodone ... seemed to be the habit of choice for many a grunger".[127]
The title of Nirvana's debut albumBleach was inspired by aharm reduction poster aimed at heroin injection users, which stated "Bleach your works [e.g.,syringe andneedle] before you get stoned". The poster was released by the U.S. State Health Department which was trying to reduceAIDS transmission caused through sharing used needles. Alice in Chains' song "God Smack" includes the line "stick your arm for some real fun", a reference to injecting heroin.[124] Seattle musicians known to use heroin included Cobain, who was using "heroin when he shot himself in the head"; "Andrew Wood ofMother Love Bone [who] overdosed on heroin in 1990"; "Stefanie Sargent of7 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 ...".[128]Mike Starr of Alice in Chains[126] andJonathan Melvoin fromthe 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."[128]
However,Daniel House, who ownedC/Z Records, disputed these perceptions in 1994. House stated that there was "... no more (heroin) here [in Seattle] than anyplace else"; he stated that 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 ofGuitar 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."[128] Gil Troy's history of America in the 1990s states that in the Seattle grunge scene, the "... drug of choice switched from upscale cocaine [of the 1980s] to blue-collar marijuana."[129]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."[130] "Some [Seattle] scene veterans maintain thatMDA", a drug related toEcstasy, "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-heavygrooves".[131] 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 the wet, grey and isolated Pacific Northwest region.[132]
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 ordistressed lettering. Early grunge "[a]lbum covers and concert flyers appeared Xeroxed not in allegiance to someDIY aesthetic" but because of "economic necessity", as "bands had so little money".[133] This was already a common feature of punk rock design, but could be extended in the grunge period due to the increasing use ofMacintosh computers for desktop publishing and digital image processing. The style was sometimes called 'grunge typography' when used outside music.[134][135][136] A famous example of 'grunge'-style experimental design wasRay Gun magazine, art directed byDavid Carson.[137][138]
Carson developed a technique of "ripping, shredding and remaking letters"[137][138] and using "overprinted, disharmonious letters" and experimental design approaches, including "deliberate 'mistakes' in alignment".[139] Carson's art used "messy and chaotic design" and he did not "respect any rule of composition", using an "experimental, personal and intuitive" approach.[140] Another "grunge graphic designer" wasElliott Earls, who used "distorted ... older typefaces" and "aggressively illegible" type which adopted the "unkempt expressiveness" of the "grunge [music] aesthetic"; this radical, anti-establishment approach in graphic design was influenced by the 1910s-era avant-gardeDada movement.[139] Hat Nguyen's Droplet, Harriet Goren's Morire and Eric Lin's Tema Canante were all "signature grunge fonts."[137][138] 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 a "dirty" background texture which is done with dull, subdued colors.[141]
A key figure in creating the "look" of the grunge scene for outsiders was music photographerCharles Peterson. Peterson's black and white, uncropped, and sometimes blurry shots of the underground Pacific Northwest music scene's members playing and jamming, wearing their characteristic everyday clothes, were used by Sub Pop to promote its Seattle bands.
Following the tradition in the 1980s US punk subculture of amateur, fan-producedzines, members of the grunge scene also producedDIY publications which were "distributed at gigs or by mail order". The zines were typically photocopied and contained handwritten, "hand-colored pages", "typing errors and grammatical mistakes, misspellings and jumbled pagination", all proof of their amateur nature.[142]Backlash was a zine that was published from 1987 to 1991 by Dawn Anderson, covering the "dirtier, heavier, more underground and rock side of Seattle's music scene", including "punk, metal, underground rock, grunge before it was called grunge and even some local hip-hop."[143]Grunge Gerl #1 was one early 1990s grunge zine; the publication was written by and forriot grrrls in the Los Angeles area. It stated that "we're girls, we're angry, we're powerful."[142]
In 1992,Rolling Stone music criticMichael Azerrad calledThe Rocket the Seattle music "scene's [most] respected commentator".[57]The Rocket was a free newspaper about the Pacific Northwest music scene which was launched in 1979. Edited byCharles R. Cross, the paper covered "fairly obscure alternative bands" in the local area, such asthe Fartz and others.[144] In the mid-1980s, the paper had stories onSlayer,Wild Dogs,Queensrÿche, andMetal Church. By 1988, the metal scene had faded, andThe Rocket's focus shifted to covering the pre-grunge localalternative rock bands. Dawn Anderson states that in 1988, long before any other publication took notice of them,Soundgarden andNirvana wereRocket cover stars.[145] In 1991,The Rocket expanded to include a Portland, Oregon edition.
