Nevermind

One of the comments below Gibson’s 10 Great Grunge Bands article says it best: I miss hearing snarling guitars and adult subject matter on the radio.

Grunge was the last great innovation of the rock ‘n’ roll era.  A refreshing kick in the pants to self-indulgent 80’s hair metal, a rude finger to the fashion driven synth pop Kool-Aid that was dominating the airwaves, grunge reminded us that rock ‘n’ roll is punk.

The guitar playing was perhaps not as noteworthy as that served up by the guitar gods of the 60’s and 70’s, and the lyrics were a tad on the angry side, but even old fogey’s in their forties like me got it.

An all too brief revitalization, though.  Before long the corporate pop machine had driven us back to its predictable formula of catchy but forgettable nonsense. 

The next wave is overdue.  Hey, you snarling guitarists!  Pick up the torch!

Oh, Just Nevermind

Well, they say your musical tastes are pretty much chiseled in stone by the age of 16, so no big surprise that I only knew the names of 27 of Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the 90's, the decade when I left my 30’s – still kicking – and entered my 40’s, more or less screaming, I guess.

I mean, I probably recognize 80 or so of the artists by name, but the actual album names?  A paltry 27.  And that’s based on, you know, name recognition on the radio (possibly before I changed the station) or browsing for CD’s in the record store.

Remember CD’s?  In stores?

27.  Recognized.  By name.  Ownership?  Well, less than that.  A lot less.  And I bought a ton of CD’s in the 90’s.  A boatload.

Look:  I wasn’t entirely out of it.  I had some Nirvana, Petty, Oasis, Neil Young, REM, U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  That’s not so bad, right?  And, you know, I kinda liked Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and Radiohead and Metallica.  That’s good, isn’t it?

And of course I love Dylan and Springsteen and The Stones, and they’re on the list (although come one, RS, Bridges To Babylon and not Voodoo Lounge?  Really?) – so, I was, like, not in a cave or anything.

But 27% sort of makes it official: I had given up.  I had grown old.  My score on the Top 10 (60%) is cold comfort.  Crap.

I always knew that rock/pop is for young people, but retreating to “well the music was better in the 60’s (or 70’s (for the most part), or the 80’s (at least for a time)) – even though it was – is, is, is oh nevermind.

No point in raging against the machine.  I’m not ready to die and I know I’m not out of time.   OK Computer, how we gonna handle this?