GRUNGEREPORT.NET TO CHANGE LAYOUT AND COVER MORE BANDS IN JANUARY
On January 1st (or sometime in January) I am planning on changing the layout of GrungeReport.net. You will no longer see the Seattle faces on top of the website. We will also cover even more bands, in addition to the bands we added in July like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool. I’ll keep a Seattle Bands section though like we’ve had for anybody who just wants to read that. I’d like to add in some more 90′s bands, but I’m also open to covering post 90′s bands that carry on the same spirit. If anybody has any suggestions, make sure they’re bands with commercial success, because many of the obscure acts suggested (and that we even cover) barely have any news regarding them.
The reason I’m making this change is because I feel that even after three and a half years, GrungeReport.net is still not treated equally to other rock blogs. Representatives and PR’s for bands may perceive the site as a ‘fan’ site or too niche, I’m not really sure. Basically I’m not making any money off the site (never have), and we’re not getting the interviews or press copies of a lot of the albums that we should be. I’m not complaining, I really appreciate the readers we have on the site, but it needs to grow and if I need to cover more bands/change the layout to do that I will if we won’t be treated equally in our current format. The name will remain, but this is an alternative rock news website, focused on the Generation X rock sound.
We’re also still seeking writers/reporters, since Nicole/Magic Mike/myself/Paul Kneitz are really the only ones who post articles. My goal is to get the site on Google News, but I still feel we need a few more reporters/writers to do that. E-mail grungereport @yahoo.com.
SELLOUT!!!
Wtf is this?!?! I liked you BECAUSE you were the only good blog that covered THE 90S GRUNGE ERA. And your selling out to be treated as equally as other rock blogs?!?! pathetic. Just pathetic. You lost me as a fan.
maybe actually report news instead of just copying and pasting tweets and posting links. no offense, but you’re not really “reporting” anything, just rehashing other people’s work.
Also, if you want to be taken seriously, get rid of the “Grunge Report” title that deoesn’t even make sense anymore. If I were RHCP, Smashing Pumpkins or any of those shitty bands I would laugh if someone from “Grunge Report” tried to contact me.
I’m really thinking of changing the name too. It just depends on what readers want. Should I keep or change the name?
Aaron, we can’t report exclusive news ourselves if we don’t have interviews and what not. All we can do is get stuff from other sites. Most other sites are the same way with most stories.
Looks like its time to cover Nu metal acts like Deftones, Korn, and Limp Bizkit like some of these other guys want…
Yeah….sorry I haven’t been posting. I’m taking 18 hours, I have a job and my band is taking off. I’ll pick up the pace.
It’s cool Eli, it’s fine to have reporters who post sometimes. We just need more reporters, for Google News…
good idea, you should cover ugly kid joe to they had a fair amount of commerical success they still play shows/festivals and make new material.
also maybe sum 41, blink 182, greenday, pod, korn,are great bands to
Limp Bizkit, Korn, Blink 182, POD, and Sum 41 will never be covered here.
How do people feel about the name AlternativeReport.net?
Keep the current name, it is CLASSIC. Keep up the good work
You’ve already got a lot of the bases covered, though the sad fact is that a lot of big acts from that era are gone. You could add Korn, Deftones, Weezer or Green Day (assuming you don’t stream that song they just did for Twilight). If you think they’d fit, I’d suggest Mastodon as well – they did open a few shows for Soundgarden, after all.
Lauren, the focus will remain on 90′s bands and sound. I’m talking about adding some more and some bands from the 2000′s who have carried on that spirit. The way we are right now (even after adding some more bands), we are not able to even properly cover the 90′s bands we already do without the option of getting interviews and what not.
Would you consider covering a different era? Maybe 70′s or 80′s? Think about it this way, alot of the bands you cover are influenced by 70′s and 80′s rock music. I would change the site name to Generationofbands.net. Rock music is like a family, and a family has generations.
only grunge!!!!!!!!!
I see do whatever you need to do. Just make sure it’s what YOU want to cover. With that said, don’t go the NME.com route and report absolute garbage like: http://www.nme.com/news/the-wanted/67000
Be a fan, not self-proclaimed journalist. I say you’ve done well thus far to have Loudwire (whose layout is much better), credit some of their articles to you.
