I moved to Seattle when I was 15 right after the end of grunge. Sound Garden had broken up, AIC hadn't played a show in years and Kurt had died 3 years before. At that time the kids in Seattle did everything they could to distance themselves from grunge, and so everyone was listening to rap music at that point.
this makes sense. seattle was so inundated with people chasing the grunge sound, bands, record companies, fans, etc that who wouldn't be sick of it. they'd been listening to the precursers of grunge music for years by 1992. also, sounds like you are talking about around 1997 and people were over the grunge thing most places by then, not just in seattle.
I really appreciate your contribution. I must say that it takes me back to my decade of choice, and to some of my most precious memories, as when I bought Nirvana's Bleach or Nevermind and I first heard them. Gives me chills. Also to when I went to Nirvana or Pearl Jam's gigs. Or when Kurt, Scott, Chris, Layne... passed away, some of the gloomiest, mournful times I've lived. Anyway, I haven't stopped listening to grunge - and metal - ever since.🤘
I'm a 53 yr old Texan raised up in SLC,Utah and Homedale,Idaho... Just up the road of Boise , and man i had the honor and privilege to have not only lived and attended and saw all the now iconic bands from 80s ,90s and early 2000s Seattle underground scene but also attended other metal shows from now iconic bands like Metallica, Testament , Slayer , Venom , King Diamond etc etc .... can't believe my Buddys ,myself and lots of other fans got to help out all these bands by buying their homemade merch and sometimes helped them out unload their gear before and after a show ... Still have lots of flyers from SLC, UTAH'S SPEEDWAY CAFE when nirvana, Soundgarden, smashing trees , pearl jam and lots of other Seattle bands played up there when I was a kid .... 😊
I'm 46 year's old and I got to see Alice in chains and Soundgarden back in the day... I didn't get a chance to see nirvana or Pearl jam. I saw Bush but thus was post grunge. The last concert was Bush, they were a cool band defo.. the grunge sub pop sound still rules 👍🏻🎸🕯️
SST the Black Flag record label put out Sound Gardens 1st record out..SST was the pattern most D I Y record label used SST put out first record for a bunch of bands, Sonic Youth, Husker Du, the Dicks, Subhumans, Dinosaur Jr, Bad Brains and alot more. SST deserves alot more credit.....we need an informed documentary on SST Records.....!
Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden were the two biggest bands on the scene before it broke. They were the first two to have major label record deals. Kurt is mentioned first because Nirvana blew up and broke the scene to the mainstream. Like it or not all the other bands followed behind them and benefitted from Kurt’s success
@@Spooky_515 erm, AIC blew up before Soundgarden. Soundgarden may have had a deal but their first record didn’t have the success of Facelift. Also, AIC is so much better leaps and bounds!
@@HildeAzul Alice In Chains didn’t blow up first. They had a video on mtv that didn’t get over until after the grunge explosion. Wiki claims it was the first to go platinum but there’s no date listed so I’m not buying it. It was certified gold September 11 1991. Thats like a year after initial release. Gold is good but not super successful for rock bands of that era. Nevermind dropped September 24th ‘91 and was platinum by November. That’s blowing up. When an album is certified it’s easy to find the date in which it happened. Both Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were initially in the shadow Of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and were never as big as either of those two.
@@Spooky_515 you have no idea what you are even talking about. One video? Facelift was Gold before PJ and Nirvana hit the National scene. They were the first of the Seattle bands to blow up 100%. Not to mention the most talented.
Haven't watched it yet BUT I sure hope they mention the late great Andy Wood, who NEVER gets any credit for being one of the pioneers who also died way too young (24.)
It deserves a whole ass biography show with each season or episode it talks about a different band or different Washington bands etc that would be great
Going through the TV Guide (for Perth, Australia) and saw I'd JUST missed this episode on telly by 10 minutes😕. Got on TH-cam hoping it's here and...voila!! Here I am. Thank fuck for the OPs of uploaders of these gems👌🏻. Been waiting for this ep for a while and would've been PISSED to've missed out seeing it. The brutal honesty, rawness and angst of AIC, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction, Mad Season etc etc (and nu/alt metal's Ministry, NIN) gave a lot of us angry teens an outlet and wouldn't be here without them. I know the struggles of heroin addiction and depression so these bands really made me feel less alone and for that, I can NOT thank them enough 💜🤘🏻.
I remember when I first started trying to write song, which were ok, I'd had a boom box with a built in mic that would record to tape. I'd lock myself in my room,the world away and just jam. I loved it.
Back then no music spoke to me like grunge did. As soon as I heard them on John peel I was instantly a fan I was like whoa who an wat is this...spent most of the 90s moshing in a mosh pit or gurning in a rave.... good times. Bleach an incestercide are still my go to albums. Nothing like them before or since hit me as hard
And just remember Nirvana took Sonic Youths advice to heart, hence jumping to a major label with stipulations. When it comes to this whole game distribution really is an important part of it. And having control over your own product recording wise, makes sense. Too many artists are still stuck in litigation hell because of the fine print and legal jargon that was never fully explained over said contracts.....Dodgy industry, always has been , especially when huge amounts of money s at stake.
I was in my mid 20's when I discovered grunge in the summer of 1989 with Mudhoney which I watched on Much Music TV. To me grunge and alternative rock was like a breath of fresh air. I went to the Lollapalooza shows in Vancouver BC I saw Alice In Chains, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam, Ministry . moshing in the pit. I felt excitement and cool vibes with Nirvana's Never Mind album. However with their follow up album Inutero I felt sadness and a growing sense of impending demise. I thought Kurt's days were numbered, especially after hearing the song All Apologies, and tragically, I was right. After Kurt Cobain's suicide in April 1994. The cool and fun aspect of Seattle grunge was no longer there.
I never really called it Grunge. I used to call it Alternative. I remember my friend who had a degree in accounting said She was getting a job for a new company called Starbucks. How time flies. I want to go back to the 90's.
@@OGGOAT23 That's why teenagers in the early 90s were drawn to the Seattle sound. The hybrid sound, which wasn't much different from what they were already listening to. (Most likely Skid Row and Metallica). And the Seattle hype machine were equating it with the R.E.M.'s and the Depeche Modes of the world. These flannel wearing teenagers didn't know about Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. AND THEY' ARE STILL TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT FOR THE SO-CALLED 90S ALTERNATIVE REVOLUTION IN 2023. IT STARTED IN THE EARLY 80S.!
I loved that era in time. And being from NYC made it all the more exciting. I hung out with Layne from AIC when he was in NY in '93 if memory serves me right. We had our own vibrant Heroin scene gaining ground as well, sadly to say. I was a victim of it. Hence...Layne. Met people from a ton of other bands and even had a brief affair with a female artist i will respectfully leave nameless. And though i could definitely see the "Seattle" influence on clothing and culture, It was different for me and all the people i knew. Firstly, we had a distinctly NY attitude to us and secondly, I grew up as a teen in the 80's on Long Island. Everyone i knew dressed like that. My entire wardrobe was flannel, work boots & combat boots, army pants, faded levis, concert t shirts and a leather jacket. Lol. So when the world went "seattle", most of us felt like people were finally getting with the program, lmao. We always dressed that way. Lol. Maybe it comes from living by the ocean. They did. We did. Like gloomy weather clothes. Lol. Great music. Came and went way too quick thanks to those corporate blood suckers. They ruin everything. When madonna got into it with her label i knew it was finished. Looking back, I think the 90's were great. To hell with the 60's. They only had a few years at the tail end of that decade. We had the whole thing. And it was fun. We truly were the last free people of America. And with the new millennium came this cubicle existence we endure today. Great doc. !!!
Actually parts of Long Island are NYC. Brooklyn and queens are geographically located on Long Island. I live 15 minutes outside of the borough of queens on Long Island. When I cross into queens I’m still on Long Island. 😸
No man - it wasn't the ocean, and it wasn't just the cool coastal cities. Flannels, T-shirts, ripped up jeans and leather came out of 70s/80s Punk and Hardcore and there were scenes of people throughout the country who wore this stuff.
Deer Park Strong Island 💪⚡⚡🔥🇧🇪🇮🇪🇵🇱🏴⚔️🇺🇸✝️ Hung out at Sundance in Bayshore saw many bands there before they went big slayer was totally insane 120 degrees inside Southside hospital was very busy great times NYHC Hammerheads Cheers Stage Door !!!!! Many cool clubs
I joined the navy in 92… got sent to Bremerton wa. I would get a pint of jack, buy a large soda from subway, ice half soda and get on the fairy to Seattle. Buzzed up when I hit the dock, only 18 yrs old….. seemed like a big adventure, I miss those days
Thank you for sharing that! I really really appreciate that! I would love to have experienced that feeling you had, I bet it was ineffably phenomenal!!! Too bad I was one years old back in those days
@@struthersboyz4990 Hahaha 😆 my bad man at least you got to experience such a time in place as that. I would give anything to have been in your shoes, without a doubt. Ps you're not old until you're 90 and once one gets there then yeah that's pretty damn old lol
So many scenes missed out in this documentary . If your gonna bring up grunge you need to bring up SST , Discord , Bad Brains ,Fugazi , Hardcore scene all the people that were doing it before them. The diy Movement helped these guys.