Grunge lit is an Australianliterary genre offictional orsemi-autobiographical writing in the early 1990s about young adults living in an "inner cit[y]" "... world of disintegrating futures where the only relief from ...boredom was through anihilistic pursuit of sex, violence, drugs and alcohol".[146] Often the central characters are disfranchised, alienated, and lacking drive and determination beyond the desire to satisfy their basic needs. It was typically written by "new, young authors"[146] who examined "gritty, dirty, real existences"[146] of everyday characters. It has been described as both a sub-set ofdirty realism and an offshoot of Generation X literature.[147] Stuart Glover states that the term "grunge lit" takes the term "grunge" from the "late '80s and early '90s— ... Seattle [grunge] bands".[148] Glover states that the term "grunge lit" was mainly a marketing term used by publishing companies; he states that most of the authors who have been categorized as "grunge lit" writers reject the label.[148] The Australian fiction authors McGahan, McGregor and Tsiolkas criticized the "homogenizing effect" of conflating such a different group of writers.[146] Tsiolkas called the "grunge lit" term a "media creation".[146]
Bam Bam,[154] formed in Seattle in 1983, was fronted by an African American woman namedTina Bell, breaking the norm of what was predominantly a White dominated scene.[155][156][157] Bam Bam also included futureSoundgarden andPearl Jam drummerMatt Cameron.[154]Kurt Cobain was a roadie for Bam Bam before he was famous; he was also a fan of the band.[154] Bell died in 2012. Observers have speculated that the lack of recognition in her lifetime as one of the progenitors of grunge music was due to sexism and racism.[154][155][157]
Women also played active non-musician roles in the underground grunge scene, such as riot grrrls who producedzines about grunge bands and indie record labels (e.g.,Grunge Gerl #1) and writer Dawn Anderson of the Seattle fanzineBacklash which supported many local bands before they achieved greater fame.[37] Tina Casale was the co-founder ofC/Z Records in the 1980s (along with Chris Hanzsek), a Seattle indie label that released the seminal grunge compilationDeep Six in 1986.
Susan Silver was the first female manager of the Seattle music scene. She started her career in 1983 and managed several bands such asthe U-Men,Soundgarden,Alice in Chains andScreaming Trees.[158] In 1991,The Seattle Times called Silver "the most powerful figure in local rock management".[159] Silver was also an advisor forNirvana.Kurt Cobain and bassistKrist Novoselic consulted Silver for advice when they were not satisfied with Sub Pop's lack of promotion for their debut album,Bleach. Silver looked at their contract with the label and told them they needed a lawyer. Silver then introduced them to agent Don Muller and music business attorney Alan Mintz, who started sending out Nirvana's demo tape to major labels looking for deals. The band ended up choosingDGC and the label released their breakthrough albumNevermind in 1991.[160][161] When Nirvana was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, Novoselic thanked Silver during his speech for "introducing them to the music industry properly".[162]
Grunge's sound partly resulted fromSeattle's isolation from other music scenes. As Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman noted, "Seattle was a perfect example of a secondary city with an active music scene that was completely ignored by an American media fixated on Los Angeles and New York [City]."[169] Mark Arm claimed that the isolation meant, "this one corner of the map was being really inbred and ripping off each other's ideas".[170] Seattle "was a remote and provincial city" in the 1980s; Bruce Pavitt states that the city was "very working class", a place of deprivation, and so the scene's "whole aesthetic – work clothes, thriftstore truckers' hats, pawnshop guitars" was not just a style, it was done because Seattle "was very poor."[171] Indeed, when "Nevermind reached number one in the U.S. charts, Cobain was living in a car."[171]
Bands began to mix metal and punk in the Seattle music scene around 1984, with much of the credit for this fusion going tothe U-Men.[172] However, some critics have noted that in spite of the U-Men's canonical place as original grunge progenitors, that their sound was less indebted to heavy metal and much more akin topost-punk. However the idiosyncrasy of the band may have been the bigger inspiration, more than the aesthetics themselves.[173] Soon Seattle had a growing and "varied music scene" and "diverse urban personality" expressed by local "post-punkgarage bands".[33] Grunge evolved from the local punk rock scene, and was inspired by bands such asthe Fartz, the U-Men,10 Minute Warning,the Accüsed, and theFastbacks.[37] Additionally, the slow, heavy, and sludgy style of theMelvins was a significant influence on the grunge sound.[174] Roy Shuker states that grunge's success built on the "foundations ... laid throughout the 1980s by earlieralternative music scenes."[175] Shuker states that music critics "... emphasized the perceived purity and authenticity of the Seattle scene.[175]
Outside the Pacific Northwest, a number of artists and music scenes influenced grunge. Alternative rock bands from the Northeastern United States, includingSonic Youth,Pixies, andDinosaur Jr., are important influences on the genre. Through their patronage of Seattle bands, Sonic Youth "inadvertently nurtured" the grunge scene, and reinforced the fiercely independent attitudes of its musicians.[176] Nirvana introduced into the Seattle scene the noise-inflected influences ofScratch Acid and theButthole Surfers.[83][177]
Several Australian bands, includingthe Scientists,Cosmic Psychos andFeedtime, are cited as precursors to grunge, their music influencing the Seattle scene through the college radio broadcasts of Sub Pop founder Jonathan Poneman and members of Mudhoney onKCMU.[178][179] The influence of Pixies on Nirvana was noted byKurt Cobain, who commented in aRolling Stone interview, "I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard."[180] In August 1997, in an interview withGuitar World,Dave Grohl said: "From Kurt,Krist [Novoselic] and I likingthe Knack,Bay City Rollers,Beatles andAbba just as much as we likedFlipper andBlack Flag ... You listen to any Pixies record and it's all over there. Or evenBlack Sabbath's "War Pigs"—it's there: the power of the dynamic. We just sort of abused it withpop songs and got sick with it."[181]
