Alternative Sound Bytes

3. Stone Temple Pilots

One grunge band from outside of Seattle is Stone Temple Pilots. STP had so much going on for them that made it as one of the more prominent names in the genre of 1990s alternative. The group had over 17 million albums sold in the United States alone, fifteen singles topped the Billboard charts, a “Best Hard Rock Performance” Grammy award, and a number of American Music awards.

Alongside STP’s fame was a load of harsh criticisms against them. They rose so quickly upon the release of their debut album “Core” and their fans grew more and more. The Rolling Stone magazine declared them as the “Best New Band” but their music critics said otherwise – “Worst New Band”. However, before actually disbanding in the year 2002, the group released four more albums that were all successful, and this made STP leave a deep mark in the grunge music scene.

4. Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains, formed in 1987, is also from Seattle. The band released three albums as well as an EP entitled “Jar of Flies”. To date, this EP was the one which sold over ten million copies around the world. Alice in Chains’ signature was their intense guitar and distortion music and such was truly manifested in their album “Dirt”.
However, the popularity of grunge music and its bad side effects took toll on the band. Alice in Chains was truly successful with its career but vocalist Layne Staley’s problem with drug addiction greatly affected the future of the band. His death due to substance overdose led to the unofficial disbanding of the grunge group.

The rise of alternative rock in the USA. From its early underground days where bands like Black Flag drew inspiration from the DIY ethos of punk, Left Of The Dial traces the history of the network of fans, clubs and fanzines that sustained the scene and launched the careers of bands like R.E.M., The Pixies and Husker Du. The film takes a fresh look at the explosion of the Seattle scene, culminating in the success of Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ and the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow.Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/sevenages/programmes/left-of-the-dial/

Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez of Deep Forest are sound reporters. A voiceless musical duo, they draw on voices from every corner of the world. Under their patronage, infinitely distant utterances have become familiar to us. Hymns of joy and cries of anger, prayers and aubades, songs of hope and despair have all been brought to shake our certainties, seize our senses and stir our emotions.From Africa or Eastern Europe, from pygmies to nomads,the human visions brought to us by Deep Forest have helped greatly in narrowing the musical gap between the hemispheres. In the North of France, Deep Forest’s homeland, sheltered from sight and far from worldly concerns, a true communion has sprung up between ethnic songs and instruments on the one hand, and accordion, piano, synthesisers and high technology on the other.

Deep Forest’s music – in the manner of so many non-Western civilisations – refuses to draw lines between joy and suffering, elation and sadness, just as, from the very beginning, it has banished all barriers of style from its personal grammar. After three albums and thanks to the diversity of encounters, mixes and alliances that the group has undertaken, Deep Forest have not only invented a sound different from any other, they have also created a language. From the heart of the Amazon forest to the North of France, from Havana to Prague, from Madagascar to New York, it remains our best-shared secret.

Source

The huge genre of the music industry has joined in the commercial mainstream to harvest the rewards and make things easier. But this phenomenon is not a bad thing. Proof of which is Echoing August. For a song to be successful, it has to be catchy. The melody and lyrics must stick to the mind of the listeners so that singing along will not be a hard task. These are the ingredients used by Echoing August for its songs. The first E.P. of the band, the Intentions, was released and include Nick Martucci on vocals and guitar, Shawn Sandi on drums and Pat McCarthy on bass.

An alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979.

The band comprised guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars for most of their career.

The Band began as a punk rock group, but began to incorporate other subgenres of rock music and became instrumental in the development of early alternative rock.The Replacements is one of the influences of these bands such as The Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, Pavement and many more.

Following the critically acclaimed Let It Be (1984), the band signed to Sire Records, becoming one of the first American underground rock bands to sign to a major record label.

In the ’80s the Replacements’ blend of punk guitar and pop melodies garnered critical acclaim but little commercial success. Hailing from the Minneapolis home base of acts as diverse as Hüsker Dü and Prince, the quartet was seen by its fans as generational spokesmen; Paul Westerberg’s angst-ridden confessional songs cast him as a postpunk Bob Dylan and would influence such ’90s stars as the Goo Goo Dolls.

via [Rolling Stone]

Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an acclaimed American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Known for his ethereal singing voice, Buckley was considered to be one of the most promising artists of his generation after the release of his critically acclaimed 1994 debut album Grace. At the height of his popularity, Buckley drowned during an evening swim in 1997. His work and style continue to be highly regarded by critics and fellow musicians.

via [Wikipedia]

One of my Favorite Song that’s written and sung by Jeff Buckley’s Last Goodbye and as another post from the blog site And She Writes entitled it as the Best BreakUp Song Ever.. Well, it depends on how you listen it, you may get different meaning and interpretation to it. Anyways I love this song, this song rules.

There are still some good songs that Jeff Buckley wrote and performed but this song really topped the charts for me.

So is there any song in particular that Jeff Buckley wrote that you like?

The Last Waltz by Killdozer was originally released in 1997 by the defunct Man’s Ruin Records. Until now, it remained to be the pioneer of the historic Madison slo-core and still the one and only certified live recording. Since year 2000, it has been totally out of print but fortunately Wisconsin label Crustacean records was able to make a totally remixed, remastered and repackaged CD version. The momentous documentary of the band’s final tour is entitled The Fuck You We Quit Tour. It is believe that there could be a possibility of a mini revival of the live recording of their 1996 final show.

Bands in the late 60′s and early 70′s pushed the limits of blues-rock into a new genre which would be called heavy metal. Early eighties the heavy metal genre began a sub-genre categories to better describe the stylistic differences that were growing out of the original heavy metal movement. End of the 1970s many of the earliest heavy metal bands disbanded.

Review: Dashboard Confessional’s The Shade of Poison Trees

Dashboard Confessional fans found Dusk and Summer a wee bit disappointing and since then, there is much talk and anticipation about the band’s next album. It has been going around that Chris Carrabba was to gear back to their earlier style, which is more intimate. Indeed, The Shade of Poison Trees does seem to satisfy the standards. However, affectation is still met when the whole collection has been listened to. Nevertheless, producer Don Gilmore gave full trust to Carrabba and the rest of the band and allowed each of their hidden selves to shine through in this album.

“Fever Dreams” and “Where There’s Gold…” is perfect for the fans of the older Dashboard style and shall fulfill their listening pleasure once more as the two songs carry their signature acoustic instrumentation and sing along choruses that resemble those around the campfire. Indeed, Dashboard Confessional has come back home to cheer their loyal listeners yet again.

Click here to go to The Shade of Poison Trees tracklist

For More Info Visit the Dashboard Confessional Site..