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[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL
"Oh My Goth, Where Art Thou?" |
03.21.12 |
BY MIKEY MIGO
I was never one for dress up, but I’ve always had an interest and connection to things that are darker in tone. It’s not just music. I enjoy dark comedy films and Halloween is always fun. I do like Goth music though. It’s not my only means of musical entertainment, but artists like Nine Inch Nails (circa mid 90s), Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Ministry, Bauhaus, and others have been a big part of my musical lexicon. I never felt like a “poser” or anything because I do genuinely love this kind of music, but I’m more of a collared shirt and slacks kind of guy.
I started thinking to myself recently… What the hell happened to Goth?
At first I wanted to just write it off as me just getting older and that maybe I’m starting to become out of touch with things. That’s not it though. Goth just sort of disappeared.
::::: | BEFORE
Dark music was around for awhile. Screaming Jay Hawkins and the old school “I Put a Spell on You” was pretty Goth and creepy. Are we not going to say Ozzy Osborne doesn’t have Goth qualities? Is Alice Cooper not a bit Goth? Couldn’t you argue that Bowie’s “Glam” was a little, if not just as much Goth?
The theatrics and showmanship off Glam and the attitude of punk sort of morphed together. The music style would develop in the late 70s and early 80s, but I think the image and even the key ingredients of Goth were always there.
::::: | THE ROOTS
The attitude of punk took on a darker and more morbid twist. The tone was darker and almost comparable to a vampire or horror movie. People were hearing a haunting, more surreal vibe than other rock groups. There was even a sense of 1960’s psychedelic in there. It would rise pretty quickly.
There seems to be a few theories floating around out there of how “Goth rock” got its label. One credits Joy Division producer Tony Wilson for coining the term in an interview with BBC TV. Siouxsie Soiux is credited as using the term way before everyone else. Another theory (the one that seems to be most popular) was when Bauhaus released the looming gloom of “Bela Lugosi's Dead”.
Bauhaus were “darker”, but made the track with a tongue-in-cheek intention. The song was just too insane to ignore. If you watch the opening minutes of the vampire movie “The Hunger” then you’ll know how intense the song is. Bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees were really the bands to bridge the then fading punk scene with this new style.
::::: | THE RISE OF THE 80S
These bands would continue in their own right, but others would join the scene as the decade went on. One of the most prominent bands was The Cure. Of all the “Goth rock” bands, it seemed like they were the ones that made MTV and more strides in the crossover. They were often labeled as “new wave”, but have you seen the band? Have you heard “Love Song”? Robert Smith cries tar!
Depeche Mode was another one of those “gloomier” bands that broke through. A lot of groups got on board, but none of them really got a huge level. The scene was still strong though. Other notable bands like Sisters of Mercy, Alien Sex Fiend, Nick Cave, The Birthday Party, and The Cult did well and had their underground followings.
A lot of the new wave stuff was “Gothy”, but the term was rarely used. Still, outside of a few key singles the Goth genre and “Gothy” bands wouldn’t really gain moment until the bands took what was already there and evolved it in different directions.
::::: | THE DIVIDE OF THE 90’S
The nineties saw Goth spread out in many directions. Goth wasn’t so much a genre of its own, but a prefix many “labelers” would use to describe darker toned bands. Gothic rock found itself sprinkled in to death rock, industrial, EBM, ambient, new wave, synth pop, punk, metal, and elsewhere.
Industrial, more specifically industrial metal, took a strong place in music. To me, industrial is basically Goth rock with more abrasive programming. I know that’s pretty general, but the connection between the two is pretty obvious. Ministry and Nine Inch Nails were two of the first “bigger” gothic industrial acts in the 90’s. Nine Inch Nails were bigger in the main stream and Trent Reznor would become a fixture in music. He eventually grew out of the heavy Goth look, but even in the last shows I saw of Nine Inch Nails he’d still rock the eyeliner.
Type O’ Negative, Skinny Puppy, Tool, Stabbing Westward, White Zombie, Lacuna Coil, Cradle of Filth, and a lot of other notable acts would show up in a big way in the 90’s. I know some would say that these bands aren’t specific Goth, but that’s what’s going on at this point. The line is blurred and amazing alternative metal bands like Tool still get some Goth love because of the lurking nature, the gloomy tone, and darker approach that A-typical metal. Some would have huge hits and some would have a very respectable enough run to have made their place in music history.
All was okay. Goth was sprinkled into genres and had its own thing going on. There were a few big main stream hits, but then Marilyn Manson showed up. He used theatrics and the more provocative aspects of Goth to push his image, music, and overall message. There was TONS of controversy over Manson. Being in high school when he was peaking was great times. There were rumors about him being “Paul from Wonder Years”, getting a rib removed so he could blow himself, and those are just the ones I’d tell my mom about. The controversy would get tedious, especially after Manson started taking shit over the whole Columbine shooting. Manson’s popularity and media attention would fade but he’d continue to re-invent himself over and over again. Pretty much always with a Goth twist.
::::: | THE FADE OUT
By the end of the 90’s, music saw the rise of pop music and generic hip hop. There were still bands like Korn, Orgy, Godhead, Powerman 5000, Static X, and a slew of “nu-metal” bands were in the same ballpark as Goth, but not quite as popular. The more popular of Goth fused “nu-metal” bands would pretty much just be considered “nu-metal” or “rock/rap” like a Limp Bizkit. It was obvious that Korn had some Goth roots, but that was never really a discussion. The generation had just seen Marilyn Manson so unless you were going all out with the Goth image like him, it was hard to classify bands that way. The darker wave stylings of Godhead or Orgy had more of a Goth “vibe” to it, but they never really broke through outside a single or two each.
The “emo rock” scene came about with bands like My Chemical Romance, AFI, and 30 Seconds to Mars. They had the “look” of a Goth, but the music style was whinier and less ballsy. It definitely dwelled in that “Whoa is me”/feminine area of lyricism. Emo rock makes me glad to be a few years older. If I were in high school during that time, I sadly think I’d have gotten into them. Really, what’s the alternative? Pop rock? R&B? Shitty mainstream hip hop? Growl metal? You can only listen to the White Stripes, Foo Fighters, and Black Keys so long before you have to give something else a try.
“Emo” went from a “scene” to a punch line rather quickly. The last AFI video I saw featured Davy Havoc of AFI in a plaid shirt. My Chemical Romance seems to be on hiatus. Jared Leto and 30 Seconds to Mars seems to be one press release away from naming themselves a symbol ala Prince during his label issues in the 90s.
Since the “Emo rock” decline, it seems like Goth and the majority of its elements are missing from music.
::::: | THE FUTURE
I really can’t think of the last real Goth artist to break into the mainstream. Manson was the 90’s. There are a lot of bands that either use the image for part of their concept, but don’t quite stick to the look except for a short “creative holiday”. Then there are bands that are more on the Goth side of things that while really great within the genre haven’t broken into that “cover of Rolling Stone”/“warn the parents!” type of level.
These genres cycle through the trends. It’s not always going to be like the garage band craze from the early 00’s where the bands sounded exactly like their influences. A lot of the time the genre evolves into something else. We’re seeing rappers in skinny jeans, metal heads in flat bill hats, and a really boring return of “college rock” under the guise of “indie” or “hipster”.
It’s only a matter of time before another generation attaches itself to the darker tone of Goth. I just hope they don’t screw it up.
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