#21

Definitely not a Britpop album in itself, but crucial in making space for that scene after a time when British music had been peculiarly in thrall to America.

1 Like
#22

Do you think that album spawned a ‘scene’ though? Obviously launched Kanye West but he always struck me as a one man gang, as Tommy Wright III might say. I don’t really associate him with a scene or city.

2 Likes
#23

Possibly a scene of (in a non-snarky way) middle-class white kids getting into rap again? The sort of move away from the boring mainstream guitar thing again?

#24

Yeah, maybe. I argue the indie labels of the late 90s/early 00s (Rawkus, Anticon, Stones Throw) were more of a catalyst for that. I’ve only ever followed Kanye from afar though tbh, so can’t really remember what the average Kanye fan was like at the time.

#25

Yeah it’s hard to say. It definitely felt to me like he was the first modern black hip-hop artist to get strong positive reaction from DiS at the time.

Whether that was just DiS or a general thing I can’t say

#26

I guess it was more a sound than a scene. But as soon as it came out the sound of mainstream rap basically changed overnight. 808s is probs a more accurate shout for kanye I guess

#27

Very important instigator in the Proper Haircut Scene

10 Likes
#28

4 Likes
#29

I agree, but the title is called “debut albums…etc”

1 Like
#30

Grunge was (and still is) a fashion scene, sure, but not a music one, completely fabricated imo.

For instance, literally the only connection between Nirvana and Soundgarden is geography.

#31

Hmm. How are we defining ‘scene’? There was definitely a bunch of heavy rock bands in the pacific north west in the late 80s, some of whom sounded vaguely similar, some of whom were friends. I imagine the same bunch of people in seattle were gojng to see skin yard, mudhoney, green river, soundgarden etc in the early days. ‘Grunge’ was a media invention and convenient label, but isnt that true of most scenes?

2 Likes
#32

Poor jason everman

3 Likes
#33

ok, two things

#34

oh i didn’t read the thread at all :smiley: have this instead

3 Likes
#35

I’d agree with all of that, yes

#36

The Stone Roses

One might argue that the baggy scene was kicked off by the Happy Mondays given that they’d been around longer, wore the baggy clothes and were the ones who coined the term ‘Madchester’, but my recollection is that they were pretty niche prior to the arrival of the Roses (their records were only really being championed by Peel, who probably saw them as a kind of dole-scum version of The Fall).

Rather, it was overnight success of The Stone Roses debut, along with their Spike Island gig, which led directly to the explosion of bands in Manchester, and subsequently elsewhere in the UK, aping (pun intended) Ian Brown’s style. The Mondays (or more likely their manager) were quick to recognise what was happening and positioned themselves accordingly.

#37

You can literally pinpoint what makes a grunge sound though. This is a ridiculous take. Out of interest, how old are you?

3 Likes
#38

Klaxxons (wasnt a very good scene, but still)

1 Like
#39

go on then!

1 Like
#40

In words? No, but when Nine Black Alps came along it was very much a grunge throwback.

Goo and Never mind and the early Mudhoney stuff is definitely of a very similar production and sound: fuzzy guitars rather than the cleaner distortion of classic rock, solos that aren’t like your classic rock style at all, we have a muddied sound in general.

I mean there are tonnes of lame classic rock lovers in the US who cite Grunge as the end of guitar rock music.

If Grunge has no sound them there isn’t a single defined sound out there, which is fine but reductive