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Butt rock (which strangely enough doesn't have a wikipedia entry yet) is over the top metal so ridiculous it's awesome. I would consider hair metal butt rock as well as more recent stuff like Dragonforce and (my personal favorite) 3 Inches of Blood.
As far as where the butt comes in, I'm not sure but I'd be interested in seeing a diagram.
A genre of rock music that has had different meanings over time, but which generally describes bands who meet the following criteria:
1. The music is driven primarily by power chords, and focuses less on complexity and musical talent and more on radio-friendliness and the emotional impact it has on listeners. As such, butt rock has never been a hit with critics, but it has always enjoyed mainstream popularity.
2. The songs fit into one of two molds -- hard-rocking tracks designed to get the crowd pumped and "rocking out," or slower power ballads that are meant to attract female fans. Both types of songs are best played in an arena, which is why they are popular at pro wrestling events.
3. The subject matter of the lyrics tends to be about kicking ass, getting laid, auto racing, hedonism, and other "manly" subjects. Rebellion is also a common theme, with authority figures like cops, teachers, and parents all being portrayed as not understanding their needs. The exception is the aforementioned power ballads, which are often about loss, love, drug abuse, and other, "heavier" subjects. The lyrics in both types of songs are often misogynistic, with women portrayed as either sex objects, harpies, or home-wreckers.
4. The fanbase tends to be frat boys and working-class men between the ages of 16 and 40.
It's a pretty open term, though. I usually go by how ridiculous the music in question is. So, yeah, GWAR would fit with a wider definition of butt rock.
So, what's an example song?
Anything that is normally labeled a "power ballad" would be considered butt rock. For example:
"Here I Go Again", Whitesnake
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn", Poison
"18 and Life", Skid Row
"Headed for a Heartbreak", Winger
...just to name a few. They fit perfectly with the latter half of definition #2 that James provided.
Of course, then you have people that throw the term around for any popular music that came out of the 80s. I was rooming with a guy, about 8 years my junior, that didn't realize that Danny Elfman was in a band before he began writing the scores for nearly every Tim Burton film ever made. He asked to listen to it, so I popped in a copy of Oingo Boingo's greatest hits. About fifteen seconds in to "Dead Man's Party" he gives a dismissive snort and says "Oh. Butt rock."
Pfft. Philistine.
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
Girl's School by Britny FoxSo, what's an example song?
BWAH HA HA! That takes me back.
Here's one in reply LULZ
I'm guessing Winger would be the king of "butt rock", right?
I remember hearing an older rocker (Lemmy? I'm not sure...) saying he knew his time was up when he saw Kip smile in a video and knew that heavy metal had been replaced by happy metal.
I don't know if I would equate happy metal and butt rock but maybe they are the same...
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
That's all grunge rockers wore...why weren't they lumberjack music?It's all the bluejeans and flannel they wear.I learnd a new one today--lumberjack music.
Apparently, Nickleback and stuff like that is lumberjack music.
Because their acts are almost 20 years old and exept for Pearl Jam not around anymore?
Because their acts are almost 20 years old and exept for Pearl Jam not around anymore?That's all grunge rockers wore...why weren't they lumberjack music?It's all the bluejeans and flannel they wear.I learnd a new one today--lumberjack music.
Apparently, Nickleback and stuff like that is lumberjack music.
Yet there are still young people getting inducted into the cult of Kurt Cobain, bemoaning his loss to the music world, and pointing the finger at Courtney Love as the cause of it all.
I wasn't asking why kids these days don't call grunge lumberjack music. I asked why they weren't called that. Note the difference: past vs. present tense. Besides, the question was pretty much rhetorical anyway.
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
Because their acts are almost 20 years old and exept for Pearl Jam not around anymore?
Yowtch. It's amazing that I can remember when grunge was still the Brave New Thing. All my metalhead friends hated it because it was too punk, all my punk friends hated it because it was too metal. No one even seemed to know where this mystical city of Seattle was (at least here on the East Coast). I even saw Pearl Jam in a local club in Boston back in '92 just before they blew up. Ahh, grognardiness runs to music too I guess ...
Because their acts are almost 20 years old and exept for Pearl Jam not around anymore?Yowtch. It's amazing that I can remember when grunge was still the Brave New Thing. All my metalhead friends hated it because it was too punk, all my punk friends hated it because it was too metal. No one even seemed to know where this mystical city of Seattle was (at least here on the East Coast). I even saw Pearl Jam in a local club in Boston back in '92 just before they blew up. Ahh, grognardiness runs to music too I guess ...
+1
Yeah, it was the Seattle scene that revived my interest in metal. With all the huge slop of glam metal bands that the record companies were foisting on listeners I was getting pretty jaded. Then I was prepping a new load of CDs for the shelves and opened a box to discover a band called Alice in Chains. We decided to pop the promo copy into the floor system and I was just blown away. Oh, and when Soundgarden was nominated alongside Metallica for a Grammy and I'd never heard of them before. Wondering who these upstarts were, I grabbed a copy and whoa, what a sound!
Because their acts are almost 20 years old and exept for Pearl Jam not around anymore?That's all grunge rockers wore...why weren't they lumberjack music?It's all the bluejeans and flannel they wear.I learnd a new one today--lumberjack music.
Apparently, Nickleback and stuff like that is lumberjack music.Yet there are still young people getting inducted into the cult of Kurt Cobain, bemoaning his loss to the music world, and pointing the finger at Courtney Love as the cause of it all.
I wasn't asking why kids these days don't call grunge lumberjack music. I asked why they weren't called that. Note the difference: past vs. present tense. Besides, the question was pretty much rhetorical anyway.
Let me clairify, grunge is "old" kids don't listen to old. Lumberjack is "new" kids listen to new.
Emo's look like goths but aren't the same. Lumberjack looks like grunge but isn't.
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
Soundgarden=Grunge ferr Metalheads.
Yeah, Grunge was a pretty fuzzy concept. You had bands like Pearl Jam which were kinda folky, Screaming Trees which has a real psychadelic vibe, Soundgarden which were more old school metal, Mudhoney which was punk and metal mixed, and Alice in Chains which was more rock than anything. If you came from Seattle in the early Nineties you were Grunge.
We always called stuff like Nickelback "Jock Rock". Heavy enough for the non-metal crowd to feel like they are skirting the edge of acceptability, yet soft enough to get radio play. Godsmack, 3 Days Grace, Metallica's self-titled album, stuff like my 14 yr old neice would listen too.
I heard the first note of Slayer's "Reign in Blood" and knew I was home.
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
I always felt "Grunge" was a catch-all term to describe alot of bands who were taking rock in different directions. The bands were all from the Seattle area, but drew from many different influences. Other than wearing flannel shirts, which was only because it gets cold and rainy there. Even MotherLoveBone was called Grunge when they really had more in common with Glam or hair metal. The media decided to coin a term to lump them all together.
Hell, when some people found out that Heart was from Seattle I remember folks trying to say they were grunge. Which is rediculous because they easily predate the word by 15 years.
I will say this though, some damn good music came out at that time.