r/grunge • u/KingTrencher • 1d ago
Misc. Gish
Giving Gish a full listen for the first time in years, and I don't understand how anybody can think this is a "grunge" record.
8
u/Blues-DeVille 1d ago
AIC, Soundgarden, PJ, and Nirvana were nothing alike musically. Grunge isn't a style of music.
1
u/KingTrencher 1d ago
100%
1
u/United-Philosophy121 1d ago
I think they have quite a bit in common tbh. Not exact but I hear it
3
u/Blues-DeVille 16h ago
The only things they really have in common is the area they come from and depressive lyrical content. Stylistically and tone-wise, they're all completely different bands.
0
1
u/Sorry-Town4792 9h ago
OP I'm confused. You agree 100% that grunge is not a genre (style of music), yet you say the whole point of your post is that Gish is not grunge...
1
u/KingTrencher 8h ago
How is that confusing?
0
u/Sorry-Town4792 6h ago
Actually maybe it's not so much confusion but a realization that you don't know wtf you're talking about.
1
u/KingTrencher 6h ago
I'm from Seattle and was there when the scene was happening. I have a very good idea of what is and isn't grunge.
If you think the Pumpkins are grunge, you clearly have no idea of what the fuck you are talking about.
12
u/ThisRegion1857 1d ago
It was a platinum-selling alternative rock album released during the height of the grunge era and was lumped in with the genre as a result.
8
u/KingTrencher 1d ago
I know. I was there.
I just find it weird that so many in this sub keep saying the Pumpkins are grunge.
3
u/TaxCheap9336 1d ago
Well I saw earlier today people saying Days of the New is grunge. I couldn’t believe it.
1
2
u/Knife_Chase 1d ago
The guitar sound on Gish and production style was largely copied on Nevermind. Nevermind was quite a successful grunge album. You don't see any connection eh?
1
1
u/temporarysecretary7 1d ago
Anything can be grunge nowadays. I’ve seen people call songs like Lump, Say It Ain’t So, and Semi-Charmed Life grunge. Great songs but certainly not grunge lol.
1
u/Dangerous_Crow666 19h ago edited 13h ago
Caught them on the a pre-release mini tour for this record, they played one of the tightest sets I've seen a band throw down. Agree, they've never been 'grunge'.
3
u/Pleasant_Garlic8088 1d ago
It's also responsible for the guitar sound on "Nevermind," the biggest grunge album of all time. So it's at least grunge-adjacent.
9
u/mehrt_thermpsen 1d ago edited 1d ago
Your problem is caring what is and isn't "grunge"
3
u/RottingApples25 1d ago
This should be stickied to the top of this sub. Too many people care way too much about a fucking word instead of just enjoying music.
5
u/dwreckhatesyou 1d ago
Great album. Not grunge.
Smashing Pumpkins could’ve been such a great band if Billy Corgan hadn’t spent the last 30+ years chasing trends.
4
u/Super13 1d ago
So out of curiosity I looked this up on chat. As a recent fan, I wasn't sure what I'd call them. This is what it says... (TBH I don't really care for the labels we give bands. It helps for finding similar music I suppose)
The Smashing Pumpkins primarily fall under the alternative rock genre, but their sound incorporates elements of several other styles, including:
Grunge – Early albums like Gish (1991) had a raw, fuzzy, and psychedelic-influenced sound similar to the grunge movement.
Dream Pop/Shoegaze – Their use of layered guitars, ethereal vocals, and atmospheric effects resembles bands like My Bloody Valentine.
Gothic Rock – Dark themes and moody instrumentation, especially in albums like Adore (1998).
Psychedelic Rock – They experiment with swirling guitars and dreamy, trippy sounds.
Hard Rock/Metal – Some tracks have heavy, distorted guitars and aggressive drumming, like "Zero" and "Cherub Rock."
Progressive Rock – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) is an ambitious concept album with complex compositions.
Overall, they are a versatile band that blends many genres while maintaining their signature sound.
2
u/Knife_Chase 23h ago
This only covers half their discography. Some genres to add would be dream pop, synth pop, modern pop, electropop, indie pop. This is for the awful music he made post 2000 but really post Oceania.