Cover the bands you want to cover if it’ll generate traffic. I don’t have many other suggestions besides a layout change and a different commenting system that doesn’t allow people to keep changing their name on a whim so they can troll.
I say you should keep the GrungeReport.net name.
AlternativeReport sounds like a gay lifestyle news website. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I’d like to see you follow Slash and his solo career.
Good young bands I’d recommend to people with similar musical tastes as me: Dead Sara, Taddy Porter, The Parlor Mob, Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights.
Oh yeah, I won’t cover any bands who don’t have albums that I like. BUT I’m open to covering bands whose new material I may not necessarily be huge on. Like I love Radiohead’s 90′s material, but not so much their recent material. Weezer I loved the Blue Album and Pinkerton, but not post that. Green Day I feel have taken some missteps. But I’m still a fan of those three bands since I love their early material.
I’m kind of leaning towards changing the name to AlternativeReport.net right now. While I like the GrungeReport.net, I fear PR people may not take it seriously.
haha costmicatomic, that can be in the header!
I think you should keep the name. Keep trucking on. I think you have lost some credibility when you allow tabloid news topics on here. I agree with Lauren, youre changing your site because of what others say you should do, that’s not grunge at all. I agree with Aaron as well, you really don’t report much, you repost. The only benefit to your site (currently) is you seem to get stories out before the masses. Also, clearly I don’t like Billy Corgan, but the favoritism he receives from your site does not fit the category of what the site is about. When it comes to him you are not objective and you are over the top. I really think you should start a site dedicated to him and the pumpkins and tone it down here.
You are slowly creeping out to other branches of the music industry as it is and now you are announcing more changes. You will lose readers fast. Please keep in mind, just because you have a wordpress account doesn’t make you press and or media. You have a blog that’s declining. You cant demand credentials, you earn them by legitimately reporting on the news.
I’d say…
The Datsuns
Noel Gallagher
Mike Patton (solo, Tomahawk, Fantômas, Peeping Tom)
The Melvins
The Vaselines
BTW, Brett, I like the name of AlternativeReport.net!!
I disagree with your PR comment, the name isnt your problem, its the substance
enough, I disagree. I saw a review of King Animal online last month that referred to Ben Shepherd as having been homeless, which he said shortly after the SPIN article wasn’t the truth. There are many online outlets that take personal shots at bands and their members like that, not even with humor or anything, and still get all of the perks due to the size of their websites. GrungeReport.net has a lot of humor, but we don’t take personal shots at artists. We are always on their side.
Hey Brett, I´m read Grungereport every day around 3 years or more. I like this site and many of us its worried for the update but dont worry and launch the new website, just don´t leave the update content of the grunge bands.
enough, there have been some cases where stuff has been misjudged, but it’s literally been maybe 2 articles in the history of the site. And one of the stories was something a million other outlets reported.
I’d like to see Chevelle added to the site news.
Since we cover non-American bands like Bush, why not add Big Wreck and Tea Party for Canadian representation. As i had emailed u about before Brett, the Big Wreck singer Ian Thornley is the only singer in the world that can come close to matching Cornell’s low to high range, and the Tea Party are just as good or better than any of the bands covered on this site already. Both bands began in the 90′s so they fit into the timeframe. There’s 9 great rock albums between these 2 bands, and considering the shortage of new music coming out….ahem aic,pj,tool,apc!!! lol This would give ppl something “new” for them to dig into while we wither away waiting for the new Tool album to come out in 2020
Regarding the name, i like it how it is or AlternativeReport is still a good description.
Kelvin, thanks. No matter how the site changes even if the name does, there will always be a Seattle Bands news section like there is now. Even if Alternative is the name, Seattle bands are a massive part of Alternative. They kicked the door in and made it popular.
i vote for:
Candlebox
Dinosaur Jr.
Helmet
Therapy?
Toadies
Days of the new
any Mike Patton related bands
i’m sure i’m forgetting some…
and thank you Brett, for not including rap rock garbage like limp bizkut and korn. that keeps the quality of the site higher!
