Or hair metal... the truth has to be told. After decades of hearing that Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains etc. Destroyed so called hair and glam metal. The truth should be told... a lot of those bands just sucked. And stopped writing decent enough pop tunes to keep others interested.

Poison, Warrant, Cinderella, Bango Tango, Dangerous Toys, Trixter, Slaughter, Hanoi Rocks, Stryper etc. Have cried for years that grunge killed their careers. Yet there were plenty of glam/hair metal bands ont he charts in 91 and 92.

Mr. Big had a number 1 hit with ''To Be With You'' in 1991. They also had a top 40 hit in 1992. And a hit in 1993 with a cover of Cat Steven's ''Wild World''

Firehouse had a top ten hit with ''Love Of A Lifetime'' in 1991. And another top 40 hit ''Don't Treat Me Bad''

And a top 10 hit in 1992 with ''When I Look Into Your Eyes''

Motley Crue had a top ten album in 1994. Even with then new lead singer John Corabi.

Def Leppard (they were a hair metal band. Lets me real here y'all) Were scoring hits untilt he mid 90's.

Cinderella was on the famous Wayne's World soundtrack in 92.

So there was still hair/glam metal in the charts during the early 90's. But they still act like grunge murdered it all on arrival. Why did these bands all have big hits then?

Ur clasping at straws somewhat. Of course a few more pop metal hits happened after Nirvana blew up, but the shift was quite quick and by 1993/1994, all record companies wanted some of that Nirvana or "alternative rock" money. It meant that acts like Winger, Motely Crue and a few others had to "toughen up" their sound and suddenly sport flannel shirts LOL.

Serously though, Nirvana were arguably the flagship band, possibly along with REM, that helped bring in a more alternative rock sound away from the pretty boy, party hard days of Bon Jovi and Poison etc...

Only a year or two earlier, MC Hammer and Vanilla ice took the pop world by storm and nobody saw that shit coming, but in retrospect you could say that was also inevitable as rap had been gaining traction on the pop charts for years. It was only a matter of time before someone "crossed over" as huge as those two did

Same with "Nevermind". It wasn't planned, but the timing was perfect as audiences were growing up, and growing tired of all the glam stuff and endless power ballads and acts like REM and college radio was also gaining traction and alot of fans. Again, the mass audiences were waiting for a crossover like Nirvana's "Nevermind", they just didn't know it yet.

And thats the beauty of anything thats the next big thing in business is that people rarely see it coming or where it's going to come from, but when an act like Nirvana or Gun's n roses do blow up, alot of people, either acts or industry experts would say "why didn't I think of doing that?". Very few people are willing to gamble on anything new. Be it a music act or any business.

It takes guts and "vision" to do it, plus you need to find these Kurt Cobain's and Axl Rose's and take a chance on them, but the way it is now, with only about 3 major record companies left, coupled with crippling sales, where is the next big thing? They are gonna be harder to find but again, it may happen anyday now? Just not as likely hence the stagnation of the top 40 industry now, but thats another story LOL

Going back to an easy example like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, they too inadvertently found that

little tiny window in pop culture time, to strike, as did Nirvana. Something hot underground will eventually try and surface in some fashion on the top 40 as a general rule. Be it films, fashion, music, art etc....same with "alternative rock" and rap of course.

So yeah "Alternative" was the new thing in the record business and melodic rock, AOR and glam metal got wiped out. Just not overnight, but it did happen.

Point is, it was always going to be glam metal/melodic rock as those genre's were getting old and tired and corperate LOL and people always want something new from top 40 music eventually, so in came grunge/alternative and pop rap made way for far more agressive gangster rap whilst new jack morphed quietly into seductive mid tempo rnb (or "jeep beat" as I call it LOL).

Again, the music industry needs a change now, but will it come and when? Again if you knew, you'd be a millionaire LOL and labelled a "visionary".

