One of the most influential acts of the 1990s, Nirvana formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987 when Kurt Kobain (1967–94, guitar, vocals), Krist Novoselic (born 16 May 1965, bass) and Chad Channing cemented the line-up of Nirvana. Signed by Seattle’s growing Sub Pop label their first single was a cover version of The Shocking Blue’s ...
by the hugely influential Jimi Hendrix playing a Fender Stratocaster. The popularity of electric guitars was renewed in the 1990s and into the 2000s with the success of groups like Nirvana, Oasis and Radiohead. Electric Organ The electric organ emerged in the early twentieth century, originally designed as an economical and compact substitute for the larger pipe organ. During ...
to the different types of current popular music we know and love today. Without the blues there would have been no Beatles or Jimi Hendrix, no Led Zeppelin or Nirvana, Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis, James Brown or Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd or Frank Zappa, Oasis or Blur … the list is endless. The blues emerged ...
punk, grunge first rose to prominence thanks to bands such as Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Green River, and then reached its apotheosis with the more melodic approach of Nirvana and Pearl Jam during the first half of the 1990s. Still, history has a well-known habit of repeating itself, and in the case of the most successful rock ...
and even Schoenberg found the depiction of common people in degraded circumstances tragic and unappealing. Secretly Coded Compositions Berg was fascinated by numerology, and serialism proved to be mathematical nirvana in terms of his compositional style. He often used the palindrome as a writing device, and when theorists delved into his work they unearthed personal messages that had been ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1987–present) This Seattle group, Layne Staley (vocals), Jerry Cantrell (guitar), Mike Starr (bass) and Sean Kinney (drums), cut their teeth on a winning blend of metal and acoustic numbers before being remarketed as a ‘grunge’ act after Nirvana’s huge success. Their second album Dirt (1992) won acclaim and huge sales, a position cemented by Jar Of ...
(Rapper, b. 1985) Dizzee Rascal (real name Dylan Mills) has become known as something of a young godfather of the emergent ‘grime’ music scene, swiftly delivering a new kind of rap, quickly spoken and aggressive, over synthetic, staccato rhythms. His critical acclaim stems from a wide understanding of music (he cites Nirvana’s In Utero as his ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1995–present) Foo Fighters, the post-Nirvana project of Dave Grohl with Taylor Hawkins (drums), Nate Mendel (bass) and Chris Shiflett (guitar) saw the drummer-turned-singer storm the charts again and again with an honest, workaday approach to rock that was, more often that not, humorously handled. Thankfully too, Grohl could write a melody, and ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1994–present) Butch Vig, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson were already successful producers and musicians – Vig producing Nirvana’s Nevermind (1991) – before they recruited Scottish singer Shirley Manson to form Garbage. Pristine intelligent rock of eponymous solo album (1995) spawned monster international single ‘Stupid Girl’. Follow up Version 2.0 (1998) was more electronic but an equally ...
whose concerns raged from sleaze to sex. Early singles and debut album Pretty On The Inside (1991) won UK and US followings. By Live Through This (1994) Love’s husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, was dead and a media circus in full swing. Celebrity Skin (1998) was aptly named. Styles & Forms | Nineties | Rock Personalities | Hootie & ...
Greg Norton (bass) were forefathers of emo, and an immensely important bridge between hardcore and alternative rock. The Minneapolis trio are cited by the likes of The Pixies and Nirvana as a massive influence. Their third album Zen Arcade (1984) is an exemplary collection of punk pop. They made a dignified transition to a major label with Candy Apple Grey ...
In March 2011 the New Musical Express published a list of the Top 100 gigs that music fans ‘should have been at’. Green Day were at No. 68 and the gig in question was their famed performance at The Den in Wigan on 21 December 1991 where they not only performed tracks from their debut LP 39/Smooth and upcoming album Kerplunk ...
label SST, before they became the first band from the Seattle scene to sign with a major label, although they only found commercial success in the wake of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. They released four albums, Louder Than Love (1989), Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994) and Down On The Upside (1996). Their breakthrough came with Superunknown, which featured ...
Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Cheap Trick, Boston, The Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth, The Pixies and, he claimed, The Bay City Rollers. He formed Nirvana with bassist and fellow punk-rock fan Krist Novoselic, and with drummer Chad Channing, they formed part of the burgeoning Seattle scene, which would later be termed ‘grunge’. ...
grunge, their loud, guitar-driven rock was encapsulated by the ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’ single (1988). Tours and mini LP Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988) cemented their reputation. Although overtaken by Nirvana, Mudhoney were significant. Under A Billion Suns (2006) was issued by a re-formed band. Styles & Forms | Nineties | Rock Personalities | My Dying Bride | Nineties | ...
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