Somebody once said to me: Grunge is a vague term, not genre specific. For example; Nirvana is Punk grunge Alice in Chains is Metal grunge Pearl Jam is Blues grunge. A truly clever observation
@@musicofnoise He definitely was inspirational to some Grunge bands, most of all Pearl Jam. If you’re not familiar, check out his Mirror Ball album. Pearl Jam is basically the band on the album.
my whole view on grunge came from something noel gallahger said in the 90s, “ that cobain guy, biggest rockstar in the world sitting in his mansion high on smack , WTF are you sad about mate?” and it hit me . he was right
Ikr? and the lyrics of teen spirit convey that message as well, "poor me, I'm stuck having to entertain these idiots," as if he was forced to make music with his friends that alotta people liked. When I actually listened to the lyrics I was like phuck him.
Do you understand what depression is like? These guys became famous for not wanting to be famous. Money isn't going to make you feel better it just makes it worse because now you can afford to have vices that people use to cover said depression. It could be drugs, booze, sex, gambling, eating, adrenaline. Plus their hometown, their friends they all got exploited by these big corporations that didn't care about them.
jack endino is in every grunge documentary hahaha I guess how can he not be right. the timing was perfect for this music explosion. what a time to be a teenager. I'm a proud gen X'er
Endino deserves to be recognized because he was the first to record Nirvana and produced their first album. That was very important. Also, their first single Love Buzz.
The band Heart got its start from Seattle Washington. Ann and Nancy were the two talented sisters who everyone is familiar with. These two sisters became great friends with Alice N Chains and other similar bands during the 90' era who were from the Seattle and Washington state area. I loved the thundering sound of those early so called "Grunge" bands. My favorite top three bands not in any particular order, are Nirvana, Alice N Chains and Pearl Jam.
Kinda weird they would be friends when they could be their mothers ages. Heart is my moms generation. She is in her early 60's. Grunge was mine. I am 41.
@@OGGOAT23 this documentary isn’t bad it’s good but I wish they focused more on the other bands in Seattle Pearl Jam Soundgarden and AIC ( my fav grunge band) gets a mention that’s all I love nirvana but in grunge documentaries it’s focused heavily on nirvana and leaves out the other great bands in Seattle
Every generation thinks the same way then adulting begins at some point. Given the latest voting stats, our greatest contribution will be the kids we raised.
It really was the last generation that wasn’t chained to a cell phone and actually had original thoughts and you can definitely tell the difference in the music
Not different of a lot of towns in the province of Québec. Not only the long cold winters, but even when it's not the winter, It is often windy and the wind is often cold. And statistically, it's a province with a good portion of the population that drinks a lot of alcohol. 😂 When I was a teenager, I often attended music bands practices.
@@Shagamaw-100 that's very true, and so have millions of other people that weren't mentioned in this documentary about Seattle because they weren't from there.
The 90a were incredible musically. It was when you still had to have actual talent and creativity. We also had a plethora of different kinds of music rather than one repetitive sound. Nirvana was and is still incredible. Kurts death was shocking but not really. He really was just so clearly not well,despite his immense talent. I will never forget when they launched into Rape Me on live tv during the MTV video awards and Nova threw his guitar in the air only to have it come straight back down and split his wig wide open on live tv. They had been SPECIFICALLY TOLD by MTV that they could NOT perform Rape Me and so of course that's exactjy what they did. This was back when there was still spontaneity and true artistry and talent involved in the music industry. It is actually A JOKE now. Just a joke. Artists are not artists. Watching a certain actors kid taking guitar lessons and discussing whether or not she appears "believable" as a rock musician just made my stomach fall out at the bottom,gave me a hopeless feeling,the feeling that I needed to build up my library of 50s 60s 70s 80s and 90s music because there's nothing else coming along to trump those artists,true artists.
@@daniellewatson8352 I was a little kid but I remember them very well. I still remember the day Elvis Presley died,the Steelers and Terry Bradshaw winning all those superbowls,the Pirates winning the pennant,all of it. The 70s were indeed a groovy decade
This was nationwide for that matter in those days. People were tired of the hair bands. Kids were getting together and forming bands from the skate culture.
Back then,as teen,I was jalous about the 60s 70s...to me we were on the end of a era. But,with grunge..rave..free speech libertarian culture...dystopian future warning... The 90s were really the last free analogic era,the 00s were already more Orwellian,but not yet full alienated like today.
@@miketomlin6040 No...who burned books...cancel...use nov langue...is soooo easy to call someone a 'fascist'.... I grew up in eastern europe 80/90s...I was a immigrant..antifa...but I quickly understood...some people will use your 'kindness..empathy' as a Pavlovian reflex...to push an agenda. Animals farm...The killing fiels...Brazil...The last supper are about this 'Milgram' hate of others.
@@miketomlin6040 It's literally Biden making things orwellian increasingly in America. You can't just throw that word around. It actually means something. It means big government becoming so much a part of the life of every individual and every level of society that we can't even think for ourselves. That is objectively the democratic party. Who wants to police pronouns and fundamental rights and wants to prop up a fake president who can't even stand without special shoes to hold him up. He has handlers. He's clearly not the guy running the show. And you still say it's Trump who makes things orwellian? I'm curious if people ever paid attention or if you just say things.
@@miketomlin6040 Consider the blatant and awkward shove of all things woke in our faces in modern entertainment. You gonna tell me Netflix making everything gay and trans all the sudden isn't political propaganda? You gonna tell me it's coincidence they started doing that when the libs started pushing for social and political dominance? It's propaganda. Thankfully the people are fighting back and bankrupting companies going along with it. You'd probably call THAT orwellian or fascist. All this woke crap is the equivalent of WAR IS PEACE. Blasting us with messages that aren't truth and are based in lies to twist our minds up so we won't be free. But you'd say Trump is making it orwellian.
Sub Pop was very important too because it was an underground independent record label that had a mail order catalog and a singles club that created an independent market. They were great at marketing.
The amazing thing is that there was an underground scene that they believed in but their were no hits at first. Suddenly, Nirvana showed up and Cobain was writing these brilliant songs. Almost overnight the Seattle scene exploded! And the attention was all on Seattle from the whole world. Then they had Subpop bands tour Europe and the UK. They became popular. Aberdeen was and is a craphole. No wonder Cobain was depressed and had to escape. It was Cobains genius songwriting gift that pushed everything over the top.
"In his dreadful lassitude and objectless rage, Cobain seemed to have give wearied voice to the despondency of the generation that had come after history, whose every move was anticipated, tracked, bought and sold before it had even happened. Cobain knew he was just another piece of spectacle, that nothing runs better on MTV than a protest against MTV; knew that his every move was a cliché scripted in advance, knew that even realising it is a cliché. The impasse that paralysed Cobain in precisely the one that Fredric Jameson described: like postmodern culture in general, Cobain found himself in ‘a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, where all that is left is to imitate dead styles in the imaginary museum’." - Mark Fisher," Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?"
When I was in Hollywood in 1988 a kid stopped me on Melrose Ave., back then a very grungy street, and told me I should move to Seattle--that everybody was moving up there for a new scene. But I had just gotten to L.A., and I was really digging the old movie theatres and buildings and what-not. Turns out the "New Scene" was Grunge. I liked a lot of the music that came out during the '90s, but I'm so glad I missed the scene.
The audio on this sounds like it was recorded from one of those battery powered portable TV's, with the microphone like 6ft away , in a truck stop. Fitting given the subject matter, I suppose..
When Cobain looked out into the audience he said he saw the people who wanted to beat him up in high school. Most people in his same position look out and see Ticket sales and the people who help pay their bills and launch their careers. Part of Sub Pop's original business plan should have arranged to have an in-house shrink to help with bandmembers with psychological problems. Many of these rockers from Seattle were depressed because of the constant gloomy weather. Just like Motown had a finishing school for there acts, it's more than apparent Sub Pop really needed a shrink to help people like Kurt Cobain.
the reason Sonic Youth claimed they went with a major label initially is because they offered health insurance, unlike indies. most could barely manage to pay their artists' royalties, let alone have an in-house shrink. turns out the music industry was just a massively exploitative machine that chewed up artists and spat them out. *artists* - as opposed to (aspiring?) pop stars.
oh god no. "hey young man with mistrust of mainstream authority figures, to sign with our label, you need to see a psychiatrist." and this was the 80s and 90s, when people believed therapy was for people in Manhattan and LA and everyone else should suck it up.
