"Grunge" in retrospective.

smorgdonkey said:
In Kurt's diary/book (whatever that was) there were numerous things randomly scrawled on pages and one that came up repeatedly was "get signed" yet part of his 'act' was to give the impression that he never really wanted to get signed and that it was all a bore to him.

I think it's hilarious that the guy who, to many, symbolized(izes) the movement/genre, was a hypocrite and really just faking that attitude that was a critical part of the image.
Click to expand...

To be fair, his idea of "getting signed" as a teenager and young adult was landing a deal on Touch & Go.

That ambivalent stance regarding indie-level fame was something Kurt could have easily learned from alt heroes like the Replacements, Husker Du, REM, and the like. And it's not like his pals and peers in the Melvins or the Olympia scene were any less weird about success and media exposure.

In the late 80s and early 90s it was pretty unthinkable that a band mixing Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and the Beatles was going to have to worry about real success (because plenty of bands were doing it and living in a van and making the small club/college town circuit).
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Mike McCready.
Click to expand...

Not perfect, but vastly better than my best attempt...Eruption that is. I was in a band and we did a dead one Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. To be honest, I never really tried to learn Eruption. Regardless, this is a fun clip:



I know they're being campy/fun, but Eddie removes the cheesy camp factor that is David Lee Roth.
 
Peen Simmons said:
To be fair, his idea of "getting signed" as a teenager and young adult was landing a deal on Touch & Go.

That ambivalent stance regarding indie-level fame was something Kurt could have easily learned from alt heroes like the Replacements, Husker Du, REM, and the like. And it's not like his pals and peers in the Melvins or the Olympia scene were any less weird about success and media exposure.

In the late 80s and early 90s it was pretty unthinkable that a band mixing Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and the Beatles was going to have to worry about real success (because plenty of bands were doing it and living in a van and making the small club/college town circuit).
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing. When Kurt wrote "getting signed" he probably meant Dischord or SST. Just some small label so he wouldn't have to pay to record his tunes.
 
Peen Simmons said:
In the late 80s and early 90s it was pretty unthinkable that a band mixing Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and the Beatles was going to have to worry about real success (because plenty of bands were doing it and living in a van and making the small club/college town circuit).
Click to expand...

I still don't hear Sabbath or The Beatles in it.
 
smorgdonkey said:
I still don't hear Sabbath or The Beatles in it.
Click to expand...

Sabbath-meets-Beatles is the standard rock critic cliche for discussing most of the college rock, grunge, and other alt stuff of that era. The fusion of sludge and pop. It's not an entirely literal or accurate assessment, but that idea powered a lot of acts from that era, even if you aren't tasting an obvious "Sweetleaf" compote infused with "Ticket to Ride" essential oil.
 
Chad said:
You don't hear Sabbath in Soundgarden? I remember first hearing Louder than Love and the first thing I thought of was the guitars sounding like a modern Sabbath.
Click to expand...

Definitely, and I only knew side one of the Paranoid album. And the Beatles or something tangibly Beatle-esue almost always seems to find their/its way into most bands music as they grow/mature/age. As I like to say as it relates to the Beatles, resistance is pointless we have been assimilated. It's only bands like XTC and Oasis that had a clear Beatles influence out of the gate (the former picking up the torch and the latter more outright copping the established style and aesthetic) that don't mature into as they're already their.
 
I was starting high school in 1990, and just starting to identify as a musician. I was already into thrash and punk, and was plenty sick of hair metal. Grunge was a welcome change in the mainstream for me, and I dug a lot of those bands. Mad Season was my favorite, I think. The best thing about that whole thing though, is that when the labels' wallets opened up it allowed a lot of alternative/indie bands to put their stuff out there, that would have otherwise never had that chance.
 
smorgdonkey said:
In Kurt's diary/book (whatever that was) there were numerous things randomly scrawled on pages and one that came up repeatedly was "get signed" yet part of his 'act' was to give the impression that he never really wanted to get signed and that it was all a bore to him.

I think it's hilarious that the guy who, to many, symbolized(izes) the movement/genre, was a hypocrite and really just faking that attitude that was a critical part of the image.

