Listening to progressive metal got me thinking it’s too bad people didn’t have this 15 or 20 years ago. What they did have, though, is immortalized forever. Nirvana’s “Nevermind” this year celebrates its 20th birthday. The release of this album also marks the anniversary of the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” a popular grunge hit.
It’s not that strange now, thinking back on how much grunge music changed the music scene and people in general.
Following the downfall of hair and glam metal, grunge picked up the pieces and forged a whole new sound. It spoke volumes to the disgruntled kids and teenagers who had lived through guys dressed as girls
making power ballads, a wartime economy and the Reagan and first Bush administrations.
The passionate, angry and sometimes ephemeral atmosphere created by grunge musicians like Nirvana, Alice in Chains and The Stone Temple Pilots allowed angsty teens a means to help express themselves.
How many movies in the 1990s had the teenage character who wore jean jackets, flannel shirts and backwards adjustable hats? A good number of them, and these were the kids listening to this music.
What was grunge really about that made people think, act and dress the way they did? It could be any number of things, including sticking a giant middle finger to “the man,” doing a little bit of teenage rebellion or trying to live outside of siblings’ shadows. One thing, I have to admit, seems like the most reasonable cause.
That, good people, is freedom. When “Nevermind” came out, what did the hard rock audience have to look forward to? Metallica’s self-titled black album? I think not.
When people heard the opening chords to “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” hearts that were heavy from make-up saturated pretty boys playing songs like Skid Row’s “I Remember You” had something new and real to look forward to.
I look back to all of the good albums that came out in the early nineties following the oh-so-necessary downfall of hair-metal and I feel absolutely relieved that it happened. Don’t get me wrong – I like to rock out to Twisted Sister or Queensryche on occasion, but it needed to stop.
Albums like “Nevermind,” Alice in Chains’ “Dirt” and Pearl Jam’s “Ten” really made the music recognizable, and gave the mainstream a taste of music outside of Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer and Michael Bolton. It gave people the break they needed from the inadequacy of depth that pop provided. Songs like Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” blew listeners away with the complexity of the stories being told.
Grunge, to me, is like an old friend. No matter how I feel, I can pop on some old STP or Alice, just jam out and not give a care in the world.
Again, it just gives the listener the freedom to let go of wherever they are and relax.
I can’t imagine the music world today without the influence of such artists. Dave Grohl, one of the former members of Nirvana, went on to found The Foo Fighters, one of my favorite modern rock bands.
Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains are still going strong, touring and making great music. Their music is long-lasting – classics nearly as soon as they are written.
That’s why they’ve survived this long. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” isn’t just a song.
It’s a revolutionary anthem to a generation of angry kids that keeps perpetuating itself in this world we live in.
So thank Seattle, and the wonderful artists it produced in the early-nineties, and always remember: A little bit of revolution never hurt anybody.