A few suggestions:
Stone Sour (my #1 choice), Staind (though Aaron Lewis country stuff not encouraged), Breaking Benjamin (news might be hit or miss for these guys right now..damn shame), Chevelle, Godsmack (what the heck..), Incubus, Seether, Deftones, and Sevendust (if you want some metal, and they have new material coming).
A newer band that is better than what they get credit for, Adelita’s Way (ignore this “Alive” song. Daughtry flavored horse shit). “Home School Valedictorian” is a great album. They started out in the late 2000′s, so they may slide into your time frame.
And before the haters hate, every band I mentioned is better than gawd damn Limp Bizkit. Come on.
I’m for the expansion if it means less Billy Blow Hard quotes.
and keep the name…please dont lose focus on what made this site awesome….SEATTLE GRUNGE MUSIC!
There’d still be Billy stuff, but not as much. The problem is even with the bands we added in July, all of these bands are old so they don’t do much. That’s why we still need more.
If it’s traffic you seek, you will have to include the pop-alt-rock giants of Nickelback (someone said Canada, right?) and Shinedown.
I’m fine with Shinedown, but NB???…I could not care less what Chad and Avril are up to every day, or what riff he’s recycled into another stadium sing-a-long.
“all of these bands are old so they don’t do much”… there are creative ways to have a reporting site even with old acts. you need to find out how. the viewers cant suggest, write, review, and do everything else for you.
At least shorten Alternative Report to Alt Report if you’re going to go that route!!
I like the “grunge” label more than the “alternative” label. I know the artists hate it and it got overused but at least grunge describes something. Alternative means what? Alternative to what? Most stuff labeled these “alternative” these days is generic and boring (Thayil ranted about this recently).
You also probably can’t put anything with “Rock” in it because that’s too generic.
You should just come up with something nonsensical. Like Badmotorfinger Report.
There are 100s of grunge style bands that aren’t really covered on this site that you could look into or even more 90s style bands that would fit better here. You don’t have to go the metal or nu metal route, you can still keep it in the alternative/grunge catagory and have way more bands you could add to the list.
For example
Paw
Candlebox
Seaweed
Helmet
Quicksand
etc etc
This place will be fine if you let your readers do the job you want for you. I would just leave it be and just update the page and not the content so much
Even maybe add some kind of fun stuff, which would decrease the need for any stories at all regarding Courtney Love like:
Doing a tournament with songs or bands or albums that we would vote on like the march madness brackets.
I saw a comment earlier about cleaning up the username issue where ppl just change names like underwear to troll here. I’m down for anything that stops that nonsense.
I think that maybe you could look at the more extended influences of the bands – i.e. Kurt’s favourite album from 1991 was Bandwagonesque – and the natural progression from the Fanclub is to shoegaze, fuzz pop, and britpop. Jeff Ament has paid a lot of tribute to Kings X and Dogman was one of the things that Eddie used to play on his radio broadcasts (and Kings’ prog pop leads to a whole other world); also, Rush is pretty much a generator for internet hits (and their influence is pretty well acknowledged within the Fooies), and Taylor Hawkins has played on a Coheed album. Bob Mould/Huskers/Sugar? The Replacements? One thing that seems lost from the 90s is that there were a lot less boundaries between music – so I don’t know what the spirit of the 90s means to you, but for me it was also REM, Ride, Arrested Development, Tori, Urge Overkill, Metallica, Inspiral Carpets, Primal Scream and songs like this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKptTuohldI
Green Day
LIVE
Gracious Few
Candlebox
Marilyn Manson
Ed Kowalczyk
I think the name should be AlternativeReport.net, then have GrungeReport.net just do a redirect to the Seattle section.
Over all though, I don’t see the harm that this could do. I think it will be better. If the GrungeReport.net domain just switches to the AlternativeReport.net Seattle section, the only change will be the layout. It also has the benefit of potential exclusive interviews.
Soundgarden will be in LA at the end of this month, and if I am not mistaken, Brett does love in the area. It would be great if that interview could be setup. With the expansion of AlternativeReport.net maybe it could happen next time.
cover Radiohead
I would keep the name. Make reply to people comments that would be cool.
