"Hair Metal" vs Grunge

[OldHippie]

I am a lady, but i am not that young. I am 43 year old. You are right, but you have to understand that i am emotionally hurt. I totally agree with you that music is subjective, but grunge music ruined Rock and Metal as far as i am concerned. Grunge turned the 90s into a musical wasteland. Music was great before Nirvana came along. I remember going to a party in February 1993 and they are playing " smells like teen spirit" on repeat. It was overplayed to death. You couldn't escape it. You have to admit that in 80's/early 90's metal was as bigger than any other type of popular mainstream music, like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, etc. Its hard for people to comprehend that, if you didn't grow up in it. I graduated high school in 1994. Ozzy, Metallica, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Poison, Slaughter etc were bigger in the 80's/early 90's than most mainstream musical acts today. That was really the heyday of metal. Lita Ford was bigger than most pop groups you hear today. I guess i am nostalgic of that era.

So your grunge is my disco. The difference is I don’t condemn disco I just chose to not listen to it.

 

[Trickster]

Hey Marla 1976... Do you like any music of today?

Halestorm?

Pretty Reckless?

Buckcherry?

 

[Aero]

Rock is not dead, it's not even sick.

I always hear people saying that rock isn't dead and then they proceed to name off a bunch of YouTube bands I've never heard of that are supposed to be great bands. The only one I've ever liked just a little bit is Greta Van Fleet and it's only because the lead singer is able to mimic Robert Plant's voice. If it weren't for that kid, I doubt many people would even pay attention to that band as the talent stops there. Yes, they sound like Zeppelin...but still not at the same level of musicianship.

There are decent rock bands out there. There might even be a few good rock bands out there although I have yet to hear them. However, there are no great bands out there who are in the same echelon of Led Zeppelin, Boston, The Doors, etc. Because if there were, someone on here would've already found them and they'd be the darling of this forum.

 

[OldHippie]

I always hear people saying that rock isn't dead and then they proceed to name off a bunch of YouTube bands I've never heard of that are supposed to be great bands. The only one I've ever liked just a little bit is Greta Van Fleet and it's only because the lead singer is able to mimic Robert Plant's voice. If it weren't for that kid, I doubt many people would even pay attention to that band as the talent stops there. Yes, they sound like Zeppelin...but still not at the same level of musicianship.

There are decent rock bands out there. There might even be a few good rock bands out there although I have yet to hear them. However, there are no great bands out there who are in the same echelon of Led Zeppelin, Boston, The Doors, etc. Because if there were, someone on here would've already found them and they'd be the darling of this forum.

Why is it you haven’t heard of them? It’s because corporate radio’s version of a great band doesn’t fit their idea of a money-making entity (I like to call it the Simon Cowell Syndrome.). Face it in today’s music business guys like Neal Young would never stand a chance. Like I said, good rock is out there, you just have to look for it. Don’t discount anyone’s finds because you haven’t heard of them. As far as becoming darlings of this forum, it really doesn’t matter, if I like it I’m going to listen to it.

 

[Marla 1976]

Nikki Sixx once said that a lot bands playing the clubs in the early 80's (eg: Motley, Dokken and Ratt) considered bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Pink Floyd to be dinosaurs, and it was time for a change. Although I wouldn't have agreed with his comment had he said it in the early 80's, I can't say in retrospect he was entirely wrong either. What he was saying was that all those classic rock bands sounded tired and boring, and it was time for a new generation of fresh rock bands with high energy that didn't sound like the classic rock bands of the 60's and 70's. So depending on your age in the early 80's, he was either right-on in his assessment if you were in your teens, or you were in your early 20's and were still listening to those dinosaur rock bands from the 60's and 70's.

But be careful what you wish for as the very same thing would happen roughly a decade later. Because by the late 80's/early 90's, all the "Hair Bands" (everyone from Motley, Whitesnake and Metallica) would also begin to look the same (eh, give or take), sound the same, and oversaturate the marketplace (ie: radio and MTV).

Enter Grunge. The record companies seemed to flock to these new bands because they were new and fresh, and their market was untapped. What happened ten years earlier between the dinosaur bands and the hair bands was the very thing that was now happening to the Hair Bands.

So now that I'm older now, I just see it as the cycle of rock music. Every band has an expiration date. Some sooner, some later, but they will all eventually be passed over for newer music. Unless you're The Stones and can continue to tour as a nostalgia act (because they haven't recorded a decent album in nealry 40 years!).

So, Marla, I know in the early-to-mid 90's you were still clinging to your rock bands, but you were still young and you weren't done with them yet. Me? I was older and ready for a change, and Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, LIVE and Candlebox were perfect replacements for all the "tired and boring" 80's bands. Nirvana, not so much imo, but I think you get the idea.

When I was 16 (1992) I paid £16 in a Virgin Megastore for the Point Break soundtrack, just for this song (there were a couple others on there that were ok too, luckily). Imagine trying to explain that to a 16 year old today! Ratt and Point Break . One of the last songs of a great generation .

 

[Marla 1976]

I always hear people saying that rock isn't dead and then they proceed to name off a bunch of YouTube bands I've never heard of that are supposed to be great bands. The only one I've ever liked just a little bit is Greta Van Fleet and it's only because the lead singer is able to mimic Robert Plant's voice. If it weren't for that kid, I doubt many people would even pay attention to that band as the talent stops there. Yes, they sound like Zeppelin...but still not at the same level of musicianship.

There are decent rock bands out there. There might even be a few good rock bands out there although I have yet to hear them. However, there are no great bands out there who are in the same echelon of Led Zeppelin, Boston, The Doors, etc. Because if there were, someone on here would've already found them and they'd be the darling of this forum.

EXACTLY. I totally agree with you!

 

[OldHippie]

Hey Marla 1976... Do you like any music of today?

Halestorm?

Pretty Reckless?

Buckcherry?

That’s some damn good stuff right there.

Course this stuff doesn’t count.

 

[OldHippie]

If this doesn’t get you going you got no rock and roll soul.

 

[Trickster]

That’s some damn good stuff right there.

Course this stuff doesn’t count.

I like Dorothy! Haven't heard to much from the The Cadillac Three.

 

[Marla 1976]

Hey Marla 1976... Do you like any music of today?

Halestorm?

Pretty Reckless?

Buckcherry?

I love The Pretty Reckless song! She’s got such a beautiful voice.