Shoegaze and Grunge Compared

[@MutantBurglar]

I think smashing pumpkins blended shoegaze and grunge super well especially in their Siamese dream album

[@blakehill1164]

I agree

[@hoanganh995]

second that

[@margix1172]

BOTH primitive unintelligent dumb form of NOISE! If you are evolute intelligent listen to AOR Prog and Yacht rock where REAL singers and Musicians play REAL rock music.

[@zackzallie8735]

that's what i thought. billy corgan's musical vision is incredible. smashing pumpkins were totally different to any grunge bands in that time

[@terencekraak]

definetely

[@camzilla_does_music834]

Shoegaze is like a manic pixie dream girl and grunge is like the boyfriend who is broke, depressed and probably addicted to some drug

[@sheydoll]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Great analogy

[@TheStepmonkey]

Why is this so accurate 😃

[@Alianger]

I don't think shoegaze necessarily "inspires a greater appreciation for life" though lol

[@AdamWEST-yu2os]

So basically the same thing. minus vagina.

[@nicolasriveros943]

so what i'm reading is that i'm a manic pixie dream depressed guy? makes sense lol

[@pizzatime2001]

I love both grunge and shoegaze. Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Slowdive, Lush...all fantastic.

[@nicolot4652]

Smashing Pumpkins are the perfect blend between the two. Gish in particular

[@pizzatime2001]

@@nicolot4652 I still have to listen to Gish. I'm surprised I haven't to this day, since Siamese Dream is probably my favourite album of all time.

[@nicolot4652]

@@pizzatime2001 Corgan admitted they were trying to rip off MBV in a lot of songs

[@StainedGlassStories]

Great bands on both ends! Love The Smashing Pumpkins as well.

[@margix1172]

BOTH primitive unintelligent dumb form of NOISE! If you are evolute intelligent listen to AOR Prog and Yacht rock where REAL singers and Musicians play REAL rock music.

[@ХаирСантамариа]

I like bands like Swervedriver, Smashing Pumpkins, Love Battery and Drop Nineteens because they made a kind of fusion of both music styles and sounds interesting. Heavy but dreamy at the same time

[@mippim8765]

.......I saw Swervedriver at the Stone Balloon in Newark Delaware in 1997. .....Hum opened for them. ......I have a swervedriver t-shirt feom this show. ...the front has a string of guitar pedals.

[@robwalsh9843]

Check out Truly. They were a mini-'supergroup' with Hiro Yamamoto from Soundgarden and Mark Pickerel from Mudhoney and Screaming Trees. Very much grungegaze.

[@mippim8765]

@@robwalsh9843........I think what made those types of bands (sometimes) consistent, was the time and place in history. .....which was the wall-of-sound, guitar centric era. ........late 80s - 90s. ......do you like the band Loop? ...ever see the video Firefly by the band Levitation? ..... ....I'll check out the band you mentioned above.

[@ok9908]

Smashing Pumpkins is another band that in my opinion have one foot set in grunge and the other in shoe gaze. I say this mostly because of Siamese Dream.

[@djed7235]

Catherine Wheel & Hum too!

[@gdub999tub.]

I didn't discover Shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine) until I was 60+ and had thought I had already heard it all. What an awakening that was -- it's never too late to be completely blown away by something!

[@danilosaraujo79]

Smashing Pumpkins's Gish sounds like the perfect balance between Shoegaze and Grunge for me.

[@killerinstinctstudios9065]

I think Siamese Dream actually balances them better

[@alexmalch]

@@killerinstinctstudios9065 it’s more shoegaze than grunge to me tbh

[@morgancatherwood5665]

Gish is a masterpiece

[@Mark95876]

Siamese Dream is their Shoegaze meets Nirvana album.

[@alexmalch]

@@Mark95876 nop not nirvana

[@merchantofvenice7156]

it was really cool of you to give that shoutout in the intro. no one wouldve been able to tell you were inspired by him if you didnt say it yourself but you still did. really cool of you.

[@liljazzy4021]

Agreed

[@soydeneptuno]

Loved the comparison format this video. Shoegaze & grunge will forever be my top genres

[@StainedGlassStories]

Thank you soy de mars! I'm glad to read that you enjoy both genres.

[@margix1172]

BOTH primitive unintelligent dumb form of NOISE! If you are evolute intelligent listen to AOR Prog and Yacht rock where REAL singers and Musicians play REAL rock music.

[@zatoichi1]

I remember when I was a junior in college in 1994, I bought Soundgarden's SuperUnknown on the day of its release then took the CD with me the next day to France for my semester abroad. The kids in my French host family and I were totally blown away by it and it got a lot of play during that time and by summer it was a huge hit all over Europe. So many good memories... such a good time to be alive and young.

[@JumpingTomato]

Dude, I have the same rhing! Look I was a little young when grunge was big, but my sister was 13 and into it. She would play it all day and since her room next to mine and only seperated by a plaster wall, I would hear it too. Later when I was a teen, grunge and especially Soundgarden just lime, took over. I have many many memories fuswd with SG's music, both good and bad. I listen to their albums at least once a week every week even now. When Chris passed away, I felt like part of my life was ereased, I know that is verg selfish, but I can't help it. His music (also with Temple of the Dog and Audioslave) was cursial in my survival it seems. When I was depressed, I mean really depressed, music was the only thing I got (so it seemed) and it never let me down.