Yeah Brett snd try to get interviews with bands you caover that you go see
Tool
Hurt
Days of the New
Tantric
Revis
SocialBurn
Smile Empty Soul
Fuel
Drowning Pool
Course of Nature
Earshot
Nixons
Helmet
Paw
Failure
Alter Bridge
Another Animal
Breaking Benjamin
Cold
Collective Soul
Crossfade
Day of Fire
Default
Down
Edgewater
Faith no More
John Butler Trio
Opeth
Powderfinger
Silverchair
Social Distortion
Soil
Big Wreck
Thornley
Thrice
A Pale Horse Named Death
Brett Buchanan (author) said:
“Limp Bizkit, Korn, Blink 182, POD, and Sum 41 will never be covered here.”
“Oh yeah, I won’t cover any bands who don’t have albums that I like. BUT I’m open to covering bands whose new material I may not necessarily be huge on. Like I love Radiohead’s 90?s material, but not so much their recent material. Weezer I loved the Blue Album and Pinkerton, but not post that. Green Day I feel have taken some missteps. But I’m still a fan of those three bands since I love their early material.”
Brett:
If you want a suggestion as to how to get the site more credibility / recognition, stop covering only what you like. Bring in people who are going to report on the modern alternative scene, and the future, not just the past.
I think the majority of people on here are music snobs, as are most of the artists you cover (I definitely am), but you need to be above that stuff, at least as an ‘editor-in-chief’ of the site (if that’s what you even refer to your self as). You need to cover everything that is remotely close to alternative music.
I would rather see an article about Travis Barker’s new project than a picture of Josh Hommes’ halloween costume, or Taylor Swift wearing a Nirvana T-Shirt or any of that crap.
I would rather read an article about Jonathan Davis’ new project than hear what Bill Corgan said about Chris Cornell & vice versa. That gossip shit drags the site down something fierce. & The fact that you report on stupid crap like this is proof positive that you need to cover way more stuff on this site.
I don’t like Korn, or Blink 182, but those bands had impacts on modern alternative music, to deny that is ridiculous.
“Free your mind, and your ass will follow.”
@Brett Weir: Even Fred Durst said people don’t care about Limp Bizkit anymore
Candlebox
Creed
Green Day
Alter Bridge
Hey Brett, I live in mi and try to go to as many concerts I can possibly go too. For example I have seen stp 7 times the past 3 years,pj,local h, etc….I’m not an English major by any means, but I am down to do some reviews of shows and send them to you. I also check other websites every morning for news so I could send you those your way also.
Let me know what you think
Ps I saw grungereport credited as a source to a story awhile back on ultimate-guitar, which I thought was pretty cool
Pss I’m on an iPhone, excuse the errors
brett weir is right,
Brett Buchanan {author}if your only interested in covering bands you like jane’s addiction,stone temple pilots so on than why not let the other authors report the bands you dont like it will open the site to a wider range of music fans what in the end is what you want
Brett,
People have mentioned Deftones over and over and over again. As far as I know you haven’t addressed this idea. They’re well loved and have a new album out next week (should bring in traffic). What do you think?
Also just some suggestions – be more open to covering bands others like. Also don’t let people like Mayan Calendar troll for ridiculous amounts of time to the point where they have to make an absurdly insensitive comment to get banned. Don’t promote trolling as satire. Don’t say things like “Please please please Stone Temple Pilots don’t be a nostalgia act!!!” If you want to be taken seriously.
I say this as a huge fan and a daily reader.
“Alternative report” or “alt report” are way too boring and generic. You need to come with something more creative.
I would just cover ALL 90′s era rock bands. Grunge, alternative, pop rock or whatever. From Pearl Jam to Live to Matchbox 20. Basically I would cut it off to bands that broke BEFORE the late 90′s nu metal explosion. (late 80′s to late 90′s)
I do think you would be better off with a different title. I have a friend from Chicago who covers music, and he’s been rewarded with a plethora of interviews, comped concert tickets, all access passes, etc. He also may have better luck because his writing focuses on live shows in Chicago instead of just news.
LAME!!!!!
You won’t get the respect you demand when you post stuff like “Courtney Love” spotted shopping or “Billy Corgan loves wrestling”. Stick to the music and listen to your readers or you’ll never get out of this “fan website” restriction.
