When Nirvana Came to Britain

[Crusoe]

37 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

I did not notice the copy of Superfuzz Bigmuff but I did notice the Music Man Stingray 🙂 

I noticed the copy of Up-Tight. The book about Velvet underground. I have a copy downstairs

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Interesting regarding grunge in general ..

 

The one band I thought was the best and never saw unfortunately was Alice in Chains . Nirvana to me were overhyped where they were played to death . Their videos running constantly , and multiple singles from the nevrrmind album released on a par with def leppard and their mega commercial success . I have a few nirvana albums ,but do not play them and haven't done so in years. 

Pearl jam did nothing for me , except a couple of tracks " The vocalist just sounds less than cheerful and very samey. 
A bit like Paul Rogers ( sorry , only my opinion ) 

 

Soundgarden ; I purchased their ultra mega video and thought it was just dated sounding crap . Thankfully it only cost me £3. I had the flower 12" . A 12" with come together and big dumb sex . Okay for a few spins . The screaming life and fopp eps are good ..except rock not pop or something . As for the rest , louder than love and badmotorfinger are their best imho . Superunknown to me is patchy. Some of the  tracks sounded  like they were too stoned to be bothered imho. And should not have been on the album .

I saw them a few times . Some good some boring . The last time at Hyde park supporting sabbath . They played the superunknown album in its entirety . Not much talking to the audience . It just seemed like a job to them. Should have done badmotorfinger instead as the last few tracks they played were not really into getting the crowd going.

 

Wouldve like  to have seen tad , as I like " touch me I'm sick " 

For me , grunge was about poor production and arttitude , but not everyone's cup of tea ..

 

 

 

[Eldon Tyrell]

2 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Interesting regarding grunge in general ..

 

The one band I thought was the best and never saw unfortunately was Alice in Chains

 

 

 

 

You are my new best friend 😉 

[tegs07]

1 minute ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

 

You are my new best friend 😉 

Agree re Alice in Chains and Mad Season but Lane Staley had one sad life.

[Eldon Tyrell]

3 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Interesting regarding grunge in general ..

 

The one band I thought was the best and never saw unfortunately was Alice in Chains . Nirvana to me were overhyped where they were played to death . Their videos running constantly , and multiple singles from the nevrrmind album released on a par with def leppard and their mega commercial success . I have a few nirvana albums ,but do not play them and haven't done so in years. 

Pearl jam did nothing for me , except a couple of tracks " The vocalist just sounds less than cheerful and very samey. 
A bit like Paul Rogers ( sorry , only my opinion ) 

 

Soundgarden ; I purchased their ultra mega video and thought it was just dated sounding crap . Thankfully it only cost me £3. I had the flower 12" . A 12" with come together and big dumb sex . Okay for a few spins . The screaming life and fopp eps are good ..except rock not pop or something . As for the rest , louder than love and badmotorfinger are their best imho . Superunknown to me is patchy. Some of the  tracks sounded  like they were too stoned to be bothered imho. And should not have been on the album .

I saw them a few times . Some good some boring . The last time at Hyde park supporting sabbath . They played the superunknown album in its entirety . Not much talking to the audience . It just seemed like a job to them. Should have done badmotorfinger instead as the last few tracks they played were not really into getting the crowd going.

 

Wouldve like  to have seen tad , as I like " touch me I'm sick " 

For me , grunge was about poor production and arttitude , but not everyone's cup of tea ..

 

 

 

 

I guess grunge was just a label and something the media came up with and record labels used to shift units. The bands I listed earlier are all very different. Alice is more metal-ish, Soundgarden more hard rock-ish, Nirvana more punk-ish, Pearl Jam more classic 70s rock-ish and Stone Temple Pilots are actually the most diverse of the lot - rock, bossa nova, a bit of Beatles etc. I saw STP in 2019 in the o2 in London Kentish Town and it was a great concert. One of my favs and sadly so far the last concert I've been to.  

[SteveXFR]

I think Nirvana were the pop group of grunge, they made records to appealed to more than just punk, alternative and metal fans who were already listening to bands like Mudhoney, Tad, Melvins etc. There was something a bit more catchy to their music where some of the other bands were playing music that wasn't as instantly likable and needed a few listens.

 

The whole first grunge band discussion can go the same way as the first punk band discussion and there is no right answer. Grunge was something that evolved out of alternative rock and hardcore. 

[MacDaddy]

1 hour ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

I also remember them and the "grunge movement" as being hailed for washing away all the hair metal dudes. 

 

Yeah, people on clip shows and documentaries often churn this one out. Not quite true. 

 

Most musical genres tend to have a peak commercial success of roughly 2 years. The hair metal scene - which was always bigger in the USA than here - had been going on since 1981.

