Introduction to....Genre/Artist

Here are some introductory songs for Grunge:



This song is a pretty good example of what Nirvana stood for. Kurt Cobain's lyrics were often quite witty and sarcastic. "In Bloom" addresses how people listen to Nirvana's music without even thinking about the meaning behind the song. Basically, Kurt is saying that he could write anything down on paper, but people would still naively sing along to the song. It essentially pokes fun at the jocks who started to enjoy Nirvana's music after their massive breakthrough into the mainstream:

"He's the one
Who like all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he don't know what it means"

Also, "In Bloom" is a good representation of what defined Nirvana stylistically. They blended punk sensibilities with strong melodic hooks, as well as deploying the "quiet-loud" formula to contrast the verses from the chorus. Kurt, Dave and Krist were massive fans of The Beatles, which proved to be a huge influence on their music and explains the decision behind making this music video. The music video itself is actually pretty sarcastic when you think about how the band are presented as being "alright, decent fellows" and the lyrics mock the shallowness of huge stardom. It really showcases the humour in Nirvana's music.



This one was actually released in the year that you were born! Grunge as a genre fused elements of punk and metal, but some bands from the scene drew more inspiration from either genre. Soundgarden were one of the bands that were influenced more by metal. "The Day I Tried To Love" is a pretty good example of Soundgarden's music; it has an unorthodox time-signature and arrangement, as well as Chris Cornell's powerful vocals.



Pearl Jam were heavily indebted to '70s classic rock. This song showcases their influences quite well.

@sharksfan99 Thanks for posting these songs. Sorry it’s taken me a minute to respond but I wasn’t feeling well and really wanted to give them a proper listen/analysis. I think it helped me gain a more definitive grasp on grunge, as my prior perception had been a little all over the place. I actually may have heard them all before in passing without necessarily making the connection to the larger genre.

Your description of the “quiet-loud” formula puts into words exactly what I’ve been trying to say without success about Nirvana. If I’m completely honest, it pinpoints what aspect I’ve never generally never been a huge fan of. I think because it causes a little, dare I say, discomfort. That’s not a criticism; I’m sure in fact it was very intentional. But for me personally, I tend to like my music crazy and loud or well, not. Considering this came as a response to the campy party or ballad options granted by the 80’s, it makes sense. Though in retrospect, I suppose it’s just not a sentiment that speaks to me. I can say something similar for the lyrics to “In Bloom” which are quite comical and clever. However they’re going to be harder to appreciate in a day-in-age when the artsy kids and the weird twenty somethings avoiding getting an office job like the plague are, like it was originally intended, the ones listening to Nirvana. 

I have to credit “The Day I Tried to Love” as being my favorite song of the bunch. More than anything because I enjoy his vocals the most. This song but particularly the music video proves what a world away 1994 was from the 80’s. It has also dated in a very different way. On one hand, it is the exact style that I remember seeming recently old during my childhood. Yet I’m also finding it difficult to call “cheesy” or anything like that. I’m wondering if Soundgarden influenced Kings of Leon because it gives me a similar vibe.

And then there’s Pearl Jam. I tried listening to Pearl Jam at least one other time on a recommendation. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I just don’t dig Eddie Vedder’s voice. To the point where I think it’s been a contributing factor in putting me off from grunge. Maybe because they poked fun of it on a 90’s SNL DVD I would watch in the 00’s. Sorry Eddie, it is what it is. 

I will say to start off with their most-acclaimed album "OK Computer" as it lays right in the middle of their former more straightforward, angsty alt rock and their later heavily electronized material which are more avant-garde in nature. I personally think "OKC" hits the sweet spot between less conventional rock experimentations and a very accessible sound, and offers some fantastic cuts:


"The Bends" isn't a bad choice to start off at all, just keep in mind that it's certainly not representative of their discography as a whole though. "Pablo Honey" is kind of forgettable and would not really recommend it. Starting with "Kid A" and later albums is also not recommendable in my opinion.

Yeah, I've been thinking actually that OK Computer is most likely the best album to start off with. I just wasn't too sure if it was truly representative of their work. In any case, thanks for the suggestions. I've been wanting to expand my tastes in music and since i'm now on a two-week break, I've got plenty of time to check out a lot of different artists and bands!

Emo has been receiving a lot of attention as of late, but because the majority of the most popular bands are American in origin, there's a lot of emo songs out there that tend to be overlooked. In case anyone in interested, here are a few Australian emo songs that made it onto the charts here during the Late 2000s: 



Surprisingly, this debuted onto the ARIA Chart in the same week as Fall Out Boy's "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" and believe it or not, it actually debuted higher than the latter. I was never into "Opinions Won't Keep You Warm At Night" at the time, but now it would have to be one of my favourite songs from 2007! The music video is worth checking out alone; its such a product of its time. This was actually a pretty big hit here.



This was one of my favourite songs when I was 9, I still love it to this day. One of the very few genuinely great rock songs from 2008.



I'm not sure if you'd call them emo or scene, but Short Stack were pretty popular here between 2009-2011. "Sway Sway Baby" made it to #2 on our charts when it was a hit in Late 2009. They were always on the crappiest end of the emo spectrum.