[@alptigin5438]

My dad was in the Navy and stationed at Joint Ops Naples in the early 90's. My extended family is also from WA, OR, NV, CO, UT, and/or NorCal. CD's and tapes from back home were like gold. Going to an American Overseas School (Naples American aka Forrest-Sherman) meant my classmates were mostly kids of US Navy, Marine and Air Force types, plus British, Canadian, etc. But it was a group that also included kids of rich and/or royal Euros, and they were insane for American records. My tapes of Nevermind and Badmotorfinger as well as my CD of Temple of the Dog went around like crazy, and this being the era of the Maxell CR90 tape....

[@Kelly-qy4yr]

The Verve (before Urban Hymns) is one of the most amazing and underrated Shoegaze bands of the early 90s and deserves a mention!

[@JoeyLevenson]

Here, here!

[@mbgatchacats3239]

Correct

[@Dunbar0740]

The first 3 Verve singles are good. Declined after Gravity Grave, in my humbles... It was all down hill when they became The Verve.

[@mbgatchacats3239]

1000% agree Good to know I’m not alone on this

[@gazeunderthesunmusic]

I love both of the genre, but I definitely prefer shoegaze much more due to the wall of sounds, swirls and ethereal voices, the genre itself made a lot of sense to my life in general. I remember getting into my bloody valentine and the shoegaze genre when I turn 18 especially with loveless that changed my life and my musical direction, this was when most people in my age group that I know were listening to fall out boy, my chemical romance, bullet for my Valentine, the killers, arctic monkeys (only to name a few in 2005/6), somehow getting into the shoegaze genre made me step away from the mainstream culture what was happening at the time. Even since them I got into Bands like LoOp, Moose, Lush, Ariel, Ringo Deathstarr, Heroes of Switzerland, slowdive, no joy, nothing etc.

[@StainedGlassStories]

Thank you for sharing your story, Matt! That's an interesting transition to go from mid-2000s rock to shoegaze. Do you remember how you first came across Loveless? I think that one of the joys of stepping out of the mainstream culture is to find like-minded individuals who enjoy a particular genre or band like you do. You listed some great groups there, but I most admit that I haven't yet listened to Heroes of Switzerland. I will make sure to give them a listen. Personally I think my interest in shoegaze sparked when I was 19. I was (and still am) a fan of the song "Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups and I wanted to hear more music like it. From there I discovered My Bloody Valentine, Lush, Slowdive, among other shoegaze bands.

[@gazeunderthesunmusic]

@@StainedGlassStories before I got into shoegaze I was listening to At The Drive-In, Biffy Clyro, Hundred Reasons, Idlewild, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Nirvana.

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

@@gazeunderthesunmusic At The Drive-In are great.

[@elylab9557]

As a 2002 born kid, I’ve got 18 years old in 2020, I’m from a different generation so I didn’t live thoses years. But, I got into shoegaze probably 3-4 years ago, and mostly grew up with my father metal music like System of a down, nevermore, Megadeth and many more I’m forgetting he also listened to newer stuff also. But anyway I ended up going on my own musical journey in 2019, typical existential crisis, and went through electro, synth-wave,industrial, german metal… wich lead me after some years in two directions, it brought me back to metal and made me rediscover and truly appreciate a lot of things i grew up with and I slowly got into heavier, nowadays mostly: Technical Death metal /Deathcore/ Blackened Deathcore (with bands like: Inferi, Signsoftheswarm, Lorna shore, Shadow intent, the archaic epidemic…and more) so yeah pretty hard complex stuff but it’s absolutely amazing. On the other hand I started to listen to a lot of unconventional atmospheric music (that sadly not one person I know of my age seems to like except a few goth girls who likes Deftones ahah. But yeah I discovered Shoegaze, grunge, indie rock, postmetal, it touches a spot in my head with thoses highs, the dissonance and the constant walls of sound, it feels like floating and getting lost in my own head. With amazing bands like: DIIV, Nothing, Mondaze,Softcult, True Widow, Gleue, Smelter, Cursetheknife, Mr lonely, Knifeplay, Winter, Glare, Greywave, Loveseat Pete, Tarbox, Now Now, ODDNESS, Prize Horse and much more…

[@stagecoachrobbery]

Love that you gave Taylor Hawkings a shout out and RIP, and then played a snippet from a song that Dave Grohl famously played the drum parts on.

[@lunasrojas_]

I used to looove grunge in high school, I still do, but the more older I get the more I fall in love with shoegaze

[@wolfgang6442]

@ghost mall for me I like both grunge & indie rock its just a matter of having a right balance wit what you're listen too

[@JalenJaguar]

Shoegaze & Grunge are both the sonic versions of abstract expressionism that just have two different interpretations on the same kind of melancholy feelings

[@ARMORXV]

I remember discovering Shoegaze in the mid-2000s while falling down into the Pop-Punk, Alternative, Emo pipeline. The depth of the sound and mostly melancholic tone of it spoke to me a lot

[@ARMORXV]

@kyfaydfsoab What do you mean? And why the lol?

[@Nonviableaccount]

@@ARMORXV he’s calling you gay

[@a.e.etador5523]

Thank you for your video. Very interesting. I’m truly addicted to MBV. Sometimes I think grunge is the rowdy brother of shoegaze.

[@StainedGlassStories]

You're very welcome A.E. Etador! Well said, grunge is certainly more aggressive than shoegaze. I'm addicted to My Bloody Valentine too!

