Post-grunge

Post-grunge
Stylistic origins	Alternative rock,[1] grunge
Cultural origins	Mid-1990s United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia
Typical instruments	Electric guitar  • acoustic guitar  • bass guitar  • drums  • vocal
Mainstream popularity	Mid-1990s to late 2000s
Regional scenes
British Columbia, California, Pacific Northwest, Southern Ontario, Upper Midwest
Other topics
Post-grunge bands

Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone. This made post-grunge bands like Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Creed and Matchbox Twenty among the most commercially successful rock acts of the later 1990s and early 2000s.

History

The death of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana in early 1994, as well as touring problems for Pearl Jam, marked a decline for grunge that year.^[1] At the same time major record labels began signing and promoting bands that were emulating the genre.^[2] The term post-grunge was coined to describe these bands, who emulated the attitudes and music of grunge, particularly thick, distorted guitars, but with a more radio-friendly commercially-oriented sound.^[1] Often they worked through the major labels and came to incorporate diverse influences from jangle pop, pop punk, ska revival, alternative metal, or hard rock.^[1] The term post-grunge was meant to be pejorative, suggesting that they were simply musically derivative, or a cynical response to an "authentic" rock movement.^[3]

Foo Fighters performing an acoustic show

In 1995, former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl's new band, the Foo Fighters, helped popularize the genre and define its parameters, becoming one of the most commercially successful rock bands in the US, aided by considerable airplay on MTV.^[4] Some post-grunge bands, like Candlebox, were from Seattle, but the sub-genre was marked by a broadening of the geographical base of grunge, with bands like Atlanta, Georgia's Collective Soul, Australia's Silverchair and England's Bush, who all cemented post-grunge as one of the most commercially viable sub-genres by the late 1990s.^[1][5] Although male bands predominated, female solo artist Alanis Morissette's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, labelled as post-grunge, also became a multi-platinum hit.^[6] With the first wave of post-grunge bands losing popularity, bands like Creed, Staind, Puddle of Mudd, Three Days Grace, and Nickelback took post-grunge into the 21st century with considerable commercial success, abandoning most of the angst and anger of the original movement for more conventional anthems, narratives and romantic songs, and were followed in this vein by new acts including Shinedown and Seether.^[3]

See also

• List of post-grunge bands

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Post-grunge", Allmusic, retrieved 17 January 2010.
2. ^ M. Azerrad, Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991, (Boston: Little Brown and Company, 2001), ISBN 0-316-78753-1, pp. 452–3.
3. ^ ^{a b} T. Grierson, "Post-Grunge: A History of Post-Grunge Rock", About.com, retrieved 1 January 2010.
4. ^ V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), p. 423.
5. ^ V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), pp. 1344-7.
6. ^ V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), p. 761.