Aside from the genre's punk and alternative rock roots, many grunge bands were equally influenced by heavy metal of the early 1970s.Clinton Heylin, author ofBabylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge, cited Black Sabbath as "perhaps the most ubiquitous pre-punk influence on the northwest scene".[182] Black Sabbath played a role in shaping the grunge sound, through their own records and the records they inspired.[183] MusicologistBob Gulla asserted that Black Sabbath's sound "shows up in virtually all of grunge's most popular bands, includingNirvana,Soundgarden, andAlice in Chains".[184] Black Sabbath's 1971 albumMaster of Reality in particular has been noted as a key influence on grunge, largely in part due to the sound, as a result of guitaristTony Iommi down-tuning his guitar a step and a half.[185] The influence ofLed Zeppelin is also evident, particularly in the work of Soundgarden, whomQ magazine noted were "in thrall to '70s rock, but contemptuous of the genre's overt sexism and machismo".[186] Jon Wiederhorn ofGuitar World wrote: "So what exactly is grunge? ... Picture a supergroup made up ofCreedence Clearwater Revival, Black Sabbath andthe Stooges, and you're pretty close."[187] Catherine Strong stated that grunge's strongest metal influence wasthrash metal, which had a tradition of "equality with the audience", based on the notion that "anyone could start a band" (a way of thinking also shared by UShardcore punk, which Strong also cites as an influence on grunge) which was also taken up by grunge bands.[16] Strong stated that grunge musicians were opposed to the then-popular "hair metal" bands.[16]
Strong stated that "sections of what was [US]hardcore became known as grunge."[16] Seattle songwriter Jeff Stetson states that "[t]here is no real difference ... between Punk and Grunge."[21] Like punk bands, grunge groups were "embraced as back-to-basics rock 'n' roll bands which reminded the public that the music was supposed to be raw and raunchy".[93] One example of the influence of US hardcore on grunge is the impact that the Los Angeles hardcore punk bandBlack Flag had on grunge. Black Flag's 1984 recordMy War, on which the band combined heavy metal with their traditional sound, made a strong impact in Seattle. Mudhoney'sSteve Turner commented, "A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it was really great ... we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and fucked-up sounding."[188] Turner explained grunge's integration of metal influences, noting, "Hard rock and metal was never that much of an enemy of punk like it was for other scenes. Here, it was like, 'There's only twenty people here, you can't really find a group to hate.'" Charles R. Cross stated that grunge was the "culmination of twenty years ofpunk rock" development.[34] Cross states that the bands most representing the grunge genre were Seattle bandsBlood Circus, Tad, and Mudhoney and Sub Pop's Denver bandthe Fluid; he states that Nirvana, with its pop influences and blend of Sonic Youth andCheap Trick, was lighter-sounding than bands like Blood Circus.[34]
Cosmic Psychos, one of several Australian bands which influenced and interacted with the Seattle scene
Neil Young played a few concerts with Pearl Jam and recorded the albumMirror Ball. This was grounded not only in his work with his bandCrazy Horse and his regular use of distorted guitar—most notably on the albumRust Never Sleeps—but also his dress and persona.[189] A similarly influential yet often overlooked album isNeurotica byRedd Kross, about which Jonathan Poneman said, "Neurotica was a life changer for me and for a lot of people in the Seattle music community."[190]
The context for the development of the Seattle grunge scene was a "golden age of failure, a time when a swath of American youth embraced the ... vices of indolence and lack of motivation".[171] The "idlers of Generation X [were] trying to forestall the dread day of corporate enrollment" and embrace the "cult of the loser"; indeed Nirvana's 1991 song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" "opens with Cobain intoning 'It's fun to lose.'"[171]
1985–1991: Early development and rise in popularity
In 1985, the bandGreen River released their debut EPCome on Down, which is cited by many as being the first grunge record.[191] Another seminal release in the development of grunge was theDeep Six compilation, released byC/Z Records in 1986. The record featured multiple tracks by six bands: Green River,Soundgarden,Melvins,Malfunkshun,Skin Yard, and the U-Men. For many of them it was their first appearance on record. The artists had "a mostly heavy, aggressive sound that melded the slower tempos of heavy metal with the intensity of hardcore". The recording process was low-budget; each band was given four hours of studio time. As Jack Endino recalled, "People just said, 'Well, what kind of music is this? This isn't metal, it's not punk, What is it?' ... People went 'Eureka! These bands all have something in common.'"[188] Later that yearBruce Pavitt released theSub Pop 100 compilation and Green River'sDry As a Bone EP as part of his new label, Sub Pop. An early Sub Pop catalog described the Green River EP as "ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation".[192] Sub Pop's Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, inspired by other regional music scenes in music history, worked to ensure that their label projected a "Seattle sound", reinforced by a similar style of production and album packaging. While music writerMichael Azerrad acknowledged that early grunge bands like Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Tad had disparate sounds, he noted "to the objective observer, there were some distinct similarities."[193]
Advertisement for grunge compilationDeep Six, featured inThe Rocket, April 1, 1986
Early grunge concerts were sparsely attended (many by fewer than a dozen people) but Sub Pop photographerCharles Peterson's pictures helped create the impression that such concerts were major events.[194] Mudhoney, which was formed by former members of Green River, served as the flagship band of Sub Pop during their entire time with the label and spearheaded the Seattle grunge movement.[195] Other record labels in the Pacific Northwest that helped promote grunge included C/Z Records,Estrus Records, EMpTy Records andPopLlama Records.[37] In 1988 Mudhoney released their debut albumSuperfuzz Bigmuff, which Bruce Pavitt called "the record that really put Sub Pop on the map," and of its impact said: "It really announced to the world that there was a new style of rock and roll being made in this very obscure city that most people had never heard of."[196]
