Seungyong Chang: Marilyn Manson

Friday, November 6, 2020

73. History of Rock Music: 12. Industrial Rock/Metal, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 73rd lecture.

The topic for this week is “Industrial Rock/Metal”, the 12th and last topic of “The History of Rock”.

This lecture is a summary of the contents of “73. History of Rock Music: 12. Industrial Rock/Metal” introduced on December 23, 2016.

Industrial rock is a music genre that is a mixture of industrial music and a specific sub-genre of rock, and is often used without distinction from Industrial metal genre. The early fusion of industrial music and rock was attempted by a few post-punk groups, including Chrome, Killing Joke and Swans.

Killing Joke

Industrial rock artists use electronic musical instruments such as synthesizers, sequencers, samplers, and drum machines along with electric guitars, drums, and bass, which are common rock playing instruments. Guitars generally use heavy distortion, and bass guitar and drum sounds are actual playing, or replaced by electronic musical instruments or computers. Industrial rock also uses mechanical or industrial sounds, and this sound composition was pioneered by artists such as SPK and Einstürzende Neubauten in the early 1980s.

Einstürzende Neubauten

Cromagnon, an experimental music group in the '60s, is regarded as one of the bands that helped predict the birth of industrial rock, and their song "Caledonia" attracted attention as "pre-industrial stomp".

Cromagnon

The artists who have contributed greatly to bringing this genre into the mainstream include Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.

Nine Inch Nails

Marilyn Manson

Industrial Metal uses repetitive metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizers or sequencers and distortion, and representative industrial metal groups include Ministry and Godflesh.

Godflesh

In the late 1980s, with Godflesh's same title album and Ministry's album "The Land of Rape and Honey" as leaders, industrial music and heavy metal began to be mixed into one common genre, and as a result, industrial metal was born.

Godflesh, Godflesh (1988)

The Land of Rape and Honey, Ministry
(1988)

Industrial metal was particularly popular in North America in the early 1990s and became the first commercial genre in 1992, when Nine Inch Nails' album “Broken” and Ministry's album “Psalm 69” recorded platinum in the US. Following the success of Nine Inch Nails in this genre, Marilyn Manson gained popularity, but their behaviors against conventions in their live performances caused more controversy than their music.

Broken, Nine Inch Nails (1992)

Psalm 69, Ministry (1992)

Industrial metal reached its peak commercially in the second half of the 1990s, but in the 21st century, it faced great difficulties due to social backlash. Accordingly, many industrial metal groups tried to change their sounds by mixing hip-hop or electronic music, and as a result, the band such as Powerman 5000 is sometimes referred to as nu metal band as well as industrial metal band.

Powerman 5000

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Thank you.

Friday, July 31, 2020

60. History of Pop Music: 5. 1990s, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 60th lecture.

The lecture topic for this week is “Pop Music in 1990s”. It is a summary of the contents of “60th ACJ Music Academy, History of Pop Music: 5. 1990s”, which was introduced on September 3, 2016.

In the 1990s, the popularity of teen pop and dance pop, appeared in the 1970s, continued. Rock music was still popular in the 1990s following the 1980s but unlike the 1980s, when glam metal gained great popularity, punk rock and the newly appeared Grunge and Industrial Rock gained popularity. During this period, Contemporary Country music, which began in the 1980s, also gained great popularity.

First of all, for rock music, in the 1990s, with the advent of the band Nirvana, Alternative Rock entered the major music charts, and many alternative rock bands were commercially successful.

Nirvana

Grunge, a subgenre of alternative rock, was born in the 1980s in the Northwestern United States of Washington and Oregon. Grunge bands began to gain popularity from the early 1990s, and Nirvana and Pearl Jam made great contributions to the development of grunge. However, many grunge bands were disbanded in the mid-1990s, and the death of Nirvana’s vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain in 1994 led to a decline in this genre.

Pearl Jam

Punk rock in the United States revived with the advent of Green Day in 1994 and entered the mainstream of the music industry in the mid-1990s.

Green Day

Many subgenres of metal were outsiders for the commercial aspect in the 1980s, but as the Thrash Metal genre emerged in the early 1990s, it made a breakthrough for success. This breakthrough was especially a major success of the fifth album with the same title as the band name released by Metallica in 1991, and as a result, Thrash Metal was firstly able to enter the mainstream.

Metallica

In the late 1990s, Industrial Metal gained popularity, including Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, the best American industrial metal bands of the time.

Nine Inch Nails

Marilyn Manson

Michael Jackson released the album “Dangerous” in 1991 and sold 35 million copies, continuing popularity and commercial success in the 1990s.

Album "Dangerous", Michael Jackson

The British girls’ group, The Spice Girls, targeted the US market and became the most commercially successful British group in North America after the Beatles, and their influence expanded the entry opportunity of teen pop genre to the American charts that were dominated by grunge and hip-hop.

The Spice Girls

In the late 1990s, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera gained great popularity by releasing the hit singles "…Baby One More Time" and "Genie in a Bottle", and Céline Dion gained a worldwide success with the soundtrack of film Titanic “My Heart Will Go On”.

Britney Spears

Christina Aguilera

Céline Dion

Film "Titanic"

For Contemporary R&B, Whitney Houston's hit song "I Will Always Love You", which was the soundtrack for the film The Bodyguard in 1992, made number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks, and it was sold over 40 million albums worldwide, recorded as the most sold single of female singers of all time.

Whitney Houston

Film "The Bodyguard"

In 1990, Mariah Carey began to gain popularity with hit songs such as "Vision of Love" and "Love Takes Time."

Mariah Carey

In 1993, Janet Jackson signed a contract with Virgin Records, and released her fifth studio album, "Janet", which was sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

Album "Janet", Janet Jackson

The popularity of country music peaked in the early 1990s, and the most notable musician was Garth Brooks.

Garth Brooks

In addition, new singers continued to appear between the mid- and late 1990s, among which the most successful new singers include LeAnn Rimes, Martina McBride and Faith Hill.

LeAnn Rimes

Martina McBride

Faith Hill