NU-Metal. Has it become Classic Rock?

I was in high-school during the grunge outbreak and had just graduated when Marilyn Manson, Tool, NIN, and \"thebandthatshallneverbementionedagain\" were exploding. I did not like that stuff then and I don't now. I will say that White Zombie and Collective Soul caught my attention, and Sevendust had a couple of catchy tracks on the radio but By the time that SoaD, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock hit I was still enthralled with thrash and hair metal and discovering punk. I had one Kid Rock album that I listened to quite a bit, but I spun it again recently and I can't figure out why i listened to it so much. I do not like Disturbed, Dope, Drowning Pool, RATM... etc, and it doesn't matter how, what, when, or where you label them, the music is just not good. IMO.

I became a Soundgarden fan a good 2 years before anyone said the word "grunge" (1988). They were just a great heavy rock band. I first saw them opening for Danzig (and blowing away the headliner I might add).

I loved them at the time because they were heavy as hell without being "metal". Leave your cliches at the door my friends.

I remember a friend describing them as the "new Zeppelin", while that might have been hyperbole it wasn't completely inaccurate.

Remember when it simply was the "Northwest scene". I even heard it described as the "northwest metal scene" at times. That then gave way to the "Seattle scene". Can't remember where I read this but apparently the "fashion" of grunge came about primarily due to the label Sub-Pop finding it easier to market in Japan that all these bands were lumberjacks. Played into their view of that area. Funny thing is the vast majority of them were Seattle transplants. It always seems to be forgotten that Eddie Vedder was a San Diego surfer dude.

I never minded Disturbed or Drowning Pool. I felt they were a little one dimensional but that has never stopped me from liking things before. If I saw them cheap enough I'd buy their albums. From what I heard of Sevendust I found rather boring. Like it lacked something. I will also say that I own Coal Chamber albums and they are still okay to me.

James B. wrote:

Kinda hard to downplay grunge cause that scene was mostly rehashed 70's rock. Without 70's rock, there is not much afterwards to influence.

I agree that it was mostly rehashed 70s rock, but I don't see the point of that at all, you might as well just listen to some 70's rock, there's plenty of it that is better than Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Co. Nirvana are a different animal for me, a great band and unfairly lumped in with this bunch of wanabees.

I'm not really defending Nu Metal either, most of it was really bad but a least it tried and I did really like MM and SOAD as I've already said

Boris2008 wrote:

James B. wrote:

Kinda hard to downplay grunge cause that scene was mostly rehashed 70's rock. Without 70's rock, there is not much afterwards to influence.

I agree that it was mostly rehashed 70s rock, but I don't see the point of that at all, you might as well just listen to some 70's rock, there's plenty of it that is better than Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Co. Nirvana are a different animal for me, a great band and unfairly lumped in with this bunch of wanabees.

I'm not really defending Nu Metal either, most of it was really bad but a least it tried and I did really like MM and SOAD as I've already said

70's rock encompasses alot of different variety. The Seatle bands were influenced by everybody from Zeppelin, Cheap Trick, Bad Brains, and even the singer/songwriters.

70s rock covers more variety than just about any other decade, one of the reasons it has been so influential on so many different genres since.

I don't really understand what people are trying to say here. I understand that the seventies was a varied and influential time in music and some of my favorite albums are from this time (Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Bowie, right through to Rainbow, Sabbath and Priest) but I still fail to see what Grunge (Nirvana aside) brought to music apart from rehashed Led Zep riffs, an insanely arrogant attitude and a few grubby sweaters.

I'm not knocking the bands that influenced the Seattle rabble, I just don't think that they added anything.

Seattle bands help break down further the need for genre labeling, these band were equally influenced by classic metal/hard rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple but also brought other influences into the music, not just punk bands like the usual suspect, but alternative bands such as the Smiths, the Throwing Muses, and many more. No longer did you have to be in locked step to a particular niche, but could branch out.

