The difference, by ear
The genre that displaced it, and deliberately: grunge's whole affect is a rejection of this one's. They share a decade and nothing else.
Both are sung cleanly, but grunge is a little slower: 90 to 140 bpm against 120 to 160. To hear the difference, play Mötley Crüe next to Nirvana. Glam metal comes from the metal side of the tree and grunge from the rock side, and glam metal came first, by seven years.
In figures
Glam metal
Where it sits
In short
Hard rock with hairspray, a radio chorus and a mandatory power ballad. It ruled MTV until 1991.
How it sounds
- Simple hard rock riffs with glossy production and gated reverb on the drums.
- Choruses with multiple vocal harmonies, built for radio and MTV.
- A mandatory ballad on every album, usually the hit single.
Key acts
- Mötley Crüe
- Ratt
- Poison
- Skid Row
Start here
The pickSkid Row - Slave to the Grind. The genre's heaviest album, released exactly too late.
Full page →Grunge
Where it sits
Rock › Alternative rock › Grunge
In short
Punk plus Black Sabbath plus flannel: quiet verse, exploding chorus and lyrics about self-disgust.
How it sounds
- Quiet verse, chorus at full distortion - the dynamic taken from the Pixies.
- Guitars sometimes tuned a whole step down, through simple fuzz pedals.
- Hoarse vocals with lyrics about self-disgust, apathy and unfocused anger.
Key acts
- Nirvana
- Soundgarden
- Alice in Chains
- Pearl Jam
Start here
The pickAlice in Chains - Dirt. The heaviest and bleakest record the scene produced.
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