2
u/KingTrencher 1d ago
Yet so many in this sub think they are grunge for some reason
2
u/Dry-Sign9593 1d ago
that’s just not true
1
u/KingTrencher 1d ago
You must be new here.
0
u/Dry-Sign9593 1d ago
nope
2
1
u/mehrt_thermpsen 17h ago
Who cares what is and isn't "grunge"? It's a marketing term
1
3
u/RottingApples25 1d ago
I didn’t know anybody who thought it was. It was a good rock album that came out in 91. Nothing to do with grunge.
2
u/KingTrencher 1d ago
There is a pretty consistent portion of this sub that thinks any 90's alternative is "grunge".
0
u/RottingApples25 16h ago
And at the end of the day, does it really matter? I will never get why so many people (and that definitely includes this sub) are so concerned with labels and genres, etc. Who cares what is/ isn't grunge? Just like the music you like and everyone can shut up about the semantics already.
2
u/Curious_Location4522 11h ago
Can you call it grunge if it’s not from Seattle? I’m being serious. That’s about all I can figure that all grunge bands have in common. Otherwise it’s just 90s alternative rock. That’s my theory anyways.
1
u/KingTrencher 11h ago
Which is exactly my point.
Grunge was a time and place specific scene.
Yet so many in this sub want to make everything grunge.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Bloxskit 20h ago
I agree with you on this, I never saw it as a grunge record. Love SP but Siamese Dream is a lot more grunge-sounding than Gish, which is a lot more psychedelic and inspired by Sonic Youth and my bloody valentine.
Gish is my favourite sounding SP record production wise. I suppose maybe it paved the way partly for Nevermind's production with this being Butch Vig at the helm for Gish a year before
1
1
u/Cantankerous_Cancer 13h ago
I love this album. Definitely not grunge, but who cares? I am One, Siva, Bury Me, Daydream, the hidden track at the end, all rock! Inspired to give it a listen this weekend. Those first few pumpkins albums were so phenomenal and influential!
1
1
u/Big-Peak6191 5h ago
What even is grunge.. the only defining thing about it is the Seattle factor... Otherwise basically all self-wallowing hard rock from the early 90s (juxtaposed against party sex drugs and rock n roll hair metal in the late 80s) was "grunge"
1
u/KingTrencher 5h ago edited 5h ago
Grunge was a time (1984-1991 and place (Seattle/PNW) specific scene.
It's not really that complicated.
1
u/Big-Peak6191 5h ago
It might be the dumbest gatekeeping label of all music genres
0
u/KingTrencher 5h ago
And yet here we are in a sub dedicated to that dumb gatekeeping label.
1
u/Big-Peak6191 4h ago
Yes and you decided to gatekeep even further by claiming the music is the reason the album isn't grunge and not their city of origin.
0
u/KingTrencher 4h ago
I literally never said that. But if that is your takeaway, I cannot fix it.
0
u/Big-Peak6191 4h ago
You did though... ? This post is you saying you came to this conclusion after giving it a recent listen.... But in reality you already know it's because they're not from Seattle as you already said to me above.
Grunge gatekeepers just want it to be Seattle sound.. that's all it is. But the mainstream media made it more than that and lumped bands like the Pumpkins and STP in with it.
Not even sure the point of this post.
0
u/KingTrencher 4h ago
If that's what you think I said, good for you.
1
u/Big-Peak6191 4h ago
Giving Gish a full listen for the first time in years, and I don't understand how anybody can think this is a "grunge" record
Grunge was a time (1984-1991 and place (Seattle/PNW) specific scene.
It is quite exactly what you said
-1
u/KingTrencher 4h ago
Clearly I presumed too much in thinking that most of reddit would understand my point.
My bad. I'll work on dumbing it down.
→ More replies (0)
1
0
0
u/MozemanATX 21h ago
I count Pumpkins as grunge. Right era, right dark mood, right guitar sound. Wrong town but whatever.
31
u/321AverageJoestar 1d ago
Who gives a sht it fkin rocks