So in conclusion, glam rock or whatever was slowly on the way out anyway (remember Pretty Boy Floyd?) and alternative was slowly creeping in (the Milli Vanilli fallout helped this too to some extent).

Nirvana just caused glam metal to die a quicker than expected death LOL, otherwise it probably would of dragged for many years after, something that modern EDM music seems to be experiencing now. That too needs a change and a quick death LOL.

[Edited 2/2/15 18:44pm]

thesexofit said:

Ur clasping at straws somewhat. Of course a few more pop metal hits happened after Nirvana blew up, but the shift was quite quick and by 1993/1994, all record companies wanted some of that Nirvana or "alternative rock" money. It meant that acts like Winger, Motely Crue and a few others had to "toughen up" their sound and suddenly sport flannel shirts LOL.

Serously though, Nirvana were arguably the flagship band, possibly along with REM, that helped bring in a more alternative rock sound away from the pretty boy, party hard days of Bon Jovi and Poison etc...

Only a year or two earlier, MC Hammer and Vanilla ice took the pop world by storm and nobody saw that shit coming, but in retrospect you could say that was also inevitable as rap had been gaining traction on the pop charts for years. It was only a matter of time before someone "crossed over" as huge as those two did

Same with "Nevermind". It wasn't planned, but the timing was perfect as audiences were growing up, and growing tired of all the glam stuff and endless power ballads and acts like REM and college radio was also gaining traction and alot of fans. Again, the mass audiences were waiting for a crossover like Nirvana's "Nevermind", they just didn't know it yet.

And thats the beauty of anything thats the next big thing in business is that people rarely see it coming or where it's going to come from, but when an act like Nirvana or Gun's n roses do blow up, alot of people, either acts or industry experts would say "why didn't I think of doing that?". Very few people are willing to gamble on anything new. Be it a music act or any business.

It takes guts and "vision" to do it, plus you need to find these Kurt Cobain's and Axl Rose's and take a chance on them, but the way it is now, with only about 3 major record companies left, coupled with crippling sales, where is the next big thing? They are gonna be harder to find but again, it may happen anyday now? Just not as likely hence the stagnation of the top 40 industry now, but thats another story LOL

Going back to an easy example like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, they too inadvertently found that

little tiny window in pop culture time, to strike, as did Nirvana. Something hot underground will eventually try and surface in some fashion on the top 40 as a general rule. Be it films, fashion, music, art etc....same with "alternative rock" and rap of course.

So yeah "Alternative" was the new thing in the record business and melodic rock, AOR and glam metal got wiped out. Just not overnight, but it did happen.

Point is, it was always going to be glam metal/melodic rock as those genre's were getting old and tired and corperate LOL and people always want something new from top 40 music eventually, so in came grunge/alternative and pop rap made way for far more agressive gangster rap whilst new jack morphed quietly into seductive mid tempo rnb (or "jeep beat" as I call it LOL).

Again, the music industry needs a change now, but will it come and when? Again if you knew, you'd be a millionaire LOL and labelled a "visionary".

So in conclusion, glam rock or whatever was slowly on the way out anyway (remember Pretty Boy Floyd?) and alternative was slowly creeping in (the Milli Vanilli fallout helped this too to some extent).

Nirvana just caused glam metal to die a quicker than expected death LOL, otherwise it probably would of dragged for many years after, something that modern EDM music seems to be experiencing now. That too needs a change and a quick death LOL.

[Edited 2/2/15 18:44pm]

But Bon jovi was huge in the 90's too. And manages to still have a huge career. So they didn't kill that band off at all

I love grunge to death and admire it. But they act like right in 1991 all of it was dead. See any interview with old hair metal guys. Always whining that by 1991 they were done cause of grunge the death didn't happen so swiftly.

Hanoi Rocks didn't make the claim that grunge killed their careers.

