GRUNGE

“The Seattle Sound”

Bio• Late 80’s, originating in Seattle, Washington, USA (also the

home of Starbucks).• Influenced by early heavy metal, hardcore punk, and indie.• Key bands were Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl

Jam and others….• Also had supergroups Temple of the Dog and Mad Season• Defining albums were Nirvana’s “Nevermind”(1991) and Pearl

Jam’s “Ten”(1991).• Was seen as a combat to the popularity of hair metal.

Mainstream Success

• In 1991 Nirvana’s Nevermind claimed number one on the Billboard 200 from Dangerous by Michael Jackson. The follow up album In Utero, was an attempt to move away from mainstream success, but in fact still claimed number one.

• Pearl Jam’s Vs. also reached number one.• Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger and Alice In Chain’s Dirt and Temple of

the Dogs collaboration were also in the top 100 selling albums of 1992.• Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell joined forces with band members

from rap-metal Rage Against The Machine to form supergroup Audioslave in 2001.

• As of now all the major grunge bands, apart from Nirvana, are currently together.

Soundgarden - “Black Hole Sun”

• Narrative/performance• Strange theme - controversial• Use of colour filters• Heavy use of SFX - high budget during

mainstream success• Related to lyrics -very negative concept• Use of fades at start -slow paced• Flashing images again• Lots of shots of the whole band - but also a lot of

simply Chris Cornell (singer)• Very artistically done• Again shots of youth - target audience? • Rebellious genre

Pearl Jam - “Jeremy”

• Essentially narrative• Performance aspect just from singer

Eddie Vedder - other band members are flashed briefly on screen

• Extended intro• Flashing images and text• Use of colour filters

•Artistic and deeper meaning (based on true story) - sophisticated genre•Casting of young actor & school/parents connecting with youth?•At 3.32 Nazi salute during pledge. Controversial themes•Relates to lyrics

Alice In Chains - “Them Bones”

• Performance video• Strange setting • Cave/desert -link to album cover of Dirt• Use of reflections• Flashing images on screen• Strange colour camera filter• Lots of shots of the whole band and close ups of each member -less emphasis

on singer• Crane shots• Basic clothing• Strange persona of singer (Layne Staley, who died of drug overdose).

Nirvana - “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

• Performance -very simple

• Stripped down and basic - links to indie background

• It’s all about the music not the visual - breakthrough of the genre

• Youth shown a lot again - setting of school hall

• Use of sepia tone - sophisticated/visually interesting

• No emphasis on costume

• Lots of whole band shots - but many one shots of Kurt Cobain

• Interaction with crowd

• Mocking of cheerleading school system - anarchist symbol on tops

• Smoke gives it this very dirty feel

• Use of lighting obscures Kurt’s face

• Comical aspect at the ending

Overall

• A lot of the genres videos feature some form of performance• Not as much emphasis as other heavy metal sub genres on the singer• The genre started very basic and stripped down i.e. N - SLTS, but with it’s

mainstream success and higher budgets, it took drug influence perhaps and made stranger toned videos.

• Often controversial, rebellious aspects• Little emphasis on costume/makeup - but most have long hair• Lots of strange camera filters• Use of flashing/strobe images• Feature youth often• A lot relate to the lyrics in some form• Sophisticated videos: creative shots- but also deeper meaning behind content.