Grunge Is Not Over

Foo Fighters

2010-04-03T18:40:00.001+07:00

Foo Fighters is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1995. Singer and guitarist Dave Grohl formed the group as a one-man project after the dissolution of his previous band, Nirvana, in 1994. Prior to the release of the band's eponymous debut album in 1995, Grohl drafted Nate Mendel as bassist, William Goldsmith as drummer, and Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the group. The band was small, young, and they began with performances in Portland, Oregon before gaining popularity. Goldsmith left during the recording of the group's second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997), and Smear's departure followed soon afterward. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl left prior to the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999).

Chris Shiflett joined as the band's second guitarist after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album, One by One, in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and harder-rocking material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007. Over the course of the band's existence, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six have been nominated for Grammys

HistoryFormation and debut album (1994–1995)

Dave Grohl joined the grunge group Nirvana as its drummer. During tours, he took a guitar with him and wrote songs. Grohl held back these songs from the rest of the band; he said in 1997, "I was in awe of frontman Kurt Cobain's songs. And intimidated. I thought it was best that I keep my songs to myself."^[1] Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos, and even issued a cassette of some of those songs called Pocketwatch under the pseudonym "Late!" in 1992.^[2]

Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994, and Nirvana subsequently disbanded,Grohl received offers to work with various artists; he almost accepted a permanent position as the drummer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Ultimately Grohl declined and instead entered Robert Lang Studios in October 1994 to record twelve of the forty songs he had written.^[2] With the exception of a guitar part on "X-Static", played by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, Grohl played every instrument and sang every vocal on the tracks.^[3] "I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life," Grohl later said. "I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do. I enjoy writing music and I enjoy trying to sing, and there's nothing anyone can really do to discourage me." Grohl completed an album's worth of material in five days and handed out cassette copies of the sessions to his friends for feedback.^[2]

Grohl hoped to keep his anonymity and release the recordings in a limited run under the title "Foo Fighters", taken from the World War II term "foo fighter", used to refer to unidentified flying objects.^[2] However, the demo tape circulated in the music industry, creating interest among record labels.^[4] Grohl formed a band to support the album. Initially, he talked to former Nirvana band mate Krist Novoselic about joining the group, but both decided against it. "For Krist and I, it would have felt really natural and really great", Grohl explained. "But for everyone else, it would have been weird, and it would have left me in a really bad position. Then I really would have been under the microscope."^[5] Having heard about the disbanding of Seattle-based rock band Sunny Day Real Estate, Grohl drafted the group's bass player, Nate Mendel, and drummer, William Goldsmith. Grohl asked Pat Smear, who served as a touring guitarist for Nirvana after the release of its 1993 album, In Utero, to join as the group's second guitarist.^[6] Grohl ultimately licensed the album to Capitol Records, releasing it on his new record label, Roswell Records.^[2]

Foo Fighters made their live debut on March 3, 1995 during a show at The Satyricon in Portland. They followed that with a show at the Velvet Elvis in Seattle on March 4. The first show had been part of a benefit gig to aid the finances of the investigation into the rape and murder of The Gits singer Mia Zapata. Grohl refused to do interviews or tour large venues to promote the album.^[6] Foo Fighters undertook their first major tour in the spring of 1995, opening for Mike Watt. The band's first single, "This Is a Call", was released in June 1995,^[3] and its debut album Foo Fighters was released the next month. "I'll Stick Around", "For All The Cows", and "Big Me" were released as subsequent singles. The band spent the following months on tour, including their first appearance at the Reading Festival in England in August.^[6]

The Colour and the Shape (1996–1997)

After touring through the spring of 1996, Foo Fighters entered a studio in Woodinville, Washington with producer Gil Norton to record its second album. While Grohl once again wrote all the songs, the rest of the band collaborated on the arrangements. With the sessions nearly complete, Grohl took the rough mixes with him to Los Angeles, intending to finish up his vocal and guitar parts. While there, Grohl realized that he wasn't happy with how the mixes were turning out, and the band "basically re-recorded almost everything".^[1] During the L.A. sessions, Grohl had played drums on the songs, removing Goldsmith's drumming part. Goldsmith said Grohl did not tell him that he recorded new drum parts for the record and, feeling betrayed, left the band.^[7]

In need of a replacement for Goldsmith, Grohl contacted Alanis Morissette's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins to see if he could recommend anybody. Grohl was surprised when Hawkins volunteered his own services as drummer.^[1] Hawkins made his debut with the group in time for the release of its second album, The Colour and the Shape, in May 1997. The album included the singles "Monkey Wrench", "My Hero", and "Everlong".^{[citation needed]}

Pat Smear announced to the rest of the group that he wanted to leave the band to pursue other interests. Four months later in September 1997 at the MTV Video Music Awards, Smear simultaneously publicly announced his departure from the band and introduced his replacement, Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl.^[8] Stahl toured with the band for the next few months, and appeared on two tracks that the band recorded for movie soundtracks, a re-recording of "Walking After You" for The X-Files and "A320" for Godzilla. A B-side of the album, "Dear Lover", appeared in the horror film Scream 2.^{[citation needed]}

There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1998–2001)

In 1998, Foo Fighters traveled to Grohl's home state of Virginia to write music for its third album.^[9] However, Grohl and Stahl were unable to co-operate as songwriters; Grohl told Kerrang! in 1999, "in those few weeks it just seemed like the three of us were moving in one direction and Franz wasn't". Grohl was distraught about the decision to fire Stahl, as the two had been friends since childhood.^[10] The remaining trio of Grohl, Mendel, and Hawkins spent the next several months recording the band's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, in Grohl's Virginia home studio. The album spawned several singles, including "Learn to Fly", the band's first single to reach the US Hot 100.

Before the release of the album, Capitol president Gary Gersh was forced out of the label. Given Grohl's history with Gersh, Foo Fighters' contract had included a "key man clause" that allowed them to leave the label upon Gersh's departure. They subsequently left Capitol and signed to RCA, who later acquired the rights to the band's Capitol albums.^[10]

After recording was completed, the band auditioned a number of potential guitarists, and eventually settled on Chris Shiflett, who performs with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and previously performed with No Use for a Name. Shiflett initially joined the band as touring guitarist, but achieved full-time status prior to the recording of the group's fourth album.^{[citation needed]}

That same year,^[when?] Foo Fighters established a relationship with rock band Queen, of whom the band (particularly Grohl and Hawkins) is a fan.^{[citation needed]} Guitarist Brian May added a guitar track to Foo Fighters' second cover of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar", which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Mission: Impossible II. When Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001, Grohl and Hawkins were invited to perform with the band on "Tie Your Mother Down", with Grohl filling in on vocals for Freddie Mercury.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, guitarist May contributed guitar work to "Tired of You" and an outtake called "Knucklehead". The bands have performed together on several occasions since, including VH1 Rock Honors and Foo Fighters' headlining concert in Hyde Park,^{[citation needed]} as well as the band's concert at the O2 arena in London in November 2007.^{[citation needed]}

One by One (2001–2004)

Near the end of 2001, the band reconvened to record its fourth album. After spending four months in a Los Angeles studio completing the album, Grohl spent some time helping Queens of the Stone Age complete their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. Once the Queens of the Stone Age album was finished, Grohl, inspired by the sessions, decided to reconvene Foo Fighters to rework a few songs on their album. Instead, they re-recorded nearly all of the album (save "Tired of You") in a ten-day stretch at Grohl's studio in Virginia. The final album was released in October 2002 under the title One by One. Singles from the album included "All My Life", "Times Like These", "Low", and "Have It All". The band later expressed displeasure with the album.^[11] Grohl told Rolling Stone in 2005, "Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it."^[12]