A member of theirs died in a car accident and they just quit afterwards. They reunited for the 00s to make money from live performances and became public jokes in our country as they were so out of touch with reality, but that's another story.

As you know, my position is that Nirvana (and by extension, grunge) killed rock and roll.

Lyrically - Before Nirvana, rock and roll songs were mainly about having a party and meeting girls. Nirvana turned rock and roll into songs about how much life sucks. Other horrid grunge bands like Pearl Jam continured that trend, and rock and roll never recovered lyrically.

Vocally - Eddie Vedder. Good lord, enough said. Cobain wasn't the worst vocalist ever - that dishonor falls to Eddie Vedder and his growl. He spawned Scott Stapp. What more proof do you need?

Musically - Before grunge we had songs like "Dream On". Ask any musician how advanced that song is. Then grunge gave us a bunch of heavily-distorted, drop-D-tuned-because-they-really-couldn't-play-the-guitar, no-solo-having train wrecks. Before grunge songs like Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemange" were abundant. Then grunge hit, and I'll lay a dollar to a donut there aren't 3 grunge guitarists that could play two bars of Larry Carlton's solo from that song. Want more proof? When Prince was a kid and was forming neighborhood rock bands, you had to be able to play the solo from Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4". That was just to get into a NEIGHBORHOOD GARAGE BAND. Not to get into The Revolution or the NPG, but to get into A BAND THAT PLAYED IN A GARAGE. Grunge dumbed down the skill level of at least two generations of rock musicians. After guys like Jack White and Lenny Kravitz hang it up, there won't be anyone to carry on the tradition of the rock and roll guitar solo.

Now to your posit that grunge didn't kill glam metal, I can agree with that. Not because I am giving any credit to grunge, but simply because glam/hair metal was a trend made popular not by its music, but by the pretty boy videos they showed on MTV. The trend ran its course, and that would have happened whether grunge came about or not.



.

[Edited 2/3/15 8:03am]

Gunsnhalen said:

Or hair metal... the truth has to be told. After decades of hearing that Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains etc. Destroyed so called hair and glam metal. The truth should be told... a lot of those bands just sucked. And stopped writing decent enough pop tunes to keep others interested.

Poison, Warrant, Cinderella, Bango Tango, Dangerous Toys, Trixter, Slaughter, Hanoi Rocks, Stryper etc. Have cried for years that grunge killed their careers. Yet there were plenty of glam/hair metal bands ont he charts in 91 and 92.

Mr. Big had a number 1 hit with ''To Be With You'' in 1991. They also had a top 40 hit in 1992. And a hit in 1993 with a cover of Cat Steven's ''Wild World''

Firehouse had a top ten hit with ''Love Of A Lifetime'' in 1991. And another top 40 hit ''Don't Treat Me Bad''

And a top 10 hit in 1992 with ''When I Look Into Your Eyes''

Motley Crue had a top ten album in 1994. Even with then new lead singer John Corabi.

Def Leppard (they were a hair metal band. Lets me real here y'all) Were scoring hits untilt he mid 90's.

Cinderella was on the famous Wayne's World soundtrack in 92.

So there was still hair/glam metal in the charts during the early 90's. But they still act like grunge murdered it all on arrival. Why did these bands all have big hits then?

1. When grunge went mainstream, it was only about Nirvana & Pearl Jam in 1991-92, meaning that pop-metal was still in the fight. But when all of those other "alternative rock bands" started have mainstream success, then it was the beginning of the end for American metal as we knew it. Notice I said American metal, because real metal band from Europe were able to survive without the need of being in the pop culture mainstream.

2. In fairness, grunge is not the only genre to blame for metal's dismissal. Since 1988, hip-hop/rap had plenty of moments to show off its own shock value. Instead of metal, white kids in the suburbs were using political rap (EXAMPLE: Public Enemy), gangsta rap (EXAMPLE: NWA, The Geto Boyz), and party rap (EXAMPLE: 2 Live Crew) to shock the parents.