Grunge attracted media attention in the United Kingdom after Pavitt and Poneman asked journalistEverett True from the British magazineMelody Maker to write an article on the local music scene. This exposure helped to make grunge known outside of the local area during the late 1980s and drew more people to local shows.[37] The appeal of grunge to the music press was that it "promised the return to a notion of a regional, authorial vision forAmerican rock".[197] Grunge's popularity in theunderground music scene was such that bands began to move to Seattle and approximate the look and sound of the original grunge bands. Mudhoney's Steve Turner said, "It was really bad. Pretend bands were popping up here, things weren't coming from where we were coming from."[198] As a reaction, many grunge bands diversified their sound, with Nirvana and Tad in particular creating more melodic songs.[199] Dawn Anderson of the Seattle fanzineBacklash recalled that by 1990 many locals had tired of the hype surrounding the Seattle scene and hoped that media exposure had dissipated.[37] In a 1991 article, Mark Arm commented that "It was pretty funny when all the Seattle hype started, because there had been really good bands in Seattle for a long time who couldn't put out albums because they didn't have an outlet for it. Bands likeMalfunkshun and10 Minute Warning, who were amazing."[200]
Chris Dubrow fromThe Guardian states that in the late 1980s, Australia's "sticky-floored ... alternative pub scene" in seedy inner-city areas produced grunge bands with "raw and awkward energy" such asthe Scientists,X,Beasts of Bourbon,feedtime,Cosmic Psychos andLubricated Goat.[201] Dubrow said "Cobain ... admitted the Australian wave was a big influence" on his music.[201] Everett True states that "[t]here's more of an argument to be had for grunge beginning in Australia with the Scientists and their scrawny punk ilk."[202]
Grunge bands had made inroads to the musical mainstream in the late 1980s. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label when they joined the roster ofA&M Records in 1988.[203] Soundgarden, along with other major label signingsAlice in Chains andMother Love Bone, performed "okay" with their initial major label releases, according to Jack Endino.[37]Nirvana, originally fromAberdeen, Washington, was also courted by major labels, while releasing its first albumBleach in 1989. Nirvana got signed byGeffen Records in 1990.
In September 1991, Nirvana released its major label debut,Nevermind. The album was at best hoped to be a minor success on par with Sonic Youth'sGoo, which Geffen had released a year earlier.[210] It was the release of the album's first single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that "marked the instigation of the grunge music phenomenon". Due to the constant airplay of the song's music video onMTV,Nevermind was selling 400,000 copies a week by Christmas 1991,[211] and was certified gold on November 27, 1991.[212] In January 1992,Nevermind replacedpop superstarMichael Jackson'sDangerous at number one on theBillboard 200.[213]Nevermind was certified diamond by the RIAA in 1999.[214]
The success ofNevermind surprised the music industry.Nevermind not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general."[215] Michael Azerrad asserted thatNevermind symbolized "a sea-change in rock music" in which theglam metal that had dominated rock music at that time fell out of favor in the face of music that was perceived asauthentic and culturally relevant.[216] Grunge made it possible for genres thought to be of a niche audience, no matter how radical, to prove their marketability and be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture.[217] Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success.Pearl Jam, which featured formerMother Love Bone membersJeff Ament andStone Gossard, had released its debut albumTen in August 1991, a month beforeNevermind, but album sales only picked up the following year. By the second half of 1992Ten had become a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on theBillboard charts.[218]Ten by Pearl Jam was certified 13× platinum by the RIAA.[219]
The band Soundgarden's albumBadmotorfinger and the band Alice in Chains' albumDirt, along with the bandTemple of the Dog'sself-titled album, a collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top selling albums of 1992.[220] The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands promptedRolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the newLiverpool".[82] Major record labels signed most of the prominent grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success.[221] The grunge scene was the backdrop in the 1992Cameron Crowe filmSingles. There were several small roles, performances, and cameos in the film by popular Seattle grunge bands including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Filmed in and around Seattle in 1991, the film was not released until 1992 during the height of grunge popularity.[82]
The popularity of grunge resulted in a large interest in the Seattle music scene's perceived cultural traits. While the Seattle music scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s in actuality consisted of various styles and genres of music, its representation in the media "served to depict Seattle as a music 'community' in which the focus was upon the ongoing exploration of one musical idiom, namely grunge".[222] The fashion industry marketed "grunge fashion" to consumers, charging premium prices for items such as knit ski hats and tartan shirts. 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".[223] Marketers used the "grunge" concept to sell grunge air freshener, grunge hair gel and even CDs of "easy-listening music" called "grunge light".[34]The New York Times compared the "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing ofpunk rock,disco, andhip hop in previous years.[82] Ironically, theNew York Times was tricked into printing a fake list of slang terms that were supposedly used in the grunge scene; often referred to as thegrunge speak hoax. This media hype surrounding grunge was documented in the 1996 documentaryHype!.[37] As mass media began to use the term "grunge" in any news story about the key bands, Seattle scene members began to refer to the term as "the G-word".[34]
A backlash against grunge began to develop in Seattle; in late 1992, Jonathan Poneman said that in the city, "All things grunge are treated with the utmost cynicism and amusement [. . .] Because the whole thing is a fabricated movement and always has been."[82] Grunge and grunge bands received criticism from musicians such asBlur'sDamon Albarn, who was quoted saying "fuck grunge" and "The Smashing Pumpkins can kiss my fucking ass" while performing onstage.[224] Many grunge artists were uncomfortable with their success and the resulting attention it brought. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain told Michael Azerrad, "Famous is the last thing I wanted to be."[225] Pearl Jam also felt the burden of success, with much of the attention falling on frontmanEddie Vedder.[226]
