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Topic: Punk or Grunge Posted: April 21 2013 at 09:29
jude111 wrote:
rogerthat wrote:
Depression? Whining? Have you read the lyrics?
Yes, depressing and whining, but in an unintensionally hilarious kind of way:
I want you to kill me
And dig me under, I wanna live no more...
I want to taste dirty, stinging pistol
In my mouth, on my tongue
I want you to scrape me from the walls
Those are the lyrics of the title track, not Godsmack. Ok, I don't think you are paying attention so I might as well not continue this discussion. Read what I say before you jump to refute.
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Posted: April 21 2013 at 09:15
rogerthat wrote:
I didn't mean hardcore in that sense at all (and I think saying that it is not to be confused with the genre makes that pretty clear). I meant the lyrics, especially of Dirt, are pretty brutal in describing addiction for what it is. It's a chilling first hand, first person account. In that sense, they couldn't have been more different from most grunge which I thought was pretty lightweight. I take it from your dislike of their heavy stuff that you are indifferent to their lyrics.
And I think that review likened them to S&G in a positive light (which again is pretty clear)...not as wimpy bleeding heart poets but as the masters of harmony. As such, they used harmony (including but not just vocal harmonies) in way more interesting ways than not just most grunge, but most metal or hard rock bands. They were unique.
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Posted: April 21 2013 at 09:13
I didn't mean hardcore in that sense at all (and I think saying that it is not to be confused with the genre makes that pretty clear). I meant the lyrics, especially of Dirt, are pretty brutal in describing addiction for what it is. It's a chilling first hand, first person account. In that sense, they couldn't have been more different from most grunge which I thought was pretty lightweight. I take it from your dislike of their heavy stuff that you are indifferent to their lyrics.
And I think that review likened them to S&G in a positive light (which again is pretty clear)...not as wimpy bleeding heart poets but as the masters of harmony. As such, they used harmony (including but not just vocal harmonies) in way more interesting ways than not just most grunge, but most metal or hard rock bands. They were unique.
Also, I don't know that this sounds like country at all. Depression? Whining? Have you read the lyrics?
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Posted: April 21 2013 at 09:06
rogerthat wrote:
I think AiC were a different kettle of fish altogether from grunge...or lots of rock for that matter. They were so hardcore (not to be confused with the genre by the same name) it's a bit scary.
Hardcore? Alice in Chains? Didn't you read the bit where they're referred to as the Simon and Garfunkle of grunge? LOL. Their heavy stuff sounds utterly contrived and unconvincing to me; their best stuff, on the other hand, was the wimply acoustic stuff, like the two EPs (Jar of the Flies and the one before that), where they sound like Stone Temple Pilots, only slightly better. The affectations in their voice, and in Eddie Vedder's voice, and in Soundgarden's singer's voice, makes them all sound like country singers to me, only they're in denial, and posing as something else. And all of it pretty much makes you want to commit suicide. "Oh hell, I'm so depressed, it's raining in Seattle again." I mean, it rains all the time in England too, but you don't hear English groups whinging about how depressed they are. I'll take Jane Addiction's joyous celebration of "Been Caught Stealing" over the mope-sludge-rock of American Pacific Northwest bands. The closest I'll get to grunge is Chicago, via Smashing Pumpkins.
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Posted: April 21 2013 at 02:31
jude111 wrote:
I just came across this in Pitchfork yesterday (Top 200 Songs of the 1990s), and it sums up perfectly my feelings on the matter:
#168. Alice in Chains: "Would?" [Columbia; 1992] - What caused the mass hallucination that made us all believe that grunge was anything other than straightforward hard rock sludge disguised in flannel shirts? Few songs from the genre can survive the harsh light of hindsight, but "Would?" holds up. It's a song very much of the Seattle scene but one that rises above its lumbering, melody-free brethren. Most of the credit is due to grunge's Simon & Garfunkel-- Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell-- whose harmonies over the nearly subsonic bass rumble grant the verses an exotic spookiness. The harmonies push Staley's caterwauling on the standard arena-rock choruses (and a killer bridge) to true catharsis. --Rob Mitchum
I think AiC were a different kettle of fish altogether from grunge...or lots of rock for that matter. They were so hardcore (not to be confused with the genre by the same name) it's a bit scary. From the rest, I do like Nevermind and not much else of Nirvana and I can appreciate the idea of Soundgarden but am not sure it's all that it's made out to be. I completely get off on Pearl Jam.