RodeoSchro said:

Gunsnhalen said:

There us go Tony! It wasn't just grunge that did it. Pop metals as still isn't he charts till 94 almost. Kurt Cobains since in 1994 honestly killed grunge in the mainstream. Although I adore Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, the melvins etc. They didn't have the same level of huge success. Although Pearl Jam did get a top 10 hit and a few top 40 hits. Stone Temple Pilots went straight alternative. Plus in 1991 you had fuxking Metallica. Having too 40 hits and selling a gazzilion albums! Why aren't they to blame too? metal music always got big in the early 90s. And was outselling all the hair metal acts. Gangster rap was always making a huge takeover. Alternative, metal, gangsta rap etc. All destroyed hair metal on the charts. But it's only grunge who gets blamed.

Don't forget about Soundgarden. THAT'S one grunge band that never sold out on its grunge roots long after the subgenre was a passing fad.

It's the same thing you hear about 1977 from the English heavy metal people, "it was all about punk! You couldn't get written about unless you had a song about hating the queen! No one liked us! They were bloody horrible rude people! It's not fair! We deserved to be rich and famous! Wah wah wah, blah blah blah!"

Then you look at what bands like the Buzzcocks and the Clash were selling compared to early Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and it becomes clear they are nothing but a bunch of whiny little cry babies. Those Iron Maiden guys still live in that place, still anxious to tell you "punks can't play their instruments". I mean, they complain about it at the same time they are flying their own plane over the ocean.

Art does not kill other art, OK? Mass Audiences pick up on trendy things and nothing stays trendy for very long. Anyone who feels entitled to popularity is a big baby.

What's interesting is late 80s movies like River's Edge, Pump Up the Volume, and Lost Angels were already depicting the sub cultural shift that made the grunge scene possible. River's Edge came out in 1986, but you would swore it came out after 91 with all the apathetic teens wearing flannel and listening to slow heavy sounding punk. It just shows you how different Hollywood was back then. They saw the change before anyone else.

lrn36 said:

What's interesting is late 80s movies like River's Edge, Pump Up the Volume, and Lost Angels were already depicting the sub cultural shift that made the grunge scene possible. River's Edge came out in 1986, but you would swore it came out after 91 with all the apathetic teens wearing flannel and listening to slow heavy sounding punk. It just shows you how different Hollywood was back then. They saw the change before anyone else.

Well the "kind" of music that became known as grunge was also happening in 86. Killdozer, Green River, Butthole Surfers, Melvins, Laughing Hyenas, Das Damen are all touring by then. It just wasn't very popular. The hardcore punk scene that preceded it was starting to get old by then, and you started to see a trend toward longer hair, slower heavier songs.

I think the kids in the movie are listening to Fates Warning, early speed/ death metal type stuff - kind of like Slayer or Megadeth. That was a similar scene in terms of size. This is still at the time when underground bands would dream about selling 20,000 records and selling out a 300 seat club. Metallica and Slayer were still playing big clubs or small theaters and rarely heard on radio.

Come to think of it River's Edge wasn't popular at the time either. But it was the kind of thing that once I saw it, I got ten of my friends to come over and watch it, and they all did the same thing with their other friends. That movie really spread hand to mouth the same way hardcore and early grunge did.

bobzilla77 said:

It's the same thing you hear about 1977 from the English heavy metal people, "it was all about punk! You couldn't get written about unless you had a song about hating the queen! No one liked us! They were bloody horrible rude people! It's not fair! We deserved to be rich and famous! Wah wah wah, blah blah blah!"

Then you look at what bands like the Buzzcocks and the Clash were selling compared to early Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and it becomes clear they are nothing but a bunch of whiny little cry babies. Those Iron Maiden guys still live in that place, still anxious to tell you "punks can't play their instruments". I mean, they complain about it at the same time they are flying their own plane over the ocean.

