1. I was talking about the music, which might actually have less in common with grunge than Pearl Jam does. On second thought, nah.

2. Influencing later bands (who probably were post-grunge anyway) does not retroactively make you part of the same genre.

Alternative metal is not a genre that bands play, but it's a classification for certain bands from the 90s who were influenced by certain other genres and didn't fall into any other metal subgenre. Like Alice in Chains.

And I don't really think of the Melvins as metal... at least not as a metal band. They have a metallic sound to a degree, and invented their own genre of metal, but on their own they were metal, alternative, hardcore, post-hardcore, and probably a bunch of other ****.

But that means they were still recognized as metal. Plus, Alice in Chains didn't just influence other metal bands. They were heavily influenced by various metal bands, including a previous metal band Staley was a part of.

There is a fine line between hard rock and metal, and it varies from person to person. I would not say AC/DC are metal, and I think it's noobish to consider them that. But Alice in Chains are considerably heavier than AC/DC, as well as Soundgarden who often borders on the exact point or just blow the point of 80's metal. Their range of metal influences include the same bands that were the leading influences on metal itself: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. As well as Metallica.

And there's a fine line between grunge and very much not grunge.

Contendors: all the other big 4 grunge bands bar Nirvana

I was following you JGuy, until you said that Led Zeppelin influenced metal. That's a laughable comment if I ever saw one.

Hah! I could raise the "angst" argument again, but very few understandf it (let alone have the time to read the long article I've posted here multiple times).

This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. And I've seen enough political memes to last a lifetime. Led Zeppelin are KNOWN for helping to pioneer metal. Look all over sites like this. You're literally the first person I've ever met who had that opinion.

Tell me Dazed and Confused doesn't sound like a song off Sabbath's debut.

It's strange that when someone has an opinion, people seem to think that any factual evidence is the prime influence of it, and not the way people hear music.

How odd.

Yeah Melvins have metal in their sound, but they have so much more going on than just that, whereas Alice in Chains are not nearly so diverse, so the metal in their sound defines them more than it does the Melvins. I don't even call the Melvins anything. They're just the Melvins.

Read articles, Ki. Led Zeppelin's first album was criticized by some for being so heavy. Later, it was seen as breaking new ground. Leppelin was VERY heavy for their time, even though they are not the heavy metal the 80's got to know. Sabbath and other bands followed in Zeppelin's footsteps. Talk to various late-70's to 80's metal bands, they will say Zeppelin was one of their leading influences. What more proof do you need other than the words of the bands?

@Bat I agree with you there, although they still carried the tone and lyrical content grunge was known for, even if they were a bit darker.

I was gonna comment on that too, but I just didn't have the energy to deal with that dumbness.