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Four of the five major grunge band lead singers are now gone

T

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
DiscoJer said:
I was a huge Posies fan. They were more of a power pop band though.

School of Fish was my favorite 90s band. They had one pretty big hit, 3 Strange Days, but their two albums were just great. But they didn't sell and they broke up, then the former lead singer died of testicular cancer.

Live was another favorite. I got Throwing Copper on the first day it came out and had no idea it would be so huge. Then it got so massively overplayed I got sick of them.

And Medicine. They were a noise rock band. And shoe gaze.

There was a lot of different types of rock in the 90s. Really vibrant era.

STP to me was always more a hard rock band, but to me, so was most "grunge". Grunge typically featured very heavy guitars
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I'm impressed you even know who Medicine is. I believe they were the first American act signed to Creation, they certainly fit the bill of the rest of the bands on the label at the time.

I've read some interesting takes on the 90s music scene in this thread that aren't entirely accurate. I sure wouldn't consider the rise of 90s Brit pop a reaction against American alternative rock, most of the original grunge bands like Mudhoney Nirvana and Tad were getting airplay in England before the US. The Brit pop sort of piggybacked the whole alternative musice phenomenon and most of those bands were influenced by stuff like Sonic Youth and the Pixies but also The Smiths and The Cure and the shoegaze movement which was just coming to an end. I'm not sure how successful the mid 90s Brit pop movement really was. Sure it established Radiohead as important and Oasis were huge, and Blur had a couple of hits, but we still didn't care about Suede or Charlatans UK or Elastica or a bunch of other bands NME hyped to hell and back, The 3rd Brit Pop movement in the early aughts was probably more successful
 
B

bill0527

Member
I didn't get into grunge until probably the early to mid 2000s. Just as grunge was on its way out and Indie rock was taking over.

My dorm mates across the hall in college were always listening to STP and Pearl Jam back in 1994-1995.

I alwas hated it for no good reason other than I was just salty as fuck that it killed my beloved hair metal. Took me over a decade to get over it.

If memory serves, I really didn't go back and listen to a lot of those grunge bands until Rock Band came along and re-introduced me to them.

Its very sad that 4/5 of these lead singers are gone, but lets be honest, dying at a young age is kind of the M.O. for a big-time rock star.
 
depths20XX

depths20XX

Member
Why is this thread a debate on grunge? The label was somewhat useless in describing a band's sound but oh well, it was more of a media label. We still know what band's were considered "grunge".

This thing with Chris Cornell really surprised me. Did he have a history of depression?
 
C

chicko1983

Member
Renekton said:
Isn't that Britpop
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Blur are Britpop but Song 2 is a grungy song.

Crazy to think that while Grunge took off in the USA, Britpop/Madcheseter scene had Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Blur and Oasis - a completely different sound and vibe.

Radiohead started off very grungy, in my opinion, and then created their unique sound.

I prefer the Britpop/Madchester stuff now, much more easier to listen too. But as a kid I definitely preferred the Grunge.
 
T

the_batman

Banned
TheBaldEmperor said:
The disrespect shown to Billy Corgan in this thread is appalling. Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness outrank any material made by these "major" grunge band lead singers.
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True, smashing pumpkins > any grunge
chicko1983 said:
I prefer the Britpop/Madchester stuff now, much more easier to listen too. But as a kid I definitely preferred the Grunge.
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Same
ThisGuy said:
I just want to mention ween.
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What about your weenie?
 
M

Magus1234

Member
Those were like the bands that got me into music :(
Plus Silverchair, Bush, No Doubt and all the other stuff listed in here. I have fond memories when Black Hole Sun was a big hit and me and my cousins would sit around seeing who could sing it better.
 
D

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
TheTylerRob said:
If you don't like any grunge you're a garbage person.
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I was raving during the grunge fad. I hated grunge. I blame it for 'techno' not catching on in the states like in Europe. It must be hard for bands and fans alike knowing that the grunge fad won't have a real legacy apart from the Nirvana's inflated legacy due to Cobain's suicide.
 
U

uncelestial

Member
TheBaldEmperor said:
Haha not the first time this has happened after I've said something similar. I wasn't wrong, though. lol
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Had to! Could've also avatar quoted I think -- isn't that a Yelena pic from the Adore days?

I love 90s SP to death, but Billy became terrible in the 2000s. He was in NYC when 9/11 happened, my guess is it just made him not be the same again, ever. Same thing happened to Dennis Miller.

