The Story of Grunge

De: Michael Stewart Foley, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Michael Stewart Foley

You can’t truly understand the last decade of the 20th century without a look at the muddy, electrifying rock music that would come to define it: grunge. For such a short-lived genre—at least in the mainstream—grunge had a lasting impact on American music and culture. It also provides a unique lens through which to examine the post-Reagan, pre-internet America of the 1990s.

In the six lectures of The Story of Grunge, you’ll explore the rise and evolution of the genre, tracing it from Seattle subculture to MTV and the Billboard charts, all the way to its decline and evolution into new forms. Along the way, you’ll meet the pioneers of grunge and see how they, and their music, continue to influence popular culture today.

While the emergence of Nirvana in the early 90s marked grunge’s ascendency, you’ll begin at an earlier point in the story, exploring the birth of the genre’s unique look and sound from within the wider punk scene in the Pacific Northwest. From there, you’ll see how grunge was a vehicle for politics and social consciousness in music, including feminism and the Riot Grrrl movement. And you’ll also understand why the rapid rise of grunge was not quite the authentic, organic process it might seem, but rather the result of marketing savvy and cynical commercialism.

The death of Nirvana’s lead singer and grunge icon Kurt Cobain in 1993—combined with increasing oversaturation and commercialization of the genre—certainly diminished the creative energy that spurred the rise of grunge. And yet, as you’ll see, the music, style, and anti-corporate philosophy of grunge has had a deep and lasting impact that continues to resonate well into the 21st century.

©2025 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC.

I learned a lot.

I liked the way the story was told. I learned a lot about how grunge music became what it is and I loved it.

Excellent cultural anaylsis

I appreciated the historical development of grunge and how it emerged as a counter cultural movement then coopted by corporate entities. He also dives into the important and lasting political influence.

A great job explaining the mindset on using the scene at the time.

Growing up in Tacoma, Wa during the birth of grunge was a great experience. I was 13 years old in 1988 and spent my youth driving between Seattle and Olympia seeing all the shows I could. You do a great job representing this era and area!

A Scholarly Study of Grunge

If you're looking for some sort of pop-journalistic history of your favourite grunge bands, you may be disappointed. This is a rather serious academic study of grunge as a social movement. Issues such as economics, politics, feminism and the ethics of commercializing angst are the author's/lecturer's focus. I'm glad I listened, for I now have a better understanding of the origins and impact of music that was once often in my ears.

Social and political backdrop to grunge

So I thought this was interesting. To hear about my favorite musical genre from this angle. One shouldn’t be shocked that “grunge” was/is counter culture, much like the 60s. And that some artists were pretty vocal about their attitudes and political views, nirvana and Pearl Jam especially. Spends almost too much time with those bands, as if the Seattle scene didn’t already exist before them. As usual, Alice In Chains (my fave)gets a few mentions at best. Maybe because they werent as political? But still, an interesting listen.

A great brief overview of Grunge

Pleasant voice to listen to. I learned quite a bit about grunge. I enjoyed learning more about the artists intentions and artistry.

Homily and history

Knowledgeable historian, but s one of this is just political opinion. Author minimizes justifies drug abuse by not offering any counter argument

Information

The author brought this movement to masses of the general population who were not aware of the contribution made to human rights.

Room for improvement

I was aware that this title would only be a rather quick overview of “the Story of Grunge” for a 3 hr audiobook but after finishing it it still feels rather incomplete. One aspect that didn’t help at all was the narration. I felt as though as I was sitting through a lecture on economics and i was a liberal arts student with no interest at all in the topic. Made it difficult to get through. I you want a basic overview then feel free to give it a listen but I think there are probably better history overviews of Grunge.