>Grunge is a sound and not just a movement
No idea why people say this because none of the bands from that era sound alike. Nirvana were pretty much a punk band, at least in their early days. Pearl Jam were classic/stadium rock influenced. Soundgarden had a kinda doomy sludge metal sound going on.
Also, it seems to be a generic term for early to mid 90s heavy American rock, but why did Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against The Machine avoid the label? Obviously neither were from Seattle, but Pixies and Stone Temple Pilots weren't either and I see them frequently labelled as grunge.
>>65447098
pumpkins got labeled grunge occasionally, i think the pumpkins sounded too streamlined to be labeled that, they were all very tight musicians, not to say the others werent, but they didnt have that mopey edge the other bands had which played a part in them getting labled,
i completely agree though, the main 4 ''grunge'' bands are completely differe
>>65447186
Yeah I think the Pumpkins had a very nuanced and ambitious sound compared to the others. Musically and thematically they definitely fit in with the other bands of that era though.
>>65447098
because genre labels themselves are never accurate with anything (not just grunge). it's just an easy way to market something without making it complicated
take a marketing class ffs
At the time the "grunge" bands had a lot more in common with each other than they did with the other bands around, like Poison or Warrant or whatever.
>>65447098
Grunge songs did share numerous defining qualities, though. There's a lot of things you can look for: shouty vocals, a downbeat tempo, dark lyrics, harmonies, a quiet verse/loud chorus format, fuzzy and distorted guitars, and occasionally even a wall of sound. It's pretty easy to distinguish a "grunge" sound.
Also, The Smashing Pumpkins didn't avoid the grunge label; I'm pretty sure most of Gish and Siamese Dream are still considered grunge.
>>65448208
You'd have to be an idiot to not think grunge is a genre.
Gish is generally considered grunge. Haven't really heard anyone call Siamese Dream grunge.
>>65447098
Grunge is not a genre but an umbrella term perpetuated by the media as the next big fad for suburban youth
Grunge literally didn't offer us anything new, but it did pass the DIY punk ethic, and an appreciation of good 70's rock on to a generation that mightve otherwise lost touch with it.
Oh, wait... It also made socially concious an entire demographic of folks who literally haf nothing to bitch about. Omg, grunge is to blame fot SJWs. Duck yeah, especially eddie vedder!
>>65447098
>because none of the bands from that era sound alike
They don't sound EXACTLY alike but they had certain unifying factors: a mixture of distorted and clean/reverby guitars, lower-end gruff plaintiff male vocals singing about gloomy shit, midtempo songs.
The loud/soft/loud dynamic is a huge unifying stereotypical trait of grunge, so much so that Pixies named a project after it.
>>65450242
>plaintiff
haha.
you know what i meant.
>The loud/soft/loud dynamic
B b b but they didnt all do that. Mudhoney, Tad, the Screaming Trees, AIC, soundgarden, PJ didnt do that. Bretty much just nirvana doing that as they imitated the pixies. Them and the copycat STPs and Bushes
>>65447098
Since when Ariel Pink is grunge?
>>65450457
lol that's diiv dude
Grunge is pretty much in the same boat as shoegaze.
It was a scene but has a signature sound.
Grunge is really just alternative rock, and shoegaze usually is just neo-psychedelia.
>>65450356
>AIC didn't do it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nco_kh8xJDs
>>65450593
While Would features dynamics, these harken back ti the 70s not pixies. Guitars begin and remain over driven. The soft loud soft dynamic you speak of is an alternation between clean and distorted tones. This doesnt happen in Would.
>>65450558
Grunge and shoegaze actually shared a lot of similar elements if you think about it. There's no doubt the two occasionally crossed paths.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0DTBOQOdf4
Am i the only one who's recognized the parallel between kurts soft/loud/soft/loud dynamic and his bipolar disorder? No.. im not the only one ohhhh im not the only one.
