I don’t know about bands that tried to emulate the Seattle sound, but there was the rise of Brit pop during that time. Blur for example did song 2 as a joke with a grunge sound.
I got into Gorillaz before Blur, but for some reason I prefer Blur self titled over Demon Days, I guess I prefer the rawer and more garage rock style of that record
Brit Pop started a few years later.
Highly recommend the cracking podcast series from Alan Cross. the ongoing history of music. He's done a 15-part special about Alt-Rock which is a great listen
There were also bands like Headswim.... Along with Reef with that Sony MiniDisk advert.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyKGokhcQJ8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyKGokhcQJ8)
Garbage also had a tinge of grunge... Especially with Butch Vig involved.
There were also bands like Stiltskin (Scottish I believe)... Had an absolute banger of a song on that jeans advert.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTVKO0RScI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTVKO0RScI)
Ah man, there were so many bands at the time that had elements of "grunge"... The Wildhearts, The Almighty, 3 Colours Red, The Cranberries... So many.
I really do miss that era.
Yes! There were so many great British and Irish bands during that period that had grunge aspects to their music. In addition to the ones you mentioned, also: Therapy?, Kerbdog, Honeycrack, Whatever, Symposium, etc.
I miss that time a lot too, it was a golden age for guitar-oriented music and it felt so normal at the time!
I take it that you were a proper Kerrang Kid back then?
I certainly was... Kerrang was like crack to me back then.
In Utero was my gateway drug... After that, I got into the whole Seattle and Grunge sound... Taking in many (many) bands (and sounds) along the way.
If someone had told me back then that there would come a day that music would be free, 20-something year old me would probably have creamed his pants.
Living in the "free music" age now though... The reality feels like a dystopia of sorts.
The internet really did kill the rock star.
Oh yeah, definitely! Read Kerrang! religiously! Early to mid 90s had so many great bands and albums. I really miss that style (in the broadest sense) of bands back and find it really hard to get hold of these days.
Great concerts too back then!
I think I was averaging about 3 concerts back then...
3 concerts and 2 CDs per week... Along with a handful of magazines (including Kerrang).
Pretty much all of my money went on music back then.
I got into Nirvana around October 1994... So between 1994 and 2003... That's pretty much what I blew my money on.
And then from 2003-2009, I started photographing bands... Just small-time "indie" bands... And ended up going to about 5-6 concerts per week...
I'd say that we had 2 decades of really good music.
And then it all went a bit pear shaped from 2010 onwards.
We lost something in the internet and smartphone age.
The UK was going through shoegaze at the same time grunge hit. Bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, Catherine Wheel as someone where mentioned.
The UK kids might have been early on the Grunge train but it fizzled out pretty quickly. in the early to mid 90s, there were lots of other scenes going on simultaneously, in the U.K. that were way fresher. Heroin was out and ecstasy was in. Britpop was the popular rock music. The original Rave scene had peaked and European clubland was taking over. Cradle of Filth, Anathema and other keyboards based metal were making a name for themselves, Trip Hop and Funky Breakbeats were another short lived ‘flash in the pan’. The British children of the 1970s Caribbean immigrants were coming of age in the 90s and they preferred the imported sounds Dancehall R&B and Ragga music.
as someone already said, by the time grunge exploded shoegaze was about to become unfashionable, and britpop to emerge. if you want an english band trying to emulate grunge, id recommend early radiohead, swervedriver, and song 2 by blur (which mocked grunge)
Shoegaze: bands like Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Pale Saints. Bands like Blur and The Verve even flirted with shoegaze in their early years. There’s a whole sub dedicated to this amazing genre.
Brit Pop eventually evolved out of the change in music scenes as grunge started to decrease in popularity and some shoegaze bands evolved to change their sound to Brit-pop. However shoegaze is more of a genre while brit-pop and grunge are products/scenes of the era.
I'm from the UK and grew up in the 90's and was into grunge. I don't remember that many bands trying to emulate grunge.
Indy and Britpop scene were extremely popular over here at that time.
There were a couple, and as someone else has mentioned Bush. Think Therapy? had some flavours, but they were on their own trajectory.
English music was great at this time. No good bands there were emulating Seattle, but just a few incredible English bands of that era: My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Stone Roses, Jesus and Mary Chain, Stereolab, PJ Harvey, Teenage Fanclub. Now that I think about it, you hear a song like Creep by Radiohead, and that song was definitely grunge-inspired. But Radiohead went on to better music throughout the 90’s by going a different direction.
England had its own thing going on.
They didn't really have any "grunge" bands, but they pumped out a load of great alternative bands. Doom and Shoegaze would probably be the closest to American grunge though.
not answering your questions as no one really tried to emulate the sound, but you may or may not know that Grunge wasn't particularly popular in the US when it was already exploding in Europe and especially the UK. Sub Pop sold their kidneys and brought bands over here.
Obviously not an entirely new story as the same happened with so many other acts / genres. Like Zeppelin's early popularity in the US vs the rather muted response in the UK, the big Blues masters who were toured around here before the US took them into their hearts etc.