 

As happens it was time for a new generation to find their own thing. Gunge wasn't the only 'new' genre making a stir in the early 90's but no-one blames New Metal, or pop-punk for killing hair metal.

 

Not too many hair metal bands changed to a gunge style and became successful, off the top of my head I can only think of Pantera, and Alice in Chains. 

[Eldon Tyrell]

6 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

 

 

 

Not too many hair metal bands changed to a gunge style and became successful, off the top of my head I can only think of Pantera, and Alice in Chains. 

Ok, I have to admit that I had deleted Pantera's hair metal days from my memory, however, Alice "in" Chains were never hair metal, Alice "N'" Chains were. Technically not the same band. 

[Crusoe]

1 hour ago, SteveXFR said:

I think Nirvana were the pop group of grunge, they made records to appealed to more than just punk, alternative and metal fans who were already listening to bands like Mudhoney, Tad, Melvins etc. There was something a bit more catchy to their music where some of the other bands were playing music that wasn't as instantly likable and needed a few listens.

 

The whole first grunge band discussion can go the same way as the first punk band discussion and there is no right answer. Grunge was something that evolved out of alternative rock and hardcore. 

I don't think you could call Bleach or In Utero pop.

[Bassybert]

2 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I think Nirvana were the pop group of grunge, they made records to appealed to more than just punk, alternative and metal fans who were already listening to bands like Mudhoney, Tad, Melvins etc. There was something a bit more catchy to their music where some of the other bands were playing music that wasn't as instantly likable and needed a few listens.

 

I don't think this could be further from the mark - Have you listened to much of their music apart from Nevermind?
 

Cobain was great at writing something with a melody rather than an atonal dirge of some of the bands around at the time, but Bleach and In Utero are hardly easy listens and I'm a big fan.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Bassybert

[tegs07]

3 hours ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

 

I guess grunge was just a label and something the media came up with and record labels used to shift units. The bands I listed earlier are all very different. Alice is more metal-ish, Soundgarden more hard rock-ish, Nirvana more punk-ish, Pearl Jam more classic 70s rock-ish and Stone Temple Pilots are actually the most diverse of the lot - rock, bossa nova, a bit of Beatles etc. I saw STP in 2019 in the o2 in London Kentish Town and it was a great concert. One of my favs and sadly so far the last concert I've been to.  

This often happens. Get one massive band and several labels want in on the action. Grunge/Seattle compares with Manchester and the whole Madchester baggy scene. How The Stone Roses sound anything like The Happy Mondays or James or whatever defeats me. It’s all basically nonsense. 

Edited September 24, 2021 by tegs07

[SteveXFR]

9 minutes ago, Bassybert said:

 

I don't think this could be further from the mark - Have you listened to much of their music apart from Nevermind?
 

Cobain was great at writing something with a melody rather than an atonal dirge of some of the bands around at the time, but Bleach and In Utero are hardly easy listens and I'm a big fan.

 

Yes, I own all their albums, I was a big fan in the 90's. I agree In uterp and Bleach weren't exactly commercial but Never-ending definitely was and that's the record that made them so huge. 

In Utero was my favourite Nirvana album.

[Marvin]

I'd been listening to The Breeders: Pod, The Pixies, REM, Ozric Tentacles and lots of local punk and art punk bands,  before Nevermind hit the airwaves. It wasn't really that new or interesting to me.

 

For the mainstream it seemed to be a kick back against all that hair and sleaze metal. As I wasn't into that either it all sort of passed me by.

[Eldon Tyrell]

There's also a documentary from 2005 on the BBC iplayer - Classic Albums - Nirvana: Nevermind.

Quite good "making of" documentary. Features Krist (no stache this time ;- ) , Dave, Butch Vig (stache of course :- ), and some others as well.

From the BBC description:

"In 1991 Nirvana’s Nevermind, with the songs of Kurt Cobain, changed the music business without compromise, record company hype or media overkill. The album replaced Michael Jackson at the top of the American charts and so began a rapid rise to international superstardom for the band. 

This is the story of how Nirvana came to record Nevermind and the effect the record had on the music world and on the band themselves. It offers an insight into the songwriting genius of Kurt Cobain and reveals why Nevermind remains a milestone in rock history"

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0009dk9/classic-albums-nirvana-nevermind 

[meterman]

I remember hearing Nevermind and thinking it sounded to me like bad metal at the time. I’d grown up on Dead Kennedys, The Damned, The Ramones, and The Fall, Wire, Art Attacks, etc, and I really couldn’t hear ‘punk’ in Nirvana at all. I could hear the difference between them and Motley Crue or whoever, but still it didn’t sound like punk to me. Never got that angle the music press pushed so hard.
 

