BY MIKEY MIGO
After the grunge music era, there were plenty of bands out there who carried on the musical and fashion style of the genre. We can use the term "Post-Grunge", but again it's more of a transition into something else. Would you consider it leaning more towards "alternative pop rock"? I think I would. Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, or Chris Cornell was nothing like the current batch of "alt pop rockers". When they honed the flannel shirts and revolutionized a genre, they weren't thinking about the billboard charts or anything related to Nickelback.
Let's take a look at three different groupings of post-grunge/alt rock bands that carry on the Seattle movement:
Bush/Live/Silverchair
Bush is one of those "almost part of it" bands. They came out (at least in the mainstream) right about when grunge was on its way out. Their album "Sixteen Stone" came out in 1994. I think I was like eleven years old around this time. I remember wanting and finally getting the cassette tape. I loved the singles, but I wouldn't listen to the album front to back like I would while listening to Nirvana or Soundgarden. Over time, I've come to terms with this band, but would never really consider them part of the grunge movement. Then again, I know some people probably would have no problem putting them in the grouping. With Live, it's pretty much the same situation. They come from a time period that ALMOST made it into the regular genre. As I said before, I was a pre-teen and most of Live seemed boring to me until that song about Dolphins came out and totally changed my life. That's a complete lie, but remember that song? It was the coolest Dolphin song ever (Outside of the tracks on the "Use You Illusion" albums). Then we have Silverchair, who even by my very young standards, seemed to be reaaaally borrowing from the grunge era. It was like Kurt Cobain came back to life as an Australian. I'm not saying they didn't have some good music, but to a youngin' it felt overly produced to capture lightening in a bottle twice.
Nickelback/Three Doors Down/Puddle of Mudd
Rip the balls from grunge music and you get this specific offspring. It's even a bit depressing to consider them "alternative". It would be like a foreigner signing up your national anthem and fucking up the words. Nickelback is beloved by many people who still actually buy albums. The same people who buy country albums and High School Musical albums and get them charted very high on billboard. This is because Nickelback is a twang and a cowboy hat away from being country. It caters to the same crowd, but some of them are in denial about their redneck affection. The first album I heard by Nickelback was "The State" and at the time I was excited. To be fair, Limp Bizkit, Spears, and the boy bands were tearing it up at the time and ANYTHING would get me excited that wasn't this dark period of mainstream music. Then at an alarming pace, my hatred for all things Nickelback grew. So much that to this day I have a deal with an unnamed band that if they ever share the stage with Nickelback that raw meat will be involved. Three Doors Down isn't much better, but they at least have my respect. Sorta like later Staind(The early stuff was not bad! Seriously!), Three Doors Down wear their influences on their sleeve, but still put some sort of emotion and heart into their work. Would I hesitate to turn them off the radio when given the chance? Not at all, but at least I wouldn't go on a rant for five minutes like I would for Nickelback after doing so. Puddle of Mudd was like this generation's Silverchair, but with a "sk8r" type of twist. Puddle of Mudd is perfectly harmless fun, but if you listen to a few songs you'll be assured that their singer is trying to channel the Seattle sound. Is it me or doesn't he look like the camp counselor from the classic "Salute Your Shorts"? I think that IS him. In fact, I'm going on public record to say that I am officially starting this rumor. Did you hear that Wes Scantlin played "Ug" on the Nickelodian show "Salute Your Shorts"? Yeah! It's TOTALLY true. Tell your friends.
Godsmack/Sevendust/Stone Sour
This one is a bit harder to classify. I guess you could call this grouping the "post grunge metal scene". It's not quite nu-metal and it's not quite grunge. It's really just hard rock, but the essence of grunge lingers in their work. If we're going to consider a band like Alice in Chains to be grunge, then you have no choice but to consider these folks as "post-grunge" or even "alternative metal". I've seen both Godsmack and Sevendust in concert a few times and have never left their shows feeling ripped off or that they ripped anyone off. Godsmack and Sevendust are to grunge as to what Guns N Roses was to hair metal. They're often related, but one step in a different direction would take them away from the genre completely. Despite not making it into the mainstream eyes until a few years ago, Stone Sour was originally formed in the early 90's with Slipknot's Corey Taylor and James Root (joining in 1995). Granted their debut album didn't come until some Slipknot off time in 2002, it had some strong feelings of grunge mixed with current metal as some sort of post-grunge metal hybrid. I talked about how Godsmack or Sevendust could take one step in a different direction and find themselves in a completely different genre, well Corey Taylor took that step with Slipknot and is arguably part of the most influential metal band of this era.
Then there are bands like the Foo Fighters, Audioslave, and Army of Anyone whose original bands were part of the grunge movement. Once they moved on, they didn't leave their grunge stylings behind completely. Call it alternative or call it "post grunge", you can vividly hear the grunge references in their work.
To classify art is completely subjective. These are just the bands and groupings that I personally feel make the most sense. How would you group the "post-grunge" bands? Who are some of your favorites? I'm sure I left some bands out, so tell me who!
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