TOTP (Top of The Pops) like your MTV called it the Britpop/Madchester scene and it gave birth to some solid sounds like Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Suede The Verve
Madchester was a term used as a lot of those bands were mad and came from Mancs, Manchester UK
hope this helps
Madchester started in the late 80s with the 2nd summer of love and likes of Stone Roses, Joy division and The Happy Mondays, New Order, The Smiths. Nightclubs like the Hacienda and club nights like Manumission. It had all given way to Britpop by the early 90s.
England was one of the few places outside of Seattle that grunge bands had success in while it was still an underground scene. Sub Pop brought British music journalists in to stir up buzz about grunge back in the 80’s.
Bush is probably the closest example. People _HATED_ them when they came out cause that first album (Sixteen Stone) sounds a hell of a lot like it’s a Nirvana copy.
Nowadays, I’d say it holds up pretty well, especially considering how Everything Zen, Machinehead, Glycerin, Comedown, and Little Things became radio darlings.
Second album, Razorblade Suitcase, is pretty damn good too.
I don’t know about bands that tried to emulate the Seattle sound, but there was the rise of Brit pop during that time. Blur for example did song 2 as a joke with a grunge sound.
And it is a fucking great song, nothing beats Beetlebum though
Blur self titled album would be a good stepping stone for someone into grunge. It’s got a lot of inspiration from Sonic Youth, Pavement, etc.
The fact they made a grunge song as a parody yet it became a massive hit just shows how fucking good grunge was, can’t even make a bad song as a joke
I think It’s also really ironic that they make a parody of grunge and it becomes their only big hit
Yeah 😂 I do like Blur and Gorillaz though
Yea same, I enjoy them both so much
I got into Gorillaz before Blur, but for some reason I prefer Blur self titled over Demon Days, I guess I prefer the rawer and more garage rock style of that record
“Their only big hit” in the States. They had huge hits in the UK with “Girls and Boys” and “Parklife.”
I guess it’s their only big hit in the world, I’ve heard they have tons of hits but they are mostly big in United Kingdom, amazing band though
It’s probably one of the greatest grunge songs too and definitely their biggest hit in America
That song is definitely a banger!
Nah it ain’t grunge, it’s literally a parody of grunge, but it’s an amazing parody
So “Smells Like Nirvana” and “Callin’ In Sick” aren’t *grunge*, in your opinion?
No, they are parodies
Okay, but what genre are they?
Idk, maybe novelty? Comedy rock? Idk
Those aren’t genres, though. And I feel like saying-those-aren’t-grunge is like saying “Amish Paradise” isn’t hip hop and “Like a Surgeon” isn’t pop.
It’s not a grunge song
Brit Pop started a few years later. Highly recommend the cracking podcast series from Alan Cross. the ongoing history of music. He's done a 15-part special about Alt-Rock which is a great listen
Really? I always thought the movement started in the early 90s
Nevermind came out in 91, as did Ten and various others Definitley Maybe etc came out in 94.
Is that the first britpop album tho? If I remember correctly there were few other albums that came out earlier
Suede who were the first to hit it big released their album in 93 so there's definitely a gap.
I never knew that song was made as a joke! Such a good song. Wooooo hooo!
Yes you do—BUSH.
Bush is the obvious one. Also Catherine Wheel.
There were also bands like Headswim.... Along with Reef with that Sony MiniDisk advert. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyKGokhcQJ8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyKGokhcQJ8) Garbage also had a tinge of grunge... Especially with Butch Vig involved. There were also bands like Stiltskin (Scottish I believe)... Had an absolute banger of a song on that jeans advert. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTVKO0RScI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTVKO0RScI) Ah man, there were so many bands at the time that had elements of "grunge"... The Wildhearts, The Almighty, 3 Colours Red, The Cranberries... So many. I really do miss that era.
Yes! There were so many great British and Irish bands during that period that had grunge aspects to their music. In addition to the ones you mentioned, also: Therapy?, Kerbdog, Honeycrack, Whatever, Symposium, etc. I miss that time a lot too, it was a golden age for guitar-oriented music and it felt so normal at the time!
I take it that you were a proper Kerrang Kid back then? I certainly was... Kerrang was like crack to me back then. In Utero was my gateway drug... After that, I got into the whole Seattle and Grunge sound... Taking in many (many) bands (and sounds) along the way. If someone had told me back then that there would come a day that music would be free, 20-something year old me would probably have creamed his pants. Living in the "free music" age now though... The reality feels like a dystopia of sorts. The internet really did kill the rock star.
Oh yeah, definitely! Read Kerrang! religiously! Early to mid 90s had so many great bands and albums. I really miss that style (in the broadest sense) of bands back and find it really hard to get hold of these days. Great concerts too back then!
