I think there are far better bands from the grunge era than Nirvana. They were ok, but listening to Nevermind, you get the feeling that Cobain hated life and wanted to die. Other bands of that style had far more range, like Pearl Jam and The Smashing Pumpkins. Sure, they would not exactly be called upbeat, but they were not anywhere near as completely negative as Nirvana was. Sadly, today's music is way too corporate. Alternative used to mean groups with something decent to say that may have been out of the mainstream. Now that they are the mainstream, we get crap like My Chemical Romance, emo and the really bad "screamo",etc. In the old days, it was groups like REM. Basically, today's alternative is the same old pop themed crap that has always pleased the corporate music business but with a different sound. Hair metal was similarly corporatized in the 80's, with nothing meaningful to say. I like some of it, just like I like some modern stuff, but it is not really my style. I prefer music with a more melancholy way of seeing life. I do, however, find almost all Country and Hip Hop to be intolerable. Too formulaic for my taste. How may songs can you write about 20 inch wheels and big booty hoes before it all becomes trite? I mean, more than it already is?