Days like these... said:
I was raving during the grunge fad. I hated grunge. I blame it for 'techno' not catching on in the states like in Europe. It must be hard for bands and fans alike knowing that the grunge fad won't have a real legacy apart from the Nirvana's inflated legacy due to Cobain's suicide.
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Yes, it was only Cobain's suicide that created a legacy for Nirvana. It definitely wasn't because in one fell swoop he knocked Michael Jackson off the charts, vanquished hair metal forever, and open the gates for the last great run of rock music in the mainstream, while being an accomplished songwriter, visual artist, and performer.
 
R

Renekton

Member
edit: nvm misread the post D: sorry

Days like these... said:
I was raving during the grunge fad. I hated grunge. I blame it for 'techno' not catching on in the states like in Europe.
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Without grunge, there'd still be something else to take US by storm: alternative, britpop, post-grunge, emo, etc.

I wonder if US simply doesn't like EDM other than electropop.
 
M

mariachi507

Member
Grunge was massively important to me during my teenage years and has become a part of my musical DNA.

I read a good book about the history of the scene all the way from the 80's, it's called "Grunge is Dead" if anyone is curious. It's an oral history book and features interviews from most of the big hitters, at least the one's that were currently alive at that point. It's going to be hard to revisit it knowing what happens to Cornell.
 
F

FrenchMovieTheme

Member
Days like these... said:
I was raving during the grunge fad. I hated grunge. I blame it for 'techno' not catching on in the states like in Europe. It must be hard for bands and fans alike knowing that the grunge fad won't have a real legacy apart from the Nirvana's inflated legacy due to Cobain's suicide.
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God bless you Cobain, vedder, Cornell and the rest!
 
T

Turin

Banned
I didn't get into bands like Alice In Chains and Soundgarden until around 2010 when I desperately needed a change from the shit I was listening to as a teenager. It was such a great turning point for me. Now both of the main voices of my favorite bands are gone.

emilioasis said:
we still have Mark Lanegan
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He's more a great composer who happens to be a pretty good frontman. Jerry Cantrell as well.
 
WiseguyMVP

WiseguyMVP

Member
At the time Grunge was both a genre and a scene.

The roots of which came from the post-punk era of the mid to late 80s. Classic rock, Metal and Punk converged to give us the Grunge sound. Seattle was its home. The scene also mixed several clothing styles from these genres. Long hair, leather jackets, ripped jeans, tie-dye shirts, backward caps, combat boots, high tops, flannel shirts. But although Grunge conjured thoughts of dirty street kids, these were kids from middle class Seattle and beyond. The sound and the look was a mashup.

When the Smells Like Teen Spirit single released I was at a local college radio station in Chicago. It was a revelation after that first listen. Even before that, but definitely soon after, you started to see a shift in the way people were reacting to this scene. Q101 in Chicago started to play these bands in heavy rotation and the "Alternative" genre was coined to include a broader range of artists that fell outside of Grunge but that still worked well when they were played together. Grunge went mainstream pretty quickly and it seemed to fade just as fast in popularity on mainstream radio. The influence and importance that Grunge and these artists had cannot be denied. Sadly, the pain that many of these artists expressed lyrically were eerily mirrored in their early deaths.

They may have passed, but their music lives on.
 
M

Manzanas

Neo Member
Sir_Stoo said:
f9869c0c-5560-4875-8707-b6207344a7c9.png
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lol wheres this picture from?
Also isnt there a new Pumpkins album coming out sometime soonish?
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Renekton said:
If I am allowed to split hairs, I think he is considered post-grunge.
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Butt Rock is the bastard child of grunge, yes.

chicko1983 said:
Blur are Britpop but Song 2 is a grungy song.
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Song 2 by Blur falls into the same category as Fight For Your Right To Party by Beastie Boys: A tongue in cheek song mocking a genre, where the joke goes over the head of the mainstream which then enthusiastically embrace it.
 
T

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
Its interesting seeing people reference the various music scenes has if they are completely separate from each other when most of them are inter-related . Grunge, alternative rock and indie rock were not mutually exclusive from each other, and a lot of the bands from the various movements toured together during the time. Nirvana toured with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr Butthole Surfers and Jesus Lizard, those aren't grunge bands The whole early 90s alternative rock phenomenon did not come out of nowhere nor was it simply a reaction to 80s pop metal (which was mostly dead by this time anyway). You had a groundswell of indie and college rock bands achieving mainstream notice like The Pixies, The Replacements, The Smithereens, Janes Addiction, REM. I think Sonic Youth's Goo sold 200K before Nirvana was ever signed to DGC and thats a lot of albums for an indie act to sell at the time. Brit pop and the 90s punk movement were not separate from grunge in any capacity, they were all considered under the same alternative rock umbrella that MTV was pushing to every kid in America. Your average teen probably had a copy of Nevermind, Dookie and Whats The Story Morning Glory in his/her CD collection

teruterubozu said:
I have 2 Medicine albums. Brad Laner was awesome!
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Well he reunited with Beth Thompson a couple of years ago and released two more albums To the Happy Few and Home Everywhere. So if you liked The Buried Life and Her Highness, those are right in line with the circa 90s albums.
 
