Does AIC = “Alice in Chains”
Punk was a reaction to Progressive Rock. I remember Quotes I disagreed with.
“Rock has become too produced”
“Rock is meant to be simple”
They complained about groups like ELP, Rush, Genesis and especially Yes.
Strangely enough not Pink Floyd.
I even heard some complaining about groups like Zeppelin, because apparently Page played his guitar too well.
There is a classic movie called The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
No quotes unfortunately except my very poor memory.
I liked Nirvana, and I’ll listen to their songs still, but I always preferred Pearl Jam. Although they’ve been sucking in the past few years. (“Last Kiss?” What the fuck, Eddie?)
Interesting you should say that. In the late 70’s early 80’s when I embraced Punk, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons Project and maybe Deep Purple were about the only groups I didn’t hold in distain.
I never clicked with Nirvana and I never clicked with Kurt Cobain. Nirvana was really only something that was important to me because of Hole. I really liked Hole. I loved Soundgarden. But Kurt Cobain never said a single thing that I cared about in any way. I liked Nevermind in the background and was sick of Nirvana when I got sick of Smells Like Teen Spirit. I always truly felt Kurt Colbain was the ultimate white middle class skater punk kid who had every advantage and still found crap to bitch about. The only thing I liked about him was that he was feminist and I think he set a really good example for boys growing up at that time. Guys under 30 are really cool and I think Kurt Cobain actually did a lot to show how a guy can be a big king without needing a zillion groupies to make himself important. It wasn’t enough to make me care about his music or his death though. There were other people like that who made music that was more interesting to me.
Whiny, self-indulgent adolescent pretty-boy jerk who played the “tortured artist” card despite not having any discernible talent: if a 14 year old’s wretched “the world sucks because I’m so sensitive and everyone hates me” poetry were somehow distilled into music, it would sound like Nirvana. Hence the appeal, I suppose, but encouraging faux-tormented boho angst among middle-class white kids ought to be an indictable offence. Shit, at least Mudhoney were fun.
AIC = Alice in Chains, yes. Everyone in the know knows that, sheesh!
Staley’s death, though fairly predictable what with his lifestyle, was mournful (I won’t say tragic) because it meant no more AIC or Mad Season albums (both of which were, IMO at least, consistently good and able to stand the test of time), whereas Cobain’s death was sad only because he selfishly denied his son a father and left him in the care of the nightmare-made-real, Courtney Love.
I’m not a fan of many of the punk groups that came to popularity/notoriety at the end of the 70’s/early 80’s, so you are probably very correct in pointing out what it was they were reacting to. I do know though that many people were happy to embrace punk and help give it momentum because commercial radio was dominated by bands like the Bee Gees and Donna Summers. In my mind (and perhaps I’m in the minority), it was embraced by some as the death knell for disco, much as grunge was embraced by some because it ended the chokehold glam rock had on radio and television.
Back on topic, is there anyone out there who feels Cobain’s lyrics were exceptionally meaningful? Or even something other than the gibberish they seem to me? I’m just curious, as I’ve heard his genius proclaimed many times and am wondering if maybe I’m just too dense to get it. Despite hearing the argument as many times as I have, I’ve never had a satisfactory explanation for the phenomenon of his lyrical “genius”. It’s always explained away in a pretentiously dismissive “you just don’t get it and never will” statement.
I think everyone would agree that personally, Kurt Cobain didn’t give us much to work with. He was a junkie. He was a whiner. He married Courtney Love. He lacked the basic grace to keep his mouth shut, head down and make the most of his success. But really, big fucking deal. Because what he did give us was a great rock and roll band, the best to come out of the US for a long, long time.
When a band becomes as world-stridingly popular as Nirvana did, there’s going to be people queuing up to tell you how much they suck. Juvenile, but its just the way it is. Like they didn’t deserve their success because there were a bunch of better bands knocking around the bars of Seattle at the time, or he has a bad voice, or it was all down to the Pixies. Complete horseshit of course, they were as big as they were because they were the best and people liked them for being the best. They found a brilliant equilibrium point between the power of classic rock/metal and the aggression and attitude of punk rock that took a broom to all of the pussified hair bands that were passing for rock and roll at the time.
Its tough to say whether they’ll stand the test of time; like a lot of people I wore out my copy of Nevermind from listening to it so much and don’t play it too much these days. I was surprised to hear what an icon Kurt Cobain has turned out to be, though. My kid sister, who was two years old when he shot himself, is a big fan along with all her circle of school friends. Interestingly, they don’t say they’re fans of Nirvana, rather they’re fans of Kurt Cobain.
While I don’t idolize depressed or self-destructive people, I think Cobain had something interesting, or at least potentially interesting. I was never a big Nirvana fan, but you can see how his lyrics, whiny or self-absorbed as they may be, have the kind of directness and unpretentiousness that can really score with people. It doesn’t surprise me that people still find him fascinating even as Nirvana proper’s reputation starts to fade. I found particularly telling his observation that, once he got famous, the same mullets who used to stuff him into his locker in high school were now coming up to him and telling him how awesomely cool he was. That would be enough to turn anybody’s head around a few times.
Of course I grew out of Nirvana in high school, but I found that it was a necessary part of my musical listening progression onto better things. I just can’t see those “talentless hack” comments. :rolleyes:
He was just a kid, fer chrissake. 27 at death, right? All that fame comes in the early 20’s, he was aware of their sound and wanted to improve/change it. Of course, he never got that chance (obviously). I’d probably kill myself too if I was married to the actual ass-clown, Courtney Love.
Anyone that can come up with lyrics like “I’ve been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap” are ok in my book. And if you can’t at least laugh along with the In Bloom video, well, then that’s too bad for you, I say.
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