For most of its history, the band chose to stay away from the political realm. However, in 2004, upon learning that George W. Bush's presidential campaign was using "Times Like These" at rallies, Grohl decided to lend his public support to John Kerry's campaign.^{[citation needed]} Grohl attended several Kerry rallies and occasionally performed solo acoustic sets. The entire band eventually joined Grohl for a performance in Arizona coinciding with one of the presidential debates.^[13]

In Your Honor, Foozer Tour, and acoustic tour (2005–2006)

Foo Fighters performing an acoustic show

Having spent a year and a half touring behind One By One, Grohl did not want to rush into recording another Foo Fighters record. Initially Grohl intended to write acoustic material by himself, but eventually the project involved the entire band.^[14] To record its fifth album, the band shifted to Los Angeles and built a recording studio, dubbed Studio 606 West. Grohl insisted that the album be divided into two discs–one full of rock songs, the other featuring acoustic tracks.^[11] In Your Honor was released in June 2005. The album's singles included "Best of You", "DOA", "Resolve", "No Way Back", and "Miracle".^{[citation needed]}

Between the months of September and October 2005, the band touring with Weezer on what was billed as the 'Foozer Tour' as the two bands co-headlined the tour.^[15] On June 17, 2006, Foo Fighters performed their largest non-festival headlining concert to date at London's Hyde Park. The band was supported by Juliette and the Licks, Angels & Airwaves, Queens of the Stone Age, and Motörhead.^{[citation needed]} Motörhead's Lemmy joined the band on stage to sing "Shake Your Blood" from Dave Grohl's Probot album.^{[citation needed]} Also, as a surprise performance, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen jammed with Foo Fighters, playing part of "We Will Rock You" as a lead into "Tie Your Mother Down".^{[citation needed]}

In further support of In Your Honor, the band decided to organize a short acoustic tour for the summer of 2006. The tour included former member Pat Smear, who rejoined the band as an extra guitarist, Petra Haden on violin and backup vocals, Drew Hester on percussion, and Rami Jaffee of The Wallflowers on keyboards/piano. While much of the setlist focused on In Your Honor's acoustic half, the band also used the opportunity to play lesser-known songs such as "Ain't It The Life", "Floaty", and "See You". The band also performed "Marigold", a Pocketwatch-era song that was best-known as a Nirvana B-side.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2006, the band released their first ever live CD, Skin and Bones, featuring fifteen performances captured over a three-night stand in Los Angeles. An accompanying DVD was released, and featured tracks not available on the CD.^{[citation needed]}

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and Greatest Hits (2007–2009)

The band performing live in 2007

For the follow-up to In Your Honor, the band decided to call in The Colour and the Shape producer Gil Norton. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. The album's first single, "The Pretender", was issued to radio in early August. In mid-to-late 2007 "The Pretender" topped Billboard's Modern Rock chart for a record 18 weeks; it also gave the band their third consecutive year at the top (a record).^{[citation needed]} The second single, "Long Road to Ruin", was released in December 2007, supported by a music video directed by longtime collaborator Jesse Peretz (formerly of the Lemonheads).^[16]

In October 2007, Foo Fighters started their world tour in support of Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The band performed shows throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia, including headlining the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore on August 9. The band finished its world tour in September 2008 at the Virgin Festival at Toronto Island Park in Canada.^{[citation needed]}

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was nominated for five Grammy Awards in 2008. The Foo Fighters went home with Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance (for "The Pretender"). The album was also nominated for Album of the Year, while "The Pretender" was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rock Song.^[17]

On November 3, 2009, the band released a compilation album, Greatest Hits, which features two new songs, "Word Forward" and the single "Wheels".^{[citation needed]}

Next album and the future (2010–present)

The band is slated to begin recording their seventh studio album in September 2010. ^[18] Butch Vig will produce the album, after having produced the two new tracks from the band's compilation album.^[19]

[edit] Musical style

When Grohl first started the band, its music was often compared to that of his previous group, Nirvana. Grohl acknowledged that Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was a major influence on his songwriting. Grohl said, "Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down." Foo Fighters also utilize the Pixies' technique of shifting between quiet verses and loud chorus, which Grohl said was influenced by the members of Nirvana "liking the Knack, Bay City Rollers, Beatles, and ABBA as much as we liked Flipper and Black Flag, I suppose".^[1] Writing and recording songs for the first Foo Fighters album by himself, Grohl wrote the guitar riffs to be as rhythmic as possible. He approached the guitar similar to how he approached playing a drumkit, assigning different drum parts to different strings on the instrument. This allowed him to piece together songs easily; he said, "I could hear the song in my head before it was finished."^[2] Once Grohl assembled a full band, his bandmates assisted in song arrangements.^[1]

The members of Foo Fighters meld melodic elements with harder sounds. Grohl noted in 1997, "We all love music, whether it's the Beatles or Queen or punk rock. I think the lure of punk rock was the energy and immediacy; the need to thrash stuff around. But at the same time, we're all suckers for a beautiful melody, you know? So it is just natural."^[1] Grohl said in 2005, "I love being in a rock band, but I don't know if I necessarily wanna be in an alternative rock band from the 1990s for the rest of my life. It might be nice to broaden our range, open up the dynamic, so we can go out and just make music". Grohl noted that the band's acoustic tour was such an attempt to broaden the group's sound.^[20]

Campaigning and activism

In 2000, the band generated controversy through their public support of Alive & Well, an organization that denies the link between HIV and AIDS, questions the validity of HIV tests, and advises against taking medication to counter the disease.^[21] Foo Fighter bassist Nate Mendel learned of Alive & Well through What If Everything You Thought You Knew about AIDS Was Wrong?, a self-published book written by Christine Maggiore, the organization's founder. Mendel passed the book around to the rest of the band, who supported his advocacy.^[21]

In January 2000, the band played a benefit concert for the organization, which Mendel helped to organize.^[21] The band also contributed songs to The Other Side of AIDS, a controversial documentary film by Maggiore's husband Robin Scovill, which questions whether HIV is the cause of AIDS.^[22] The band's position caused alarm in the medical community, as Alive & Well's advice ran contrary to scientific knowledge about HIV and AIDS.^[21]^[22] In a 2000 interview, Mendel spoke of using Foo Fighters' popularity to help spread the group's message and of holding more benefits for the organization.^[21] The organization is no longer listed as one of the supported causes on the Foo Fighters' website.^[23]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mudhoney

2008-08-21T15:22:00.003+07:00

Download here.....

In 'N' Out of Grace.mp3
Urban Geurilla.mp3
Touch Me I'm Sick.mp 3

Mudhoney is an American grunge band. Formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison), and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the band in 1999 but briefly returned in December of 2000 to complete touring obligations. Mudhoney's early releases on Sub Pop—the "Touch Me I'm Sick" single and the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP—were very influential in the Seattle music scene, and helped inspire the dirty, high-distortion sound that would characterize grunge. Mudhoney were also notable for their mixing of heavy blues rock and punk rock. They have found little commercial success during their long career, which has yielded eight studio albums. They have inspired notable grunge and alternative rock musicians, most notably Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.

