Nirvana Chapter 6

c. Other alternative bands were able to reach a wider audience when record companies scrambled to jump on the success of Nirvana.

Rock ‘n’ roll and 20th Century Culture      According to Philip Ennis, rock ‘n’ roll emerged from the convergence of social transformations which resulted from World War II (Ryan 927). Despite its pop culture origins, rock music is arguably one of the strongest cultural factors to develop in this century. Artists such as Lennon, McCartney and Dylan defined the emotions of a generation and, in the last decade, it as even been acknowledged by members of the establishment which it hoped to change as a major influence in the country. In order to understand how rock went from a sign of rebellion to a cultural icon, it is necessary to understand where it came from.      According to Albert

Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.

Smashing anything from pumpkins to instruments, Rock & Roll is a form of art with flare. Generations of people from the 50’s to modern day have enjoyed a little bit of rebellion in their life. But while the rebels continue to rage against the machine of society, that society is constantly changing. Different issues become highlighted and more relevant as others fall to the wayside, but Rock music does not stand by jovially. With constant adapting and innovating, Rock & Roll always finds something to scream about.

Their single Smells Like Teen Spirit made Nevermind the first alternative rock album to acquire worldwide fame (“Kurt Cobain”). Cobain’s talent was record smashing and innovative, because he took a whole music genre to a never before seen worldwide level. This type of accomplishment was not because of some strange luck, but a result of Cobain’s creative approach to the sound of alternative rock. As a result of their breakthrough, many powerful companies started to publicize them like when Time announced, “‘It also launched the commercial vogue for grunge and made Seattle famous for something other than cappuccino, rain, and bad professional sports,’” (Latson, 1). Kurt Cobain’s success was remarkable because not only did the music industry change, but a whole unique business and trend was opened up. The fact that Kurt managed to leave a long lasting imprint in the constantly changing fashion industry displayed how successful he was. In the music industry Cobain changed the direction of contemporary rock and was compared to legends like Bob Dylan and John Lennon (Hilburn). People thought of Kurt as one of the rock legends because of his raw talent that made him extremely relatable and mighty. This was a huge deal, to be compared to other rock legends and to have changed the entire sound of a music genre. Talent, a strong work ethic, and a relatable character took Kurt Cobain to the top and

The grunge music of the 90’s might be a product of the times and changing of opinions, it still has a strong presence and legacy in the modern age. Music critics can argue about whether grunge music’s effects on rock music were positive or negative but the main point is that it did affect the music, fashion, and cultural world in a huge way. The grunge movement affected not only the music world and but the overall society of the 90’s and every decade that followed. Grunge emerged from Seattle in the late 1980s. This genre of rock and roll helped create a bridge between mainstream 1980s heavy metal–hard rock and post-punk alternative rock. Eventually, grunge faded—partly because of the death in 1994 of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who had become a generational spokesman. Some people say that “grunge music ruined rock and roll” when in reality it gave way to new forms of the genre and helped bring harder rock songs to the mainstream audiences of the time.

#2 compare and contrast the nature, role, and impact of rock n roll with that of beat poetry and the avant-garde. how were these artistic expressions similar, and in what ways did they significantly diverge?

Rock and roll has developed a long way throughout the years from a dance craze in the 1950’s to a political and cultural landscape that is recognized worldwide. Rock and roll has come to define the roots of teenage rebellion, people who don’t follow the norms, and have disrespect for authority. The style of rock and roll itself is a melting pot of music, a combination of sounds that include jazz, country, blues, ragtime, gospel, swing, classical, and ethnic music. It can be a simple variation of three chords to a complex chromatic scale combination. It can convey emotions such as love, hate, fear, lust, sadness, joy, disillusion, or a strong sense of reality. Many things can be said about rock but the fact is that it is the most widely

Although the decades have passed, and the times have changed rock ‘n’ roll holds a legacy that will forever impact the lives of people as a whole. Foundations Of Rock n’ Roll After World War 2, the world was faced with a bipolar world of the two winners: the USSR and the US (Scaruffi, 2005). The world was left with international bitterness and resentment and unlike other wars, a war on ideology. The war changed almost every aspect of life, because ideologies and morals began to shift and change. The post-War era had brought along with it many new technologies such as the boom of cars, computers and even

Nirvana created a new genre of rock, which was grunge rock. Nirvana released their album, Nevermind in 1991. “No album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation-a nation of teens suddenly turned punk-and such a catastrophic effect on its main creator” (Rolling Stone 86-87). This means that the album impacted teens all over the nation. The album changed the lives of many teenagers all over the world, especially the ones who lived in America. Green Day released Dookie in 1994, it had influential songs, which made it a great album. “Even so, the first thing to note about Dookie is that it’s a remarkably good record. Go back and listen again. It’s undeniable” (Romano 5th paragraph). Their record Dookie was one of their

It was messy, careless, and loud. Thankfully, all of the rebellious teens learned to love it. With this, Nirvana made their most famous album, Nevermind. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” made it big, and is still considered a grunge anthem. By this time, grunge and underground rock was huge. People began wearing the ripped jeans and tattered flannels with Doctor Martins and chokers. Cobain was still doing a significant amount of drugs. He was addicted to heroin and often performed and/or interviewed high. In fact, he showed up to his last show (Live at Reading 1992) in a hospital gown and wheelchair as a joke because of the comments he was getting on his drug addiction. This show went down in rock history as one of the most legendary shows. “We’d rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn’t good,” (Goodman, Dave Grohl on Nirvana’s “Disastrous” Reading Gig) said Grohl in a later interview. The show was a sensory overload with lights, a random person dancing on the stage, and the stage presence only true performers can accomplish for almost two hours straight. Kurt Cobain is the revolutionary of grunge music because he made grunge music and underground rock more prominent in the music scene, defined a generation with his songwriting alone,

One band some may know that was a popular grunge band in the 90’s was Nirvana, which consisted of lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl, and bassist Krist Novoselic. This band was most popular for their hit album “Nevermind”. “One of their most popular songs on this album, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, has been and always will be a rebellion anthem for adolescents, empowering them. This message and it’s meaning make this one of the most popular songs by this band to date.”

One of my favourite bands of all time is Nirvana, because this was the first rock band I started listening to at the age of twelve and this established my taste of music until nowadays. However, they had a big influence on their contemporary pop-rock musical industry in the early nineties, as well. Despite the fact that they released only three studio albums in seven years, Nirvana is often regarded as one of the most influential, effective and remarkable rock bands of the century.

When people hear the genre “rock and roll,” they often think of performers like Elvis Presley, AC/DC, and Aerosmith. Those bands have provided the foundation for rock and roll, but the newer bands have to carry over from the bands of the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s to the bands of the 1990’s and the 2000’s. The new generation of bands has just as much, if not more, popularity than the bands of the older generation. Bands do not gain popularity just by showing up to rehearsal, though. Gaining popularity can take years of making music, and sometimes establishing credibility takes more time than other bands. The more popular bands that have many fans are bands like Three Days Grace, Alter Bridge, and Avenged Sevenfold. These three bands have had

The first hard rock and heavy metal music was produced by the rock group called Blue Cheer somewhere around 1967. Their music was angry and had a noticeably heavy beat.. At this time, the music of the Rolling Stones, too, became harder and angry, with a negative accent. Many other groups sprang up during this period. In truth, hard drugs, mixed with psychedelics were having an effect. The world was witnessing a new phenomenon: musical groups of young men - opening doors to the psychic world through the use of drugs - were using electrified instruments to bring in a new music that was harmful to the human psyche, destructive, and angry (2).