Art does not kill other art, OK? Mass Audiences pick up on trendy things and nothing stays trendy for very long. Anyone who feels entitled to popularity is a big baby.

Music continued to improve after punk, but the same cannot be said in my opinion for music after grunge.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

I agree that audiences pick up on trendy things. I wish I knew why depressing basic rock music took the place of lively complex rock music but if I knew that answer to that, I'd be a bazillionaire!

RodeoSchro said:

bobzilla77 said:

It's the same thing you hear about 1977 from the English heavy metal people, "it was all about punk! You couldn't get written about unless you had a song about hating the queen! No one liked us! They were bloody horrible rude people! It's not fair! We deserved to be rich and famous! Wah wah wah, blah blah blah!"

Then you look at what bands like the Buzzcocks and the Clash were selling compared to early Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and it becomes clear they are nothing but a bunch of whiny little cry babies. Those Iron Maiden guys still live in that place, still anxious to tell you "punks can't play their instruments". I mean, they complain about it at the same time they are flying their own plane over the ocean.

Art does not kill other art, OK? Mass Audiences pick up on trendy things and nothing stays trendy for very long. Anyone who feels entitled to popularity is a big baby.

Music continued to improve after punk, but the same cannot be said in my opinion for music after grunge.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

I agree that audiences pick up on trendy things. I wish I knew why depressing basic rock music took the place of lively complex rock music but if I knew that answer to that, I'd be a bazillionaire!

i already told you! people want to hear about life issues. Lively rock doesn't really talk about those issues. And as people get older... they relate more to those songs. I can't relate to a million rock n roll party songs. Cause i'm not rich or rocking out ot thosuands of fans

Everything has to go too far, and then be destroyed by the next thing that comes along. That's how music evolves.

Punk kills prog-rock, then metal kills punk, then grunge/ alt kills metal, then nu-metal kills alt/ grunge, then indie garage kills nu-metal and then everybody starts listening to EDM and leaves us guitar music fans on an island. In the meantime, on the island, prog-rock is making a comeback in the form of technical/ symphonic metal and everybody that played big clubs 20-30 years can tour in theaters on the "nostalgia circuit".

bobzilla77 said:

Everything has to go too far, and then be destroyed by the next thing that comes along. That's how music evolves.

Punk kills prog-rock, then metal kills punk, then grunge/ alt kills metal, then nu-metal kills alt/ grunge, then indie garage kills nu-metal and then everybody starts listening to EDM and leaves us guitar music fans on an island. In the meantime, on the island, prog-rock is making a comeback in the form of technical/ symphonic metal and everybody that played big clubs 20-30 years can tour in theaters on the "nostalgia circuit".

What you have said is true! i forgot to reply to your comments. music is always changing and eventually thing's will play out. But they will always have fans! and will eventually as said have the ''nostlagia circuit''

bobzilla77 said:

lrn36 said:

What's interesting is late 80s movies like River's Edge, Pump Up the Volume, and Lost Angels were already depicting the sub cultural shift that made the grunge scene possible. River's Edge came out in 1986, but you would swore it came out after 91 with all the apathetic teens wearing flannel and listening to slow heavy sounding punk. It just shows you how different Hollywood was back then. They saw the change before anyone else.

Well the "kind" of music that became known as grunge was also happening in 86. Killdozer, Green River, Butthole Surfers, Melvins, Laughing Hyenas, Das Damen are all touring by then. It just wasn't very popular. The hardcore punk scene that preceded it was starting to get old by then, and you started to see a trend toward longer hair, slower heavier songs.

I think the kids in the movie are listening to Fates Warning, early speed/ death metal type stuff - kind of like Slayer or Megadeth. That was a similar scene in terms of size. This is still at the time when underground bands would dream about selling 20,000 records and selling out a 300 seat club. Metallica and Slayer were still playing big clubs or small theaters and rarely heard on radio.