[@JoeyLevenson]

I’m an original shoegazer, and although I lived through grunge, I have come to love it recently. I can see the beauty in both kinds of fuzzy goodness.

[@hyaundo]

Seattle local here, love grunge and shoegaze!! Super awesome to grow up in the area all my favourite bands did too. Great video, and love your channel! I'm looking forward to seeing you grow even more!

[@StainedGlassStories]

Greetings from Mankato, Minnesota! I went on vacation to Seattle last summer and I've loved the PNW ever since. With that being said, thank you so much for your kind words! I truly appreciate your support :)

[@obscurityknocks]

I was in middle and high school during the rise and fall of shoegaze in the PNW. I ended up tired of hearing about grunge, but always appreciated Soundgarden. Growing up in a small town about 3 hours out of any major city, info was hard to come by, but thankfully having older siblings meant I could go with them to the record store. Ended up getting into 4AD bands and their shoegaze bands (Pale Saints, Lush) and after that, MTV's 120 Minutes introduced me to MBV via the video for Only Shallow. I have grown to appreciate grunge more, but I am a much bigger shoegaze fan. The new stuff coming out in the genre, along with the re-emergence of the old guard, has been wonderful.

[@Black-lq2pb]

Hey!

[@segnoggin]

I really appreciate the fact you have a part in your description with the songs you used a lot of videos don’t have that and it made looking for them so much easier

[@jeffburrage]

58 yr old shoegaze fan. Perfect on your selection as top 3. I'd have to say an honorable mention could be arguably the founding band of sg: Cocteau Twins. Great job on grunge as well. Nailed it with AIC's Dirt

[@austintrousdale2397]

Nice to hear from a late Boomer/early Gen X’er who doesn’t obnoxiously maintain that no good music was made after 1987. ✌️

[@jeffburrage]

@@austintrousdale2397 Thanks Austin, appreciate that .... love, love new music. Always searching and finding great music to this day. Spotify is my friend and creates the soundtrack of my life. Cheers

[@RevStickleback]

My incredibly simplistic take is that shoegaze is music to calm yourself to, and grunge gets you fired up.

[@sonny_trinitron]

I'm a metalhead, but man, 90s alternative rock genres are so sweet and sick at the same time! I discovered shoegaze few days ago and it immediately reminded me grunge bands. It's funny to shift AIC songs with MBV songs...

[@webinfront]

Grunge+Shoegaze is the best combo.

[@StainedGlassStories]

Great combination!

[@rottenapple6340]

grunge+shoegaze=the smashing pumpkins

[@julia-gz6qe]

@@rottenapple6340 what album would you recommend to get into the smashing pumpkins?

[@lihclore]

for grunge gaze (modern) check out superheaven, narrow head, modern color and teenage wrist’s 2018 album

[@hitthemoney]

@@julia-gz6qe siamese dream

[@sethofchaos]

Im a big grunge fan but I've never heard the word shoegaze before, so thanks for educating me. I always appreciate to learn new things about topics I love

[@StevieWyatt]

Great video and spot on. I'm 44 years old and shoegaze and grunge were my era. I was a huge fan of Slowdive, MBV and Nirvana - that was my musical education. Really happy to see these bands still enjoyed by younger generations 🙌

[@olocippicolo]

Metalhead at heart, but also a huge Pearl Jam fan since a young age, recently discovered the joy of listening to Soundgarden. Wish I would've found them sooner. R.I.P Chris.

[@jerricmosley5338]

If there's one way i would describe Shoegaze, it'd be comforting.Sometimes It feels like a invisible blanket is covering my body and even my brain giving me a message that everything's going be okay. Other times it feels like a water falls rushing down on my brain...it feels REALLY good when that happens! XD I love all the classic bands of the genre; My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Pale Saints. The lists goes on; despite this I the first Shoegaze song I remember hearing was actually this song called Ginger by Mr. Twin Sister ( or at the time when they made the song, Twin Sister). I say that given how that band has a very different sound for their albums, jumping from Indie Rock, Ambient, House, etc. And other bands like Hazel English and Alvvays being my next discoveries with the classic bands afterwords. Anyways, this video is great! Very nice! :)

[@dasgettopikachu7878]

I love how our descriptions of shoegaze are close to a perfect match.

[@stevecowder4774]

That's very interesting. I've never really noticed just how similar the two genres are. No wonder I love both sides. And I'm glad to see the Shoegazing scene re-emerging.

[@kyle64338]

Thanks! I liked the special mention about Swervedriver, I totally agree. Like this presentation. It helped me confirmed what I observed and I think it'll somehow guide me how I'll write or create. Thanks again!

[@StainedGlassStories]

Kyle, thank you so much for your support! I'm so happy this video could provide some guidance :). I wish you the best of luck in your creative endeavors. I'd love to see your creations someday when it's complete!

[@sapphirelane1714]

I clicked on this video, thinking I’d be the oddball who preferred grunge growing up and now prefer shoegaze! It’s so interesting to see how many people feel the same way!