A lot like those of us in DC bands in the late 70s and early 80s. Our sound never became entirely socially acceptable from a mass market perspective. We never in a million years thought anyone would care about our music. I guess we were sort of right.
So if there was a Grunge Hangover, how come there hasn't been a commercial pop and hip-hop hangover? I'm not seeing any backlash towards the mainstream. Not only does this concern me, I also find this very sad.
@@stephenmac23 he's right most rap is just trash an nothing like it was...wave sum guns talking about killing ops an selling drugs standard trash. Name any rappers that could make a whole album for 600bucks that still stands the test of time 20y later today.
I'm 71 now, so so I'm nominally too old to really appreciate grunge. For me grunge was from bands like Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge. But I moved to Seattle in 1984, and I used to see everyone hanging out in the music scene. People, mostly younger than me, was coming out of the music venues where they'd say: "These guys kick ass!" I was kind of confused since I really didn't appreciate what sounded like noise when it came out the club doors. I went in once and it was kind of crazy. I think it was early Nirvana. They were stage diving and shit like that. But then I finally understood when I heard them on the radio. Yep they kicked ass, maybe even more than Blue Cheer.
Oh such an innocent time…lol, I hear that from people waxing about the late 60s videos. Fuck. It was uglier then. I was neck deep in the “grunge” punk scene. It was PUNK. Idk who coined the grunge word
I'm 53 and from Detroit and no matter how dirty I thought I was as a gear head/punk/classic country music lover/ and what we now call classic rock growing up in the 80s as a teenager, I had no idea where I fit. I can go 10 different ways with this conversation but I wanna say this... Sub Pop was huge for breaking this "scene" but we here in the midwest would have never heard it if not for the few "sell outs" early on. It's sad to say but just the way it is. The cassette player in my 1970 442 got replaced with an Alpine cd player and I was rushing thru so called grunge in the 90s as I had become 21 in 1990 and it just fit. I was never trying to impress anybody. I can say this much about those times in the 90s which so many people like to refer to as good times, for me i had a constant worry about the future and I found opioids helped in short term. Obviously that plan was flawed.
I grew up on Grunge as a teen and I wore flannel and jeans all the freakin time. And I have to say this whole music movement was deeply rooted in poor surfer culture. We loved the rush of catching the next best wave and Nirvana had that vibe as so did Pearl Jam. What stood out to me in those years was this idea that it was American to not be some pretentious sellout corporate rock group but instead be Indy. Also punk played into it some but as Kurt called it “New Wave” this reveals the inner workings of Grunge. It was that throwback to being a poor ass surfer kid who might have a group of friends that rocked out in a garage and did drugs. We were the cool kids, doing the surfer thing and our music spoke to the angst of being forced to conform and we weren’t having it. We had a secret weapon that was toppling the charts and our sound was unique and it defined our need to do something that no other band was doing, break the rules and just be your ugly self.
The worst thing to happen to music is rap music going mainstream it killed all of the good music that was out and most of these lame kids now have no idea what freedom of expression is
You're mad because another type of music came along, yet you say you value freedom of expression. Keep in mind the music you're supporting has often led to addiction and suicide. It's not actually a good thing. You just think it sounds better. Music in general is about sex drugs and rock n roll, regardless of genre or how good it is. Rap isn't any worse than grunge. What are the fruits of grunge? Depression. Suicide. Drugs. Rebellion. Nothing good.
@@godwarrior3403 you should reread the OP. He was only talking about rap going mainstream..nothing about grunge..yeah I know the op is off topic for the video, but such is the comment section across all social media.
Nobody even mentioned Scott Weiland's untimely death in December of 2015 on this video. Stone Temple Pilots were headliners in the 90s as well. I saw them on MTV constantly back in the early 90s. Seattle or not, need to give credit where credit is due.The sound is 'purple'...ya dig...
You make a good point. Scott W. really was an amazing talent. Excellent singer, great frontman. It will always be heartbreaking Scott died on his tour bus in Minnesota 2015. RIP Scott.
Seattle once a working class barley on the map city. 300 a month rent. Now maybe 1,200 a month low paying jobs. Literally have to be almost a millionaire to live in Seattle now. It's a real shame.
Embrace your grief for there your soul will grow. Karl Jung When we are at rock bottom, the sooner we see that grief and pain as a gift, there’s no place to go but up.
Its interesting that they always said that Seattle had a music scene but no one ever got signed to a record deal with a major label because we are so far away from everything else. Well maybe a lot of the music sucked?? once they spent some time refining their sound it got much better. Cause lets see at the same time Queensryche was blowing up had grammy nominations and all that, they were from Seattle. Oh thats right Heart was already a huge act from there both in 70s and 80s. And some other dude Jimmie Hendrix (although he really did not hit there had to go to london, I will give you that one.) One more thing, Grunge did not die with kurt cobain, nore did it rise just be cause of him. There were many great bands that were able to put together some great albums. It died when they were unable to produce much anymore, just like the metal bands from the 80s. I know hard rock (which all grunge is and it was nothing new or even really different) and metal will make a resurgence again cause new up and comers will have had a chance to build up the songwriting and have something to say.
@@foxxy46213 my point was, if you like 'em, keep wearin' em. you seem sad that they aren't in fashion anymore. but that doesn't mean you can't wear them if you want to.
I was strung out on junk and playing in a hardcore band at the time, one day our guitarist came to rehersal with a copy of Smells like teen spirit......i knew at that point everything was going to change in the music scene that day when i heard it.
The Seattle Sound was the soundtrack of my 20's. Playin in bands in Sydney, thru the early 90's at Erskineville & Newtown; pubs like Station Hotel, The Vic on the Park & The Sandringham (The Sando). Practice at Zen Studio at St.Peters, smashed off our heads on cheap beer pot & smack unless I was at work under-the-weather hung-over or hanging-out. Sydney 1990's = cigs were $15, $2.50 a beer, $90 q/oz for slow.. 🎸Far too much rock n' roll is woefully insufficient, grossly inadequate & nowhere near enough - saw Nirvana when they came to Australia @Selina's Coogee Bay, off-tap🤘 The death of Kurt Cobain was horrifying, but when the 6pm news said Chris Cornell died & I had to be convinced Cornell was dead & this wasn't my mates idea of a disgusting joke, it wasn't a joke, I lost my sh*t big-time when Cornell left us - just totally sickening. Same sickened feeling lately with drum monster Taylor Hawkins, all gone far too soon, RIP 3 heroes.
@@mattgilbert7347 The guitar shops in Annandale Camperdown & Glebe then were wicked. Was a total hoot seeing The Craven Fops at the Annandale one time I recall.🥳
I was kneecapped by Chris' death. Pissed off that he left us. Baffled that all that ridiculous talent wasn't enough to make him want to stay. We all would have killed to have a quarter of his gifts. I thought he was going to walk this road with us. Showing us how to get old. He had the face of an angel and was the object of my all my angsty lust.
40:48 Cornell was killed by MD prescribed "medication" that did bad to him but MD didn't want to stop prescribing. The MD had to face a lawsuit. That is what his spouse explained. Best wishes.
I don't really think the sound was that new,we used to use the term grunge in the mid eighties, it was basically sludgey rock, we had a great alternative rock scene in Melbourne in the eighties, and Mudhoney have admitted being influenced by Australian bands like the Scientists. I guess what I'm saying is it didn't come out of nowhere, there was a long history of alternative rock before grunge.
Gen X FTW The Millys and Gen Z will be the first generations that didnt have music that was entirely their own. Its all watered down, diluted Gen X music, made easier to digest for mass consumption.(same with their art and fashion).
22:59 Kurdt and Krist found out that SUB-POP were going to set up a distribution deal with a major. They sat and talked and said "why dont we just cut out the middle man if they're going to be linking up with a major?" And yes, kurdt and Krist knew that the nee songs they were writing were going to be better than before. They would've never guessed or couldve dreamt that they would've hit the level they did. No one could've with what SLTS and the Nevermind LP did.
I lived in downtown Portland in the late 80s. Kurt and his cousin lived in our apt building and we would say hi to each other but I didn't know he was in a band let alone about to be the king of music. Then I moved to Seattle in 1990 and went to all the local shows and got into the scene and then they all started getting huge around the country. Then I moved to Utah in the summer of 1992. A female friend from Seattle was coincidentally living in the same apt complex as me. We started hanging out and went to the grocery store one evening and we were walking past the magazine rack and she said, "whoa, that looks like Kurt Cobain." I said, "what looks like Kurt Cobain?" She said, "The guy on that magazine." It was the cover of Rolling Stone and I said, "That IS Kurt Cobain." She said, "Why is Kurt Cobain on a magazine?" I asked her if she ever heard of the band Nirvana. She said no and so I asked, "How do you know Kurt Cobain?" She said, "I went to high school with him and he was Kurt Cocaine to us." WTF?? Mind blown! LOL, that's a true story.