Mr. Epp and the Calculations

The very beginnings of Mudhoney start out in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. While at Bellevue Christian High School, Mark McLaughlin (later known as Mark Arm) and some friends started Mr. Epp and the Calculations, a band named after a math teacher of his. Initially the band was more a joke band than a real band; their first "show" was in class singing Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" and using rolled-up maps as guitars because they couldn't play real instruments. "Mr. Epp" finally played their first show in 1981, three years after they formed. Around this time Mark Arm and friend Steve Turner formed a more serious yet still humorous band, Limp Richerds. Mr. Epp appeared on KZAM-AM radio and were introduced as "the worst band in the world." They played their last show on February 3, 1984 with Malfunkshun at Seattle's Metropolis.

Green River: 1984–1987

Green River was formed in 1984 when Mark Arm and Steve Turner recruited Alex Vincent as drummer, who had previously played with Turner in the short-lived Spluii Numa. Bassist Jeff Ament joined the band after arriving in Seattle with his band Deranged Diction. Stone Gossard, another of Turner's former bandmates, was recruited as second guitarist. Green River recorded their debut EP, Come on Down, in 1985, and it is often regarded as the first true "grunge" record. Steve Turner left the band after its release due to his distaste of the band's heavy metal leanings. He was replaced by another Derranged Diction member, Bruce Fairweather. After recording another EP (Dry As a Bone) and a full-length album (Rehab Doll), the band decided to call it quits in late 1987. Gossard, Ament, and Fairweather went on to join Mother Love Bone. Following lead singer, Andrew Wood's death, Gossard and Ament went on to form Pearl Jam, and Fairweather joined Love Battery. In January 1988, Arm reunited with Turner to form Mudhoney.

Sub Pop: 1988–1991

Frontman Mark Arm

Steve Turner wanted to start a band that rehearsed before playing to a live audience. He and Mark Arm began songwriting with Bundle of Hiss drummer Dan Peters. The trio decided that Matt Lukin, who had recently left The Melvins, should join the band as bassist. They named themselves after the Russ Meyer movie Mudhoney, which none of the band members had actually seen.

In 1988, the band recorded and released their debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff, and their first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick", on the Sub Pop label. The single attracted a great deal of attention and the band enjoyed moderate success in the United States. Mudhoney quickly became Sub Pop's flagship band. Sonic Youth, who were fans of the band, had invited Mudhoney to join them for a tour in England in 1989. After this tour Superfuzz Bigmuff landed on the British indie charts and they received a respectable amount of press coverage. Following this success the band released their first full-length LP, Mudhoney, in 1989. Mudhoney's partial success led to a number of other Seattle bands, such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Tad, gaining some recognition. In the early '90s, Sub Pop was not making very much money. As a result, many of its bands left the label to seek backing from major labels. However, Mudhoney decided to stay with Sub Pop and they released their second album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, in 1991. After the album's release they were offered a deal with Reprise Records, and they joined the label in 1992.

Reprise: 1992–1999

As grunge entered the mainstream, Mudhoney shifted away from their early grunge sound. Many of the band's contemporaries were having huge success and gaining popularity worldwide. Mudhoney's first album with Reprise was Piece of Cake, which leaned more towards garage rock than grunge. In 2008 Mojo magazine article, guitarist Stephen Turner explains the album references "how easily things had come to them...the songs were kinda half-baked..." They also contributed a track "Overblown" at this time to the soundtrack to the film Singles.

Lead guitarist Steve Turner in 2007

In 1995, as grunge was fading from the mainstream, Mudhoney decided to return to their earlier sound. With their album My Brother the Cow they mixed their earlier and more recent sound, producing a fan favorite and arguably one of their finest albums. Critics weren't as accepting. Steve Turner explains in a recent article in Mojo, "There was a backlash after Kurt [Cobain] killed himself. The English press were so angry that we were still around. Those were some of the worst reviews we'd ever gotten. We were mocked for still existing." ^[1] In 1996, Mudhoney appeared in the comedy movie Black Sheep, starring Chris Farley and David Spade. The band was shown performing at an MTV concert and then speaking with Farley backstage. Mudhoney's melding of styles would become more pronounced on their following album, Tomorrow Hit Today, recorded and released in 1998. The album continued their garage and grunge sound but demonstrated a strong blues-rock influence. Sensing a "use-it-or-lose-it" budget, they hired Jim Dickinson, an eccentric legend who worked with the Rolling Stones. They recorded in 3 different cities^[2] After a few years of touring, Reprise decided to release Mudhoney from their label. One of the reasons was that the band's record sales had reached a career low, despite the fact their concerts were drawing larger audiences than before. Subsequently, bassist Matt Lukin called it quits, due primarily to his dislike of touring. The band released March to Fuzz, a retrospective compilation of songs from throughout their career. Many fans speculated that the band was on the verge of breakup.

After Matt Lukin: 2000–present

However, Mudhoney continued to play some concerts in the Pacific Northwest, and these concerts were doing so well that band members decided to resurrect their careers. They recruited permanent bassist Guy Maddison (of Monroe's Fur and Lubricated Goat) who had played with Mark Arm in one of his many side projects, Bloodloss. In 2002, following their return to Sub Pop, the band recorded and released a new studio album, Since We've Become Translucent. This was followed by a major South American tour including Chile, Argentina & Brazil.

Bass guitarist Guy Maddison in 2007

In early 2003 the band entered the studio to record a new song entitled "Hard-On For War" that would appear exclusively on Travis Keller's critically acclaimed Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter compilation album. Later that year the band returned to the studio and recorded Under a Billion Suns on which a new version of the song appeared. The album was released in 2006 and received favorable reviews. In 2006 the band also helped to curate an edition of the British All Tomorrow's Parties festival. During 2007, Mudhoney played in Brazil once again and went on a brief European tour.[1] In November that year, the band released a live album entitled Live Mud, containing songs recorded at a concert in Mexico.

In 2008, Mudhoney began recording their next album with producer Tucker Martine. It was titled The Lucky Ones and released in May 2008. Shortly thereafter, Sub Pop released a deluxe, remastered edition of Superfuzz Bigmuff. The reissue contains the original EP in its correct running order, along with singles, demos, and two live recordings from 1988. In the liner notes of the reissued Superfuzz Bigmuff, Jay Hinman wrote:

My feeling—and I know I’m not alone in this one—is that for all the play and worldwide attention several Seattle-area bands got during the 1988-92 period, at the end of the day (and even at the time), there was Mudhoney—and then there was everybody else. To me, you, and everyone else paying close attention to underground rock music during those years, Mudhoney still sound like the undisputed kingpins of roaring, surging, fuzzed-out, Punk music.

In 2009, Mudhoney announced a series of live dates. This included an extensive tour of Europe which started in Edinburgh, Scotland on Friday 9th October with Sub Pop label mates The Vaselines. Other dates of the tour included; England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and ended on Monday 26th October in Tel Aviv, Israel. The group are confirmed to play the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York this September where they will perform Superfuzz Bigmuff in it's entirety.

7 Year Bitch

2008-08-21T14:53:00.005+07:00

Biography

7 Year Bitch was formed in 1990 by vocalist Selene Vigil, guitarist Stefanie Sargent, bassist Elizabeth Davis and drummer Valerie Agnew. Vigil, Sargent, and Agnew had been playing together in the Seattle band Barbie's Dream Car when their bassist left for Europe. They subsequently recruited Davis and renamed their band after the movie Seven Year Itch.

At their first concert, the band opened for The Gits, who would prove to have a significant influence on their music. In 1991 the band released the single "Lorna" and signed with C/Z Records. Their first album, Sick 'Em, was released in 1992, but it was overshadowed by Sargent's death on June 27 due to a drug overdose. After a prolonged period of uncertainty, the band decided to continue, recruiting guitarist Roisin Dunne as Sargent's replacement later that year.