[@immune2poison91]

this video is fantastic! not even a minunte in and i was hooked. You packed so much information into a ten mintue video, very well done

[@CmprDohn]

At the time that both genres were emerging, I was absolutely on "Team Shoegaze", being a big fan of MBV, Lush, Ride, Slowdive as well as other related Brit bands like Cocteau Twins, Chapterhouse, Charlatans UK ( as they were referred to here in the U.S. ) and Happy Mondays. As a musician going to jams over the years, some of the Grunge material started making it's way into the "curriculum" of tunes that might come up in the "so, whaddaya wanna play?" back-and-forth during jam sessions, Open Mics, etc. As a result, I started to gain more of an appreciation of some of the Grunge tunes that most people know and play. As of yet, I still don't own any Grunge albums, but I do now have a few dozen songs in the genre that I can honestly say that I like

[@Eric-gv4di]

I love both, including the fusion of the two which many have called “grungegaze”. There’s a band I like called Slow Crush that emulates this pretty well. Definitely gotta check out that Swervedriver band

[@gsly6081]

I'm trying to start a grungegaze band right now. Might sound silly but i actually like the term, describes perfectly the style of music i like to make. Love both genres.

[@BlastBeatsFTW]

check soul blind bro, the hate5six set with soundboard audio is immense

[@ab8817]

hate to break it to ya, but all those bands are just Emo bands

[@ab8817]

@@gsly6081 trend will be dead in 18 months, i wouldn't recommend it

[@jpomsa]

I think that one good example where grunge and shoegaze collided is Hum. Hum is a very underrated grunge/shoegaze band in my opinion. Grunge was more popular back then. It still is nowadays. Kurt is an icon and his image was made a brand, that’s barely arguable. But post grunge received a lot of criticism, and I’d argue that future looks “brighter” in terms of success to shoegaze than to post grunge. Because in 21st century we currently had gone through amazing artists since the late 00’s with bands like LSD and the Search for God to the release of last Slowdive’s album. I really think it is just a matter of time until MBV release something else (I really have high hopes on this!). EDIT: I loved the video, awesome work!! :)

[@StainedGlassStories]

I will have to check Hum out, I've never listened to them before. Your analysis is spot on. In terms of commercial popularity, grunge easily prevails. As far as I am aware, however, I don't think there are really any exciting new post-grunge bands out right now. On the other hand, there are many innovative shoegaze musicians that point towards a brighter future for the genre. I think there is more room for creativity and evolution in shoegaze, while grunge has almost kind of become a retro genre. Thank you for your kind words, I'm really glad to read that you enjoyed the video :)

[@jpomsa]

@@StainedGlassStories yeah exactly, post grunge is really off nowadays, but shoegaze has been changing a lot with new noisy bands like Whirr, Nothing, Slow Crush, Gleemer, Flyying Colours, it’s a never ending list. And no worries, just keep it up with these videos, it might doesn’t seem but these are indeed a great contribution to the genre and to make it accessible and updated. It still feels ultra interesting to know about shoegaze both past and present. So yeah, all I can say is that, we appreciate your job haha

[@StainedGlassStories]

@@jpomsa Thank you so much! Those are all excellent bands you listed, and the list truly is neverending. One of my favorite lesser-known shoegaze bands is a Brazilian group called Devilish Dear. That's exactly my goal though for this channel, to make the genre more accessible to potential new listeners!

[@liljazzy4021]

Hum was incredible! My favorite show from high school.

[@greyillusion8152]

I think Hum is a Heavy Alternative Rock band that borrows elements from Shoegaze and a bit from Grunge

[@lesliedaubert1411]

Depends on how I'm feeling. And if I wake up with a song in my head. Music is always in my head.

[@xXGhostZeroXx1]

I’m a fan of both genres, but I fall more into the grunge side of things. There’s something about the rawness of it that I enjoy a lot. To go even further I’d say I like the softer side of grunge. My favorite Nirvana/AiC albums have to definitely be their MTV Unplugged albums. Literally any of the songs off either of albums are amazing. And if I had to pick some specific Nirvana stuff I’d definitely say About a Girl, All Apologies, or Come As You Are are all great songs that to me are the outliers in their albums because they’re not as “loud” as the others. Anything of the songs off AiC MTV Unplugged is amazing too!

[@rawkguy4896]

Imagine an alternate universe where My Bloody Valentine became the most iconic band of the 90s and Grunge was just in the underground.

[@xsir_hcx3897]

Nah I dont wanna imagine that

[@speedking7224]

That would be even worse.

[@brandonislemons]

@@speedking7224 whyyy tho

[@speedking7224]

@@brandonislemons nah I just don't don't like shoegaze......fair enough if you do.

[@Will-ox1ol]

That would suck

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

I was into both at the same time. It was more about the passion and the "undergroundness" than the commercial popularity. Most of us back then, at least in my circle, listened to industrial, punk, post-punk, as well as grunge and showgaze. I guess you could say anything that was on 4AD or Sub-pop. i am sure i am forgetting a few genres and sub-genres but that is the point, isn't it. we didn't think about the genre

[@christopherpeterson7212]

I think The House of Love's criminally underrated debut album in 1988, not purely a Shoegaze record, but songs like "Christine" are a masterpiece of the genre and deserves some attention.

[@alexthibodeaux6715]

Thanks forgot about them

[@mippim8765]

....the video Firefly by Levitation is terry bickers band after leaving H Of L..

