When it comes to culture, nothing happens in a vacuum. Everything is connected, whether we can see it at first or not. One choice can impact a year, a decade, or a movement. Just look at grunge music. While the genre is said to have started in the late ’80s, it’s easy to make an argument that its roots go back far further.
When you think about the Pacific Northwest and bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana coming of age around Seattle, it’s important to consider what artists like Chris Cornell and Kurt Cobain were listening to. What did they have in their cassette players? What were they listening to on the radio?
We wanted to take a few guesses. Because when you go back into the annals of music history, knowing what we know now about grunge, we can surmise that the sounds made famous in the late ’80s and ’90s may have begun even before that. Indeed, these are three rock bands from the ’70s that could have been considered grunge.
Black Sabbath
Oh boy. Grunge music can be a tough subject to talk about because of all the tragedy, sadness, and sorrow that came from the movement. Whether talking about things like Kurt Cobain’s suicide or simply the subject matter of songs like “Fell On Black Days,” the stuff isn’t for the weak-kneed. The same can be said of Black Sabbath. The British-born rock band traversed some sullen territory, and it shows up in their songs and albums. All is night. And that fits just right in with grunge.
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper was dark. Whether he was carrying snakes, applying black makeup, or biting the head off some animal, Cooper positioned himself like a mystical shaman who would cast a curse on your family if you looked at him the wrong way. With heavy guitars and a growling voice, he was the epitome of bleak while also somehow performing songs that would stick in your mind. Sound familiar? While the macabre Cooper may have been a little too catchy at times to fit into the grunge aesthetic, he certainly was an influence.
Neil Young
Neil Young might not come first to mind when you think about grunge music. But take your prejudiced hat of judgment off for a moment and watch the acoustic concert below. Does it not remind you of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or Alice in Chains performing for MTV’s Unplugged series? Young could be put in a time machine and transported to the PNW in 1991, and no one would have batted an eyelash. And then when you take some of Young’s electric stuff, you can see the through line even more clearly.
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