In July 1993, longtime friend and Gits frontwoman Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered while walking home late at night. This event, coupled with Sargent's overdose the previous year, had a profound effect on the group. As a reaction, the band recorded and released their second album ¡Viva Zapata! (1994) in tribute to both of their fallen friends. Valerie Agnew also became the primary instigator and co-founder of the anti-violence and self-defence organisation Home Alive.^[1]^[2]^[3] On April 8, 1994, the band played a benefit show for Rock Against Domestic Violence alongside Babes in Toyland and Jack Off Jill.

In 1995 the band signed with Atlantic Records, and in 1996 released their third album, Gato Negro. Following the tour supporting Gato Negro, guitarist Roisin Dunne left, and was replaced by Lisa Faye Beatty, the band's live sound engineer and long-time friend.

In early 1997, the band began recording material for what was to be their fourth album. However, the sessions were quickly marred after the band received news that they were being dropped by Atlantic Records. Without the support of a major label, and with waning internal interest in the group, 7 Year Bitch disbanded.

Following the break-up of 7 Year Bitch, bassist Elizabeth Davis joined the San Francisco-based band Clone, with whom she performed with until 2003. In 2005 she helped to form the band Von Iva. Vocalist Selene Vigil formed a gothic/psychedelic-influenced band by the name of Cistine, in 2000. On December 10, 2005 Vigil married Brad Wilk, drummer for Rage Against the Machine Audioslave, her boyfriend of ten years. [1] Roisin Dunne joined the band The Last Goodbye in 2006, and now resides in New York. and

Their songs, "The Scratch" and "Icy Blue" were featured in the movie Mad Love with Drew Barrymore and Chris O'Donnell.

Band members

Selene Vigil — vocals
Stefanie Sargent — guitar (1968–1992); died of a heroin overdose on June 27, 1992
LeeAnn Rose - accordion (Famous for single "One Hott Mama")
Elizabeth Davis — bass
Valerie Agnew — drums
Roisin Dunne — guitar (1992–1996)
Lisa Faye Beatty — guitar (1996–1997)

Download here........
Kiss My Ass Goodbye.mp3
In Lust You Trust.mp3

Saving Abel

2008-08-21T14:17:00.007+07:00

The Tennessee act's weighty guitars and guttural vocals evoke the grungiest grunge bands--think Alice in Chains--but they're ultimately more South than Seattle. The ultimate impression is of a group weaned on Skynrd, then schooled in big-budget Modern Rock.

Biography

"You know when you hear a song on the radio and you don't know who it is, but you love it and feel like you've heard it before? That's our band! The first time someone hears us, they go, 'I know that band!' Then someone explains, 'no, it's a brand-new song and band.' Saving Abel has an accessible and comfortable sound---you HAVE heard us before," states lead singer Jared Weeks. On their self-titled Virgin Records debut, songs range from the wild road tale in "New Tattoo" to the sexual innuendos of the aptly titled first single, "Addicted."

Weeks and Jason Null formed the band in their small hometown of Corinth, Mississippi in 2004. They met when Weeks, who was in a band, was playing guitar at his best friend's house, when Null, who was in a rival local group, walked in to rehearse with his band. Within days of that meeting, Null and Weeks were writing and honing the intimate writing style that now defines Saving Abel. In early 2005, the pair's songs caught the ear of noted producer Skidd Mills (12 Stones, Saliva, Submersed), who took the band into his 747 Studios in Memphis. Mills notes, "It was '18 Days' that hooked me. The first time I heard it I was like, 'these guys are the real deal; they'll be doing this for a long time.' Jason and Jared have always understood that the most important part of the music business is having great songs."

Saving Abel gradually came together in the final electric lineup of guitarist Scott Bartlett, bassist Eric Taylor, and drummer Blake Dixon, and the band paid its dues both onstage and off. Weeks would toss Saving Abel demos onto the stage when bigger bands played in town, and between playing gigs, working day jobs, and Weeks and Null constantly driving from Mississippi to Memphis to record their self-titled EP with Mills, it was a busy and prolific couple years. Weeks remembers; "I used to work at a hospital. I'd have to be there at 4:30 in the morning drawing blood. I'd wake people up and stick a needle in their arm. I'd be walking around the hospital, singing 'Addicted' in my head, writing down the lyrics on patients' clipboards and doctor script pads."

Null and Weeks bring in differing songwriting approaches influences, giving Saving Abel a well-rounded sound. Null comes from a musical family, and recalls Saturday nights at the local community center as a child. "We didn't miss it, ever! It was bluegrass band after bluegrass band. We'd hoot and holler, as we used to say. My brother traded my bike for a guitar for me when I was 6, and I learned 'Johnny B. Goode' that night! I go back to Willie and Waylon, but as a kid of the '80s, I also love Metallica. Also, Angus Young is one of my main influences, as well as the guitar sound and solos of Seattle bands like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains." For his part, a teenage Weeks played basketball and went to state twice in tennis before music consumed his life. A big fan of the blues and Southern Rock, Weeks calls himself the more "literal" songwriter of the two, explaining, "If something is really bothering me, or how I'm feeling at that moment, I'll write about it. For me to get the most out of a song, I have to get it almost to the point I'm ready to cry if I can't get it out, and that makes people relate to it."

After shopping their indie EP for almost a year, a copy of 'Addicted' found its way to one-time Virgin A&R Consultant Scott Frazier and manager partner Rick Smith. They were so excited that they sent the song to the label's Chairman/CEO Jason Flom. Flom was impressed upon first listen and immediately sent A&R vet Kim Stephens (Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, Edwin McCain) to see the band in Jackson, Tennessee. The band was signed the next day. Says Stephens, "I was sold on the merit of the songs and instantly recognized this was a band with huge potential."

Saving Abel, the Virgin debut produced by Mills, features mostly brand-new tunes, plus a few favorites from the indie EP, including the poignant, perfectly crafted "18 Days," "Running From You," and "Drowning Face Down." Null explains that "18 Days" was lyrically inspired by sheriff Buford Pusser of 'Walking Tall' fame, while laughingly admitting that the rowdy road trip in "New Tattoo" ("The blue is for the bruise you left in my heart / and the red is for the color we're about to paint this town") is "based on a true story." Null furthers: "Our goals are always to concentrate on the song, not just one cool part to make a kid bop his head. Every person I talk to loves a different song of ours." Null was also the one who gave the band its name: "I Googled the story of Cain and Abel and found a line about 'there was no Saving Abel,' which just jumped out at me." Everyone agreed and the name stuck... much like Saving Abel's songs get instantly stuck in the minds and ears of everyone who hears them. With a radio-ready sound combining big riffs and memorable melodies, Saving Abel has created a polished combination of Southern and Alternative rock... 2008 style. Get Addicted. Get Saving Abel.

Toadies

2008-08-21T14:07:00.010+07:00

The Toadies broke through in the mid-'90s with a mix of snarling late-grunge guitars and addictive pop hooks. On "No Deliverance," their first new work in a number of years, the band is free of the post-Cobain logjam, and it shows. The sound is sinewy and assured Texas rock.

Biography

Vaden Todd Lewis [vocals, guitar] says the band has gone for a ?bare knuckle? sound on No Deliverance, amping up the psychotic stomp heard on Rubberneck and Hell Below? on the grinding, relentless title track as well as the seething, death-of-a-romance gem ?So Long Lovey Eyes? and the towering, sludgy ?Man of Stone.? The upshot is a taut, exhilarating listen that is quintessentially Toadies.

Download here......