[@itsmytch]

Great short and well researched video comparison. Also nice little call out to Swervedriver who was one of my favorites and deserves more mention for their blending of styles and consistent sonic sound of their own. One thing to add is a focus on the rhythms in both. I played drums around this time original and some cover bands and the influence was everywhere. I think due to the UK origins of shoegaze the drums tend to focus at times on dancing rhythms mixed with chaos. The fact that MBV Loveless has a mostly all programmed drums speaks to another level of technology, syncopation and hypnotic elements using technology which doesn’t get enough attention. The story behind it is insane as well. The drummer and band were experiencing such challenges to get the record done in multiple studios producing mostly By themselves with little encouragement and difficulty in finding causes the drummer to lose the use of his lower body for some medical reason probably partially due to the stress. In any case - there is also a wild Chaotic side to shoegaze to contrast the hypnosis swirls and In some Bands that went to the drumming more and some to for sure guitar. Grunge mixed nothing dance like in beats and merges more quiet loud. Or sometimes pretty and chaotic but always driving. Slower beats and heavier downward impulses. Master players helped both genres in some of the l defining bands you listed like Matt Cameron on drums for the hard rock to be flushed towards the 70s more than Shoegaze. Guitarist like Andy Bell from Ride doesn’t get the credit he deserves also for being a master painter of sonic harmonies and wildness - often overshadowed by the sheer uniqueness of MBVs most potent mix of male and female vocals / aggressive and gentleness. The contrasting elements are inside these two often very loud styles of music.

[@goctagonrecovery3270]

I love how you mentioned Candy Claws. I feel like they get overlooked. Everyone I've talked to has never heard of them. Ceres & Calypso is such an otherworldy and beautiful record.

[@yespls6260]

Yes!

[@hotdecaffeinatedcoffee]

It was easy for me to fell from Grunge to Shoegaze. always bringing such interesting topics :)

[@StainedGlassStories]

Thank you Abeja :) I love both of the genres!

[@mildneckinjury7088]

I'm kinda amazed you went through a Shoegaze comparison video without mentioning Cocteau Twins, possibly one of the most influential shoegaze groups.

[@photonfartsqueeze6694]

They are dream pop, not Shoegaze.

[@skyjuiceification]

@@photonfartsqueeze6694 Which is in someways just proto shoegaze. shrugs.

[@StainedGlassStories]

I should have mentioned the Cocteau Twins, and certainly will if I do a deeper dive into the genre. TBH I'm trying to remember why I didn't, and the only reason I can think of is that Kevin Shields has said he wasn't really influenced by their music while recording Loveless. I personally wouldn't consider their material shoegaze (except for maybe their Love's Easy Tears EP).

[@eyedogification]

Thank you! You beat me to it!

[@Sporkonafork1]

@@ghost_mall facts

[@xsir_hcx3897]

Nevermind wasn’t just a cornerstone of Grunge, it became a cornerstone of pop music and music in general. Specifically Smells Like Teen Spirit of course

[@richjoyce2]

Thanks for this. Though I didn’t necessarily learn anything new because you presented a broad brush when explaining the two genres but I understand and appreciate any attention given to shoegaze. I loved both shoegaze and grunge at different times in my life, but definitely love Shoegaze more now. Thank you! Keep the videos coming!

[@LamiaceaeMW]

I had heard of Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, and Jesus & Mary Chain many years ago, but SHOEGAZE as a named style is totally new to me. I came across it February 4, 2023 in a 2022 interview with Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan. He talks about how he wanted to know how Alan Moulder mixed MBV's "Loveless" album. I am a big fan of Grunge and have albums by most of the well known bands. The Smashing Pumpkins are one of my favorite bands of all, up there with Pink Floyd among my obsessions. This morning I ordered copies of the MBV albums Loveless, Isn't Anything, the Compilation of 1988-1991 EPs. I'm taking a deep dive into Shoegaze!

[@Nutspittle]

I turned 23 in 1991 and my whole life I have loved late 1960s music. Once hearing once Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in chains, etc. my whole life was changed. I finally loved the current bands which represented my generation X status. Everything you said is very accurate and my vote is definitely for grunge in the early 1990s

[@wolfgang6442]

Great for you man tbh I'm a early 2000s kid and yet I like listening to grunge and basically alternative/indie music from the 90s, 2000s, and even the 2010s real shit

[@eagletkc]

I turned 11 in 1991 and I loved grunge bands. except, I only like pearl jam "Hits", and I only liked Soundgarden "Hits"...yup, I love every single Smashing Pumpkins song on every album they have ever made...mostly.

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

As a fan of both genres I kinda wish alternative rock had evolved more to incorporate elements of both, kinda like Narrowhead

[@MiguelRamirez-cr7gh]

It has, there’s tons of bands that are grunge-gaze and it’s amazing. Teenage Wrist, Modern Color, Superbloom to name a few

[@photonfartsqueeze6694]

Narrowhead is pretty great.

[@yespls6260]

THIS! I was absolutely thinking of Narrow Head as a kind of "mix" between the two genres. They've quickly become one of my favorite bands

[@user-ux3vw6mb4k]

The Smashing Pumpkins had elements of both.

[@Nodnarb123]

Kinda fell out of love for shoegaze, but my love for swirlies has sustained; I’d love to see you do a do a documentary on them!

[@FaultOfANation]

Hey man, can you talk about the album "Dynamo" from Soda Stereo, it's an argentine shoegaze album inspired by Loveless from My Bloody Valentine, it was released in 92 and it's considered the best Soda Stereo album, sadly it isn't very known because it is in Spanish but i think the experience it's still genuine, hope you read this, great content btw

[@kbs1212]

I love this channel so much I could cry. Excellent content. Thank you for everything you do!

