I believe it's Pitchfork, but I'll need to dig it up later. It's been a few months, but it's been at the back of my brain. Especially since it feels like nothing more than an effort to discredit Nirvana.
I posted the observation that Cobain ruined song writing for 20 years, & said I agreed w/ it* - on my Facebook page, using STP & their shit, nonsensical lyrics as a case in point, & got a rather spirited response from a freind who's a die-hard STP fan. She wondered if my parents had dropped both myself and my brother (who also agreed w/ me) on our heads as infants, because STP fuckin' RULES, man! "Plush" is about a little girl tyat got kidnapped & killed! Of course, the fact that I've heard that song like a million times and needed her to tell me that kind of proves my point. My brother then posted: "There's no reasoning with STP fans. I learned this a decade ago". So funny.
*Note that I also believe that when Cobain himself wrote nonsensical lyrics, it worked (see: "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Heart Shaped Box" and "All Apologies", eg.). But his progeny trying to do the same? Unadulterated horseshit.
I like the way the line runs up the back of the stocking.
I posted the observation that Cobain ruined song writing for 20 years, & said I agreed w/ it* - on my Facebook page, using STP & their shit, nonsensical lyrics as a case in point, & got a rather spirited response from a freind who's a die-hard STP fan. She wondered if my parents had dropped both myself and my brother (who also agreed w/ me) on our heads as infants, because STP fuckin' RULES, man! "Plush" is about a little girl tyat got kidnapped & killed! Of course, the fact that I've heard that song like a million times and needed her to tell me that kind of proves my point. My brother then posted: "There's no reasoning with STP fans. I learned this a decade ago". So funny.
*Note that I also believe that when Cobain himself wrote nonsensical lyrics, it worked (see: "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Heart Shaped Box" and "All Apologies", eg.). But his progeny trying to do the same? Unadulterated horseshit.
The more I delve into Cobain, I find him far more fascinating than anything with the band. I originally had a counterpiece about him set up to the original Kanye West piece that went live around Christmas 2010.
Polar opposites, yet they keep reinforcing the lyrics don't matter argument. In trying to divorce myself from bias in the matter, I keep hitting that argument over and over again with the guys I'm studying for this.
Lyrics don't matter vs. the artist as the music.
My readers come to me for my thoughts and opinions. I've built myself into a brand
When we look back at Nirvana, there’s always that push to coat in a fresh shade of nostalgia. But, we have to also recognize that those who came before will forever view the group with a certain disdain. Many scholars will try to tell you that Nirvana killed hair metal. A brief glance at metal sales going into 1991 will tell you that Cinderella was turning into blues rock. Poison’s numbers were dropping like a rock and Queensryche was already establishing Seattle as this weird bastion of dark rock/neo-prog sound. Nirvana had already dropped “Bleach” under Sub Pop in 1989 and was met with fanfare only in the underground community.
Ignoring the fact that you're pissing all over "scholars" with this nibblet of an article, I think you're missing the point of the sea change that Nirvana created.
Yeah, metal had going into what I call the Firehouse stage, named after the most ridiculous hair metal band on rotation of MTV at the time. This sort of thing happens at the end of all successful movements. It's when the copy-cats and thick-headed imbeciles get into something and muck it up with all their talentless aping. It doesnt' just happen in music either. Check out the current republican party and their bizarre Reagan worship, but I digress.
Were sales falling. Absolutely. The industry was ready for a change -- to a degree. The machine was still focusing on churning out metal, shows like Headbangers Ball and Hard 60 were still getting ratings on MTV (Hard 60 was in the afternoon if I recall correctly). The industry was geared to metal and it's ilk. Nirvana's success changed that approached. Rapidly. In other words, they struck at the right time and no one seriously disputes this. Furthermore, the question you don't answer here is why Nirvana? Why not any of the other bands? What was it about Nirvana that made them the standard bearers for this revolution? Melodic heavy music had been around for ages. Why did this album resonate?
Talent vs. emotional response is the real fight here. While Hair Metal represented the last dying breath of the traditional musician model, Grunge was the short transition period that introduced real angst into music making.
Troy meet Hard Core, Hard Core this is Troy...
It was a badge of honor for a new wave of emaciated loners to get together and jam out pop songs about no one understood their childhoods. Growing progessively darker until everything was about death or any of the many other dire consequences.
You might need to have a conversation with Black Sabbath or Slayer about this one.
But, you never heard Motley Crue singing “Drain You” or “Rape Me”.
No, they just did songs like Dr. Feelgood and Shout at the Devil.
Nirvana represented the start of a movement where any Waffle House worker could pick up a guitar and scream into a mic about how living in a shitburg town sucks.
Romones, this is Troy, Troy this is the Ramones.
Nirvana didn’t kill Hair Metal, the Zeitgeist did. If you’re still pining for the days of Cinderella and Skid Row, then you belong in the past
But lionizing a band who's last original output was in 1993 is keeping up with the times....
When the other person punches you in the jaw, you’ll realize that I was right about Nirvana, Hair Metal and everything else.
So when some weirdo says random shit about pop culture and annoys the hell out of someone else you're right about...fuck, I'm still not clear on what you're even arguing here. But hey, you managed to get about 1000 words on it, so more power to you.
In any event, I'm not sure you're right on the history and I'd love to see your sources. If they don't include Come As You Are by Azzerad, then this article isn't worth pug puke.
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