Also for me personally I could easily relate to the bands that came out of the scene more then I could Ratt or the other side of the spectrum, a band like Slayer, so when Nirvana first burst out of the scene, it was like a breathe of fresh air, I was growing tired of the same ole same.

Unlike most of my friends I did not abandon the other bands I had loved since I was a kid, but included these bands, and they introduced me to another of music, I may not heard of, if it was not for those Seattle bands.

I was just comming into my own as a music fan when the grunge bands started really breaking out. While my interest was being held by Metallica, Guns & Roses, Queensrych, Anthrax, etc.; I got introduced to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains (which I never considered anything other than metal, though many dissagree with me). I grew attatched to all of it and never had a problem with them (or for that matter several alternative bands like REM, Depeche Mode, Blind Melon, Soul Asylum, Faith No More, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, etc.). I still listen to Soundgarden, AiC, Pearl Jam, and Temple Of The Dog (I got tired of Nirvana after Kurts death and MTV's weeklong tribute) as thery're all part of the soundtrack of my life.

Boris2008 wrote:

I don't really understand what people are trying to say here. I understand that the seventies was a varied and influential time in music and some of my favorite albums are from this time.

Thats all you need to understand. My initial response wasn't sticking up for the Seatle scene and definitely not saying they offered up anything new. It was needed at the time.

You downplayed the style/scene and I just pointed out where that came from. That's all. Seems you may ahve dug way too deep into what I was trying to say.

Yeah, I understand where people are coming from and agree that rock music (particularly metal) was in a bit of a state at the time. I just didn't like the vast majority of it or the influences it took from, (if the brilliant Throwing Muses were in the Grunge mix, I missed it) I think that I probably closed my mind and ears to it largely because of the copycat bands that all sounded same (I did this with Hair Metal too!)

Strangely enough this conversation has made me listen to Pearl Jam's cover of Love rain o'er me which I'll admit is brilliant but then, It's a brilliant song. I only happened on it because it was at the end of a film that I saw.

Grunge sounded all the same? How? I really don't hear many similarities between Alice and Chains and Nirvana, or Stone Temple Pilots and Screaming Trees, but then, I can't really say I heard a lot of the lesser known bands.

And tbh...I'd rather listen to rehashed '70s rock than crappy nu metal, no matter how "original" the latter might be.

TheGreatDuck wrote:

Grunge sounded all the same? How? I really don't hear many similarities between Alice and Chains and Nirvana, or Stone Temple Pilots and Screaming Trees,

Nirvana for me, something different and quite wonderful, Screaming Trees I don't know The rest meh! I guess that's just how it sounds to these ears.

Still, it's only an opinion and that's what makes the world go round (I'm pretty sure that I'll be proved wrong on this if challenged as well )

The 90s was a brilliant decade for music.

The one "classic rock" radio station left in my town doesn't play anything after about 1985, so I'd say no to the initial question. I don't know where I'd hear Limp Bizcut being played along side of Fleetwood Mac 'round these parts. And I'm thankful for that.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

The one "classic rock" radio station left in my town doesn't play anything after about 1985, so I'd say no to the initial question.

Agreed, I listen to one of the classic rock stations here in Los Angeles in the car and it is primarily 70s with some occasional 80s tunes mixed in.

S.D. wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

The one "classic rock" radio station left in my town doesn't play anything after about 1985, so I'd say no to the initial question.

Agreed, I listen to one of the classic rock stations here in Los Angeles in the car and it is primarily 70s with some occasional 80s tunes mixed in.

Pretty much the classic rock station I would listen to on occasion (usually when I'm driving my dad somewhere). We had two of them at one time and one of them even had one night a week where they played nothing but metal (Judas Priest, Metal Church, Slayer, Helloween, Testament, etc.). That one also had a wrestling show on Sunday night. Unfortunatly, that one started deteriorating. First the wrestling show stopped and then the metal one and last I heard was playing more modern crap (haven't tuned to that station in over 3 years).