[@StainedGlassStories]

That is so nice of you to say, vissey! I truly value your support, and I promise I will do my best to put out enjoyable content in the future!

[@miameramusic]

It’s hard to say which is my favorite as both shoegaze & grunge basically define my life. Sugar was in my opinion the epitome of combining the two genres and the most criminally underrated band of the 90’s.

[@spencerbrown3875]

I just turned 30 so I was born when all these bands were in their prime. I discovered shoegaze about five years ago through a random Spotify playlist and have been hooked ever since. I've always been a fan of electronica, new wave, and post punk. I'm huge sucker for a deep, meloncholic sound and shoegaze hits the mark just right.

[@louisetrott5532]

I'm aged 60 and although I enjoyed shoe gaze bands and went to see Ride live, it was grunge which made a massive impression on me. Still does.

[@patricklewis9787]

That one Sweet Trip album is wild it’s like a fusion of shoegaze and edm type stuff

[@z0h33y]

Would love to see this style of video with other genres such as Trip Hop, and Dream Pop, which are both interconnected with Shoegaze.

[@rolanddeschain6265]

Yes! Becoming X by Sneaker Pimps is one of my favorite albums under this umbrella.

[@brainchild2197]

Trip Hop is connected to Dream Pop/Shoegaze??

[@dorkybeatz]

UK electronica music is great. needs more attention imo

[@MildredStain]

Very well done comparison. I definitely think you are spot on accurate with history, influences, and composition of their respective sounds. I always leaned more into the Grunge genre. But I still dig Shoegazer too. Probably enjoy it more the older I get too. The only reason I wasn't fully in on shoegazer is the intensional de-emphasis on the vocals. Which is a personal contradiction since it's typically the last thing I pay attention to. As with pretty much any genre, it depends on my mood what I will listen to. But I always loved playing alt-rock and grunge when I was still gigging in a band.

[@vincelfk]

I'm 47 & I liked bands like Champagne Illinois's Hum that was a blend of both sounds, someone already mentioned pumpkins which also would draw heavily from Shoegaze. However in modern times I would listen to bands like Pity Sex that to my ears also are a hybrid of both styles.

[@ebridgef]

I might add mazzy star even & Jesus & Mary Chain (if only for their Darklands album) Two of my favorites Great video!

[@joesmith8725]

I've always liked shoegaze (psychedelic rock as we called this style back in the time) than grunge (noise punk). Growing up back in the late '80s, '90s and '00s. Its all under alt rock category though. Similar. I'm GenXer, in my 40s now. Know a lot of the music. Liked and listened to both. But shoegaze to me was more chill and less angrier than grunge. So I listened to more shoegaze back then.

[@musiclover01ization]

Great video. I'm definitely a big grunge fan but I can appreciate some shoegaze as well.

[@jeffreyhanc1711]

Great vid, and both awesome genres. Im surprised though there wasn’t a bit more emphasis on Sonic Youth’s influence to both. Billy Shields apparently loved Bad Moon Rising and found it a huge influence for MBV, and on the other side of the coin Nirvana as well as other grunge bands cited them as one of their indie influences. Def a band that was doing their own version of both dating way back into the early-mid 80s.

[@johndd9140]

I wanna jump in a time machine and stay forever in the late 80s / early 90s... Love them both equally! 😍 Great vid - have subbed 👍

[@masonb9788]

Those were my college and college radio years. What a time for music! Besides all this we had the Stone Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave, Mercury Rev, the Jesus Lizard..

[@heavenlywells3818]

Take me with you

[@johndd9140]

@@heavenlywells3818 You are welcome to jump aboard... 😁

[@johndd9140]

@@masonb9788 Nice list! For me, it all started with The Jesus and Mary Chain around 1985, and exploded from there! My Bloody Valentine, House of Love, Dinosaur Jr, The Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, Pearl Jam, Pixies, Sonic Youth... the list goes on... Listening to Soundgarden's A-Sides CD on my Iphone as I type! 😁

[@Victor-hg1jy]

Im Too

[@23Skeetoo]

Both grunge and shoegaze partook freely of the general 90s "alternative" rock trend of (often banal) single-word band names (Lush, Pond, Brad, etc.)

[@MikeSchismX]

I love both. Moose, Pale Saints, Slowdive , Boo Radleys, MBV and Ride were my favorites

[@StainedGlassStories]

Love all of them as well! Funnily enough, I used to associate Boo Radleys with the Britpop scene. It took me years to find out that they were initially a shoegaze band. Everything's Alright Forever is a classic!

[@MikeSchismX]

The Finest Kiss by Boo Radleys is classic shoegaze

[@StainedGlassStories]

@@MikeSchismX Agreed!

[@test-bu8sw]

I saw the Boos supporting Dinosaur Jr. Do you rememeber Chapterhouse, great shoegaze album. What about bands like Spacemen 3? or more unknown like 5:30?

[@yespls6260]

@TTFPouyii what?

[@averyjenson]

I’m a shoegaze girl with a grungy fashion sense. Also I know this came out a year ago, but I’m surprised there’s no mention of the grungegaze revival going on rn lol. Or, Smashing Pumpkins for that matter.