32:00 You get into music thinking that THERES NO MORE JOB!... I wont have to wake up and have corporate people to deal with and a manager. I can wake up when ever and DO WHATEVER I WANT!.. Then you realize... No. It's just as if not more demanding than a 9-5 job. This new job keeps u up late, ur out somewhere that's not home. Didnt sleep good and are WORE THE F OUT!!! You love it and it's the job you quit all else for! And you see... this is just a different type of job! I was unsigned and being looked at on our band being picked up. I COUOD IMAGINE being on the level Kurdt was put on. Ur massively successful!!! Youd think if u wanna party in ur own house, itd be fine. No, he got trapped in by all the real workings of what music is. You think it's free. It's hard AF. You PUSH and GRIND sooooo HARD!!! My saying when touring was "hurry up! And wait" You got check in times and if I dont meet them, they'll threaten to cancel or will cancel the show. Check in is 2pm. Ur headliner so you dont go in till night! It's a state drive to the next venue so as soon as you finish ur set, pack all the gear up and have fun talking n drinking with fans and people you've come to kno from touring, it's late. You gotta drive and then sleep or sleep and then drive because it next jobs (show) promoter... doesn't give a flying F! About what time you left Louisville KY to get to Rockford IL... he just cares that the show hes pit money into goes off with no problems! That means you GOTTA BE THERE ON TIME! Theres no sleeping in till whenever. It's a FULL BLOWN JOB! It actually takes away some of the fun you have doing it. I'd play guieetar like 5-9 hours a day for fun. When I became a touring bassist in a band. I hardly picked up to play for fun anymore in my down time from my 9pm-7am job. I eventually quit that and just did music and touring. Yea, it was no way to live because between the tours... I couldnt support myself. Music is HARD! It's a massive slap in the face to what you thought would be and to what it really is. If u were Nirvaner big! That's different but still... I kno Kurdt probably felt that same way! "I got into this to not work!.... they're working me to death man!" And when you try and use what you consider Medicine to keep ur pH balance right (brain, body and soul) and the world seems to he fighting you for it! Even though ur BUSTING UR A*S to make money for it and arent robbing or doing bad!... it breaks you. You just cant understand why everyone's mad at you and wants EVERYTHING from you!... yet ur giving it all and all u want is a lil something YOU want! That will break you down
Heroin was really popular in Seattle during that period for some reason... The rockstars used it yeah but a lot of the scene ppl were heavy into it too... Idk why but hey it is wht it was...
they're also constantly talking about this as a 1990s thing when Soundgarden had already released multiple albums in the 1980s, including the relatively popular Louder than Love in 1989, before anyone had ever heard of Nirvana.
Its funny, the Melvins never get mentioned in documentaries like this, same with Mudhoney and Dinosaur jr. The Melvins helped start Nirvana, and were big influences on many bands at the time. And those 3 bands are some of the only bands from that period still touring and putting out albums to this day that have never stopped. Im also pretty sure Mudhoney was only mentioned in this documentary because they were signed to subpop... i have so much respect for those bands, they always stuck to their own guns, just like Sonic Youth. To me, those 4 bands are the true successful ones in the end. Oh and Smashing pumpkins too
Sub Pop an geffin records definitely shaped my youth. Even geffin records if you wrote to them would send you tapes of singles of bands that you did not know of...don't do owt like that no more.
I moved to Seattle when I was 15 right after the end of grunge. Sound Garden had broken up, AIC hadn't played a show in years and Kurt had died 3 years before. At that time the kids in Seattle did everything they could to distance themselves from grunge, and so everyone was listening to rap music at that point.
Why do you call Federal Way 'Seattle'?
awesome early c profile pic that alone tells me your cool asf
this makes sense. seattle was so inundated with people chasing the grunge sound, bands, record companies, fans, etc that who wouldn't be sick of it. they'd been listening to the precursers of grunge music for years by 1992. also, sounds like you are talking about around 1997 and people were over the grunge thing most places by then, not just in seattle.
Wow that's crazy
I've never given up on Grunge or the Alternative sound of the 90s. I never will. It was a special time, despite the darkness within.
Rain keeps kids in garages and basements. Same as England
It was a magical time something that many of us haven't felt sense and possibly never will 😢
I really appreciate your contribution. I must say that it takes me back to my decade of choice, and to some of my most precious memories, as when I bought Nirvana's Bleach or Nevermind and I first heard them. Gives me chills. Also to when I went to Nirvana or Pearl Jam's gigs. Or when Kurt, Scott, Chris, Layne... passed away, some of the gloomiest, mournful times I've lived. Anyway, I haven't stopped listening to grunge - and metal - ever since.🤘
I'm a 53 yr old Texan raised up in SLC,Utah and Homedale,Idaho... Just up the road of Boise , and man i had the honor and privilege to have not only lived and attended and saw all the now iconic bands from 80s ,90s and early 2000s Seattle underground scene but also attended other metal shows from now iconic bands like Metallica, Testament , Slayer , Venom , King Diamond etc etc .... can't believe my Buddys ,myself and lots of other fans got to help out all these bands by buying their homemade merch and sometimes helped them out unload their gear before and after a show ... Still have lots of flyers from SLC, UTAH'S SPEEDWAY CAFE when nirvana, Soundgarden, smashing trees , pearl jam and lots of other Seattle bands played up there when I was a kid .... 😊
smashing pumpkins and screaming trees. nice try
Do you have duplicates bro?
I'm 46 year's old and I got to see Alice in chains and Soundgarden back in the day... I didn't get a chance to see nirvana or Pearl jam. I saw Bush but thus was post grunge. The last concert was Bush, they were a cool band defo.. the grunge sub pop sound still rules 👍🏻🎸🕯️
I've seen Mudhoney Soundgarden and Mark Lanegan live
I’m happy to say I got to see Meat Puppets open for Stone Temple Pilots back in the day during the Purple tour.
Awesome! I always wanted to see Soundgarden! I was fortunate to see Nirvana New Years Eve 93'. Your correct, still rules!
@@OGGOAT23 Another awesome artist...unbelievable! R.I.P 'Dark Mark'🕊️
Come on dude, Let's go back! I'm 47 and wish I'd been able to see any of that.
SST the Black Flag record label put out Sound Gardens 1st record out..SST was the pattern most D I Y record label used SST put out first record for a bunch of bands, Sonic Youth, Husker Du, the Dicks, Subhumans, Dinosaur Jr, Bad Brains and alot more. SST deserves alot more credit.....we need an informed documentary on SST Records.....!
Kurt Cobain is always the first mentioned of the Seattle scene. AIC dominated the scene before Nirvana was even known.
Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden were the two biggest bands on the scene before it broke. They were the first two to have major label record deals. Kurt is mentioned first because Nirvana blew up and broke the scene to the mainstream. Like it or not all the other bands followed behind them and benefitted from Kurt’s success
Aic started as a glam band so you have no idea what u speak of champ.
@@Spooky_515 erm, AIC blew up before Soundgarden. Soundgarden may have had a deal but their first record didn’t have the success of Facelift. Also, AIC is so much better leaps and bounds!
@@HildeAzul Alice In Chains didn’t blow up first. They had a video on mtv that didn’t get over until after the grunge explosion. Wiki claims it was the first to go platinum but there’s no date listed so I’m not buying it. It was certified gold September 11 1991. Thats like a year after initial release. Gold is good but not super successful for rock bands of that era. Nevermind dropped September 24th ‘91 and was platinum by November. That’s blowing up. When an album is certified it’s easy to find the date in which it happened. Both Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were initially in the shadow Of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and were never as big as either of those two.
@@Spooky_515 you have no idea what you are even talking about. One video? Facelift was Gold before PJ and Nirvana hit the National scene. They were the first of the Seattle bands to blow up 100%. Not to mention the most talented.
Haven't watched it yet BUT I sure hope they mention the late great Andy Wood, who NEVER gets any credit for being one of the pioneers who also died way too young (24.)
❤️❤️
And Shannon Hoon
Ya your right no Andrew wood he was one of the greats same as mark lanagan
@@Djjfjfjfkdkssl BM no grunge miss...
Very lame! No Andy at all
Grunge scene deserves a 10 part documentary...from the Fastbacks 10 Minute Warning U Men till Soundgarden breaking up..it would get crazy views
It deserves a whole ass biography show with each season or episode it talks about a different band or different Washington bands etc that would be great
It didn’t really go away. It just moved to the right.
That’s a great idea actually. Get all the big names of the scene and all the footage and audio clips possible. Who would host/narrate?