Come to think of it River's Edge wasn't popular at the time either. But it was the kind of thing that once I saw it, I got ten of my friends to come over and watch it, and they all did the same thing with their other friends. That movie really spread hand to mouth the same way hardcore and early grunge did.

True. I thought it was interesting that a few filmmakers were hip to what was going in the sub culture years before it broke big. I was always considered these movies to be the anti-John Hughes teen films with Repo Man being the godfather of them all.

Gunsnhalen said:

RodeoSchro said:

Music continued to improve after punk, but the same cannot be said in my opinion for music after grunge.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

I agree that audiences pick up on trendy things. I wish I knew why depressing basic rock music took the place of lively complex rock music but if I knew that answer to that, I'd be a bazillionaire!

i already told you! people want to hear about life issues. Lively rock doesn't really talk about those issues. And as people get older... they relate more to those songs. I can't relate to a million rock n roll party songs. Cause i'm not rich or rocking out ot thosuands of fans

Well, I guess we look at it differently in some ways. To me, entertainment should make me happy. I don't want to see a sad movie, and I don't want to hear sad songs. If I'm going to invest my time and money in entertainment, I'd like to come away feeling better about things.

True. I thought it was interesting that a few filmmakers were hip to what was going in the sub culture years before it broke big. I was always considered these movies to be the anti-John Hughes teen films with Repo Man being the godfather of them all.

It's pretty radical movie and it definitely captured a certain thing I also felt in the air. I knew kids like that. Hell me and my friends were like, a couple of good report cards away from BEING those kids.

lrn36 said:

What's interesting is late 80s movies like River's Edge, Pump Up the Volume, and Lost Angels were already depicting the sub cultural shift that made the grunge scene possible. River's Edge came out in 1986, but you would swore it came out after 91 with all the apathetic teens wearing flannel and listening to slow heavy sounding punk. It just shows you how different Hollywood was back then. They saw the change before anyone else.

:hmmm2: now that you mention it. Rivers Edge does have that early 90's edge.

RodeoSchro said:

Gunsnhalen said:

i already told you! people want to hear about life issues. Lively rock doesn't really talk about those issues. And as people get older... they relate more to those songs. I can't relate to a million rock n roll party songs. Cause i'm not rich or rocking out ot thosuands of fans

Well, I guess we look at it differently in some ways. To me, entertainment should make me happy. I don't want to see a sad movie, and I don't want to hear sad songs. If I'm going to invest my time and money in entertainment, I'd like to come away feeling better about things.

I do like my happy songs every once in awhile. Depends on the mood

And i don't think hair metal can make a comeback. Bands that try to do it nowadays are awful.

Gunsnhalen said:

And i don't think hair metal can make a comeback. Bands that try to do it nowadays are awful.

Yeah it's not going to come back like it was. You;re gonna need some new expression of macho guys expressing their feminine side.

Maybe One Direction could get tattoos and learn to play guitars.

First of all that whole "Thing" killed itself, just like RB boy bands like Boy II Men died off, so did the metal melodic bands, for the reason stated first off, they werent that fucking good.

The ones that survived time are good enough to get by, Bon Jovi still exists because Jon and its members tour and play LIVE and are good writers and musicians, and have worldwide fans, they built it and they respected their following, alot dont. Please dont mention fucking bands like Slaughter and Warrant Winger Bang Tango and whomever in the breath of Bon Jovi.

Like I heard Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters say, when Nirvana came out no one knew what was going to happen the label only printed 100,000 of that album "nevermind" thats how much the label thought that band was going to sell 10+million of it. It caught fire because the top songs of that time were so mainstream and polished that something had to give, there is always going to be changes in tastes and fads especially back then in the day. But as Dave Also said when Nirvana blew up every label guy came to seattle to cash in on the NEXT THING and that is why things die off, when you start cashing in its all over. AND THAT is what Pop Metal did, that is what Pop boy bands did, that is what RB boy bands did, that is what melodic country pop did, that was everything does.