[@theboyscanswim5619]

As a fan that was 16 years old at the end of 1991, I loved all these bands. It makes me sort of sad that Spundgarden is best known for Super Unknown. It’s a great CD, don’t get me wrong, but some of their earlier albums are my favorite and very superb. Louder than Love being my favorite. Chris Cornell is my favorite songwriter, but Alice In Chains is my favorite. They put in many great works, both metal and acoustic, I’m a short amount of time. Soundgarden a close very close second for me.

[@domiti9481]

I wish you would’ve talked more about the inspirations the bands had, like how many shoegaze bands vocals were started, the first to do it was the Cocteau twins, which was an inspiration to my bloody valentine.

[@TomothyLe]

i do love grunge and more familiar with it and this video was so informational and fun to watch. if you could do more grunge videos that would be awesome

[@jeremyc9593]

I'm still disappointed that Shoegaze never took off in America. I would have killed to have Loveless in my late teens. I vaguely remember MTV playing "Sweetness and Light" just a few times, and I had completely forgotten about that song until about 6 years ago when it popped up in my KZbin feed. I didn't really recognize it, but played it because it looked interesting. Once the opening guitar lick started, I got chills from the blast of nostalgia it brought, and have been working on catching up with the whole genre. Excellent video, btw.

[@julosx]

It's funny to think that, in the U.S., the Throwing Muses were seen as a shoegaze band back in the late 80s.

[@somerotter]

Shoegaze was took a lot of inspiration from late era UK post punk, and mid to late 80’s goth rock; mixing it with some of the alternative sounds coming from the US. Grunge was really more of a meeting between alternative and metal. Nirvana was really rooted in American alternative rock and punk; but the other major grunge bands were all incorporating metal or traditional hard rock to some degree. Which makes it kind of funny that grunge became the genre to define “alternative rock” in most peoples minds.

[@bassclef1076]

Spot on and the reason why some of the 20 somethings in the UK listening to punk/goth/alt music went mad for Bleach.

[@quizboy]

I’m a grunge guy personally but still appreciate shoegaze and enjoyed the video! 👏

[@belolano]

I can always tell a shoegaze music vs grunge by just listening to it. Shoegaze vs Dreampop is more tricky.

[@kellykerr5225]

I’m writing a book about the history of music. It begins is the 1950s through now and I have section with genres. You really compared those two quite nicely. I prefer grunge but I like shoegaze as more of background music while I’m working on something.

[@euphorium6]

There's this band called mayonnaise in the Philippines who's name comes from the smashing pumpkins song, their lead singer is really influenced by grunge so I gave it a listen and man I fell in love

[@parcsome]

@Radon I think they already have one, at least in Manila

[@uninstaller2860]

I love it when this site recommends quality videos like this to me! Grunge is my preference, but I'll check out thos 3 shoegaze albums for sure

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

Husker Du are also a huge influence on early emo. Some of the other shoegaze bands mentioned show up on lists of influences 90s era emo bands would cite. It might be really interesting to compare these genres with emo as it existed in the 90s. Bands like Mohinder, Indian Summer, Evergreen, Antioch Arrow, Jawbreaker, Mineral, etc. Also noisy and with a tendency to veer between intense chaos and softer parts, but different from how grunge or shoegaze do loud/soft.

[@thenewwavejoeshow]

Yes, I agree. Shoegaze = emo - I see the connection too.

[@DameNaNoYo]

Those 2 genres are both great, but it have some moods and variables when listening to it. I listens grunge when I am in the mood for exploding emotions, a boost of spirit. When in shoegaze mode, I listens it for its ethereal atmosphere, twirling sounds to make myself at ease, calm, even imagining the things to reflect on myself what have I done in the past. For me, shoegaze is a more serious genre to listen, and every time I found a great shoegaze song, it always blows me away.

[@leifforrest]

I've never even heard of shoegaze. The prime music of my life was 80's punk and 90's grunge. I grew up in the PNW though, so maybe I was too close to look anywhere else. Still love it.

[@hotchowder]

Seems like BS music nerds came up with for bands that nobody heard of.

[@ossharkuenmeursault5609]

i was more into grunge most of the time, but i wanted to get more into shoegaze for a long time, so maybe i will check out your channel some more

[@arleneerin8922]

Julie has the perfect blend of both shoegaze and grunge in their music. Highly recommend listening to them if you love both genres!

[@test-bu8sw]

Youre literally listting a bunch of my old LP's in this video :)

[@StainedGlassStories]

That's awesome man! Sounds like you have great taste in music :)

[@test-bu8sw]

@@StainedGlassStories I was 17 in the 1990 was all my era.

[@ghoulwarrior]

i love your videos i always learn about a band or artist that i didn't know existed

[@StainedGlassStories]

Thank you Tesco Manager (I like your profile pic btw)! It makes me so happy to hear that I introduced new music to people.

[@Schellnino1994]

Well done! I like shoegaze better but having grown up with grunge I can name way more grunge tracks

[@ktakyon]

now we have grunge-gaze, effectively combining elements from both genres and of course taking a massive influence from deftones.

[@daniboycolor]

I prefer shoegaze so much more, but grunge and post grunge have amazing stuff too. Would be nice if someone did a comparison with shoegaze and dream pop like you did, because it's an amazing video!

[@danielfurmage4381]

The one band in the UK that to me really fused the two styles in the late 90s and early 00s were My Vitriol. A bloody beautiful band who captured that my Bloody Valentine drone that could lead into a absolutely brutal chorus and a wonderful dreamlike verse. Likely heard of them but worth checking out, if you haven't.