You should keep the grungereport brand and create a new section or site to cover other bands. Grungereport+Alternativereport, with the later covering all kinds of bands (grunge ones included) and leaving the classic GR brand for the people only interested in grunge stuff (linking both sites/sections/subdomains to each other). That’s what I would do.
Brett – Hello. Someone suggested Sevendust, which is one of my all-time favorite bands. If you go that route, they have a few offshoots, Call Me No One, Projected, etc. and their bandmembers are so responsive to their fans.
Oh, and I like the name AltReport. Thanks for soliciting suggestions from your readers
GenXReport or AltRockReport could be cool. Definitely could use a new layout design. Really enjoyed the series on Layne – more stuff like that on other ’90s musicians would be great.
As for other bands/artists to cover, here are my suggestions:
Beck
Black Keys
Cake
Dandy Warhols
Filter
Flaming Lips
Germs
Green Day (the second of their 3-album trilogy is supposed to be very Dookie-sounding)
Incubus
Jack White
Marcy Playground
Modest Mouse
Neil Young (“Godfather of grunge”)
The Offspring
Primus
Radiohead
Rob Zombie
Sebadoh
Silversun Pickups
More Pumpkins/BC news!!
Stone Roses
System of a Down
Personally I’d prefer the site to focus on Grunge. However if you do want to include more 90′s bands what about Ugly Kid Joe. They are together again and seem to be getting good responses when they play.
Also, small gripe. But
WITH THE NEW LAYOUT COULD YOU PLEASE GET RID OF THE ALL CAPS HEADLINES?
Thanks!
The Gaslight Anthem!!!!
Glad to read that:
“Brett Buchanan (author) said:
Limp Bizkit, Korn, Blink 182, POD, and Sum 41 will never be covered here.”
I approve of the alternativereport.net name and of the changes you want to make Brett, it would be unfair to blame you for that.
My favorite new band to be covered:
Deftones, Placebo, Weezer, The Pixies(Are they already?), Silversun Pickups, Grouplove, Arcade Fire.
I’d like to see GrungeReport remain as the name.
Also, I cannot see how surrendering your status as a niche site, concentrating on one identifiable ‘genre’, will benefit you in any way. You’ll just become a small fish in an even bigger pond. My inclination would be to consolidate your presence in the musical domain you already inhabit (a layout change, and an expansion of pro-active reporters would undoubtedly help – you cannot expect PR and band management to search for you and provide you with press-related benefits), before trying to overreach yourself and attempting to compete with massive, generic reporting sites and companies. Let’s be honest, GrungeReport under any name is never going to compete with NME etc. The more generic you become, the less important you will be in the eyes of potential (and current) readers. By all means incorporate coverage of additional bands, but don’t lose the only thing that sets you apart.
PS, I’d give up any hopes of retiring on the profits from this site.
Ditch the name if you want more credibility. “Grunge” is attached to the early 90s, and many feel grunge has been dead for 20+ years. In my opinion, your site lost all credibility when you started covering Bush, and continue to have stories about has-beens and nostalgia acts. What band would want their interview featured on a site next to a story about Gavin or STP’s latest Greatest Hits show? My guess: nobody.
Bush is, indeed, very painful. If this site won’t covered Creed (Luckily), IMO they shouldn’t be covering Bush either. I respect it but… if you were around in 1994-1997, you knew Bush were posers, it was obvious, and still is.
I respect Brett’s choice if he is a fan though. Can’t all agree.
1. First off I would like to say keep the name
2. Marcelo that was a great lists of bands!
3. Make it possible to reply to peoples comments!because this website is
kinda boring if you can’t do that!
4. Make it so u can +1 or like someones comments!
MAKE THE WEBSITE MORE USER FRIENDLY AND FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*******HEY BRETT,********
WHY NOT TAKE GRUNGE REPORT BACK TO THE SEATTLE 4 LIKE IT USED TO BE, AND JUST START UP A SEPERATE ALTERNATIVE REPORT SITE?
THAT WAY THOSE OF US WHO REALLY ONLY CARE ABOUT THE GRUNGE STUFF HAVE A PLACE TO GO, AND JUST PUT A LINK TO THE NEW SITE, IN CASE WE WANT SOME INFO ON OTHER BANDS.
