Part IX Page 2
Then Nirvana exploded upon the world with their song "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Its mixture of accessibly simple vocal melodies and punk angst quickly drew hordes of fans eager to listen to something new. Kurt Cobain's depressed lyrics attracted millions of Generation X teenagers who felt as if the old stars of glam metal had nothing to do with their lives; flash and sex just weren't reality anymore, or so everyone thought. Until the death of Cobain in 1994, the members of Nirvana were MTV darlings and helped impulse the so-called Seattle scene, taking away the heavy metal scene from Los Angeles. The grunge wave was so overwhelming commercially that new alternative metal bands began springing out throughout the world, eventually oversaturating the scene. Few bands remained true to their original styles; the likes of the Black Crowes and the Four Horsemen reviving the bluesier rock of the Sixties; Pride & Glory displaying a Southern-influenced rock style; and Love/Hate, the Almighty, and the intensely political and pseudo-alternative Warrior Soul remaining true to a more straightforward heavy metal style.
After the wake of Nirvana, several bands quickly attained fame status. Soundgarden kept to its tried and true formula; Alice In Chains offered a dark, broody musical landscape; and Pearl Jam, perhaps the second most important band of the alternative scene, offered intricate guitar arrangements and melodies, along with Eddie Vedder's low growls and words from the heart on its masterful debut album Ten. The alternative metal scene quickly grew as MTV gave such bands heavy video rotation and took them to stardom, while turning its back on all other forms of heavy metal after a couple of years and for no apparent reason. Later came bands like Stone Temple Pilots, which evolved from a poor man's Pearl Jam to a force of its own, the punk-turned-alternative Soul Asylum, the unique My Sister's Machine, the acclaimed Saigon Kick, Blind Melon, Big Chief, Candlebox, Dinosaur Jr., Moist, and Sponge, all with different degrees of success.
