Welcome back to another installment of Battle of the Bands!  Last week was our debut, and we looked at the similarities and differences between thrash metal and hair metal.  This week we'll examine those between grunge and 90's alt. rock   Now, both of these genres were extremely popular in their time, as with all successful forms of music, still exist in some form today.  It is my pleasure to explore these two cultures and break them down for your enjoyment.  Here we go!

As the 80's wound down we started to see a shift in popular music.  this time around, it didn't get flashier or more intense.  Instead it was a backlash to the glitz and glam of the music that ruled the airwaves at the time.  As the popularity of thrash and hair metal started to die down, a different form of metal emerged.  This form was fused with the punk rock feel of the 1980's.  It became known as grunge.  The distortion on the guitars was dialed back a little bit, and the tone was all but gone.  This produced a muddy, "grungy" sound that fit perfectly with the ideas and styles of these young musicians. Blistering fast leads were replaced by (with all due respect) incoherent punk noise leads.  Some were of a bluesy nature, and some didn't care to play them at all; and that was fine by most.  One of the best aspects of grunge was that these groups were not afraid to mix it up a little either.  They could switch from a beautifully written acoustic arrangement to a hard-hitting, in-your-face rock anthem.  It can be argued that grunge debuted out of Seattle, Washington, as that's where the first bands (and the biggest) of the genre made the their debut.  These groups included Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Pearl Jam, all still big names and great music today. 

As mainstream radio and television evolved, so did the type of music it was playing.  Grunge received a lot of play on these networks, which did wonders for it's exposure to a national audience and helped it grow into the giant it became, but there is always a need for balance in the world.  With this balance came a lighter, more fun version of rock never heard before.  Alternative Rock, it was labeled had been around since the early 1970's; starting with bands like Midnight Oil, the B-52's and U2.  It progressed through the years incorporating different forms into it's own., and because of this, we started to see bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, R.E.M and Soul Asylum.  There were jazz influenced groups, bands with a hint of blues and so on and so forth.  This form of rock provided a nice way to fill space on the radio and, as mentioned before, helped balance the music world out once all the niché genres like grunge started showing up.  Now, because this was a neutral form of rock that incorporated pieces of everything else, it's appeal had always been huge.  Radio and MTV play was a guarantee.  The problem with being such a big genre was that smaller bands got thrown by the wayside in favour of tried and tested groups.  This produced a lot of one-offs and one hit wonders like the Breeders, Elastica and the Presidents of the United States of America. (Peaches anyone?)  Not that that's a bad thing for the average listener, as we were treated to a plethora of musical groups that we can reminisce and wax wise about whenever the chance presents itself. 

The lyrics and ideas expressed in grunge were often a little heavier than just teen-angst.  They dealt with drugs, violence and politics, but as mentioned before, grunge had a lighter side and it wasn't unusual to find a love song or something of the sort thrown into the mix either.  People have always been able to identify with topics and ideas of a serious nature because they voice the words that are floating around in everyone's head but can't escape.  So in turn, these lyrics provide a release for those thoughts, and everyone needs a release once in a while.  When it came to lyrics in the alt-rock genre, being as big as it was, it tackled a wider variety of subjects.  These included topics like running away (Soul Asylum's Runaway Train is still a song that should be played for any kid who feels the need to hit the road.)  and lighter subjects like love as well. ( Listen to Deep Blue Something's outing titled Breakfast at Tiffany's.) 

Both of these forms of music were awesome back in their day, and still are.  With cd's like Muchmusic's (MTV for Canadians) Big Shiny 90's, we can re-live all of our old favorites and rock-out in a moderate manner.  Grunge will always be huge.  Kurt Cobain is still as worshipped today as he was when he died in '94.  We are currently seeing a resurgence of grunge-era bands again.  Soundgarden are back together and Alice in Chains (minus Layne Staley) have put out a new album recently as well.  In short, the groups in these genres will live on in the ears and hearts of those who were touched by them for years to come.  A big thank you goes out to those groups for making these articles possible.

I hope I've rekindled some interest in these groups and you go back and listen to those long forgotten.  Until next time, take care!