The only reason I listen to the Classic Rock station here is that they have a little more variety than your average station, choosing some lesser known tracks to mix in with the usual fare.

About a month ago I turned on the radio in the car and "Speed King" from Deep Purple started, I don't think I've ever heard that song played on classic rock radio. They will also play some of the lesser known Sabbath songs like "Into The Void" and "Tomorrow's Dream".

S.D. wrote:

The only reason I listen to the Classic Rock station here is that they have a little more variety than your average station, choosing some lesser known tracks to mix in with the usual fare.

About a month ago I turned on the radio in the car and "Speed King" from Deep Purple started, I don't think I've ever heard that song played on classic rock radio. They will also play some of the lesser known Sabbath songs like "Into The Void" and "Tomorrow's Dream".

Yeah, ufortunatly the one still standing plays your usual classic rock fare and I only listen to it with my dad because of obvious reasons. Like most here, I gave up on radio and prefer to make my own playlists.

S.D. wrote:

The only reason I listen to the Classic Rock station here is that they have a little more variety than your average station, choosing some lesser known tracks to mix in with the usual fare.

About a month ago I turned on the radio in the car and "Speed King" from Deep Purple started, I don't think I've ever heard that song played on classic rock radio. They will also play some of the lesser known Sabbath songs like "Into The Void" and "Tomorrow's Dream".

I know what you mean. We have a local classic rock station that plays almost exclusively the most famous songs by the bands they play, which is why I was surprised to hear "Mr. Brownstone" by Guns N' Roses on the way to work just the other day, although I was more surprised to hear it because the song has an f-bomb in it (although I presume they bleeped it out; I left for work before the part where Axl drops the f-bomb, but the only other song that the classic rock station plays (that I know of) which has an f-bomb ("You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette; odd, I know, but I live in Canada, and they're required to play a certain percentage of Canadian content)) censors it as well).

I actually work for satellite radio, and one of the satellite radio stations is a classic hard rock station that plays not just the hits, but the album tracks as well. They do play the hits, but play the obscure, not talked about songs by the bands as well.

What I would be suprised to hear (which should be required to be played by anything calling itself classic rock) is Rainbow-Stargazer. That song is arguably, one the greatest songs from the 70s.

Rainbow never seemed to get their due from classic radio. Even stranger is that early MTV did. You'd have thought that would carry over.

So yesterday I decided I wanted to see if I couldn't get a t-shirt from WAOR in Niles MI. This was the a station I grew up listening to in Indiana. They used to advertise themselves as the first classic rock station in the U.S. And considering they were running the format back in 1982, that may very well be true. Turned me onto a whole slew of great stuff. Deep album cuts too. Maybe one of the reasons I came to appreciate whole records and not just singles. Anyhow turns out they abandoned the format last summer for sports talk. So sad.

DallasBlack wrote:

What I would be suprised to hear (which should be required to be played by anything calling itself classic rock) is Rainbow-Stargazer. That song is arguably, one the greatest songs from the 70s.

It's definitely one of the best songs of the 1970s.

Required Fields wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

What I would be suprised to hear (which should be required to be played by anything calling itself classic rock) is Rainbow-Stargazer. That song is arguably, one the greatest songs from the 70s.

It's definitely one of the best songs of the 1970s.

Yeah for sure. I meant to say "agruably the greatest song from the 70s".

DallasBlack wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

What I would be suprised to hear (which should be required to be played by anything calling itself classic rock) is Rainbow-Stargazer. That song is arguably, one the greatest songs from the 70s.

It's definitely one of the best songs of the 1970s.

Yeah for sure. I meant to say "agruably the greatest song from the 70s".

It's in my top five, that's for sure.

I only ever heard post-Dio Rainbow on classic rock radio, and it wasn't the local one, but another one that isn't available within a radius of a few hours.