ThisGuy

ThisGuy

Member
jstripes said:
Song 2 by Blur falls into the same category as Fight For Your Right To Party by Beastie Boys: A tongue in cheek song mocking a genre, where the joke goes over the head of the mainstream which then enthusiastically embrace it.
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For the longest time I thought beasty boys were doing a tribute with that song, which I loved. When I found out it was a criticism it really soured me. Made me wonder how pretentious they are in person. There is nothing wrong with party music, irks me when people criticize it.
 
P

PillarEN

Member
ThisGuy said:
For the longest time I thought beasty boys were doing a tribute with that song, which I loved. When I found out it was a criticism it really soured me. Made me wonder how pretentious they are in person. There is nothing wrong with party music, irks me when people criticize it.
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It's all good. You can do both. Mock and enjoy it.
I mean I have no problem with serious anti-corporate maaaaan type of music and then doing a 180 and riding a massive blown up microphone like David Lee Roth while enjoying some super trashy Van Halen tune while drinking cheap beer.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
ThisGuy said:
For the longest time I thought beasty boys were doing a tribute with that song, which I loved. When I found out it was a criticism it really soured me. Made me wonder how pretentious they are in person. There is nothing wrong with party music, irks me when people criticize it.
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I dunno, I kinda get where they were coming from with that. Where I used to work the local '70s/'80s/'90s station was on most of the time, and a lot of rock from the early '80s was soooo coarse and shallow in that regard, and I found it hard to listen to.

Of course, I grew up in a house where my dad listened mainly to new wave and the genres surrounding that, when he wasn't listening to classic rock or Phillip Glass, so I have practically zero nostalgia for '80s rock. That stuff never reached in our walls.

But anyway, the other sore spot the Beastie Boys were mocking were their era's equivalent of the insufferable dudebro type that have existed since forever. The dudebros that ended up embracing the song.
 
B

biggersmaller

Banned
Eddie Vedder hasn't been grunge in decades. Sure he'll happily play Alive on stage, but he's more a ukulele playing folk rock type of guy now. Better for it, btw.

For a chunk of the 00s he didn't even have long hair and a beard.

tumblr_lt75v91XDb1qhkku8o1_400.jpg
 
M

minor effort

Banned
Screaming Meat said:
Nah. They started in the No Wave/Experimental scene.
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Exactly. They never part of grunge musically or regionally. But I think there was a period from 1992-1994 when the grunge craze peaked, there was a huge demand from major labels for more grunge acts, so just about any semi-big alternative rock band got called grunge at some point.
 
S

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
minor effort said:
Exactly. They never part of grunge musically or regionally. But I think there was a period from 1992-1994 when the grunge craze peaked, there was a huge demand from major labels for more grunge acts, so just about any semi-big alternative rock band got called grunge at some point.
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I think Sonic Youth were instrumental in picking some of those bands on behalf of Geffen too. Albini had a bit of a minor beef with them about it.

truly101 said:
Its interesting seeing people reference the various music scenes has if they are completely separate from each other when most of them are inter-related . Grunge, alternative rock and indie rock were not mutually exclusive from each other, and a lot of the bands from the various movements toured together during the time. Nirvana toured with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr Butthole Surfers and Jesus Lizard, those aren't grunge bands The whole early 90s alternative rock phenomenon did not come out of nowhere nor was it simply a reaction to 80s pop metal (which was mostly dead by this time anyway). You had a groundswell of indie and college rock bands achieving mainstream notice like The Pixies, The Replacements, The Smithereens, Janes Addiction, REM. I think Sonic Youth's Goo sold 200K before Nirvana was ever signed to DGC and thats a lot of albums for an indie act to sell at the time. Brit pop and the 90s punk movement were not separate from grunge in any capacity, they were all considered under the same alternative rock umbrella that MTV was pushing to every kid in America. Your average teen probably had a copy of Nevermind, Dookie and Whats The Story Morning Glory in his/her CD collection.
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Well, yeah. Alternative Rock is sub-genre of Rock, as Grunge is a sub(sub?)-genre of Alternative Rock. For ease of marketing, it all goes under one umbrella. Everyone is aware of this. When I'm delineating bands into 'genre', I mean in terms of musical through-lines and influence rather than the marketing side of things.

Just because an act shared a bill, doesn't necessarily mean they're related in the above definition of genre (though the ones you picked are close... Nirvana in particular were influenced in some capacity by all of them). Like, Radiohead toured with Alanis Morrisette for ages; I wouldn't say they were coming from the same angle.
 
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