But not as hilarious as Warrant who were clean hair rockers and as soon as GnR hit it, started getting tattoos as fast as the needle could put ink in their arms.
Click to expand...
That is really not at all what the song is about. Really more mocking a certain type of fan.

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 knows not what it means
Knows not what it means

Dogsinotpalc said:
Not perfect, but vastly better than my best attempt...Eruption that is. I was in a band and we did a dead one Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. To be honest, I never really tried to learn Eruption. Regardless, this is a fun clip:



I know they're being campy/fun, but Eddie removes the cheesy camp factor that is David Lee Roth.
Click to expand...

As @Chad said, I would love to suck at my instrument as much as Mike and Stone.


Chad said:
I was going to say the same thing. When Kurt wrote "getting signed" he probably meant Dischord or SST. Just some small label so he wouldn't have to pay to record his tunes.
Click to expand...
I frankly think (not that I have any real way of knowing) that Kurt couldn't handle in the long run the type of attention he got once Time magazine and all that silliness broke. He was definitely not a perfect man. But who is. I personally wish he would have found a way to make it, like Eddy who was also on the mag covers and a bit freaked out about it, Bob Mould who did not get quite so much attention, but did and does write about some pretty dark themes, and lots of others mentioned here, etc.
 
Last edited:
sunvalleylaw said:
I frankly think (not that I have any real way of knowing) that Kurt couldn't handle in the long run the type of attention he got once Time magazine and all that silliness broke.
Click to expand...

A serious long-running drug habit, deeply rooted emotional troubles, a lousy/parasitic "support system" of enablers and handlers, and a volatile marriage probably didn't help.
 
Peen Simmons said:
A serious long-running drug habit, deeply rooted emotional troubles, a lousy/parasitic "support system" of enablers and handlers, and a volatile marriage probably didn't help.
Click to expand...

The mental health thing is likely the root of all of the other stuff, but those emotional troubles may have been brain chemistry as easily as they could have been the result of life in general. The latter you can work on, the former is a horribly common path to self-medication/destruction with alcohol and drugs. The music industry is not a great place for people with these types of issues (be they nature or nurture).
 
Chad said:
You don't hear Sabbath in Soundgarden? I remember first hearing Louder than Love and the first thing I thought of was the guitars sounding like a modern Sabbath.
Click to expand...

I hear it in Soundgarden - sure. I was thinking that was a Nirvana description. My error.
 
smorgdonkey said:
I hear it in Soundgarden - sure. I was thinking that was a Nirvana description. My error.
Click to expand...
Nirvana was the outlier as compared to Soundgarden, AIC, and even Pearl Jam. Much more Pixies, Replacements, Sonic Youth, Melvins in their mix. I loved me some Nirvana. But I always thought it was funny that they were being held up as the other bookend to PJ and etc.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Nirvana was the outlier as compared to Soundgarden, AIC, and even Pearl Jam. Much more Pixies, Replacements, Sonic Youth, Melvins in their mix. I loved me some Nirvana. But I always thought it was funny that they were being held up as the other bookend to PJ and etc.
Click to expand...

One of the most interesting aspects of that is that they were the two HUGE "mainstream" Seattle bands, whether they liked it or not. People ate up everything from Nevermind and Ten with the same fervor as the masses loved Jagged Little Pill (the majority of the album's tunes were released as singles!!!). Soundgarden were the third in line and everyone else came after them, probably by quite a bit except for Alice In Chains. Outside of the herion problem it seems like one of the more inspiring scenes to have been a part of.
 
My personal thoughts on the matter are that I loved that scene and still do love a lot of that music. I grew up in a steel town wearing flannel and camo and baseball caps, being a musician in metal bands back then made you a part of the metal scene that always felt a bit fake to us. The underground punk scene was more natural aesthetically, but full of these kids who felt superior because thet "got it" and seemed to be in it only to be able to confuse folks with new band names.
"You ever heard of .......?"

...

."oh yeah.?.?. Wahat about....???"

Puke...

Grunge hit and it was good accessible music that we could make without having to throw our distortion away. Made by guys that looked like the guy down at the arcade.

Life was good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top