Nirvana's follow-up albumIn Utero (1993) featured an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassistKrist Novoselic described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record".[227] Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993,In Utero topped theBillboard charts.[228] In 1996,In Utero was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA.[229] Pearl Jam also continued to perform well commercially with its second album,Vs. (1993). The album sold a record 950,378 copies in its first week of release, topped theBillboard charts, and outperformed all other entries in the top ten that week combined.[230] In 1993, the grunge bandCandlebox released theirself-titled album, which was certified4× platinum by the RIAA.[231] In February 1994, Alice in Chains' EP,Jar of Flies peaked at number 1 on theBillboard 200 album chart.[232] Soundgarden's albumSuperunknown, which was also released in 1994, peaked at number 1 on theBillboard 200 chart,[233] and was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA.[234] In 1995, Alice in Chains'self-titled album became their second number 1 album on theBillboard 200,[232] and was certified 2× platinum.[235]
In the early-mid 1990s, the commercial success of grunge put record labels on a nationwide search for undiscovered talent to promote. This includedSan Diego,California–basedStone Temple Pilots,[236] Texas-basedTripping Daisy[8][better source needed][237] andToadies,[238][239][240]Paw,[241] Chicago-basedVeruca Salt,[241] and Australian bandSilverchair, bands whose early work continues to be identified broadly (if not in Seattle itself) as "grunge". In 2014,Paste ranked Veruca Salt's "All Hail Me" #39 and Silverchair's "Tomorrow" #45 on their list of the 50 best grunge songs of all time.[241]Loudwire named Stone Temple Pilots one of the ten best grunge bands of all time.[236] Grunge bands outside of the United States emerged in several countries. In Canada,Eric's Trip, the first Canadian band signed by the Sub Pop label, has been classified as grunge[242] andNickelback's debut album was considered to be grunge. Silverchair achieved mainstream success in the 1990s; the band's song "Tomorrow" went to number 22 on theRadio Songs chart in September 1995[243] and the band's debut albumFrogstomp, released in June 1995, was certified 2× platinum by the RIAA in February 1996.[244]
During this period, grunge bands that were not from Seattle were often panned by critics, who accused them of being bandwagon-jumpers; Stone Temple Pilots andBush in particular fell victim to this. In a January 1994Rolling Stone poll, Stone Temple Pilots was simultaneously voted "Best New Band" byRolling Stone's readers and "Worst New Band" by the magazine's music critics, highlighting the disparity between critics and fans.[245] Stone Temple Pilots became very popular; their albumCore was certified 8× platinum by RIAA[246] and their albumPurple was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA.[247] The British post-grunge band Bush released their debut albumSixteen Stone in 1994.[248] In a review of their second albumRazorblade Suitcase,Rolling Stone criticized the album and called Bush "the most successful and shameless mimics of Nirvana's music".[249] In the bookFargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota,Chuck Klosterman wrote, "Bush was a good band who just happened to signal the beginning of the end; ultimately, they would become the grungeWarrant".[250]
A number of factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. Critics and historians do not agree on the exact point that grunge ended.[251] Catherine Strong wrote that "at the end of 1993 ... grunge had become unstable, and was entering the first stages of being killed off"; she pointed out that the "scene had become so successful" and widely known that "imitators had begun to enter the field".[252]Paste magazine states by 1994, grunge "was fading fast", with "Pearl Jam retreating from the spotlight as fast as they could; Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and hordes of others were battling horrid drug addictions and struggling for survival."[9] InGrunge: Seattle, Justin Henderson stated that the "downward spiral" began in mid-1994, as the influx of major label money into the scene changed the culture and it had "nowhere to go but down"; he states the death ofHole bassistKristen Pfaff on June 16, 1994, from a heroin overdose, was "another nail in grunge's coffin."[253]
In Jason Heller's 2013 article "Did grunge really matter?", inThe A.V. Club, he stated that Nirvana'sIn Utero (September 1993) was "grunge's death knell. As soon as Cobain grumbled, 'Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old,' it was all over."[254] Heller states that after Cobain's death in 1994, the "hypocrisy" in the grunge of the time "became ... glaring" and "idealism became embarrassing", with the result being that "grunge became the new [mainstream]Aerosmith".[254] Heller states that "grunge became an evolutionary dead end", because "it stood for nothing and was built on nothing, and that ethos of negation was all it was about."[254]
During the mid-1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; Nirvana summarily disbanded. After Cobain's death, Bruce Hardy wrote inTime magazine that he was "theJohn Lennon of the swinging Northwest", that he had struggled with a heroin addiction, and claimed that during the last weeks of his life there had been rumors in the music industry that Cobain had suffered a drug overdose and that Nirvana was breaking up.[255] Cobain's suicide "served as a catalyst for grunge's ... demise", because it "deflated the energy from grunge and provided the opening for saccharine and corporate-formulated music to regain" its lost footing."[256]
That same year Pearl Jam canceled its summer tour in protest of ticket vendorTicketmaster's unfair business practices.[257] Pearl Jam then began a boycott of the company; however, Pearl Jam's initiative to play only at non-Ticketmaster venues effectively, with a few exceptions, prevented the band from playing shows in the United States for the next three years.[258] In 1996, Alice in Chains gave their final performances with their ailing and estranged lead singer,Layne Staley,[259] who subsequently died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin in 2002.[260] In 1996, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees released their final studio albums of the 1990s,Down on the Upside[261] andDust,[262] respectively. Strong states that Roy Shuker and Stout have written that the "end of grunge" can be seen as being "as late as the breakup of Soundgarden in 1997".[252]
British band Bush were described by Matt Diehl ofRolling Stone as "the most successful and shameless mimics of Nirvana's music".