Duff was in fastbacks, 10 min W and the fartz
@@Spooky_515 TAD is my pick
Going through the TV Guide (for Perth, Australia) and saw I'd JUST missed this episode on telly by 10 minutes😕. Got on TH-cam hoping it's here and...voila!! Here I am. Thank fuck for the OPs of uploaders of these gems👌🏻. Been waiting for this ep for a while and would've been PISSED to've missed out seeing it. The brutal honesty, rawness and angst of AIC, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction, Mad Season etc etc (and nu/alt metal's Ministry, NIN) gave a lot of us angry teens an outlet and wouldn't be here without them. I know the struggles of heroin addiction and depression so these bands really made me feel less alone and for that, I can NOT thank them enough 💜🤘🏻.
Which Aussie channel was it on?
That's right we weren't ALONE
I remember when I first started trying to write song, which were ok, I'd had a boom box with a built in mic that would record to tape. I'd lock myself in my room,the world away and just jam. I loved it.
Back then no music spoke to me like grunge did. As soon as I heard them on John peel I was instantly a fan I was like whoa who an wat is this...spent most of the 90s moshing in a mosh pit or gurning in a rave.... good times. Bleach an incestercide are still my go to albums. Nothing like them before or since hit me as hard
Did you ever listen to Urusei Yatsura? From Scotland 😊
And just remember Nirvana took Sonic Youths advice to heart, hence jumping to a major label with stipulations. When it comes to this whole game distribution really is an important part of it. And having control over your own product recording wise, makes sense. Too many artists are still stuck in litigation hell because of the fine print and legal jargon that was never fully explained over said contracts.....Dodgy industry, always has been , especially when huge amounts of money s at stake.
@ 00:12 I almost lost my goddamn mind laughing when that dude's face popped up again out of nowhere
I was in my mid 20's when I discovered grunge in the summer of 1989 with Mudhoney which I watched on Much Music TV. To me grunge and alternative rock was like a breath of fresh air. I went to the Lollapalooza shows in Vancouver BC I saw Alice In Chains, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam, Ministry . moshing in the pit. I felt excitement and cool vibes with Nirvana's Never Mind album. However with their follow up album Inutero I felt sadness and a growing sense of impending demise. I thought Kurt's days were numbered, especially after hearing the song All Apologies, and tragically, I was right. After Kurt Cobain's suicide in April 1994. The cool and fun aspect of Seattle grunge was no longer there.
I became an adult in 1994. It took me years to build my own authentic, DIY life.
90’s are the peak of society and culture
Dope and depression. Grunge came and went, and those two things were part of the reason.
I never really called it Grunge. I used to call it Alternative. I remember my friend who had a degree in accounting said She was getting a job for a new company called Starbucks. How time flies. I want to go back to the 90's.
I’d go back to the 90’s in a hot second
Alternative is REM haha Grunge is heavy punk metal hard rock
@@OGGOAT23 That's why teenagers in the early 90s were drawn to the Seattle sound. The hybrid sound, which wasn't much different from what they were already listening to. (Most likely Skid Row and Metallica). And the Seattle hype machine were equating it with the R.E.M.'s and the Depeche Modes of the world. These flannel wearing teenagers didn't know about Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. AND THEY' ARE STILL TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT FOR THE SO-CALLED 90S ALTERNATIVE REVOLUTION IN 2023. IT STARTED IN THE EARLY 80S.!
@@OGGOAT23 HAHAHA is right!! We were listening to "Grunge" in 1982.
We called it punk. The term “grunge” made us in Tempe AZ cringe.
I loved that era in time. And being from NYC made it all the more exciting. I hung out with Layne from AIC when he was in NY in '93 if memory serves me right. We had our own vibrant Heroin scene gaining ground as well, sadly to say. I was a victim of it. Hence...Layne. Met people from a ton of other bands and even had a brief affair with a female artist i will respectfully leave nameless. And though i could definitely see the "Seattle" influence on clothing and culture, It was different for me and all the people i knew. Firstly, we had a distinctly NY attitude to us and secondly, I grew up as a teen in the 80's on Long Island. Everyone i knew dressed like that. My entire wardrobe was flannel, work boots & combat boots, army pants, faded levis, concert t shirts and a leather jacket. Lol. So when the world went "seattle", most of us felt like people were finally getting with the program, lmao. We always dressed that way. Lol. Maybe it comes from living by the ocean. They did. We did. Like gloomy weather clothes. Lol. Great music. Came and went way too quick thanks to those corporate blood suckers. They ruin everything. When madonna got into it with her label i knew it was finished. Looking back, I think the 90's were great. To hell with the 60's. They only had a few years at the tail end of that decade. We had the whole thing. And it was fun. We truly were the last free people of America. And with the new millennium came this cubicle existence we endure today. Great doc. !!!
Long Island isn’t nyc bub
Actually parts of Long Island are NYC. Brooklyn and queens are geographically located on Long Island. I live 15 minutes outside of the borough of queens on Long Island. When I cross into queens I’m still on Long Island. 😸
Are you having another heroin dream?
No man - it wasn't the ocean, and it wasn't just the cool coastal cities. Flannels, T-shirts, ripped up jeans and leather came out of 70s/80s Punk and Hardcore and there were scenes of people throughout the country who wore this stuff.
Deer Park Strong Island 💪⚡⚡🔥🇧🇪🇮🇪🇵🇱🏴⚔️🇺🇸✝️ Hung out at Sundance in Bayshore saw many bands there before they went big slayer was totally insane 120 degrees inside Southside hospital was very busy great times NYHC Hammerheads Cheers Stage Door !!!!! Many cool clubs
I joined the navy in 92… got sent to Bremerton wa. I would get a pint of jack, buy a large soda from subway, ice half soda and get on the fairy to Seattle. Buzzed up when I hit the dock, only 18 yrs old….. seemed like a big adventure, I miss those days
Thank you for sharing that! I really really appreciate that! I would love to have experienced that feeling you had, I bet it was ineffably phenomenal!!! Too bad I was one years old back in those days
@@nylontusk1289 sure….. thanks for making me feel like an old man!!! LOL
@@struthersboyz4990 Hahaha 😆 my bad man at least you got to experience such a time in place as that. I would give anything to have been in your shoes, without a doubt. Ps you're not old until you're 90 and once one gets there then yeah that's pretty damn old lol
@@nylontusk1289 no doubt brother
I've ridden that fairy, I bet you were pretty lit. It's a relatively long ride.
Around 5 minutes bro says rent was around $300 a month lol good fucking times 😂
So many scenes missed out in this documentary . If your gonna bring up grunge you need to bring up SST , Discord , Bad Brains ,Fugazi , Hardcore scene all the people that were doing it before them. The diy Movement helped these guys.
This isn’t the story of those bands. And I’d say the single most influential band on Seattle was Hüsker dü. My two cents
Dead men don't pull triggers...#Justiceforkurt
YES! #Justiceforkurt
Somebody once said to me:
Grunge is a vague term, not genre specific. For example;
Nirvana is Punk grunge
Alice in Chains is Metal grunge
Pearl Jam is Blues grunge.
A truly clever observation
I think Grunge should be considered more of a musical movement like the British Invasion was...tied to a time and place.
I think Neil young is grunge
@@musicofnoise He definitely was inspirational to some Grunge bands, most of all Pearl Jam. If you’re not familiar, check out his Mirror Ball album. Pearl Jam is basically the band on the album.
Yeah it was a bit vague really, the bands were fairly different
STP & Bush = pop grunge
It was a sign of things to come, the slide down to hell that Portland and Seattle have experienced lately.
*"The MAN is holding me down, man! Screw money and screw the greedy capitalists! Hey...let's start a business."*
Seattle Rock Rules
I think KC was murdered. He's the only 1 who doesn't get radio royalties. Courtney does, DG & KN do, so does the label.
Kristen Pfaff's death could have been mentioned also.
I say that he was absolutely murdered!! NOT a suicide. He was worth more dead, than alive....to a certain someone.
@@Mraquanetchris neither of them were murdered, these silly conpsy th's are ruining their legacies.
Pfaff relapsed and ODed by too large a dose.
my whole view on grunge came from something noel gallahger said in the 90s, “ that cobain guy, biggest rockstar in the world sitting in his mansion high on smack , WTF are you sad about mate?” and it hit me . he was right
Ikr? and the lyrics of teen spirit convey that message as well, "poor me, I'm stuck having to entertain these idiots," as if he was forced to make music with his friends that alotta people liked.
When I actually listened to the lyrics I was like phuck him.
@@JoMomma YUP. noel g had it spot on the whole grunge thing was a bit cringy
I have to disagree on this one.
Money and fame is no guarantee against depression.
We are complex beings.
Do you understand what depression is like? These guys became famous for not wanting to be famous. Money isn't going to make you feel better it just makes it worse because now you can afford to have vices that people use to cover said depression. It could be drugs, booze, sex, gambling, eating, adrenaline.