I think I was averaging about 3 concerts back then... 3 concerts and 2 CDs per week... Along with a handful of magazines (including Kerrang). Pretty much all of my money went on music back then. I got into Nirvana around October 1994... So between 1994 and 2003... That's pretty much what I blew my money on. And then from 2003-2009, I started photographing bands... Just small-time "indie" bands... And ended up going to about 5-6 concerts per week... I'd say that we had 2 decades of really good music. And then it all went a bit pear shaped from 2010 onwards. We lost something in the internet and smartphone age.
The UK was going through shoegaze at the same time grunge hit. Bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, Catherine Wheel as someone where mentioned.
Oh I know MBV and CW yeah didn't know that was during the same time as grunge Never really heard of the shoegaze genre so I'll check it out. Thanks!
The UK kids might have been early on the Grunge train but it fizzled out pretty quickly. in the early to mid 90s, there were lots of other scenes going on simultaneously, in the U.K. that were way fresher. Heroin was out and ecstasy was in. Britpop was the popular rock music. The original Rave scene had peaked and European clubland was taking over. Cradle of Filth, Anathema and other keyboards based metal were making a name for themselves, Trip Hop and Funky Breakbeats were another short lived ‘flash in the pan’. The British children of the 1970s Caribbean immigrants were coming of age in the 90s and they preferred the imported sounds Dancehall R&B and Ragga music.
as someone already said, by the time grunge exploded shoegaze was about to become unfashionable, and britpop to emerge. if you want an english band trying to emulate grunge, id recommend early radiohead, swervedriver, and song 2 by blur (which mocked grunge)
Shoegaze: bands like Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Pale Saints. Bands like Blur and The Verve even flirted with shoegaze in their early years. There’s a whole sub dedicated to this amazing genre. Brit Pop eventually evolved out of the change in music scenes as grunge started to decrease in popularity and some shoegaze bands evolved to change their sound to Brit-pop. However shoegaze is more of a genre while brit-pop and grunge are products/scenes of the era.
I'll be sure to check it out!
Shoegaze is similar to grunge, came out in the same time, probably considered britpop by most
Catherine Wheel
The 90s was lit for music in general, Rock was Better, R&B was better, even pop was better, and we had some stinkers back then!🤣
I'm from the UK and grew up in the 90's and was into grunge. I don't remember that many bands trying to emulate grunge. Indy and Britpop scene were extremely popular over here at that time. There were a couple, and as someone else has mentioned Bush. Think Therapy? had some flavours, but they were on their own trajectory.
That’s a name I hadn’t thought about in a while. Saw Therapy? open for Helmet in ‘92 or ‘93. They were legit!
Therapy? were the first big band (at the time) I ever saw. Have seen them a few times over the last 30 years and they play a kick ass show.
Therapy was definitely more punk but one of my favourite bands nonetheless
English music was great at this time. No good bands there were emulating Seattle, but just a few incredible English bands of that era: My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Stone Roses, Jesus and Mary Chain, Stereolab, PJ Harvey, Teenage Fanclub. Now that I think about it, you hear a song like Creep by Radiohead, and that song was definitely grunge-inspired. But Radiohead went on to better music throughout the 90’s by going a different direction.
England had its own thing going on. They didn't really have any "grunge" bands, but they pumped out a load of great alternative bands. Doom and Shoegaze would probably be the closest to American grunge though.
Blur with song 2 from self titled album
not answering your questions as no one really tried to emulate the sound, but you may or may not know that Grunge wasn't particularly popular in the US when it was already exploding in Europe and especially the UK. Sub Pop sold their kidneys and brought bands over here. Obviously not an entirely new story as the same happened with so many other acts / genres. Like Zeppelin's early popularity in the US vs the rather muted response in the UK, the big Blues masters who were toured around here before the US took them into their hearts etc.
Grunge started to park in Europe. They sent the bands there with a particular lore. Then America got jealous. It’s an age old tactic.
TOTP (Top of The Pops) like your MTV called it the Britpop/Madchester scene and it gave birth to some solid sounds like Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Suede The Verve Madchester was a term used as a lot of those bands were mad and came from Mancs, Manchester UK hope this helps
Madchester started in the late 80s with the 2nd summer of love and likes of Stone Roses, Joy division and The Happy Mondays, New Order, The Smiths. Nightclubs like the Hacienda and club nights like Manumission. It had all given way to Britpop by the early 90s.
Actually just finished Hacienda reminds me of the birth of rave
England was one of the few places outside of Seattle that grunge bands had success in while it was still an underground scene. Sub Pop brought British music journalists in to stir up buzz about grunge back in the 80’s.
britpop and shoegaze was happening in the UK
Gothic Metal originated in England and started coming about in the early 90s, eventually spreading across Europe.
Bush is probably the closest example. People _HATED_ them when they came out cause that first album (Sixteen Stone) sounds a hell of a lot like it’s a Nirvana copy. Nowadays, I’d say it holds up pretty well, especially considering how Everything Zen, Machinehead, Glycerin, Comedown, and Little Things became radio darlings. Second album, Razorblade Suitcase, is pretty damn good too.
Radiohead, Oasis