PERSONALLY I DONT CARE IF THE GRUNGE SITE STAYED THE SAME FOR DAYS AT A TIME BECAUSE THERE IS NO NEWS, THAT WAY AT LEAST I WONT HAVE TO SCROLL THRU BILLCO, RHCP, COURNEY, ECT…….JUST TO FIND SG, AIC, PJ, AND N, NEWS. WHICH IS THE ONLY REASON I STARTED FOLLOWING IN THE FIRST PLACE
@Jon you’re actually ignoring all the reasons Brett wants to modify the site.
I agree with “Blind Lemon” up here, great ideas.
I UNDERSTAND WANTING TO MODIFY THE SIGHT FOR SOME CASH AND MORE EXLUSIVE STORIES AND HOOKUPS. BUT WHY COULDNT HE MAKE A SIGHT FOR ALL OF THAT, THAT INCLUDES ALL OF THE THINGS HE WANTS TO DO, BUT JUST KEEP THE GRUNGE REPORT FOR WHAT IT IS, GRUNGE. I JUST DONT WANT IT TO GET SO DILUTED WITH BANDS THAT I KNOW I DONT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT, JUST TO FIND SOMETHING RELEVANT ABOUT THE ONES I LOVE.
LIKE, DONT CHANGE IT, JUST MAKE A KNEW ONE THE WAY THAT HE WANTS IT AT THIS POINT. DONT MODIFY SOMETHING CONSTANTLY TO TRY AND MAKE IT MORE PROFITABLE. THAT WILL JUST PISS PEOPLE OFF. (LIKE WHEN HE STARTED COVERING “OTHER BANDS” AND IT TURNED INTO BILLCO SAID THIS, COURTNEY SAID THAT, LOOK WHAT BILLCO DID, CHECK OUT THIS PICTURE OF JANES ADDICTION…..BLA BLA BLA)
I would consider making the website’s name something less obvious and straightforward as “GrungeReport” or “AlternativeRockReport.” I would suggest being a big more creative – for example, magazines/websites such as “Rolling Stone” or “SPIN.” Maybe think of a good lyric or creative name that would fit the site and won’t make the site’s title so restricting.
Also, I would suggest adding Primus, REM (or at least Peter Buck’s projects and whatever Michael Stipe is up to), or maybe some older punk bands that influenced alternative rock/grunge (Henry Rollins, etc).
well I guess in January I’m going to have to find a new site. too bad.
What was great was this was about grunge not popularity and hits.
I’ll enjoy the site while u talk about grunge and then move on.
I’m pleased to see that you guys are branching out, it’ll be good to see the same dedication that’s been given to the Grunge scene fanned over into other music areas.
And if you’re looking at 90′s bands, have a look over to this side of the Atlantic with
Therapy?
The Wildhearts (and their thousand split-off bands)
Terrorvision
and such. Not quite punk, not quite metal – a familiar concept, i’m sure.
You could also maybe even cover the Noise bands from the US – the bands that basically set the groundwork for Grunge? Bands like
The Butthole Surfers
Flipper
The Minutemen
And whatnot. These bands definitley have their fingers on the grunge pulse, but most come around too early for the tag to really stick.
If the site will still have it’s Grunge area, possibly so the site splits into “Grunge news” and “Not” then I can’t see a point in anybody complaining – they haven’t said they’ll drop the Grunge News, just that they’ll start to look a bit further out.
No point in throwing your dummies around like a bunch of spoiled, finger in ass, pampered pricks.
Brett-
Do what you think is right.
Great site.
I think its a great idea that you’re branching out and covering more bands. I’ve been thinking you should have done this a long time ago… Theres only so many PJ,SP,STP stories you can use.
Green Day, Weezer, Our Lady Peace, I mother earth, Pavement/Stephen Malkmus would all be great additions and are artists who are still very active.
Seven Mary Three, many very loyal fans and their live shows are outstanding!!
Oh yes you’ve gotta cover “Our Lady Peace”! Come on Brett!
I love the blog just the way it is. Having said that, you should do what you want with it; you’re the one who puts your time and effort into it.
I’d be kind of sad to see a complete makeover of the site, but I’d also hate to see it go by the wayside entirely just because you can’t afford to spend so much time on something that doesn’t make money.
Oh yeah, and I’d love to write for you.
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