Plus their hometown, their friends they all got exploited by these big corporations that didn't care about them.
jack endino is in every grunge documentary hahaha I guess how can he not be right. the timing was perfect for this music explosion. what a time to be a teenager. I'm a proud gen X'er
Endino deserves to be recognized because he was the first to record Nirvana and produced their first album. That was very important. Also, their first single Love Buzz.
Jack Endino is Grunge
The band Heart got its start from Seattle Washington.
Ann and Nancy were the two talented sisters who everyone is familiar with.
These two sisters became great friends with Alice N Chains and other similar bands during the 90' era who were from the Seattle and Washington state area.
I loved the thundering sound of those early so called "Grunge" bands.
My favorite top three bands not in any particular order, are Nirvana, Alice N Chains and Pearl Jam.
Don't forget Roger Fisher from Heart
Heart is Canadian
@@gabrieldindayal3629 Some early Bandmembers were Canadian, but the core group were from USA
Kinda weird they would be friends when they could be their mothers ages. Heart is my moms generation. She is in her early 60's. Grunge was mine. I am 41.
90's - The Genesis of Grunge Rock - soul's "true music".
Grunge Rock is a language. The embodiment of purest form of art and expression.
I wish those bands were still around.. I've seen Mudhoney and Soundgarden live, but that's about it
@@OGGOAT23 this documentary isn’t bad it’s good but I wish they focused more on the other bands in Seattle Pearl Jam Soundgarden and AIC ( my fav grunge band) gets a mention that’s all I love nirvana but in grunge documentaries it’s focused heavily on nirvana and leaves out the other great bands in Seattle
@@MrJJr-lw9zq there are documentaries focusing on those bands..not too many about sub pop though they really were the pioneer grunge label at time
@@OGGOAT23 had a chance to see Nirvana and got into the fight over a female and didn’t go. Ugh 😩
@@MrJJr-lw9zq Pearl jam rocks, but they ain't grunge
One of the biggest impacts ever in music with the least number of bands to expose what was happening.
In Australia grunge was the in thing until about 98-99. It was a big thing here all through the 90s.
no it wasn't. you just weren't cool.
Argument could be made that DZ Deathrays and Violent Soho are Aussie grunge bands now.
The 90's when we all thought what we were doing mattered.
Every generation thinks the same way then adulting begins at some point. Given the latest voting stats, our greatest contribution will be the kids we raised.
It all matters. And it all, always matters.
It really was the last generation that wasn’t chained to a cell phone and actually had original thoughts and you can definitely tell the difference in the music
Yeah because what we’re doing now is so much better. This is the most angry., divisive era of my lifetime
Or that we could lives that were beyond the traditional expectations.
Not different of a lot of towns in the province of Québec. Not only the long cold winters, but even when it's not the winter, It is often windy and the wind is often cold. And statistically, it's a province with a good portion of the population that drinks a lot of alcohol. 😂 When I was a teenager, I often attended music bands practices.
When you talk about heroin and the scene Andrew Wood, Kurt Cobain, and Layne Staley were the biggest casualties of it.
Scott Weiland as well.
@@Shagamaw-100 scott was not from seattle and therefore is not included in a documentary about seattle....
@@leinonibishop9480, I was talking about heroin. Scott suffered from heroin addiction.
@@Shagamaw-100 that's very true, and so have millions of other people that weren't mentioned in this documentary about Seattle because they weren't from there.
@@leinonibishop9480 Then why didn't you mention Cobain? He was never from Seattle.
that peter bagge cartoon brought me here
The 90a were incredible musically. It was when you still had to have actual talent and creativity. We also had a plethora of different kinds of music rather than one repetitive sound. Nirvana was and is still incredible. Kurts death was shocking but not really. He really was just so clearly not well,despite his immense talent. I will never forget when they launched into Rape Me on live tv during the MTV video awards and Nova threw his guitar in the air only to have it come straight back down and split his wig wide open on live tv. They had been SPECIFICALLY TOLD by MTV that they could NOT perform Rape Me and so of course that's exactjy what they did. This was back when there was still spontaneity and true artistry and talent involved in the music industry. It is actually A JOKE now. Just a joke. Artists are not artists. Watching a certain actors kid taking guitar lessons and discussing whether or not she appears "believable" as a rock musician just made my stomach fall out at the bottom,gave me a hopeless feeling,the feeling that I needed to build up my library of 50s 60s 70s 80s and 90s music because there's nothing else coming along to trump those artists,true artists.
I think he hit his head on SNL not the MTV awards.
@@smelltheglove2038 nope Google it friend
70’s were a great time to be alive.
@@daniellewatson8352 I was a little kid but I remember them very well. I still remember the day Elvis Presley died,the Steelers and Terry Bradshaw winning all those superbowls,the Pirates winning the pennant,all of it. The 70s were indeed a groovy decade
@@smelltheglove2038 no it was the mtv awards! I remember Dana Carvey came onstage after and was like “did you see that dude knocked himself out?!”
This was nationwide for that matter in those days. People were tired of the hair bands. Kids were getting together and forming bands from the skate culture.
Back then,as teen,I was jalous about the 60s 70s...to me we were on the end of a era.
But,with grunge..rave..free speech libertarian culture...dystopian future warning...
The 90s were really the last free analogic era,the 00s were already more Orwellian,but not yet full alienated like today.
Orwellian is apt for Trump, Putin, ...type neo fascist regimes. But plenty of Orwellian regimes around priot to these recent manifestations of 1984.
@@miketomlin6040 No...who burned books...cancel...use nov langue...is soooo easy to call someone a 'fascist'....
I grew up in eastern europe 80/90s...I was a immigrant..antifa...but I quickly understood...some people will use your 'kindness..empathy' as a Pavlovian reflex...to push an agenda.
Animals farm...The killing fiels...Brazil...The last supper are about this 'Milgram' hate of others.
@@miketomlin6040 It's literally Biden making things orwellian increasingly in America. You can't just throw that word around. It actually means something. It means big government becoming so much a part of the life of every individual and every level of society that we can't even think for ourselves. That is objectively the democratic party. Who wants to police pronouns and fundamental rights and wants to prop up a fake president who can't even stand without special shoes to hold him up. He has handlers. He's clearly not the guy running the show. And you still say it's Trump who makes things orwellian? I'm curious if people ever paid attention or if you just say things.
@@miketomlin6040 Consider the blatant and awkward shove of all things woke in our faces in modern entertainment. You gonna tell me Netflix making everything gay and trans all the sudden isn't political propaganda? You gonna tell me it's coincidence they started doing that when the libs started pushing for social and political dominance? It's propaganda. Thankfully the people are fighting back and bankrupting companies going along with it. You'd probably call THAT orwellian or fascist. All this woke crap is the equivalent of WAR IS PEACE. Blasting us with messages that aren't truth and are based in lies to twist our minds up so we won't be free. But you'd say Trump is making it orwellian.
Sub Pop was very important too because it was an underground independent record label that had a mail order catalog and a singles club that created an independent market. They were great at marketing.
The amazing thing is that there was an
underground scene that they believed in but their were no hits at first. Suddenly, Nirvana showed up and Cobain was writing these brilliant songs. Almost overnight the Seattle scene exploded! And the attention was all on Seattle from the whole world. Then they had Subpop bands tour Europe and the UK. They became popular.
Aberdeen was and is a craphole. No wonder Cobain was depressed and had to escape. It was Cobains genius songwriting gift that pushed everything over the top.
The best music scene in the 90’s ever exists🤘
I was there man! You forgot to mention all the acid..
LSD acid or something else 😊
"In his dreadful lassitude and objectless rage, Cobain seemed to have give wearied voice to the despondency of the generation that had come after history, whose every move was anticipated, tracked, bought and sold before it had even happened. Cobain knew he was just another piece of spectacle, that nothing runs better on MTV than a protest against MTV; knew that his every move was a cliché scripted in advance, knew that even realising it is a cliché. The impasse that paralysed Cobain in precisely the one that Fredric Jameson described: like postmodern culture in general, Cobain found himself in ‘a world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, where all that is left is to imitate dead styles in the imaginary museum’."
- Mark Fisher," Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?"
When I was in Hollywood in 1988 a kid stopped me on Melrose Ave., back then a very grungy street, and told me I should move to Seattle--that everybody was moving up there for a new scene. But I had just gotten to L.A., and I was really digging the old movie theatres and buildings and what-not. Turns out the "New Scene" was Grunge. I liked a lot of the music that came out during the '90s, but I'm so glad I missed the scene.
David Geffin knows what happened to Kurt
Lol I had that pete bagge/subpop T and one that matched that said "I scream you scream we all scream for a major label record contract"
The audio on this sounds like it was recorded from one of those battery powered portable TV's, with the microphone like 6ft away , in a truck stop. Fitting given the subject matter, I suppose..