During the latter half of the 1990s, grunge was supplanted bypost-grunge, which remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century. Post-grunge "... transformed the thick guitar sounds and candid lyrical themes of the Seattle bands into an accessible, often uplifting mainstream aesthetic".[263] These artists were seen as lacking 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".Post-grunge was a more commercially viable genre that tempered the distorted guitars of grunge with polished, radio-ready production.[264][better source needed][265] When grunge became a mainstream genre, major labels started signing bands that sounded similar to these bands' sonic identities. Bands labeled aspost-grunge that emerged when grunge was mainstream such asBush,Candlebox andCollective Soul all are noted for emulating the sound of the bands that launched grunge into the mainstream.[264][better source needed]
Conversely, anotherrock genre,Britpop, emerged in part as a reaction against the dominance of grunge in the United Kingdom. In contrast to the dourness of grunge, Britpop was defined by "youthful exuberance and desire for recognition".[272][better source needed] The leading Britpop bands, "Blur andOasis existed as reactionary forces to [grunge's] eternal downcast glare."[273] Britpop artists' new approach was inspired by Blur's tour of the United States in the spring of 1992.Justine Frischmann, formerly ofSuede and leader ofElastica (and at the time in a relationship with Damon Albarn) explained, "Damon and I felt like we were in the thick of it at that point ... it occurred to us that Nirvana were out there, and people were very interested in American music, and there should be some sort of manifesto for the return of Britishness."[274]
Britpop artists were vocal about their disdain for grunge. In a 1993NME interview,Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur agreed with interviewerJohn Harris' assertion that Blur was an "anti-grunge band", and said, "Well, that's good. If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I'm getting rid of grunge" (ironically Kurt Cobain once cited Blur as his favorite band).[275]Noel Gallagher of Oasis, while a fan of Nirvana, wrote music that refuted the pessimistic nature of grunge. Gallagher noted in 2006 that the 1994 Oasis single "Live Forever" "was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called 'I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,' and I was like ... 'Well, I'm not fucking having that.' As much as I fucking like him [Cobain] and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, onsmack [heroin], fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish."[276] In an interview duringPinkpop Festival 2000, Oasis'Liam Gallagher attacked Pearl Jam, who were also performing, criticizing their depressing lyrical content and writing them off as "rubbish".[277]
Following the end of the original grunge movement, post-grunge increased in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s with newer bands such asCreed,Nickelback,3 Doors Down andPuddle of Mudd.[264][better source needed] Otherpost-grunge bands includeFoo Fighters,Staind andMatchbox Twenty. These post-grunge artists were criticized for their commercialized sound as well as their "worldview built around the comforts of community and romantic relationships", as opposed to grunge's lyrical exploration of "troubling issues such as suicide, societal hypocrisy and drug addiction."[264][better source needed] Adam Steininger criticized post-grunge bands' "diluted ditties filled with watered-down lyrics, all seemingly revolving around suffering through romance."[278] Criticizing many bands that have been described as post-grunge, Steininger criticizedCandlebox for their "pop-filled" sound, focus on "love lyrics, and writing songs without "versatility and creativity;Three Days Grace for their "diluted" and "radio-friendly music"; 3 Doors Down for focusing on "snagging hit singles instead of creating quality albums";Finger Eleven for going in a "pop rock" direction; Bush's "random phrasings of nonsense";Live's "pseudo pop poetry" that "strangled the essence of grunge",Puddle of Mudd's "watered down post-grunge sound";Lifehouse, for tearing down "grunge's sound and groundbreaking structure to appeal more to the masses"; andNickelback, which he calls the "featherweight ... punching bags of post-grunge" whose music is "dull as dishwater".[278]
Many major grunge bands continued recording and touring with success in the 2000s and 2010s. Perhaps the most notable grunge act of the 21st century has beenPearl Jam. In 2006,Rolling Stone writer Brian Hiatt described Pearl Jam as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame", but noted the band had nevertheless developed a loyal concert following akin to that of theGrateful Dead.[279] They saw a return to wide commercial success with 2006'sPearl Jam, 2009'sBackspacer and 2013'sLightning Bolt.[280] Alice In Chains reformed for a handful of reunion dates in 2005 with several different vocalists replacing Layne Staley. Eventually settling onWilliam DuVall as Staley's replacement, in 2009 they releasedBlack Gives Way to Blue, their first record in 14 years. The band's 2013 release,The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, reached number 2 on theBillboard 200.[281] Soundgarden reformed in 2010 and released their albumKing Animal two years later which reached the top five of the national albums charts in Denmark, New Zealand, and the United States.[282] Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd joinedAlain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) andDimitri Coats (Off!) to form side project Ten Commandos in 2016.[283]
Despite Kurt Cobain's death, the remaining members of Nirvana have continued to be successful posthumously. Due to the high sales for Kurt Cobain'sJournals and the band's best-of compilationNirvana upon their releases in 2002,The New York Times argued Nirvana "are having more success now than at any point since Mr. Cobain's suicide in 1994."[284] This trend has continued through the century's second decade, with the reissuing of the band's discography and release of the authorized documentaryKurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.[285] In 2012, the surviving members of Nirvana re-united, withPaul McCartney in place of Cobain, to record a track for the soundtrack Dave Grohl's documentarySound City titled "Cut Me Some Slack".[286]
One of the most successful rock groups of the 21st century,Queens of the Stone Age, has featured major contributions from various grunge musicians.Josh Homme had briefly played inScreaming Trees with off-and-on QOTSA memberMark Lanegan, before forming the group. Nirvana'sDave Grohl andEleven's Alain Johannes have also provided notable contributions. Homme and Grohl joined withLed Zeppelin'sJohn Paul Jones to form the supergroupThem Crooked Vultures in 2009. Johannes also performed with the group as a touring member.