I Burn.mp3

Where is My Mind.mp3

Possum Kingdom.mp3

What Is Grunge Music? A Genre Profile

2008-08-19T13:41:00.004+07:00

Where Does Grunge Come From?:

Grunge was born of the local Punk scene of the Pacific Northwest, most notably Seattle, Washington, in the late 1980s. At a time when Glam Rock and Hair Metal were popular nationally, a group of young Punk bands in Seattle began to experiment with an aesthetic that was less flamboyant. These musicians were influenced by a local band, The Melvins, that played Heavy Metal with slower and heavier riffs. A local scene sprung up with this sound, as did the first Grunge record label, Sub Pop Records.

Who Played Grunge?:

Initially, Sub Pop began to promote bands that shared a certain anti-glam aesthetic -- often characterized by casual dress, ripped jeans, flannel jackets and an overall unkempt appearance -- and that played this new style of Punk/Metal. Early Grunge bands included the lesser-known Green River (whose lead-singer is credited with first using the term "Grunge"), Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone and the break-through acts Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam.

What Does Grunge Sound Like? :

The first generation of Grunge bands fused the heavy sonic intensity of Black Sabbath with the aggresive emotional swagger of Black Flag. Because of this mix of Punk and Metal roots, Grunge had a guitar-drenched sound; ample use of distortion, strong power chords and basic, melodic guitar solos were usually laid under simple, but tuneful, vocals. Always forceful in execution, always emotive in content, Grunge is often classified as a genre of Hard Rock.

What Became of Grunge?:

After the death of Nirvana's lead singer and the break-up of many seminal Grunge bands, a crop of post-Grunge bands began to appear. These bands didn't have the rough intensity of the initial Grunge bands, but instead had radio-friendly hooks. Though these bands acted more like traditional pop bands in terms of their aim and scope, they borrowed the heavy guitar work and soaring melodic focus pioneered by the early Grunge bands. Many bands of this type are still performing and recording today.

Seminal Grunge Albums::

Nirvana Nevermind
Soundgarden Down on the Upside
Alice in Chains Dirt
Pearl Jam Ten

Find Grunge Elsewhere

Grunge on Wikipedia Grunge Grandad Sub Pop's Homepage AllMusic Definition of Grunge

So who really is the Godfather of Grunge?

2008-08-19T12:20:00.003+07:00

Nirvana's Kurt Cobain is often cited as the Godfather of Grunge. In October 1988,according to Rock On The Net Nirvana's first recording effort together resulted in a demo named 'Godfather Of Grunge' and the single 'Love Buzz/Big Cheese.' "

So does recording a song 'Godfather Of Grunge' truly establish Nirvana's Kurt Cobain as THE 'Godfather Of Grunge'? And where does Neil Young fit in the picture?

"As a style of music, it is generally characterized by 'dirty' guitar, strong riffs, and heavy drumming. Grunge is also popularly referred to as the Seattle Sound."

In many ways, grunge music was to the 90's what punk was to 70's. Both grunge and punk were relatively short lived musical genres that had a much greater impact than their sales, radio play, and concert performances would indicate. However, critically, both genres were both hailed and disparaged as either the future of rock or an indication that rock was dead.

So just as Neil Young's 1979 release of "Rust Never Sleeps" marked a turning point in both punk and rock, so did "Ragged Glory"'s release in 1991 foreshadow the emergence of grunge. Ragged Glory's raging feedback was widely emulated and influenced numerous bands, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth among others.

The earliest written reference to Neil Young as the 'Godfather Of Grunge' was in December 1991, when Tower Records in house publication Pulse! published a cover article on Neil Young titled 'The Godfather Of Grunge Rock' by Steve Martin.

The album Freedom is considered to be one of the ten most important albums in the history of alternative music. Pagewise in 2001 said:

"Despite what some Nirvana fans might say, this is the album that started it all. Neil Young is the grandfather of grunge. 'Freedom,' which Young released in 1989, was the first true alternative album. It seems a stretch to call an album by someone Young's age alternative, but the label is applied to the music, no

According to Josh Korr in Valley News, "Neil Young officially became the 'Godfather of Grunge' when Pearl Jam backed him on "Rockin In The Free World" at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards." Certainly the legendary Rockin' In the Free World performance established a link between the grunge scene, Pearl Jam and Neil Young.

Commenting on upcoming concerts by Neil Young and Pearl Jam in Seattle in June 2003, JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC writes on "Brothers in more ways than grunge":

"At a time when few artists can hold an audience of 20,000 with the strength of their music alone, Neil Young and Pearl Jam stand as unique concert experiences. Though the phrase has always been essentially meaningless as a genre tag, Young has often been called "the godfather of grunge," while the Seattle quintet was one of the sound's most successful purveyors when it burst on the scene in the early '90s. Of course the two collaborated on a generally underwhelming album, "Mirror Ball" (1995).

From BLAST @ explode.com :

"The grunge era provided a welcome return to the garage-band sound of the '60s, a stripped-down vitality that made superstars of such talents as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Unfortunately, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994, Soundgarden broke up in 1999, and Pearl Jam seems a weak choice to carry the torch. It should come as no surprise that the 'godfather of grunge,' Neil Young, is outlasting any of his successors. "

From Tech MIT article "Neil Young shows what Unplugged was meant to be" By Eric Oliver:

"Billed as the 'Godfather of Grunge,' Neil Young performed on the March 10 MTV Unplugged. As in the 'Live Rust' concert tour, the show began with just Neil, a guitar, and a harmonica. Opening with 'Old Laughing Lady,' the bearded, graying Young, sporting an oversized black leather jacket, rolled into the classic 'Mr. Soul.' Finishing his solo guitar set with 'World on a String' and 'Pocahontas,' his only song in the show from the Rust album, he donned a pair of black Terminator glasses and stepped up to the piano for 'Stringman' and 'Like a Hurricane.' Hearing the latter with just piano and harmonica accompaniment was similar to hearing Eric Clapton's Unplugged 'Layla' for the first time. For many old Young fans who have probably heard 'Hurricane' dozens of times, this version was different, yet familiar, and was one of the highlights of the show. He finished the first set with the popular 'Needle and the Damage Done,' a biting ballad of a junkie's life eroding before him."

And in case you were ever curious as to whether Neil Young is really the Godfather of Grunge, here's some data to prove the point. The alternative choices for Godfather of Grunge are: Mark Arm of Mudhoney
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
Jack Endino of Skin Yard
Andrew Wood of Malfunkshion/Mother Love Bone

How to Be Grunge (for Guys and Girls)

2008-08-15T14:21:00.008+07:00

Boys

Jeans are very important to grunge. Ripping your jeans is acceptable, but not too much! (Ripping them too much will make you look dumb.) But if you do, consider wearing pajama pants under it, to keep from freezing. You can also patch your jeans.

Listen to grunge music!

Mark Arm, from the band Mudhoney

Above-ground grunge includes the big four: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains. Original, more underground bands include Mother Love Bone, Mad Season, Screaming Trees, Temple of the Dog, Mudhoney etc. (Knowing underground bands is a must! If you don't, you don't have it down.)
Don't buy expensive things.(things from thrift stores and flea markets are a good way to shop.) If you buy pre-ripped jeans for seventy dollars and call yourself grunge, you're a poser.
Buy Grunge t-shirts with bands like Soundgarden and Mudhoney on them.
If you want to dye your hair, dye it with Kool-Aid
Flannel shirts are acceptable. Especially if your sleeve is ripped a bit but not all the way around.
Big sunglasses such as the ones Kurt (Jackie O) wears are cool, or the black ones Layne Staley (Ray-Ban Predator 2) wears in the video for "Would?".
Drawing on white T-shirts is grunge.
Summer can get hot. So get a pair of three quarter jeans, but not too baggy and rip up the ends where the fold is, using a sharp object, burning with a lighter can work too. Long dirty white socks and ripped up chucks go well with this as well.
Kaki shorts or cargo shorts was popular by Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam.
Corduroy was another material Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain wore. The Corduroy Coat was/is grunge.
Grunge did not care what they wore. They wore whatever. They would get out of bed and wear whatever they were wearing.
Buy actual CDs, it's cool to have an mp3, but have more CDs (or vinyl). It really adds to the feel of it.
Don't pay attention to any of these steps. Wear what you want, just realize that just because something hasn't been washed, doesn't mean it's dirty. You can wear what you want. Grunge comes from your own intuition.

