Post-grunge | |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Early to mid-1990s, United States |
Typical instruments | |
Regional scenes | |
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock and hard 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 late 1990s and early 2000s.
During the 1990s, a "post-grunge" sound emerged which emulated the attitudes and music of grunge, particularly its thick, distorted guitars, but with a more commercially accessible tone. Unlike a lot of early grunge bands, post-grunge bands often worked through major record labels and incorporated influences from a variety of musical genres including: jangle pop, pop punk, ska revival, alternative metal and classic rock. Post-grunge music tends to be in mid-tempo and is noted for having "a polished, radio-ready production". Grierson of About.com wrote that musically, post-grunge bands "split the difference between plaintive ballads and aggressive rockers, resulting in songs that combine the two extremes into a sad-eyed, propulsive middle ground".
Post-grunge tends to feature melodies and song structures that are common in pop music. Sometimes post-grunge music features both an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar playing simultaneously. A "major rift" between grunge and post-grunge is in the lyrical substance of the music; grunge expressed emotion through loose metaphors or third-person narratives, while post-grunge was known for being direct and blunt. While describing lyrics that are common in post-grunge, Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound wrote that post-grunge "plunged directly into the "I." " Geffen wrote that most post-grunge songs that achieved mainstream success "call after a prospective or past companion in the first person". Post-grunge lyrics also tend to be about topics such as relationships, romance and drug addiction. According to Geffen, "grunge's frontmen posed with their addictions; post-grunge's songwriters sought redemption for them". According to Geffen, artists such as Alanis Morissette, No Doubt and Sarah McLachlan all "crystallized the songwriting strategy that would form the emotional core of the post-grunge moment".