CRS
Chandler, Arizona, United States

There's an old saying. If you don't want someone to join a crowd, you ask them, "If everyone were jumping off of a cliff, would you?" Well, I have. So my answer would be "Yes". True story.
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Nirvana One of the Worst Bands of the 90's?

Sunday, June 16, 2013

this entry brought to you by them crooked vultures, "new fang"


Recently, Rolling Stone magazine had an online poll asking its readers what were the worst 90s bands. Of course Creed took number one, and deservedly so. Nickelback, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Limp Bizkit were on the list as well. And deservedly so.

But then number five was Nirvana. The editors were astounding, basically writing, "WTF, people? How could you be this wrong?"

I was reading the comments and a lot of people were were saying things like, "Yeah, fuck Nirvana! The singer is untalented and can't sing," and of course, a few people needed to mention that the band sucked so much that Kurt Cobain killed himself. And of course most of these comments werel completely misspelled.

On the one hand I'm flabbergasted. Nirvana over Chumbawumba? Nirvana over Soul Asylum? Or other any of the boy bands? Nirvana over 4 Non Blondes, or hell, even Oasis?

But then I thought about it and I realized, well, hold on.Nevermind was 1991. If you were born the year that album came out, you are now 23. And never mind that every single one of your favorite bands says Nirvana is their biggest influence. Your entire life you've heard that Nirvana is this awesome band and you really need to hear them, and when you put on the rock station, you hear all the songs you want to hear, with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", this song as old as you are, thrown in for no good reason.

When I was in high school there were a lot of really shitty kids who said "Man, The Beatles sucked. They're so overrated. I'm glad John Lennon got shot." And its because their entire lives old people had been saying "this is the best band ever." Of course those kids back in high school was wrong, but it's easy to understand how there can be a backlash, especially when they're so far removed from where things are nowadays.

Still, it's frustrating. When young people tell me they don't get why Nirvana was so great, I feel like, well, fine, you don't have to get it. But back in 1993, Kurt Cobain was on the cover of tabloids. And this was back when there were only three tabloids. Now there are thirteen. But when was the last time you saw a rock star on a. tabloid? An actual rock star, not a pop musician, nor a musician who is also an actor, nor a musician who is married to an actress or famous model. People who are only known for rock music are never on the cover of tabloids. It never happens. Kings of Leon are huge, but they're never going to be on the cover of Us Weekly unless one of them marries Drew Barrymore. So my point is, whatever you think, they were a big fucking deal.

Of course, that is probably exactly the kind of shit that makes some younger people think they're overrated. But on the other hand, its impossible for them to know what that's like. They'll literally never see anything like that.

The flips side of that is that while I often hear young people groan about Nirvana, in equal amounts I hear young people grin excitedly when I wear my Kurt Cobain shirt and say "Oh, man, Nirvana. That's when music meant something. God, I'd love to have been this age back then." I meet them just often enough to not feel like an old man saying "Kids these days! They don't know what they're talking about!"
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with love from CRS @ 1:21 PM 

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