The Anathema of Grunge

[deathisgain]

Why is it so many metal heads view grunge as the anti-metal? If you
ask a lot of metal heads what they listen too, they will usually
respond "I listen to all kinds of music". If you try to probe deeper,
the next response is "all kinds ... Classical, Jazz, Blues ..." They
might even throw in "Country" , but usually never "Pop" or "Dance".
Some vehemently hate "Rap" or it's ugly step-cousin "Rapcore". If you
try pushing harder, some can't really name any band or song in the
aforementioned categories. I think it is a knee jerk reaction, of all
those years of metal bashing that they have taken, that says that
"metal" is not a true art form. So they want to be seen as something
more. Intellectual or well rounded, not narrow minded. One genre I
have never really understood the hate for, was "Grunge". I know that
in true metal sense it slayed the many headed hydra of metal. But
let's be honest. Metal was becoming a fat bloated orgy of music in the
90's. It was starting to become a stereo typical parody of it's self.
I welcomed the change, a breath of fresh air. I loved bands like
Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots. Even
Creed, Limp Biscuit, Godsmack, etc. They creamed the corn out of such
make-up queens like Poison and such. All through out the history of
music, one titanic genre defeats the previous, only to be swallowed up
by the next bastard children. Some make come backs. Others persevere
and refine themselves. but it is a constantly evolving organism. If
you go back a few decades, you can see this gatterdamerung played out.
Led Zeppelin and such, were taken over by punk. Physical Graffiti is
one of LZ best albums, but Presence & Coda were getting weak. Soft
rock and disco were starting to saturate the market. Punk revitalized
the scene. Then New Wave came out (the jury is out on that one) which
evolved into dance and rap, during these years metal was underground,
developing into a lean mean juggernaut. Most bands were developing
them selves off of the dregs of punk. Plugging into it's raw power. In
the mid to late 80's we saw the resurgence. Once again it grew too big
and too indulgent. Grunge came along, and like punk before, and
knocked it down. Once again, into the bowels of hades metal retreated.
For a long time Rap, Pop, Dance, etc. has ruled, and once again, like
Persephone, metal is rising up from it's wintery slumber. This time it
has trimmed some of the fat, refined it's sound and mixed some of the
heavy handed aggression of grunge in it as well. So why is Grunge so
anathematic to metal heads?

[MetalFRO]

I think in part because metal was king in the mainstream until
"Nirvana came along" as they say. Realistically, though, grunge (the
truly dirty, heavy stuff) was just a different variation or
distillation of the Black Sabbath sound. Nirvana were heavily
influenced by Sabbath, as were Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, and many
other grunge bands (lesser known acts like Fudgetunnel and Tad owe a
HUGE debt to Sabbath). The difference was, unlike many of the metal
bands who were distilling Sabbath influences alongside Bad Company or
Led Zeppelin to create a melding of heavy rock and early metal into
something new, these grunge & alternative bands were filtering in pop,
early rock and roll, psychadelia, some funk, and varying other
influences (country, in some cases like The Meat Puppets), rather than
just sticking to the "old guard" of hard rock, glam, and early metal.
What the bands weaned on 70's glam rock, NWOBHM and early metal & hard
rock didn't realize was that there were other types of music they
could be influenced by. Bad Brains was just as influenced by their
peers in the hardcore punk scene as they were by the 70s funk era.
Why weren't they accepted? Simple - prejudice. Just like any other
prejudice, it stems from an ignorance of the style, sound, culture, or
some combination of those elements. There have been lots of musical
styles I haven't like over the years because of a lack of
understanding. Once I understood the basic tenets, it became much
easier for me to appreciate the music for what it was & what it was
trying to accomplish.

Really, this is no different than the current anathema of "core" among
old-school metalheads. Older guys would rather hear blazing Yngwie
Malmsteen solos and melodic riffs than some guy barking into a
microphone or yelling "Go!" every time the band goes into a chugga-
chugga breakdown. They don't understand why these "kids" can't "grow
up and learn to play their instruments". The thing is, they have.
Maybe not at the same level of proficiency as, say, Iron Maiden, but
they at least have skill enough to play what they are. That's what
they like to play, and that's just fine. I consider myself blessed to
have grown up & "discovered" hard rock music during the "changing of
the guard" (so quoth Dee Snider), when I was hearing bands like Guns
'n Roses, Metallica, Skid Row, and Cinderella on the air at the same
time I was hearing Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and so forth.
These bands were all on the same rock/pop station I was listening to,
so to me, there was no real divergence. Did they approach the music
differently? Yes, certainly they did. However, all those bands
retained a driving guitar sound of one type or another, w/ varying
degrees of melody, harmony, proficiency, and songwriting skill. To
me, it was just about listening to a band for what they were, and
meeting them where they were at.

I think, too, a lot of metalheads are uncomfortable admitting they
like anything non-metal that isn't considered "cool" by metalheads.
Most metal fans wouldn't be ashamed to tell you like Alice Cooper's
early stuff, or that they're into Frank Zappa. Heck, many metal fans
would even tell you they're into The Beatles. However, most would
deny liking disco, punk, dance, rap, or anything else that would be
considered "unmetal" to like. I don't care - I'm a major metal fan
who also likes to listen to other genres. That's the beauty of music;
it's such a vast array of expression. I love listening to my iPod on
shuffle mode & hearing Mortification, then ABBA, then Bon Jovi, then
Jetenderpaul, then something from the Star Wars soundtrack, then maybe
some Chemical Brothers, then some Stryper. It's awesome when I can
experience the entire array of stuff in my collection in a short
period of time like that. If more metal fans were truly "open minded"
like that, the metal "scene" would be a far less annoying place to be
associated with. :)

[Matt]

Well, you also have to throw out the fact that many grunge bands are
anti-metal. Back in the early 90s, many grunge bands were very vocal
that they were not metal, and went to great lengths to mock metal. Of
course, it was Headbanger's Ball that made Faith No More and Alice in
Chains famous by playing "Epic" and "Man in the Box" all the time.
Which, I also find a bit funny that one of the first true hits by a
grunge band was a rap-rock song. But these bands both had hits before
Nirvana. But I think they would have just been seen as alternative
metal if Nirvana hadn't came along and pushed the whole sound further
into the alternative realm. It was after Nirvana became famous that
you started hearing about grunge bands calling metal "cheesy," "fake,"
"washed-up," etc. Most of these references were to glam metal bands,
but back at that time all metal heads took those comments to heart.
And, to be fair - grunge (in general) does avoid many things that
metal heads love, like guitar solos, high-pitched vocal wails,
chugging bass lines, blast beat drumming, etc.

[MetalFRO]

True, there is that element. But I think the "anathema of metal"
during the short "reign" of grunge is really the same thing as what
you're talking about here: metalheads still bitter after all these
years because the grunge "scene" did 2 things. Firstly, it killed the
popularity of metal in the mainstream so it became harder for them to
hear about their favorite bands (pre-internet, anyway). Secondly, the
post-grunge bands have taken over the airways, and the post-grunge
metal movement in the mainstream wasn't what traditional metal fans
wanted, i.e. they got nu-metal instead. Some of them took to it, some
did not. However, the metalheads' beloved style was forever relegated
to the underground, which is where it probably belongs more
realistically. In some ways, metal needed a shot of new blood, and
they should be thanking Kurt Cobain and the gang for writing them out
of the mainstream so the style could be renewed by the fans' interest
and dedication to the craft, rather than what the record companies
wanted them to produce.