Eldon Tyrell

I recently watched the excellent (but sad) documentary "Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story". Mark was known for his two-string slide bass but he actually started with a one-string bass. This made me think, what are cool songs that only use one string? Ok, I'll make a start with this one:

I went for the long-scale and passive model (natural finish and black hardware). It seems to be the most popular of the four as it sold out after just a few days. The black one (log-scale and active) sold out some time later and the two short scale models are still available. https://shop.music-man.com/instruments.html?instrument_type=5465

Yes, cool bass that is a bit of a "best of" Stingray. Classic looks (natural finish and old school bridge, mutes and logo), some features from the current Special (neodymium pickup, 18V preamp (for the active models), the sculpted neck joint and the roasted maple neck) and some new features such as the adjustable finger ramp, the natural finish-black hardware combo and the passive option for a full-scale Stingray). At first, I was a bit concerned about having a passive Stingray but then I plugged it into my Sansamp BDDI and my GK 200w amp and the worries stopped immediately. It sounds massive (especially if you go series mode and engage the boost function). Just ask my neighbours 😉

I think you are right. Mentally, I am still stuck between 87 and 94. Best times ever.

Looks like you are right and they are indeed planning to go on tour again. I thought they had retired. Their last tour was the so-called "The Final Tour" (2014-2015). Maybe they should call the new tour "The Final Tour II". Reminds me a bit of a computer game I played back in the late 80s: "The Last Ninja II" 😉

Same here. In case you haven't watched it yet, you may want to check out this documentary:

I don't think anyone considers RATM to have anything to do with grunge.

Sorry but I think your sentence ended rather abruptly. I am sure you were meant to say: "Motley Crue continue to be hugely embarrassing" 😉

Well, there are only four possible answers to that: a) Time is relative b) Stub got it wrong c) Time is an illusion d) Who the hell are Hanoi Rocks?

Both the documentary as well as the follow-up 20 years later were good but did not mention Alice in Chains enough. Not sure why 😞

Before the term/label grunge got used, there was no other term that everyone used. They just called it the Seattle scene, the Seattle sound, the Northwest sound etc. I just created a thread that features Hype!, a documentary that gives a very good overview of the scene in the early 90s. There were so many bands and people were hopping around from band to band quite a lot. The documentary also explains that Seattle's remote location was one of the reasons for the strong scene there- not that many bands from the rest of the US (or abroad) bothered playing there. For most, the US ended in San Francisco. This created a strong DIY (sub-)culture in the Northwest. The notoriously bad weather in the Northwest also helped as people could not do much outdoors and would form bands instead (remember - these were the pre-Internet and pre-social media days). Maybe the latter explains why so many good bands came (still come?) from Manchester?

Also cool - Hype!- 20 years later that features interviews with several of the documentary's protagonists

Just came across this very good documentary that shows the growth and subsequent overexposure of the Seattle scene in the early 90s. From Wiki: Hype! (1996) is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the development of the grunge scene from its early beginning in neighborhood basements to its emergence as an explosive pop culture phenomenon. Hype! attempts to dispel some of the myths of the genre promulgated by media hype by depicting the grunge subculture from the point of view of people who were active in the scene. The film generally portrays this mythos in a satirical way while acknowledging that it was media hype that helped propel some of these obscure bands to fame. Hype! includes interviews and performances from bands (primarily oriented with the Sub Pop Records axis) such as TAD, Blood Circus, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Coffin Break, The Gits, Love Battery, Flop, The Melvins, Some Velvet Sidewalk, Mono Men, Supersuckers, Zipgun, Seaweed, Pearl Jam, 7 Year beach, Hovercraft, Gas Huffer, and Fastbacks. It also features interviews with band manager Susan Silver, record producers Jack Endino and Steve Fisk, and photographer Charles Peterson. It is one of the few films to contain video footage of Nirvana's first performance of their breakthrough hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Some more info: https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/hype-101849/

Exactly, or as I put it once: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long"

Agree. The main protagonists of the "grunge movement" were all very different but the media and record labels love labels. It's just a classic marketing tool. Extracts from sub pop's website: https://www.subpop.com/artists/sub_pop “Sub Pop was the grunge label, right?” That’s right—the original home to Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, incredible bands all. Bands whose members even, on occasion, wore flannel shirts. And 15 years after the rest of America draped itself in fashionable, grungy flannels (and then promptly took them to the thrift stores where they always belonged), Sub Pop is again one of the top music companies in the land, with artists racking up Saturday Night Live appearances and Grammy nominations." "While courting devoted fans, Sub Pop also courted the press, and the British music press in particular. UK outlets such as Melody Maker and the New Music Express were given to hyperbolic fawning, which suited Sub Pop’s own exaggerated marketing. In March 1989, the label paid to put Melody Maker‘s Everett True on a Seattle-bound plane to come soak up the scene. His excited report back, “Seattle: Rock City” whet European appetites for all things Northwest, including Seattle’s pared-down punk and metal hybrid known as grunge rock." "Of course, Nevermind also made grunge a household word and put flannel shirts and Dr. Martens boots on fashion runways and in JC Pennys. By this point, major labels had been scoping out Seattle bands for a few years. When Nirvana brought alternative music into the multi-platinum mainstream, the majors looked harder, looked wider, and offered more money for bands to sign on the dotted line. Suddenly Sub Pop was competing not only with other indie labels for new talent, but with the majors as well."

Agree, Ten is a great album. All killers, no fillers.

I get that these lists are all subjective and if you ask 10 journalists, you'll get 11 lists. However, as long as AIC come top, I am cool with it 😉

True and their record sales also went south went grunge became mainstream. However, grunge's time in the mainstream sun was rather short and came to an end in the mid 90s. Nirvana was done in 94, AIC in 96, and Soundgarden in 97. Pearl Jam carried on but their next albums were nowhere near as big sellers than their early 90s ones.

None of these bands are hair metal bands. Typical representatives of that genre that come to my mind are bands like Mötley Crüe, Warrant, Poison.

Check this out: https://loudwire.com/grunge-killed-ended-hair-metal/ I like their "Top 30 Grunge Albums of All Time" list underneath the video, esp. as they put AIC's "Dirt" as No 1 🙂

I know, BD still has one in stock and for a very good price (if you consider what Euros cost nowadays). Unfortunately, I am broke. I recently bought the Timmy C signature bass and that burned a big, big hole into my bass budget. 😞

You are right, I am still rather new to the Spector family. Still asking questions which clearly should never be asked 😉 BTW, you were right, I am missing my 77 😞

There's also a documentary from 2005 on the BBC iplayer - Classic Albums - Nirvana: Nevermind. Quite good "making of" documentary. Features Krist (no stache this time ;- ) , Dave, Butch Vig (stache of course :- ), and some others as well. From the BBC description: "In 1991 Nirvana’s Nevermind, with the songs of Kurt Cobain, changed the music business without compromise, record company hype or media overkill. The album replaced Michael Jackson at the top of the American charts and so began a rapid rise to international superstardom for the band. This is the story of how Nirvana came to record Nevermind and the effect the record had on the music world and on the band themselves. It offers an insight into the songwriting genius of Kurt Cobain and reveals why Nevermind remains a milestone in rock history" https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0009dk9/classic-albums-nirvana-nevermind

Ok, I have to admit that I had deleted Pantera's hair metal days from my memory, however, Alice "in" Chains were never hair metal, Alice "N'" Chains were. Technically not the same band.