“Come as you are, as you were as I want you to be.” a most instantly recognizable lyric that almost everyone knows. The band Nirvana released the song “Come as You Are” as the second single to the band’s sophomore album Nevermind in 1991. The album came out the same year and it changed the world of music forever.
Nirvana’s roots go back a long time. The first release that Nirvana gave the world was Bleach in 1989. With songs like “Love Buzz” and “Blew,” the band had established themselves as anti-establishment rebellious guys that didn’t take anything from anyone. The album had a solid release, and the band was a huge hit in Seattle’s underground rock and punk scene. Kurt Cobain was their lead singer and the band’s soul guitarist. He employed the use of heavy power chord riffs and simplistic solos. The simplicity of the music was what kept people listening.
Nirvana never wanted to be popular. They probably would’ve been more than happy playing those underground shows at dive bars and small venues for the rest of their career. But in 1991 the band released Nevermind. Nevermind was the start of the grunge craze. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the most popular song by far upon its release and it skyrocketed the band into stardom.
Along with Nirvana, more of the bands that shared the same genre of grunge also skyrocketed in popularity. Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains are some of the most notable in this genre. Along with Nirvana, these four bands are considered the big four of grunge, seeing as they all had a heavy part in making the sound and evolving it. The big four also display all of the musical styles that reach into grunge: Nirvana representing punk, Soundgarden representing classic rock, Pearl Jam representing Blues and Alice in Chains representing heavy metal. All of these influences make the world of grunge very diverse. You will see metalheads and blues guitarists both rocking out to “Even Flow” by Pearl Jam. Grunge is also more than music, it’s a style and community.
Grunge style is almost as important as the music itself. The iconic flannel and ripped jeans make the outfit a standout in fashion of the 90s. Top it off with combat boots and a shirt from your favorite band and there you go.
In 1993 Nirvana filmed their MTV Unplugged album and they were one of the many grunge bands to go on the show. Alice in Chains would go on in 2002 and kill it. It is easily my favorite MTV Unplugged show, and it is life changing. At the time of recording, Layne Staley, the band’s lead singer, was battling a crippling heroin addiction. Claims are made that Staley had to shoot up before he went on or he couldn’t play. This show is the closest anyone will ever get to singing at their own funeral. Pearl Jam also put on an amazing show on MTV Unplugged in the year 1992. It was exceptional, and the amount of energy displayed by the lead singer Eddie Vedder was sure to get your head bobbing. Other notable performances include Stone Temple Pilots in 1993 and Hole, the band of Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain’s wife, in 1995.
The music of the 90s, especially grunge, influenced so many people and many bands still cite the big four grunge bands as some of their main influences. Sadly, the story of grunge doesn’t have a happy ending. The grunge movement saw an abrupt halt when Kurt Cobain took his own life in his home in 1994 just one year after releasing his album In Utero with Nirvana. This took the world by surprise. There were so many people distraught even though the band didn’t last that long, about five years in total. After the death of his friend Dave Grohl, Nirvanas drummer, would go on to form the band Foo Fighters and have a ton of success. Grohl originally showed some of the songs to Cobain and they even released one called “Marigold” on the album In Utero.
Following the grunge movement there was a movement called the post-grunge era where a lot of 2000s bands came to the mainstream. Bands like Nickelback and Creed were mainstays of the genre. A lot of the songs get labeled “butt rock” but personally I love them. Creed is kind of a goofy band and Scott Staps’ vocals are definitely interesting, taking inspiration from the likes of Eddie Vedder with the “yarl” vocal style. The history of grunge is one that will be forever hailed as a great story and there are many finer details that have been left out, like who the heck is Temple of the Dog? But it is safe to say that Nirvana created grunge.
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