Some bands associated with the genre, such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, have not been receptive to the label, preferring instead to be referred to as ' rock and roll' bands. Cobain loathed the word 'grunge' and despised the new scene that was developing, feeling that record companies were signing old ' cock-rock' bands who were pretending to be grunge and claiming to be from Seattle. In September 1991, the Nirvana album Nevermind was released, bringing mainstream attention to the music of Seattle. The term 'Seattle sound' became a marketing ploy for the music industry. Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain, in one of his final interviews, credited Jonathan Poneman, cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term 'grunge' to describe the music. The music of these bands, many of which had recorded with Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop, became labeled as 'grunge'. Seattle's remoteness from Los Angeles led to a perceived purity of its music. Evergreen is a progressive college which does not use a conventional grading system and has its own radio station, KAOS. The 'Seattle scene' refers to that city's alternative music movement that was linked to the University of Washington and the Evergreen State College. This dirty sound, due to low budgets, unfamiliarity with recording, and a lack of professionalism may be the origin of the term 'grunge'. It is expensive and time-consuming to get a recording to sound clean, so for those northwestern bands just starting out it was cheaper for them to leave the sound dirty and just turn up their volume. Although the word 'grunge' has been used to describe bands since the 1960s, this was the first association of grunge with the grinding, sludgy sound of Seattle. The word was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in July 1987 when Bruce Pavitt described Green River's Dry as a Bone EP in a Sub Pop record company catalogue as 'gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps, ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation'. The word 'grunge' is American slang for 'someone or something that is repugnant' and also for 'dirt'. Origin of the term Mark Arm of Green River whose Dry as a Bone EP was described as 'ultra-loose grunge' in 1987 Grunge was also an influence on later genres such as post-grunge. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, they influenced modern rock music, as their lyrics brought socially conscious issues into pop culture and added introspection and an exploration of what it means to be true to oneself. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, labeled by Time as 'the John Lennon of the swinging Northwest', struggled with an addiction to heroin before his suicide in 1994. During the mid-to-late 1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Several factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of rock music. Grunge was commercially successful in the early-to-mid-1990s due to releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Alice in Chains' Dirt, and Stone Temple Pilots' Core. By the early 1990s, its popularity had spread, with grunge bands appearing in California, then emerging in other parts of the United States and in Australia, building strong followings and signing major record deals. The owners of Sub Pop marketed the style shrewdly, encouraging the media to describe it as 'grunge' the style became known as a hybrid of punk and metal. The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop and the region's underground music scene. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, betrayal, social and emotional isolation, addiction, psychological trauma and a desire for freedom. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture which emerged during the mid-1980s in the U.S. American rock band Nirvana (pictured in 1992) is the most commercially successful band of the genre, having sold over 27 million albums in the United States alone.

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