Australian singer-songwriter and guitaristCourtney Barnett in 2015
In the early 2000s, grunge would make multiple regionally based resurgences, albeit minor ones. In 2005,The Seattle Times made note ofgrunge-influenced groups returning in the Seattle scene.[287] Similarly,The Guardian reported of grunge-influenced groups fromYorkshire, includingDinosaur Pile-Up,Pulled Apart by Horses, andWonderswan.[288] Also, in 2003, theNew York Times noted a resurgence in grunge fashion.[289]
This photo of aMudhoney concert captures some of the band's live show energy.
In 2011, music critic Dave Whitaker wrote, "every generation since the beginning of recorded music has introduced a game-changing genre", fromswing music in the 1930s,rock and roll in the 1950s,punk rock in the 1970s, and then grunge in the 1990s. However, he states "grunge was the last American musical revolution", as no post-grunge generation has introduced a new genre which radically changed the music scene.[93] He states that the "digital revolution" (online music, file sharing, etc.) has meant that there has not been a "generation-defining genre since grunge", because, for "one genre to so completely saturate the market requires ... amusic industry with immense control over the market".[93] In 2016,Rob Zombie stated that grunge caused the death of the "rock star"; he states that unlike previous stars like "Alice Cooper andGene Simmons andElton John", who "might as well have been from another fuckin' planet", with grunge the attitude was "[we] need all our rock stars to look just like us."[323]
Bob Batchelor states that the indie record mindset and values in Seattle which provided guidance for the development and emergence of Nirvana and Pearl Jam "conflicted with the major recording label desire to sell millions of CDs." Batchelor also states that despite grunge musicians' discomfort with the major labels' commercial goals, and the resistance by some key bands to do the promotional activities required by the labels, including music videos,MTV's video programs "played an instrumental role in making [grunge]" become "mainstream, since many music fans received their first exposure" on MTV, rather than on local or "niche radio."[256] Gil Troy states that the "grunge rebellion, like most others" in America's "consumerist" culture, ended up being "commodified, mass-produced, ritualized, and thus sanitized" by major corporations.[324]
In 2011, John Calvert stated that "timing" is the reason why a grunge revival did not happen; he says that the cultural mood of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which inspired the movement, were no longer present.[325] Seattle songwriter Jeff Stetson states that people from the 2010s who are listening to grunge should learn about the "context and history of how it all came to be" and "respect for what a truly amazing thing it was that happened here [in Seattle,] because you probably won't see anything like it again."[21]Paste magazine's Michael Danaher states that the grunge "movement changed the course of rock 'n' roll, bringing ... tales of abuse and depression" and socially conscious issues" intopop culture.[9]
Calvert stated that Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has an "iconic place in history" as it had "generation-defining resonance" foryoung people from its era"; he states that "no other band ... made the urge to self-destruct ... as listenable", with "authentic" pain and "disaffection".[325] Calvert also calls the record "chart history's most ferocious, dark and intense" music since early punk rock, and he says it was "heavy when heavy was needed" by young people of that era, "jarr[ing] young America awake" and giving them something to "cling to" in difficult times.[325] A 2017 book stated that grunge "forever changed the identity ofrock music in a way analogous to punk"; moreover, grunge added "introspective" lyrics about "existential authenticity" and "what it means to betrue to oneself".[10] Grunge's Kurt Cobain has been called the "voice of Generation X", playing the same role for this demographic asBob Dylan played for 1960s youth and thatJohn Lennon played for the 1970s generation.[10] Bob Batchelor stated that Nirvana was "as important asElvis or theBeatles."[256]
In 2008, Darragh McManus ofThe Guardian states that grunge was not simply a young person's trend or a musical fad; she states that grunge synthesized the key philosophies of the modern era, from "Feminism,liberalism, irony, apathy, cynicism/idealism ...anti-authoritarianism, [to] wrypost-modernism". McManus states that grunge dealt with serious, "weighty" topics, which does not occur often in popular music. McManus stated that for Generation X, grunge was not just music, it was a key cultural influence.[326] Marlen Komar stated that Nirvana's success popularized "non-heterosexist", non-binary ways of thinking about "gender and sexuality", emphasized how men and women were alike and promoted progressive political thinking.[104]
When asked about the '90s grunge movement in 2021,Mark Lanegan commented, "It's not something that was contrived or cooked up around the campfire somewhere. It just happened organically. It's hard for me to comment, because there's always great new music and there probably always will be – as long as the sun keeps shining."[327]
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^Azerrad, Michael (April 16, 1992)."Grunge City: The Seattle Scene".Rolling Stone. Penske Business Media. RetrievedNovember 2, 2018.Seventies-influenced, slowed-down punk music
^Wilkes, David. "Neil Young: Heart of Grunge?"New York Times: 1. December 6, 1992. ProQuest. Web. October 5, 2015
^abPrown, Pete and Newquist, Harvey P.Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation, 1997. p. 242-243
^Cataldo, Tomas.Rock Licks Encyclopedia. Alfred Music Publishing, 2001. p. 75.
