MOTLEY CRUE’S VINCE NEIL STATES THAT ONLY BANDS WHOSE CAREERS WERE ON THE WAY OUT CLAIMED GRUNGE KILLED ROCK MUSIC
Blabbermouth.net reports:
Motley Crue singer Vince Neil claims that his band “supported” the rise of grunge in the early ’90s and says that Seattle music scene “didn’t seem to kill” Motley Crue the way it affected many of the other so-called “hair-metal” bands who were mega successful in the ’80s.
“We went on [MTV’s] Headbanger’s Ball and we’d had an early pressing of [Nirvana’s] Nevermind,” Neil told Q magazine. “We were talking about a bunch of upcoming bands and told people to check that album out. We supported that whole thing.
I don’t know why people say grunge killed rock. Only people whose careers were on the way out said that. It didn’t seem to kill us.
I was talking to Courtney Love [wife of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain] one time and she told me that one of Kurt’s favorite records was [Motley Crue’s 1981 album] Too Fast For Love.”
Rob Zombie recently told England’s TeamRock Radio that the American rock scene never recovered from the the ’90s grunge explosion. Zombie explained, “When the grunge rock thing hit, with Nirvana and all that, everybody thought it was cool to be anti-rock star. But in a way they sort of anti-rock starred themselves right out the door, because the rap guys came in and they said, ‘Fuck it. We’ll be the rock stars then, if you guys are going to wear flannel shirts and stare at your feet.’ And in the U.S., truthfully, rock music has never recovered from that.”
Zombie added, “A whole generation of kids thought, ‘Fuck this! Rock music is boring. Let’s go listen to rap music.’ And it’s never recovered.”
additional source: blabbermouth.net
A lot of the 80’s metal bands survived and still tour today. How much shoe staring grunge Dbags are still around? Not many….. And the Corabi Crue album kicked ASS!!!
I disagree with Vince. Mr. Zombie was right. So was Gene Simmons with his observations on grunge through the years. I had always listened to the same rock radio station getting ready in the morning. So while I would be shaving I would hear a mix of classic rock acts like Aerosmith along with the newer bands like Cinderella, Poison, etc. So radio was doing a nice job of mixing in old and new rock. Rock was still progressing nicely n a logical fashion thank you. Then one day I’m getting ready and I hear something coming out of the speaker. On one hand it had elements of rock–electric guitar chords, heavy drums, and raspy vocals. BUT, it was different. It was not a natural progression of rock. The chords were some kind of odd diminished minor 7th chords, as were the vocal melodies (and the singers always seemed to sing slightly flat or off key), and the lyrics were downright depressing to be quite honest. I didn’t care for it really, because I couldn’t relate. I just wasn’t that depressed or angry. I liked rock for the power, the aggression, the message of fun or using that aggression to overcome life’s obstacles. Hope instead of hopelessness I guess you could say. I couldn’t relate to lyrics that basically stated your lot in life sucks, always will, so why try? At any rate, I thought. well, if the radio station mixes this crap in I can hang and eventually will hear some Zep, G&R, etc. NOPE! The radio station had gone 100% grunge with a flip of a switch and turned folks like me off. Existing hair bands didn’t have a chance to get new music heard. Classic rock band could only get their older material on what suddenly became “classic rock” stations. When is the last time you’ve heard new material from a classic rock artist played on broadcast radio? Never? I recently read an article about Billy Squier in which he said he hand-delivered tapes in the 90s of what he thought was going to be his best and most successful album to date to the then new Capital Records president and was basically told that “it’s the best new material from any band I’ve heard in a long time and I’m gonna kill it by making sure no one hears it.” Huh? So the above shows that both radio and record industries were in collusion to kill rock tso as not to compete with grunge. How’d that work out for them? Folks can only take so much depression and gloom. Who wants to buy nothing but that? Grunge was destined to have a short life span from the start. So rock was dead, grunge was a fad, and hip hop filled the void. Duh.
Vince Neil goes up against facts…and facts win!
Seriously, what is he talking about? This isn’t even up for debate. Once grunge hit the scene, music was de-tuned, distortion got turned to 10, melodies took a holiday, and everyone got sad and serious.
It’s more like Bands from the 80s fizzled out from the limelight cause the Record Companies wanted to market something new which was Grunge. They died cause the Record Companies did not support the old bands, Band members could not get along anymore cause of fights and/or Drugs, and the Fans wanted something new so they turned to Grunge until the late 90s when Bands were doing reunion shows for cash.
Richard, not all fans wanted something new, I know I didn’t. I was happy with the music scene at that time -’89 – ’91, until the first time I heard Nirvana & Pearl Jam and thought, what is this sh*t? Some of the worst stuff I’ve ever heard, if not the worst! That song “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam, if I remember it correctly, is the most F’N depressing song I had ever heard in my life! Never wanted to hear it again, and never did/will! IMO, music supposed to make you happy, feel good, not bored & depressed. Party animals like, Roth, Hagar, Tyler, they know what music is really all about, and what it should be about. 🙂
Doug,
The video for Jeremy was equally brutal, just awful. I get where they were going, as bullying is still a major issue in the world. But cripey, that video was so upsetting, haunting, and yes, depressing. So, I guess it did its job because I will never forget it.
Dana 🙂
You’re right Dana, I know music can be used for other things other than partying, of course, but when I was bullied in school in the 70’s, the last thing I wanted to hear was a song that reminded me of it! I wanted/needed an escape, and Kiss, Aerosmith, Van Halen, AC/DC, was just what I needed! I actually feel sorry for people who were in their teens in the 90’s, there really wasn’t a whole lot of escape, Gothic, Grunge, Rap. I thank God everyday I grew up in the 70’s/80’s era that I did. Hopefully, all the teens that went through what they did in the 90’s, (I seen my Niece & Nephew go through a lot of sh*t) survived that era and are happy & healthy today. 🙂
There were some great bands and equally great music coming out before Grunge hit the scene, Tesla being one of those bands. Pearl Jam I don’t really consider grunge, they are a talented rock band still going strong today. Not exactly my cup of tea but talented. I grew up in the 90’s and of course once somebody unique and different comes along the copy cat’s come out in full swing, so I got tired of all those bands! Guess what, Rap and the boy bands came in and started selling millions and getting all the mtv exposure!! It was reaaaaal cheesy. But yes Dana that Jeremy video was just brutal, especially the uncensored version. I have never forgotten the images it was a powerful video.
Carlos,
I wholeheartedly agree, Tesla is a great band. Also, John Sykes’ Blue Murder album came out just on the cusp in ’89 🙂
D 🙂
You are so right Doug R. Life is good. Not without problems. But good. Music can help carry us through the tough times or better yet help us to some degree forget them for a moment. You know, there’s only one way to rock. Rock and roll all night and dance the night away. Better then staring at my shoes…
3 of my favorite songs! 🙂
It’s a common misconception that grunge killed it off-fact is, bands were hurting before it. Juan Crucier talked about it on Ratt’s BTM. Then, most of the hair bands got jumped on the blues bandwagon and it killed their careers because they were so blatantly phony at it. If grunge hadn’t of come along it wouldn’t have changed things one iota.