Pixies and Mudhoney were more my thing at the time. Or house music. Or hiphop. Public Enemy were probably more punk than Nirvana, but that’s another thread I guess.

 

I love the MTV album though, but that’s summat else entirely.

[Skybone]

Good documentary, and brought back a lot of memories from those times.

 

A few other inaccuracies, like not mentioning the thrash, punk, goth or indie scenes where a lot of the support for Nirvana and Grunge in general came from, and where the band had taken a number of their influences from.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I saw the documentary last night. It was interesting enough. 

 

But at the time of Nirvana's "meteoric rise" around 90 - 91. I was much more into bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Guns n Roses, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Thunder, Alice Cooper etc, 

 

I find the claim that grunge killed so called "hair metal" absolutely laughable. I was barely even aware of their existence, other than the continually played Smells Like Teen Spirit that was absolutely hammered to death on MTV, they weren't even a ripple in a lake of great rock and metal music. I was actually surprised to find out that they released several albums. Never Mind was the only album I was even aware of. 

[Eldon Tyrell]

17 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I find the claim that grunge killed so called "hair metal" absolutely laughable. I was barely even aware of their existence, other than the continually played Smells Like Teen Spirit that was absolutely hammered to death on MTV, they weren't even a ripple in a lake of great rock and metal music. I was actually surprised to find out that they released several albums. Never Mind was the only album I was even aware of. 

Check this out:

 

https://loudwire.com/grunge-killed-ended-hair-metal/

 

I like their "Top 30 Grunge Albums of All Time" list underneath the video, esp. as they put AIC's "Dirt" as No 1 🙂 

[Newfoundfreedom]

9 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Check this out:

 

https://loudwire.com/grunge-killed-ended-hair-metal/

 

I like their "Top 30 Grunge Albums of All Time" list underneath the video, esp. as they put AIC's "Dirt" as No 1 🙂 

 

I think I've only heard of about 5 bands on that list, and the only album out of the 30 I've listened to is Never Mind. 

 

Meanwhile. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith et all, continued to release albums and sell out stadiums and arenas for the next 30 years. Maybe no-one told them they were dead? 

[Woodinblack]

I think by 'killed hair metal' I think they mean on TV, which was true. Not that I would consider Iron Maident, Metallica, Alice Cooper or Aerosmith as hair metal, I think they are reffering to poison, dokken and maybe even motley crue, although killed is a strange term as most of those bands are still going (in cases as dokken and Motley Crue, unfortunately).

[upside downer]

1 minute ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

I think I've only heard of about 5 bands on that list, and the only album out of the 30 I've listened to is Never Mind. 

 

Meanwhile. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith et all, continued to release albums and sell out stadiums and arenas for the next 30 years. Maybe no-one told them they were dead? 

 

Just another list. There's too many of 'em. Rolling Stone magazine had one the other day of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Who cares? "We've spoken to hundreds of artists, journalists and leading figures from the industry to bring you...." Nah. I mean, well done for going to all that effort but you really shouldn't have bothered, none of these sodding greatest of all time lists ever includes 'Bikini Girls With Machine Guns' by The Cramps so to my mind are immediately suspect.

 

However, if lists are your thing, here's my top 5 list of tracks from Nevermind! 🤪

Smells Like Teen Spirit

On A Plain

Come As You Are

Territorial Pissings

Drain You

 

 

 

[SteveXFR]

6 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I think by 'killed hair metal' I think they mean on TV, which was true. Not that I would consider Iron Maident, Metallica, Alice Cooper or Aerosmith as hair metal, I think they are reffering to poison, dokken and maybe even motley crue, although killed is a strange term as most of those bands are still going (in cases as dokken and Motley Crue, unfortunately).

 

I seem to remember the popularity of hair metal dying off in the late 80's. The bands had all started to dissappear up their own derrières in an excess of cocaine and bad lycia outfits. They'd all passed their peak and were just churning out second rate tunes that lacked anything original. 

[Eldon Tyrell]

22 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

I think I've only heard of about 5 bands on that list, and the only album out of the 30 I've listened to is Never Mind. 

 

Meanwhile. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith et all, continued to release albums and sell out stadiums and arenas for the next 30 years. Maybe no-one told them they were dead? 

None of these bands are hair metal bands. Typical representatives of that genre that come to my mind are bands like Mötley Crüe, Warrant, Poison. 

[Munurmunuh]

1 minute ago, upside downer said:

Just another list. There's too many of 'em

Someone needs to publish their Ten Lists You Need To Read Before You Die 

[Nail Soup]

I noticed that when it came to the subject of Kurt's death, there was no comment from Krist Novoselic.

I think Krist was closer to Kurt than anyone else, their relationship went back pre-Nirvana. Probably too raw subject for him, even now.