Girls

You don't have to do much for the clothes, just a t-shirt and jeans and maybe some flannel will do.

Both

You can listen to the grunge music in the guys section, but the feminine grunge bands are L7, Bikini Kill, Hole, Babes in Toyland, etc. That goes for both types.
Buy stuff from thrift stores and flea markets. Don't buy expensive things because, once again, if you buy pre-ripped jeans for seventy dollars and call yourself grunge, you're a poser.
Have a couple grunge band T-shirts, such as Screaming Trees and Hole. Also, find old bands, and make sure you research them cause you don't want to sound poser-ish when people ask you about the band.
You can be a part of the punk/grunge riot grrrl movement. Look up its views and respect it.
If you want to dye your hair, dye it with Kool-Aid.
This is your choice, of course, but many grunge artists let their hair grow long and greasy.
Buy thrift store, flea market, and garage/yard sale items. Some stores are fine. Like Wal-Mart, Target, etc. As long as they're cheap.
Draw on white t-shirts with black permanent marker.
Flannel was only necessary because gigs were often played in cold temperatures in the Northwest, and it was durable and cheap. It's a good choice, but not necessary.
Wear Converse All-star. Don't replace them if they become dirty and ripped up. Dr. Martens are more punk but those are all right too. Or simply wear cheap shoes from your local Sam's Club!
Wear black sunglasses. Not sports shades. The old Blues Brothers ones are great.
For cold weather, wear straight leg jeans. Cuffed if they're too long. Ripped up is good, if you do this wear long johns underneath or patch them with mismatching fabrics. Also, you can paint on them. Go totally DIY.
For warm weather, wear cheap shorts. Or cut off some jeans.

The Attitude

Don't care what other people think.
Kurt Cobain hated conflict. He just wanted to share his music and express himself.
Most "grungers" were rebels. They disliked society and media and didn't trust large firms and corporations.

Courtney Love sued over Nirvana catalog sale

2008-08-09T12:14:00.001+07:00

Firm claims Kurt Cobain's widow failed to pay them $975,000

LOS ANGELES - A business management and accounting firm sued Courtney Love for nearly $1 million on Tuesday, claiming she failed to pay them a share of profits from the sale of Nirvana’s publishing catalog.

Love is the widow of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain. The five-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday afternoon claims she sold a portion of his share of Nirvana’s publishing catalog for $19.5 million.

Los Angeles-based London & Co. alleges Love broke an oral contract to share 5 percent of any of her earnings or those from her company, The End of Music.

The Kurt Cobain Murder Investigation

2008-07-22T00:42:00.007+07:00

Kurt Cobain left a drug rehab center in Marina Del Rey California on April 1, 1994 and was later reported missing. As you probably know, he was found dead just seven days later. My name is Tom Grant. I'm a California state licensed private investigator and former detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. On April 3, 1994, I was hired by Courtney Love, (who was in Los Angeles at the time), to locate her husband after he left a drug rehab center in Marina Del Rey, California. Ms. Love stayed in Los Angeles while I flew to Seattle to search for Cobain with his best friend Dylan Carlson. In fact, Carlson and I had been in the Cobain residence the night before Kurt's body was discovered in the room above the garage. The police immediately concluded "suicide." I wasn't so sure. Neither was Rosemary Carroll, Courtney Love's own entertainment attorney. Ms. Carroll was also a close friend to both Courtney and Kurt.

Read More

Dave Grohl Makes Bid For President

2008-07-21T15:48:00.001+07:00

Ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl has announced he will make a presidential bid for the United States election in 2008. The latest issue of Harp Magazine interviews Grohl to reveal why he should be considered as an independant candidate.

“There’s this redneck image of America that’s been cultivated over the last eight years by our redneck president. America has blue states, red states and all kinds of divisions, but we need someone to bring them all together—and that person is me. Every night when I’m on tour, I bring my message to thousands and thousands of people. There’s 10 thousand people that woke up this morning and felt like America is the right place to be because at our show last night they were spilling beer all over themselves and tongue kissing for two hours. What other candidate can do that?”

Kurt Cobain’s daughter

2008-07-17T02:11:00.004+07:00

Frances Bean Cobain Get Photographed For Harper’s Bazaar

February 25th, 2008

There are rumors that Kurt Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean could be the next face of Chanel for 2008. The 15 year old is featured in photos from a recent shoot for Harper’s Bazaar. The featured photos depict Frances as the leading role of various musicals, including Evita, Grease, and Beauty and the Beast. “These people are fascinated by me, but I haven’t done anything,” she says. “If you’re a big Nirvana fan, a big Hole fan, then I understand why you would want to get to know me, but I’m not my parents.”

About Grunge

2008-07-15T21:33:00.013+07:00

Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle Sound) is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song dynamics, and apathetic or angst-filled lyrics. The grunge aesthetic is stripped-down compared to other forms of rock music, and many grunge musicians were noted for their unkempt appearances and rejection of theatrics.

The early grunge movement coalesced around Seattle independent record label Sub Pop in the late 1980s. Grunge became commercially successful in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of hard rock music at the time.[1] The genre became closely associated with Generation X in the U.S., since the awareness of each rose simultaneously. However, many grunge bands were uncomfortable with this popularity. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, their influence continues to impact modern rock music.

The Story of Grunge

2008-07-15T00:50:00.006+07:00

Origin of the term

The word grunge is believed to be a back-formation from the US slang adjective grungy,[2] which originated in about 1965 as a slang term for "dirty" or "filthy". Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band Green River—and later Mudhoney—is generally credited as being the first to use the term grunge to describe this sort of music. Arm first used the term in 1981, when he wrote a letter under his given name Mark McLaughlin to the Seattle zine, Desperate Times, criticizing his band Mr. Epp and the Calculations as "Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure shit!" Clark Humphrey, editor of Desperate Times, cites this as the earliest use of the term to refer to a Seattle band, and mentions that Bruce Pavitt of Sub Pop popularized the term as a musical label in 1987–88, using it on several occasions to describe Green River.[3] Arm used grunge as a descriptive term rather than a genre term, but it eventually came to describe the punk/metal hybrid sound of the Seattle music scene.[4]

Characteristics

Grunge is generally characterized by a sludgy guitar sound that uses a high level of distortion, fuzz and feedback effects. Grunge fuses elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. The music shares with punk a raw sound and similar lyrical concerns.[1] However, it also involves much slower tempos, dissonant harmonies, and more complex instrumentation – which is reminiscent of heavy metal. Some individuals associated with the development of grunge, including Sub Pop producer Jack Endino and The Melvins, explained grunge's incorporation of heavy rock influences such as Kiss as "musical provocation." Grunge artists considered these bands "cheesy" but nonetheless enjoyed them; Buzz Osborne of the Melvins described it as an attempt to see what ridiculous things bands could do and get away with.[5] In the early 1990s, Nirvana's signature "stop-start" song format became a genre convention.[1]