[@Juan_lauda]

The first MV album is fantastic. Also the Cave In album Antenna

[@donny841]

Searched them on Spotify and only an album from 2017 is there :(

[@danielfurmage4381]

@@donny841 Finelines is their first album, was just reissued I think. Between the lines is also worth a listen, some excellent tracks which didn't make the album

[@Juan_lauda]

@@donny841 it’s a reissue of the album. The date is just when it was released on Spotify

[@JohnGWalker]

I'm a grunge fan, but had no idea I was also a shoegaze fan.

[@justbradsands]

Most of Modest mouse is a folk-pop blend of shoegaze and grunge. Brilliant.

[@nimhard]

No matter the genre, what a wealth of music. So many gems in this era. Love all of this stuff.

[@tonybones2822]

Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Husker Du were a massive influence on both Kevin Shields and Kurt Cobain. So those three are a massive influence on both genres.

[@julosx]

But Ride or Lush didn't care much about Dinosaur Jr. or Hüsker Dû, and weren't actual fans of MBV even though Lush members knew them personally.

[@sandhya315]

Props for including Alice in Chains. Usually only Metal channels even mention them or talk about them with any significance. A lot of Alternative music fans are weirdly dismissive erase any Heavy Metal influences.

[@Fatherjohn76]

I came of age during the early '90s discovering this stuff and looking back with this video something becomes clear. Largely due to geography, Nirvana were quickly labelled "grunge", but that term always evoked a more "produced" masculine and riff centric vibe for me. Aic, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, etc. Great bands but aesthetically very different to Nirvana, who embraced lofi, outsider art themes. Lyrically, Nirvana's north west roaring angst was grunge maybe. But in terms of attitude, production, atmosphere, dress sense, etc, they were really closer to the shoegazing/ indie rock vibe. Obviously I'm not being as facetious as to suggest Nirvana were shoegaze, but when you look at their whole image it's much closer to UK indie/ cardigan/ t shirt culture than the denim, tattooed, goaty grunge vibe.

[@piotrb8434]

Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam are wrongly perceived as some quintessential grunge bands. Pearl Jam are more of a 70's style trad rock than grunge. Soundgarden and AIC are more grungy hard rock than proper grunge. The epitome of grunge sound would be bands like The Wipers, The U-Men, early Melvins, Malfunkshun, Dinosaur Jr, Green River, The Fluid, Mudhoney, Skin Yard, Blood Circus, Love Battery, Rein Sanction.

[@yup486]

That's because grunge isn't a real genre. NIrvana - a mix of punk and noise rock Pearl Jam - Old-school hard rock Soundgarden - Alt. Metal that transitioned over to a sort of Neo-Psychadelic AIC - Alt. Metal. I could go on, none of the so-called 'grunge' bands have anything in common. Grunge was just a media term created to describe any band with a guitar that became prominent in the 90s.

[@NewGrooveVinylClub]

We were doing such a good job of burying grunge for the past 20 years to instead highlight 90s indie acts like Pavement, Stereolab, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, PJ Harvey, Beat Happening, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, etc.. Now people are acting like grunge has been relevant this entire time and is some storied genre and that groups like Alex in Chains and Soundgarden are not boring butt rock bands for jocks and dudes who think Jim Morrison is way cool. I hate it.

[@piotrb8434]

@@NewGrooveVinylClub Jim Morrison is way cool.

[@antonioelle4894]

interesting observation

[@AndyFenstermaker]

I think one thing a lot of people miss in comparing the two is how members of bands were often seen attending each others' shows and even playing in their bands. There was a lot of that in both genres, I believe (at the very least with the deep, lesser known grunge bands in the greater Seattle area). Then again, you saw a lot of that not just in grunge, but in the Seattle indie/alt scene in general. It definitely seemed to still be that way at times, at least through the time I lived there until the late 00s.

[@tobycanrun]

One important bit of info left out of this production is that Robin Guthtis is considered by many as being the Godfather of Shoegaze.

[@StainedGlassStories]

That's a great point, Zanial! His influence on the genre cannot be overstated.

[@justinspanos4382]

Love the Mr. Beat shout out! Been a long time fan of him. Glad I found your channel through this video and I look forward to what's to come!:)

[@milkweed8922]

For me, Shoegaze is somewhat of a recent discovery. I've been slowly getting into the heavier, underground rock subgenres that i didn't really have a name for since around 2019, and only this year did I realize that shoegaze fits into that nicely- if not what i was listening to already. I dig it a lot for how heavy and loud it can be, while also having that meditative droning quality or melancholy tone. As a side note, for anyone interested, there's an EP by Andrew Auscherman called Playland on his KZbin channel. I don't know if it fits the shoegaze bill, but it's up there with the songs and albums that got me into shoegaze.

[@DoubtingThomas333]

I found this video to be quite educational. Definitely going to make me go down a rabbit hole now. I probably have 20+ years of albums to catch up on.

[@silverbulletpoints]

I think grunge had a handful of bands that were amazing and countless imitators that were borderline awful. US radio seemed to favor those imitators though over the many excellent shoegaze bands because of the popularity of "grunge" in the US. Swervedriver's Mezcal Head and Catherine Wheel's Chrome should've been huge in the US and were as strong as any of the the best known grunge albums, and should've been as popular as Smashing Pumpkins in the US.

[@averagetim6190]

Can't wrap my head around why Chrome wasn't massive