What would happen if Nirvana hadn't come in the spotlight 1991

I have a feeling that alternative would of entered the spotlight anyway maybe not so much though and metal wouldn't of been a derogatry term. Bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janes Addiction, Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden were gaining momentum in the spotlight before Nirvana released that awful highly overrated Nevermind album But on the other hand Pearl jam, Mudhoney and Sonic Youth wouldn't of made it though. Alotta glam and thrash bands that started late most likely would of hit the spotlight bands like The Darkness (they formed in 1991 btw), Francis X, Bangalore Choir, Souls at Zero, Spread Eagle, Annihilator and a few others I cant think of. Testament would of hit the charts with that album they released in 1992. But what are all your thoughts on this

Probably the same thing that happened, just delayed a few years. Nirvana were definitely not the first of the 'grunge' bands, they were just one of the first to be successful. They certainly spearheaded the alternative rock scene, but regardless of them, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, etc. would all have found at least moderate success. The whole "Glam" metal thing would have lingered a few more years into the 90's before people got sick of it, and then all these angsty people would start listening to all these angsty bands.

Delayed? No way. While I personally think Nirvana was great, like most "iconic" bands, it was marketing that made them so. If it wasn't Nirvana, it would have been some other band.

Eyesore wrote:

If it wasn't Nirvana, it would have been some other band.

That's kinda what I was trying to say...guess I didn't do it right.

Schbopo wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

If it wasn't Nirvana, it would have been some other band.

That's kinda what I was trying to say...guess I didn't do it right.

You did, but I don't think it would have been delayed. 80s rock/hair metal was becoming a bit saturated with bad bands. That happens when labels flood the market with turds. Remember when the media love Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez? Bennifer. What do you do when it starts to get a bit sickening, all the fawning and whatnot? Well, you tear them down, of course. And overnight, Bennifer was no more and Gigli was the worst movie ever. Pffft!

So that's what they did with 80s rock.

Eye, is right. I also don't believe it would have been delayed. The wheels were in motion. I actually typed something similar in another thread on here this morning about the over saturation of the glam/ hair metal bands. I am not a Nirvana fan but I don't like when someone blames them and them alone for the demise of hair metal at the turn of the decade. Something similar happened in England with punk at the end of the 1970's. Led Zeppelin was doing 25 minute drum solo extended guitar jams and Sabbath was in turmoil so the time was right for something else to come to the forefront. Metal, I believe, brought it upon itself with a cookie cutter approach to image and a paint by the numbers approach to the music these bands played.

I am sure hair metal/pop metal had run its course, they were too many bands milking the formula, and these genre would have died. I am sure if it wasn't Nirvana another band would have broken thru anyway, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden or other bands that were already making inroads to mainstream success.

But Nirvana was unique because it was much more than just the music, Kurt Cobain hit a generation's nerve and he was cultural icon for a generation and that is something that is not that can be duplicated. Nirvana was not a band that was created by a record label nor was its success.

manny wrote:

But Nirvana was unique because it was much more than just the music, Kurt Cobain hit a generation's nerve and he was cultural icon for a generation and that is something that is not that can be duplicated. Nirvana was not a band that was created by a record label nor was its success.

Exactly. It happened so quickly that the "marketing machine" had to catch up to their success (and Pearl Jam as well). It wasn't until that machine started running and they signed every band in the state of Washington that they in turn helped burn out the scene probably before it would have died naturally.

The REAL problem happened after Grunge died out...all of a sudden there was this HUGE void and there wasn't anyone to really take the place...then hip/hop became the flavor of the month.

If Nirvana would not have broke, polka would have taken over the world and my grandma would be in the polka pit goin' "'roun an' 'roun" with your gramma and this would be the "Heart of Polka" board and Scott would be doing a covers album of songs from Lawrence Welk and Frankie "Yo, check out my hair" Yankovic in a band called Ultipolka and cats would be having intimate relations with dogs and it would be anarchy.

Don't blame Nirvana.....It was Firehouse's fault.