Themes

Lyrics are typically angst-filled, often addressing themes such as social alienation, apathy, confinement, and a desire for freedom. 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 with social prejudices. Such themes bear similarities to those addressed by punk rock musicians[1] and the perceptions of Generation X. Music critic Simon Reynolds said in 1992 that "there's a feeling of burnout in the culture at large. Kids are depressed about the future."[6] However, not all grunge songs dealt with these issues. Nirvana's satirical "In Bloom" is a notable example of more humorous writing. Several other grunge songs are filled with either a dark or fun sense of humor—Mudhoney's "Touch Me I'm Sick" or Tad's "Stumblin' Man"—though this often went unnoticed by the general public at the time. Humor in grunge often satirized glam metal—for example, Soundgarden's "Big Dumb Sex"—and other forms of popular rock music during the 1980s.[7]
Presentation and fashion

Grunge concerts were known for being straightforward, high-energy performances. Grunge bands rejected the complex and high budget presentations of many musical genres, including the use of complex light arrays, pyrotechnics, and other visual effects unrelated to playing the music. Stage acting was generally avoided. Instead the bands presented themselves as no different from a minor local band. Jack Endino said in the 1996 documentary Hype! that Seattle bands were inconsistent live performers, since their primary objective was not to be entertainers, but simply to "rock out."[5] However, concerts did involve a level of interactivity; fans and musicians alike would participate in stage diving, crowd surfing, headbanging, pogoing, and moshing. Clothing commonly worn by grunge musicians in Washington consisted of thrift store items and the typical outdoor clothing (most notably flannel shirts) of the region, as well as a general unkempt appearance. The style did not evolve out of a conscious attempt to create an appealing fashion; music journalist Charles R. Cross said, "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 80's."[6]

History

Roots and influences

Grunge's sound partly results from Seattle'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."[8] Mark Arm claimed that the isolation meant, "this one corner of the map was being really inbred and ripping off each other's ideas."[9] Grunge evolved from the local punk rock scene, and was inspired by bands such as The Fartz, The U-Men, 10 Minute Warning, The Accüsed and The Fastbacks.[5] Additionally, the slow, heavy, and sludgy style of The Melvins was a significant influence on the grunge sound.[10]

Outside the Pacific Northwest, a number of artists and music scenes influenced grunge. Alternative rock bands from the Northeastern United States, including Sonic Youth, Pixies, and Dinosaur 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.[11] The influence of the Pixies on Nirvana was noted by Kurt Cobain, who commented in a Rolling Stone interview that he "connected with the band so heavily that I should be in that band."[12] Nirvana's use of the Pixies' "soft verse, hard chorus" popularized this stylistic approach in both grunge and other alternative rock subgenres.

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 of Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge, cited Black Sabbath as "perhaps the most ubiquitous pre-punk influence on the northwest scene."[13] Black Sabbath undeniably played a role in shaping the grunge sound, whether with their own records or the records they inspired.[14] The influence of Led Zeppelin is also evident, particularly in the work of Soundgarden, whom Q magazine noted were "in thrall to '70s rock, but contemptuous of the genre's overt sexism and machismo".[15] The Los Angeles hardcore punk band Black Flag's 1984 record My War, where the band combined heavy metal with their traditional sound, made a strong impact in Seattle. Mudhoney's Steve 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."[16] 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.'" Bands began to mix metal and punk in the Seattle music scene around 1984, with much of the credit for this fusion going to The U-Men.[17]

The raw, distorted and feedback-intensive sound of some noise rock bands had an influence on grunge. Among them are Wisconsin's Killdozer, and most notably San Francisco's Flipper, a band known for its slowed-down and murky "noise punk". The Butthole Surfers' mix of punk, heavy metal and noise rock was a major influence, particularly on the early work of Soundgarden.[18] Soundgarden and other early grunge bands were influenced by British post-punk bands such as Gang of Four and Bauhaus, which were popular in the early 1980s Seattle scene.[19] After Neil Young played a few concerts with Pearl Jam and recorded the album Mirror Ball with them, some members of the media gave Young the title "Godfather of Grunge." This was grounded on his work with his band Crazy Horse and his regular use of distorted guitar, most notably on the album Rust Never Sleeps.[20] A similarly influential, yet often overlooked, album is Neurotica by Redd Kross, about which the co-founder of Sub Pop said, "Neurotica was a life changer for me and for a lot of people in the Seattle music community."[21]

Early development

The cover artwork for the C/Z Records compilation album Deep Six. Released in 1986, the album was the first to showcase Seattle's developing grunge scene.

A seminal release in the development of grunge was 1986's Deep Six compilation, released by C/Z Records (later reissued on A&M). The record featured multiple tracks by six bands: Green River, Soundgarden, the 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." 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.'"[16]

Later that year Bruce Pavitt released the Sub Pop 100 compilation and Green River's Dry 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."[22] 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 writer Michael 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."[23] Early grunge concerts were sparsely attended (many by fewer than a dozen people) but Sub Pop photographer Charles Peterson's pictures helped create the impression that such concerts were major events.[24] 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.[25] Other record labels in the Pacific Northwest that helped promote grunge included C/Z Records, Estrus Records, EMpTy Records and PopLlama Records.[5]

Grunge attracted media attention in the United Kingdom after Pavitt and Poneman asked journalist Everett True from the British magazine Melody 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.[5] The appeal of grunge to the music press was that it "promised the return to a notion of a regional, authorial vision for American rock."[26] Grunge's popularity in the underground 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."[27] As a reaction, many grunge bands diversified their sound, with Nirvana and Tad in particular creating more melodic songs.[28] Heather Dawn of the Seattle fanzine Backlash recalled that by 1990 many locals had tired of the hype surrounding the Seattle scene and hoped that media exposure had dissipated.[5]

Mainstream success

Nirvana performing at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

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 of A&M Records in 1989. Soundgarden, along with other major label signings Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees, performed "okay" with their initial major label releases, according to Jack Endino.[5] Nirvana, originally from Aberdeen, Washington, was also courted by major labels, finally signing with Geffen Records in 1990. In September 1991, the band released its major label debut, Nevermind. The album was at best hoped to be a minor success on par with Sonic Youth's Goo, which Geffen had released a year previous.[29] 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 constant airplay of the song's music video on MTV, Nevermind was selling 400,000 copies a week by Christmas 1991.[30] In January 1992, Nevermind replaced pop superstar Michael Jackson's Dangerous at number one on the Billboard album charts.[31]

The success of Nevermind surprised the music industry. Nevermind not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general."[32] Michael Azerrad asserted that Nevermind symbolized "a sea-change in rock music" in which the glam metal that had dominated rock music at that time fell out of favor in the face of music that was authentic and culturally relevant.[33] Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success. Pearl Jam, which featured former Mother Love Bone members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, had released their debut album Ten in August 1991, a month before Nevermind, but album sales only picked up a year later. By the second half of 1992 Ten became a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on the Billboard charts.[34] Soundgarden's album Badmotorfinger and Alice in Chains' Dirt, along with the Temple of the Dog album collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top selling albums of 1992.[35] The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted Rolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the new Liverpool."[6] Major record labels signed most of the remaining major grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success.[36]

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder on the cover of the October 25, 1993 issue of the popular magazine Time, as part of the feature article discussing the rising popularity of grunge.