America makes the best tools, cool cars, fantastic movies, amazing music but holy crap they can’t make a decent documentary.
😆
Love the Peter Bagge cover art
When Cobain looked out into the audience he said he saw the people who wanted to beat him up in high school.
Most people in his same position look out and see Ticket sales and the people who help pay their bills and launch their careers.
Part of Sub Pop's original business plan should have arranged to have an in-house shrink to help with bandmembers with psychological problems.
Many of these rockers from Seattle were depressed because of the constant gloomy weather.
Just like Motown had a finishing school for there acts, it's more than apparent Sub Pop really needed a shrink to help people like Kurt Cobain.
It's what happens when you steal Boston hooks
the reason Sonic Youth claimed they went with a major label initially is because they offered health insurance, unlike indies.
most could barely manage to pay their artists' royalties, let alone have an in-house shrink. turns out the music industry was just a massively exploitative machine that chewed up artists and spat them out. *artists* - as opposed to (aspiring?) pop stars.
oh god no. "hey young man with mistrust of mainstream authority figures, to sign with our label, you need to see a psychiatrist." and this was the 80s and 90s, when people believed therapy was for people in Manhattan and LA and everyone else should suck it up.
@@perfectallycromulent Maybe we need to set up a Go Fund me account for your dire need of serious mental health care..
@@Mraquanetchris obviously you dont play guitar.
A lot like those of us in DC bands in the late 70s and early 80s. Our sound never became entirely socially acceptable from a mass market perspective. We never in a million years thought anyone would care about our music. I guess we were sort of right.
Isn't Dave Grohl from DC?
They were loggers like the Beach Boys were surfers. Lol
90s fullstop
So if there was a Grunge Hangover, how come there hasn't been a commercial pop and hip-hop hangover? I'm not seeing any backlash towards the mainstream. Not only does this concern me, I also find this very sad.
Pop and rap (trap) simple stupid music sells
What’s come of hip hop is the worst.. it was better off dying out instead of being the status quo
@@reefk8876 yea… OK BOOMER
@@stephenmac23 I’m no boomer. Trash is trash. But thanks for that.
@@stephenmac23 he's right most rap is just trash an nothing like it was...wave sum guns talking about killing ops an selling drugs standard trash. Name any rappers that could make a whole album for 600bucks that still stands the test of time 20y later today.
I'm 71 now, so so I'm nominally too old to really appreciate grunge. For me grunge was from bands like Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge. But I moved to Seattle in 1984, and I used to see everyone hanging out in the music scene. People, mostly younger than me, was coming out of the music venues where they'd say: "These guys kick ass!" I was kind of confused since I really didn't appreciate what sounded like noise when it came out the club doors. I went in once and it was kind of crazy. I think it was early Nirvana. They were stage diving and shit like that. But then I finally understood when I heard them on the radio. Yep they kicked ass, maybe even more than Blue Cheer.
Oh such an innocent time…lol, I hear that from people waxing about the late 60s videos. Fuck. It was uglier then. I was neck deep in the “grunge” punk scene. It was PUNK. Idk who coined the grunge word
Heroin took 10 of my friends in the mid nineties. 30 years later it still hurts 🥺
I'm 53 and from Detroit and no matter how dirty I thought I was as a gear head/punk/classic country music lover/ and what we now call classic rock growing up in the 80s as a teenager, I had no idea where I fit. I can go 10 different ways with this conversation but I wanna say this...
Sub Pop was huge for breaking this "scene" but we here in the midwest would have never heard it if not for the few "sell outs" early on. It's sad to say but just the way it is.
The cassette player in my 1970 442 got replaced with an Alpine cd player and I was rushing thru so called grunge in the 90s as I had become 21 in 1990 and it just fit. I was never trying to impress anybody.
I can say this much about those times in the 90s which so many people like to refer to as good times, for me i had a constant worry about the future and I found opioids helped in short term. Obviously that plan was flawed.
Damn good documentary I enjoy this Alice in chains Soundgarden and Nirvana those are my three favorite bands from that era! 🤘🥁😩🥁
I grew up on Grunge as a teen and I wore flannel and jeans all the freakin time. And I have to say this whole music movement was deeply rooted in poor surfer culture. We loved the rush of catching the next best wave and Nirvana had that vibe as so did Pearl Jam. What stood out to me in those years was this idea that it was American to not be some pretentious sellout corporate rock group but instead be Indy. Also punk played into it some but as Kurt called it “New Wave” this reveals the inner workings of Grunge. It was that throwback to being a poor ass surfer kid who might have a group of friends that rocked out in a garage and did drugs. We were the cool kids, doing the surfer thing and our music spoke to the angst of being forced to conform and we weren’t having it. We had a secret weapon that was toppling the charts and our sound was unique and it defined our need to do something that no other band was doing, break the rules and just be your ugly self.
Thanks for this. You put into words what I couldn't.
Just realized I left my flannel in Seattle.
The obvious point is there were more grungers than just in Seattle.
Totally forgot to mention the Melvins
The worst thing to happen to music is rap music going mainstream it killed all of the good music that was out and most of these lame kids now have no idea what freedom of expression is
You're mad because another type of music came along, yet you say you value freedom of expression. Keep in mind the music you're supporting has often led to addiction and suicide. It's not actually a good thing. You just think it sounds better. Music in general is about sex drugs and rock n roll, regardless of genre or how good it is. Rap isn't any worse than grunge. What are the fruits of grunge? Depression. Suicide. Drugs. Rebellion. Nothing good.
@@godwarrior3403 you should reread the OP. He was only talking about rap going mainstream..nothing about grunge..yeah I know the op is off topic for the video, but such is the comment section across all social media.
Nirvana was the outcome but there was alot of bands who started that never made it but were the inventors of grunge.
Like whom?
Nobody even mentioned Scott Weiland's untimely death in December of 2015 on this video. Stone Temple Pilots were headliners in the 90s as well. I saw them on MTV constantly back in the early 90s. Seattle or not, need to give credit where credit is due.The sound is 'purple'...ya dig...
You make a good point.
Scott W. really was an amazing talent.
Excellent singer, great frontman.
It will always be heartbreaking Scott died on his tour bus in Minnesota 2015.
RIP Scott.
Can’t start talking about bands outside of Seattle if you’re doing a doc on the Seattle scene lol then it just becomes a 90’s rock doc
Nu Metal took over from Grunge in the late 90s.
nu metal bands are cringe
Seattle once a working class barley on the map city. 300 a month rent.
Now maybe 1,200 a month low paying jobs. Literally have to be almost a millionaire to live in Seattle now. It's a real shame.
Well the whole tech boom in seattle also happened in the 90s.
As a mudhoney fan I can say this is cool
Embrace your grief
for there your soul will grow.
Karl Jung
When we are at rock bottom, the sooner we see that grief and pain as a gift, there’s no place to go but up.
Nowadays it's worse, with fentanyl replacing heroin.
What's with skipping over Mother Love Bone??? Going from Green River to Pearl Jam? They flash the Love Bone name and that's it.
Its interesting that they always said that Seattle had a music scene but no one ever got signed to a record deal with a major label because we are so far away from everything else. Well maybe a lot of the music sucked?? once they spent some time refining their sound it got much better. Cause lets see at the same time Queensryche was blowing up had grammy nominations and all that, they were from Seattle. Oh thats right Heart was already a huge act from there both in 70s and 80s. And some other dude Jimmie Hendrix (although he really did not hit there had to go to london, I will give you that one.) One more thing, Grunge did not die with kurt cobain, nore did it rise just be cause of him. There were many great bands that were able to put together some great albums. It died when they were unable to produce much anymore, just like the metal bands from the 80s. I know hard rock (which all grunge is and it was nothing new or even really different) and metal will make a resurgence again cause new up and comers will have had a chance to build up the songwriting and have something to say.
ok
No scene in rock lasts forever. Rock stopped evolving and crawled off and died with Nickelback lol
@@Spooky_515 Rock isn’t dead. You just don’t know where to look.
Queensryche is from Bellevue.
Dam I had so many plaid shirts back then.. actually really comfortable an warm, don't see them any more
people that live in cold mountainous areas have always worn them and always will. trend or no trend, they are practical.
@@leinonibishop9480 yeah they are the only place I see them now on shows like bush hunters an things. I always liked em
@@foxxy46213 my point was, if you like 'em, keep wearin' em. you seem sad that they aren't in fashion anymore. but that doesn't mean you can't wear them if you want to.