I think I will vote punk though I am pretty selective about what punk I like and most if not all of it is not pure punk at all.
I was really into Punk when I was younger, but my fairly recent discovery of Refused and ATD-I () has kinda spurred my interest in the genre again. So I'll probably vote for Punk, if not for sheer mass alone, I guess it's the genre I most prefer.
I've never been a huge grunge fan, but I'm quite familiar to Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden.
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Posted: April 20 2013 at 17:42
Grunge
Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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Posted: April 20 2013 at 15:01
Can't really choose: in the 90's, I was more into death metal than grunge, and even nostalgia for this era doesn't make me wear again flannels. Soundgarden, Nirvana or Alice In Chains don't move me. On the other hand, I never cared for the Sex Pstols or the Clash. I just have a couple of punk records: stuff by the Damned, Radio Birdman's first LP, Dead Kennedys, a Bad Brains EP and... oh, end of the list.
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Posted: April 20 2013 at 00:54
While I'm fond of a couple, I can't name a true grunge band I consistently listen to. Whilst punk has tons of bands I listen to lots, (The Dead Kennedys, NoMeansNo, Husker Du, and Refused probably being my favourites). Easy choice for me.
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Posted: April 20 2013 at 00:46
Definitely Grunge. It was the first genre I liked, and I still listen to those albums I used to love. It had a good run for a few years but then it got too poppy crap. It seams like every band in that time released at leased one memorable album and not only grunge. Example: Chili Peppers. something in the air I guess.
I never really liked Punk but a few years ago I watched a documentary about it and I was fascinated. Anyone watched that one?
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Posted: April 19 2013 at 23:24
PUNK, absolutely. I admit to liking grunge circa 1991. I had all the albums - not just Nirvana and Soundgarden but also Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, the Singles soundtrack, etc etc etc. Maybe I over-dosed on it, because long before 2000, I hated it, and have never felt the need to go back and listen, and find it all rather shameful and embarrassing now, LOL. (I think it was because the long Reagan/Bush Dark Ages was ending, Clinton was now the American prez, suddenly the sun came out, the sky was blue, the birds sang and hope filled the air... That's how it felt to me, and music seemed rejuvenated at the time... Now, though, grunge seems depressing, hopelessly backward looking and so out of step with the innovations being made in British music in the 90s - and when I started to discover that in the mid-90s, I never listened to grunge again.)
I just came across this in Pitchfork yesterday (Top 200 Songs of the 1990s), and it sums up perfectly my feelings on the matter:
#168. Alice in Chains: "Would?" [Columbia; 1992] - What caused the mass hallucination that made us all believe that grunge was anything other than straightforward hard rock sludge disguised in flannel shirts? Few songs from the genre can survive the harsh light of hindsight, but "Would?" holds up. It's a song very much of the Seattle scene but one that rises above its lumbering, melody-free brethren. Most of the credit is due to grunge's Simon & Garfunkel-- Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell-- whose harmonies over the nearly subsonic bass rumble grant the verses an exotic spookiness. The harmonies push Staley's caterwauling on the standard arena-rock choruses (and a killer bridge) to true catharsis. --Rob Mitchum
And I also came across this great quote on an album review of an Oasis album: 'Fearless optimism reins on the group's best-ever track, "Live Forever", a quasi-reaction to the nihilism of grunge. Talking about the song,... Noel dismisses some of Kurt Cobain's heroin-laced diatribes while backing up the careful hope of his signature track: "That was a guy that had everything and was miserable. We had f**k all and I still thought getting up in the morning was the greatest f**kin' thing ever 'cause you didn't know where you'd end up at night."'
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Punk or Grunge
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jude111 wrote:
) has kinda spurred my interest in the genre again. So I'll probably vote for Punk, if not for sheer mass alone, I guess it's the genre I most prefer. 