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."[37] The fashion industry marketed "grunge fashion" to consumers, charging premium prices for items such as knit ski hats. 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"[38] The New York Times compared the "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing of punk rock, disco, and hip hop in previous years.[6] Ironically the New York Times was tricked into printing a fake list of slang terms that were supposedly used in the grunge scene; often referred to as the grunge speak hoax. This media hype surrounding grunge was documented in the 1996 documentary Hype!.[5]

A backlash against grunge began to develop in Seattle; in 1993 Bruce Pavitt 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."[6] 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."[39] Pearl Jam also felt the burden of success, with much of the attention falling on frontman Eddie Vedder.[40] Nirvana's follow-up album In Utero (1993) was an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record."[41] Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993 In Utero topped the Billboard charts.[42] 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 the Billboard charts and outperformed all other entries in the top ten that week combined.[43]

Decline of mainstream popularity

A number of factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. During the latter half of the 1990s, grunge was supplanted by post-grunge, which remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century. Post-grunge bands such as Candlebox and Bush emerged soon after grunge's breakthrough. These artists lacked the underground roots of grunge and were largely influenced by what grunge had become, namely "a wildly popular form of inward-looking, serious-minded hard rock." Post-grunge was a more commercially viable genre that tempered the distorted guitars of grunge with polished, radio-ready production.[44]

Conversely, another alternative rock 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."[45] Britpop artists were vocal about their disdain for grunge. In a 1993 NME interview, Damon Albarn of Britpop band Blur agreed with interviewer John 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."[46] 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 hit 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, on smack, fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish."[47]

During the mid-1990s many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Kurt Cobain, labeled by Time as "the John Lennon of the swinging Northwest," appeared "unusually tortured by success" and struggled with an addiction to heroin. Rumors surfaced in early 1994 that Cobain suffered a drug overdose and that Nirvana was breaking up.[48] On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; Nirvana summarily disbanded. That same year Pearl Jam canceled its summer tour in protest of what it charged as ticket vendor Ticketmaster's unfair business practices.[49] 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.[50] In 1996 Alice in Chains gave their final performances with their ailing estranged lead singer, Layne Staley, who subsequently died from a heroin overdose in 2002. That same year Soundgarden and Screaming Trees released their final studio albums, Down on the Upside and Dust, respectively. Soundgarden broke up the following year.

Some grunge bands have continued recording and touring with more limited success, including, most significantly, Pearl Jam. While in 2005 Rolling Stone writer Brian Hiatt described Pearl Jam as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame," he noted the band developed a loyal concert following akin to that of the Grateful Dead.[51] Despite Nirvana's demise, the band has continued to be successful posthumously. Due to the high sales for Kurt Cobain's Journals and the band's best-of compilation Nirvana upon their release in 2003, The New York Times argued Nirvana "are having more success now than at any point since Mr. Cobain's suicide in 1994."[52]

Prominent bands

Seattle area

Outside the Seattle area

Babes in Toyland (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
The Fluid (Denver, Colorado)
Hole (Los Angeles, California)
L7 (Los Angeles, California)
The Nymphs (Los Angeles, California)
Paw (Lawrence, Kansas)
Pond (Portland, Oregon)
Stone Temple Pilots (San Diego, California)

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Grunge". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ See Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 2007, "grunge" and Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001, "grunge, grungy". Access date for both references: October 22, 2007.
^ Humphrey, Clark. Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999. ISBN 1-929069-24-3, p. 63
^ Heylin, Clinton. Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge. Conongate, 2007. ISBN 1-84195-879-4, p. 606
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Pray, D., Helvey-Pray Productions (1996). Hype! Republic Pictures.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Marin, Rick. "Grunge: A Success Story." The New York Times. November 15, 1992.
^ Freind, Bill. "Grunge". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Retrieved on 2005-06-23.
^ Aston, Martin. "Freak Scene." Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 12
^ Wall, Mick. "Northwest Passage." Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 9
^ Wall, Mick. "Northwest Passage." Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 8
^ Everley, Dave. "Daydream Nation." Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 39
^ Fricke, David. "Kurt Cobain: The Rolling Stone Interview." Rolling Stone. January 27, 1994
^ Heylin, p. 601
^ Carden, Andrew. "Black Sabbath." Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 34
^ Brannigan, Paul. "Outshined." Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 102
^ ^a ^b Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-316-78753-1, p. 419
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 418
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 439
^ Heylin, p. 600
^ McNair, James. "Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young". Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. December 2005. p. 36
^ "This is the most important band in America?", Entertainment WeeklyDecember 3, 1993) (. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 420
^ Azerrad (2001), pp. 436–37
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 421–22
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 411
^ Lyons, James. Selling Seattle: Representing Contemporary Urban America. Wallflower, 2004. ISBN 1-903354-96-5, pp. 128–29
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 449
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 450
^ Wice, Nathaniel. "How Nirvana Made It." Spin. April 1992.
^ Lyons, p. 120
^ "The Billboard 200." Billboard. January 11, 1992.
^ Olsen, Eric (2004-04-09). "10 years later, Cobain lives on in his music". MSNBC.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ Azerrad (1994), p. 229-30
^ Pearlman, Nina. "Black Days." Guitar World. December 2002.
^ Lyons, p. 136
^ Azerrad (2001), p. 452–53
^ Lyons, p. 122
^ "Smells Like Big Bucks", Entertainment Weekly (April 2, 1993). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday, 1994. ISBN 0-385-47199-8, p. 254
^ Crowe, Cameron (1993-10-28). "Five Against the World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, p. 18
^ "In Numero Uno", Entertainment WeeklyOctober 8, 1993) (. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
^ "Pearl's Jam", Entertainment WeeklyNovember 19, 1993) (. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
^ "Post-Grunge". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
^ "Britpop". Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
^ Harris, John. "A shite sports car and a punk reincarnation." NME. April 10, 1993
^ "Lock the Door". Stop the Clocks [bonus DVD]. Columbia, 2006.
^ Handy, Bruce (April 18, 1994). "Never mind", Time. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
^ Gordinier, Jeff (October 28, 1994). "The Brawls in Their Courts", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
^ DeRogatis, p. 65
^ Hiatt, Brian (2006-06-16). "The Second Coming of Pearl Jam". Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
^ Nelson, Chris (2003-01-13). "Nine Years After Cobain's Death, Big Sales for All Things Nirvana". nytimes.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.

Grunge Is Not Over

Foo Fighters

HistoryFormation and debut album (1994–1995)

The Colour and the Shape (1996–1997)

There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1998–2001)

One by One (2001–2004)

In Your Honor, Foozer Tour, and acoustic tour (2005–2006)

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and Greatest Hits (2007–2009)

Next album and the future (2010–present)

[edit] Musical style

Campaigning and activism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mudhoney

Mr. Epp and the Calculations

Green River: 1984–1987

Sub Pop: 1988–1991

Reprise: 1992–1999

After Matt Lukin: 2000–present

7 Year Bitch

Biography

Band members

Saving Abel

Toadies

Biography

What Is Grunge Music? A Genre Profile

Find Grunge Elsewhere

Related Articles

So who really is the Godfather of Grunge?

How to Be Grunge (for Guys and Girls)

Boys

Girls

Both

The Attitude

Courtney Love sued over Nirvana catalog sale

Firm claims Kurt Cobain's widow failed to pay them $975,000

The Kurt Cobain Murder Investigation

Dave Grohl Makes Bid For President

Kurt Cobain’s daughter

Frances Bean Cobain Get Photographed For Harper’s Bazaar

About Grunge

The Story of Grunge

Origin of the term

Characteristics

Themes

History

Roots and influences

Early development

Mainstream success

Decline of mainstream popularity

Prominent bands

Seattle area

Outside the Seattle area

Notes