@@leinonibishop9480 if I could find any I'd be wearing em...I don't give 2 craps Wats fashionable no more lol
@@foxxy46213 thrift stores and goodwill still have lots of them, or if you want new check your ranch stores, cabellas, etc
I was strung out on junk and playing in a hardcore band at the time, one day our guitarist came to rehersal with a copy of Smells like teen spirit......i knew at that point everything was going to change in the music scene that day when i heard it.
Sub pop got shafted. Basically they aquired the talent and if they were good the majors took them. Fuck that. Forever Sub Pop.
The Seattle Sound was the soundtrack of my 20's.
Playin in bands in Sydney,
thru the early 90's at Erskineville & Newtown; pubs like Station Hotel,
The Vic on the Park
& The Sandringham
(The Sando). Practice at Zen Studio at St.Peters, smashed off our heads on cheap beer pot & smack unless I was at work under-the-weather hung-over or hanging-out. Sydney 1990's = cigs were $15, $2.50 a beer, $90 q/oz for slow..
🎸Far too much rock n' roll is woefully insufficient, grossly inadequate & nowhere near enough - saw Nirvana when they came to Australia @Selina's Coogee Bay, off-tap🤘
The death of Kurt Cobain was horrifying, but when the 6pm news said Chris Cornell died & I had to be convinced Cornell was dead & this wasn't my mates idea of a disgusting joke, it wasn't a joke, I lost my sh*t big-time when Cornell left us - just totally sickening. Same sickened feeling lately with drum monster Taylor Hawkins, all gone far too soon, RIP 3 heroes.
I was at all those places in Sinny during the early 90s. Annandale Hotel was another hangout.
@@mattgilbert7347 The guitar shops in Annandale Camperdown & Glebe then were wicked. Was a total hoot seeing The Craven Fops at the Annandale one time I recall.🥳
I was kneecapped by Chris' death. Pissed off that he left us. Baffled that all that ridiculous talent wasn't enough to make him want to stay. We all would have killed to have a quarter of his gifts.
I thought he was going to walk this road with us. Showing us how to get old.
He had the face of an angel and was the object of my all my angsty lust.
40:48 Cornell was killed by MD prescribed "medication" that did bad to him but MD didn't want to stop prescribing.
The MD had to face a lawsuit.
That is what his spouse explained.
Best wishes.
I don't really think the sound was that new,we used to use the term grunge in the mid eighties, it was basically sludgey rock, we had a great alternative rock scene in Melbourne in the eighties, and Mudhoney have admitted being influenced by Australian bands like the Scientists. I guess what I'm saying is it didn't come out of nowhere, there was a long history of alternative rock before grunge.
I was hanging with Vertical After out of Vancouver back in early 90s
Since I lived in Phoenix and Tempe, Az, we had rage, isolation, and a sense of hopelessness. But it started in the 80s, and earlier.
And immense heat instead of gloominess
Gen X FTW
The Millys and Gen Z will be the first generations that didnt have music that was entirely their own. Its all watered down, diluted Gen X music, made easier to digest for mass consumption.(same with their art and fashion).
22:59
Kurdt and Krist found out that SUB-POP were going to set up a distribution deal with a major. They sat and talked and said "why dont we just cut out the middle man if they're going to be linking up with a major?"
And yes, kurdt and Krist knew that the nee songs they were writing were going to be better than before.
They would've never guessed or couldve dreamt that they would've hit the level they did.
No one could've with what SLTS and the Nevermind LP did.
I remember Kurt saying in interviews that they wanted to be the biggest band in the world. Be careful what you wish for.
First ever sludge Seattle band was a awesome Bam Bam!!!!
I lived in downtown Portland in the late 80s. Kurt and his cousin lived in our apt building and we would say hi to each other but I didn't know he was in a band let alone about to be the king of music. Then I moved to Seattle in 1990 and went to all the local shows and got into the scene and then they all started getting huge around the country. Then I moved to Utah in the summer of 1992. A female friend from Seattle was coincidentally living in the same apt complex as me. We started hanging out and went to the grocery store one evening and we were walking past the magazine rack and she said, "whoa, that looks like Kurt Cobain." I said, "what looks like Kurt Cobain?" She said, "The guy on that magazine." It was the cover of Rolling Stone and I said, "That IS Kurt Cobain." She said, "Why is Kurt Cobain on a magazine?" I asked her if she ever heard of the band Nirvana. She said no and so I asked, "How do you know Kurt Cobain?" She said, "I went to high school with him and he was Kurt Cocaine to us." WTF?? Mind blown! LOL, that's a true story.
Kurt never lived in Portland..never heard about it
Cold dark and dreary music from a city, cold dark and dreary. Beautiful and tragic. How i loved it.
Seattle is a completely different city now. It was a great place to be in the 1990s.
32:00
You get into music thinking that THERES NO MORE JOB!... I wont have to wake up and have corporate people to deal with and a manager. I can wake up when ever and DO WHATEVER I WANT!..
Then you realize... No. It's just as if not more demanding than a 9-5 job.
This new job keeps u up late, ur out somewhere that's not home. Didnt sleep good and are WORE THE F OUT!!! You love it and it's the job you quit all else for! And you see... this is just a different type of job!
I was unsigned and being looked at on our band being picked up.
I COUOD IMAGINE being on the level Kurdt was put on.
Ur massively successful!!! Youd think if u wanna party in ur own house, itd be fine. No, he got trapped in by all the real workings of what music is.
You think it's free. It's hard AF.
You PUSH and GRIND sooooo HARD!!!
My saying when touring was "hurry up! And wait"
You got check in times and if I dont meet them, they'll threaten to cancel or will cancel the show. Check in is 2pm. Ur headliner so you dont go in till night!
It's a state drive to the next venue so as soon as you finish ur set, pack all the gear up and have fun talking n drinking with fans and people you've come to kno from touring, it's late. You gotta drive and then sleep or sleep and then drive because it next jobs (show) promoter... doesn't give a flying F! About what time you left Louisville KY to get to Rockford IL... he just cares that the show hes pit money into goes off with no problems!
That means you GOTTA BE THERE ON TIME!
Theres no sleeping in till whenever.
It's a FULL BLOWN JOB!
It actually takes away some of the fun you have doing it.
I'd play guieetar like 5-9 hours a day for fun. When I became a touring bassist in a band. I hardly picked up to play for fun anymore in my down time from my 9pm-7am job. I eventually quit that and just did music and touring.
Yea, it was no way to live because between the tours... I couldnt support myself.
Music is HARD! It's a massive slap in the face to what you thought would be and to what it really is.
If u were Nirvaner big! That's different but still... I kno Kurdt probably felt that same way!
"I got into this to not work!.... they're working me to death man!" And when you try and use what you consider Medicine to keep ur pH balance right (brain, body and soul) and the world seems to he fighting you for it!
Even though ur BUSTING UR A*S to make money for it and arent robbing or doing bad!... it breaks you.
You just cant understand why everyone's mad at you and wants EVERYTHING from you!... yet ur giving it all and all u want is a lil something YOU want!
That will break you down
The 7seconds?
Wait is the fucken narrator Adam Reader the Professor of Rock???
Watching from Greece.hi everybody.
Great documentary.
Seattle is the American Manchester.... one step ahead of the rest
Heroin was really popular in Seattle during that period for some reason... The rockstars used it yeah but a lot of the scene ppl were heavy into it too... Idk why but hey it is wht it was...
You would think a video about music would have better sound quality.
For some reason🥴 only one of the most addictive drugs around
The grunge scene of Seattle and no mention of the Melvins? I always thought they were pioneers.
Aberdeen is a long way from Seattle. Its not really true to call nirvana a Seattle band either tbh, although they at least lived there later on
they're also constantly talking about this as a 1990s thing when Soundgarden had already released multiple albums in the 1980s, including the relatively popular Louder than Love in 1989, before anyone had ever heard of Nirvana.
Its funny, the Melvins never get mentioned in documentaries like this, same with Mudhoney and Dinosaur jr. The Melvins helped start Nirvana, and were big influences on many bands at the time. And those 3 bands are some of the only bands from that period still touring and putting out albums to this day that have never stopped. Im also pretty sure Mudhoney was only mentioned in this documentary because they were signed to subpop... i have so much respect for those bands, they always stuck to their own guns, just like Sonic Youth. To me, those 4 bands are the true successful ones in the end. Oh and Smashing pumpkins too
The awful audio and video quality make this feel a little more 90s than it should. Thanks for posting. :)
I absolutely adore every note of the music ❤️🎶🥂⁉️
I will never ever 💉🩹
Philadelphia USA 🇺🇲 AMEN ☦️🙏😇❤️💋
Sub Pop an geffin records definitely shaped my youth. Even geffin records if you wrote to them would send you tapes of singles of bands that you did not know of...don't do owt like that no more.
I just found Soundgarden’s 1989 set in Houston on TH-cam.
Well, you know, everything has to be milked f*ing dry, but at least Sub Pop got some.