^"Grunge : Jerry Cantrell".Guitar.com. Archived fromthe original on February 3, 2016. RetrievedApril 1, 2016.I'm not saying I do bad shit, but I do what fits the part. I'm more interested in what the whole picture is instead of a big vehicle for Cantrell to wank off all over on everybody
^Corbett, Bernard M. and Harkins, Thomas Edward.Pearl Jam FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Seattle's Most Enduring Band. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2016
^Moody, Fred.Seattle and the Demons of Ambition: A Love Story. 2004. p. 171.
^Fournier, Karen.The Words and Music of Alanis Morissette. ABC-CLIO, 2015. p. 44
^abTalley, Tara. "Grunge and Blues, A Sociological Comparison:How Space and Place Influence the Development and Spread of Regional Musical Styles".Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Charleston Volume 4, 2005: pp. 228–240. p. 233
^Clark, Bill (September 4, 2007)."GRUNGE Deep Cuts".bullz-eye.com. Bullz-eye. RetrievedMarch 1, 2017.
^Pearlin, Jeffrey."A Brief History of Metal". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived fromthe original on February 1, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 20, 2017.
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^Whitehead, John W.Grasping for the Wind: The Search for Meaning in the 20th Century. 2001. p. 247
^Marion, Nancy E and Oliver, Willard M.Drugs in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture. and the Law. ABC-CLIO, 2014. p. 888.
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^abcdGina Misiroglu.American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History. Routledge, 2015. p. 343
^abMusic Cultures in the United States: An Introduction. Ed. Ellen Koskoff. Routledge, 2005. p. 359
^Azerrad, Michael (2001).Our Band Could be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981–1991 (1 ed.). Boston: Little, Brown.ISBN9780316063791. Retrieved January 11, 2014. p. 344
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^Marsh, Dave. "LIVE THROUGH THIS. ... ". Rock & Rap Archives 124.
^Bailey, John (2014-05-19)."The unfurling of a modern marvel". executivestyle. Archived fromthe original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved11 February 2017.In the '90s, the unshaven look of grunge was one way of resisting the increasingly clean and shiny image to which men were supposed to aspire.
^"90s Grunge". The Pop Core. RetrievedFebruary 11, 2017.Grunge musicians were known for their aversion to on-stage theatrics, and adopted an unkempt, workmanlike look. The wardrobe of most grunge musicians featured a wrinkled flannel shirt and plain blue jeans. And it wasn't uncommon for a grunge musician to be unshaven with ... tousled hair.
^abMarin, Rick (November 15, 1992)."Grunge: A Success Story".The New York Times. RetrievedFebruary 25, 2017.
^Mazullo, Mark (2000). "The Man Whom the World Sold: Kurt Cobain, Rock's Progressive Aesthetic, and the Challenges of Authenticity".The Musical Quarterly.84 (4) (4 ed.):713–749.doi:10.1093/mq/84.4.713.JSTOR742606.
^abMarion, Nancy E and Oliver, Willard M.Drugs in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture. and the Law. ABC-CLIO, 2014 . p. 888.
^Henderson, Justin.Grunge: Seattle. Roaring Forties Press, 2016. Ch. 5 "the really big time", section: "here come the tabloids!"
^McChesney, Robert W. "Balancing Things Left of Center",The Rocket, Issue #195, December 7–21, 1994, p. 12, 14.
^Anderson, Dawn. "Timeline: 1988",The Rocket, Issue #195, December 7–21, 1994, p. 38.
^abcdeLeishman, Kirsty, 'Australian Grunge Literature and the Conflict between Literary Generations',Journal of Australian Studies, 23.63 (1999), pp. 94–102
^Vernay, Jean-François, 'Grunge Fiction',The Literary Encyclopedia, November 6, 2008, accessed September 9, 2009
^abChilders, Chad."10 Best Grunge Bands of All Time".Loudwire. RetrievedJuly 22, 2016.Could grunge grow outside of Seattle? That was the question in 1992, when San Diego-based rockers Stone Temple Pilots arrived with their 'Core' album, leading the second wave of grunge.
^"Texas band Toadies ready for anniversary tour".The Daily Californian. March 22, 2014. Archived fromthe original on June 10, 2016. RetrievedMay 15, 2016.Few would argue thatRubberneck is the most influential album of the '90s, but it is distinctly grunge, and it is distinctly Texan.
^Rashbaum, Alyssa (June 22, 2004)."The Burden Brothers' Key To Success: Stop Trying". MTV. Archived fromthe original on January 29, 2013. RetrievedMay 15, 2016.Lewis had left his mark on the early 1990s grunge scene with the Toadies, but the group broke up in 2001 after recording only two studio albums.
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