I say ask Kory Clarke

Thank God Nirvana showed up. It made me renew my love to real heavy metal, and realize how great metal music is.

i've always preferred underground metal music. nothing ever changed in the underground. death of hair metal, rise of grunge... metal was still being made & i was still buying it. i never watched MTV, so their disappearance from that had no effect on me.

but i liked Nirvana & a lot of other Grunge.

I have heard people who are devoted to the sounds of the "hair bands" say they wish grunge never happened so their hair bands could last longer.

I'm not attacking their tastes, but to be honest, if Nirvana never happened something else would have taken the place of the hair bands. They would be in the mainstream for one, two more years tops, and then would have been done for.

I'm the same way as MC. I never gave 2 sh*ts about hair metal and cared way less about grunge. When thrash started fading, I moved on to death metal and other forms of extreme metal.

But to answer the question, things would have changed even if Nirvana wasn't in the picture. May have taken a little bit longer but things would have still changed.

Lurideath wrote:

But to answer the question, things would have changed even if Nirvana wasn't in the picture. May have taken a little bit longer but things would have still changed.

My point exactly.

Lurideath wrote:

When thrash started fading, I moved on to death metal and other forms of extreme metal.

yeah... death, black, & grindcore kept me in check. still has ahold of me too. it's never died & never been never been out done.

SAXON1500 wrote:

If Nirvana would not have broke, polka would have taken over the world and my grandma would be in the polka pit goin' "'roun an' 'roun" with your gramma and this would be the "Heart of Polka" board and Scott would be doing a covers album of songs from Lawrence Welk and Frankie "Yo, check out my hair" Yankovic in a band called Ultipolka and cats would be having intimate relations with dogs and it would be anarchy.

Don't blame Nirvana.....It was Firehouse's fault.

Been watching too much Home Alone, John? Polka, polka, polka.....

We would've had thrash in the spotlight a few more years...

Troublezone wrote:

We would've had thrash in the spotlight a few more years...

I'm not sure about that, Metallica releasing The Black Album probably had more to do with the change in thrash bands than the advent of grunge.

Then you had bands like Prong, Helmet, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Tool that were also changing the landscape.

I was never really a fan of the whole Death/Grindcore scene (although I did like some of it)...by 1992-1993 I had moved on in the direction of Kyuss, Cathedral, Sleep, etc. Those groups were the antidote to the whole "mechanical" sound that was becoming prominent at the time, going back to the Black Sabbath roots which was always closer to my interests.

detuned wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

We would've had thrash in the spotlight a few more years...

I'm not sure about that, Metallica releasing The Black Album probably had more to do with the change in thrash bands than the advent of grunge.

Then you had bands like Prong, Helmet, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Tool that were also changing the landscape.

I was never really a fan of the whole Death/Grindcore scene (although I did like some of it)...by 1992-1993 I had moved on in the direction of Kyuss, Cathedral, Sleep, etc.

They were still doing thrash but more commercialized...

Metallica - Black Album
Megadeth - Countdown
Testament - Ritual
Sacred Reich - Independent
Anthrax - White Noise
Overkill - I Hear Black

fingers wrote:

Alotta glam and thrash bands that started late most likely would of hit the spotlight bands like The Darkness (they formed in 1991 btw)

If you're talking about The Darkness I'm thinking of, then I'm sure they formed around 2000 and I know they hit the spotlight big time. It's probably just a coincidence of name though.

Anyway, I'm inclined to believe the musical climate would have still changed the way it did. If it wasn't Nirvana, it would've been someone else flying the flag of nihilism. Also, as much as I love hair metal, as someone already said, the musical market had become over-saturated with very samey bands - or at least, from what I can tell.

SAXON1500 wrote:

Don't blame Nirvana.....It was Firehouse's fault.

Please don't treat Firehouse bad

Quote :

Please don't treat Firehouse bad

Didn't know you had a sense of humor, PM! haha - good one!

change was destined to come anyway...

Eyesore wrote:

Delayed? No way. While I personally think Nirvana was great, like most "iconic" bands, it was marketing that made them so. If it wasn't Nirvana, it would have been some other band.

I agree

Question should be, What if Kurt Cobain lived?