30 Facts About Grunge

Grunge is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns.

Grunge was commercially successful in the early-to-mid-1990s due to releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Alice in Chains' Dirt, and Stone Temple Pilots' Core.

Grunge was an influence on later genres such as post-grunge.

Mark Yarm, author of Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge, pointed out vast differences between grunge bands, with some being punk and others being metal-based.

Grunge noted that the diminished fifth note was used by Black Sabbath to produce an ominous feeling but it is not used in punk rock.

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Grunge took the same rhythm with the same chord, however descending the neck made it sound darker, and therefore grunge.

Grunge music has what has been called an "ugly" aesthetic, both in the roar of the distorted electric guitars and in the darker lyrical topics.

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.

Grunge is generally characterized by a sludgy electric guitar sound with a thick middle register and rolled-off treble tone and a high level of distortion and fuzz, typically created with small 1970s-style stompbox pedals, with some guitarists chaining several fuzz pedals together and plugging them into a tube amplifier and speaker cabinet.

Grunge has been called the rock genre with the most "lugubrious sound"; the use of heavy distortion and loud amps has been compared to a massive "buildup of sonic fog".

Grunge guitarists tended to use the Fender Twin Reverb and the Fender Champion 100 combo amps.

Grunge guitarists played loud, with Kurt Cobain's early guitar sound coming from an unusual set-up of four 800 watt PA system power amplifiers.

In Will Byers' article "Grunge committed a crime against music—it killed the guitar solo", in The Guardian, he states that while the guitar solo managed to survive through the punk rock era, it was weakened by grunge.

Grunge uses four powerful Ampeg SVT-2 PRO tube amplifier heads, two of them plugged into four 1x18" subwoofer cabinets for the low register, and the other two plugged into two 8x10" cabinets.

Grunge lyrics developed as part of "Generation X malaise", reflecting that demographic's feelings of "disillusionment and uselessness".

Grunge lyrics tended to be more introspective and aimed to enable the listener to see into "hidden" personal issues and examine the "depravity" of the world.

Grunge preferred to have the entire band play live in the studio, rather than use mainstream rock's approach of recording each instrument on a separate track at different times, and then mixing them using multi-track recording.

Grunge bands rejected the complex and high budget presentations of many mainstream musical genres, including the use of complex digitally controlled light arrays, pyrotechnics, and other visual effects then popular in "hair metal" shows.

Grunge performers viewed these elements unrelated to playing the music.

Grunge bands gave enthusiastic performances; they would thrash their long hair during shows as "a symbolic weapon" for releasing "pent-up aggression".

Grunge style consisted of ripped jeans, thermal underwear, Doc Martens boots or combat boots, band T-shirts, oversized knit sweaters, long and droopy skirts, ripped tights, Birkenstocks, hiking boots, and eco-friendly clothing made from recycled textiles or fair trade organic cotton.

Grunge fashion was very much an anti-fashion response and a non-conformist move against the "manufactured image", often pushing musicians to dress in authentic ways and to not glamorize themselves.

Grunge music hit the mainstream in the early 1990s with Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana being signed to major record labels.

Grunge is about not making a statement, which is why it's crazy for it to become a fashion statement.

Grunge started her career in 1983 and managed several bands such as the U-Men, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees.

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Grunge evolved from the local punk rock scene, and was inspired by bands such as the Fartz, the U-Men, 10 Minute Warning, the Accused, and the Fastbacks.

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".

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.

Grunge bands had made inroads to the musical mainstream in the late 1980s.

Grunge made it possible for genres thought to be of a niche audience, no matter how radical, to prove their marketability and be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture.