Grunge Band dominated the music scene back in the 1990s. The rock music scene was totally into the Grunge sounds. Grunge combined punk rock and heavy metal sounds which were relatable to a lot of teenagers back then full of traumas and isolation.
Back then, The Rolling Stones were already the leading players in the world of rock. Their career had been in a smooth flow and over the years after trying everything from funk, and disco to R&B, they were the British definition of rock. Talking about Grunge Bands, the major players were Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, etc, and their success made grunge the most iconic genre of that time.
The Rolling Stones has been a pioneer in reinventing music and the way it sounds today. And talking about grunge, well they were not really a fan of such nihilistic punk music. They opposed such music.
Mick Jagger had made some comments regarding the grunge music scene all the way back in 1995, and he had interesting kinds of stuff to say about it. He had talked about two of the best band there was in that era, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Back in 1995 in an interview with Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger stated that he doesn’t really like Nirvana and wasn’t a fan of their music. He went on to say instead he liked Pearl Jam and prefers them to many other rock bands. He said that he was not really a fan of the angst theme present in the music of that time. He said,
“I’m not in love with things at the moment. I was never crazy about Nirvana – too angst-ridden for me, But I like Pearl Jam. I prefer them to a lot of other bands. There’s a lot of angst in a lot of it. Which is one of the great things to tap into. But I’m not a fan of moroseness.”
Jagger also talked about the genre and said that grunge owed a lot to the rock era of the 60s. In the same interview, Jagger said, “there’s four people playing guitars and so on, there’s a lot of ’60s influence. It may appear that they’re playing the same thing or look the same on MTV. Or there’s certain haircuts you’ve seen on the Byrds.”
“But the grooves are different,” Jagger commented, “It’s all influenced by dance music. In 30 years you don’t keep playing the same beat. Which is good. I don’t think any of these bands would claim to be daringly different. But it’s heartening to return to live music. Heartening for people like me in a band. It’s a very traditional thing to return to. It re-validates the original form that we fell in love with.”
Mick Jagger is one of the most energetic people in the world of rock. And with all those depressive themes of Nirvana, It’s no news that Pearl Jam seemed more appealing to him. Despite that, he still has respect for Nirvana which is very much visible.