So lay off Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam is still around making great records because they are good, SLAUGHTER isnt cause they sucked. Dave Grohl created the Foo Fighters from nothing and ha that band as the only indie artist making millions, because they are good. Poison had a catchy tune here and there, but they wanted to just party and thats why they are where they are, a novelty act.

to Last December's point about R&B bands, specifically Boyz II Men, those dudes can SING and they are still "eating" of their voices. touring and put out solid new music. the OTHERS who "cashed in" after seem to have life issues with addiction, incarceration, death, etc. etc.

lastdecember said:

First of all that whole "Thing" killed itself, just like RB boy bands like Boy II Men died off, so did the metal melodic bands, for the reason stated first off, they werent that fucking good.

The ones that survived time are good enough to get by, Bon Jovi still exists because Jon and its members tour and play LIVE and are good writers and musicians, and have worldwide fans, they built it and they respected their following, alot dont. Please dont mention fucking bands like Slaughter and Warrant Winger Bang Tango and whomever in the breath of Bon Jovi.

Like I heard Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters say, when Nirvana came out no one knew what was going to happen the label only printed 100,000 of that album "nevermind" thats how much the label thought that band was going to sell 10+million of it. It caught fire because the top songs of that time were so mainstream and polished that something had to give, there is always going to be changes in tastes and fads especially back then in the day. But as Dave Also said when Nirvana blew up every label guy came to seattle to cash in on the NEXT THING and that is why things die off, when you start cashing in its all over. AND THAT is what Pop Metal did, that is what Pop boy bands did, that is what RB boy bands did, that is what melodic country pop did, that was everything does.

So lay off Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam is still around making great records because they are good, SLAUGHTER isnt cause they sucked. Dave Grohl created the Foo Fighters from nothing and ha that band as the only indie artist making millions, because they are good. Poison had a catchy tune here and there, but they wanted to just party and thats why they are where they are, a novelty act.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Anyone who has read or remembered any of my posts over the last ten years know that once some blows up, it usually is led by the innovators, which spawn a few copycats, and then a whole slew of wannabes. The innovators, who usually have toiled for years in obscurtity, suddenly get that huge hit and become overnight sensations. After a few of them suddenly get the mainstream success they deserve, a few copycats emerge, who may sound exactly like the innovators and even have the technical chops to play with them but don't have the innate passion or creativity to distinguish themsleves from them. They may get a few hits here or there but are dumped as the poseurs they are. And then you get the wannabes who have little or no talent who muck up the scene and cause it to go downhill, which usually leads to the next big wave of music.

Grunge/alternative may have "killed" hair metal, but hair metal was already killing itself by the time Nirvana released "Smells Like Teen Spirit." In fact, hair metal got started in the early 80's when Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, and Motley Crue were playing the Sunset Strip. Add Bon Jovi from the east coast, and you have the vanguard of the hair metal scene. Then you had the copycat bands like Ratt, Poison, Warrant, Dokken, and Cinderella, and once hair metal blew up in the late 80's., a whole slew of crappy wannbes came forward (Skid Row, Slaughter, Firehouse, Trixter, Winger, etc.) and took the whole scene downhill. It was no wonder Nirvana became so huge.

But grunge had its own rise and fall. Sure, it was led by Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Hole, and Smashing Pumpkins were added on later. But then you got copycats like Stone Temple Pilots, Bush/Gavin Rossdale, Collective Soul, and Alanis Morissette (who made it safe for pop radio), and then a whole bunch of wannbes like Candlebox, Seven Mary Three, and Traci Bonham, whose sound was crappy and lyrically sang nothing more than "I hate my parents because they won't kiss my ass." Grunge eventually collpased under it own weight, and it opened the doors for early wave millennial teen pop (Spice Girls, Hanson, Backstreet Boys, Nsync, Britney Spears, Chistina Aguilera).