'Nevermind' Is The Most Important Rock Album of All Time

[norton ash]

^^^^ Bwilliant, Pierre. Worth a thousand words. Some people call Richey Edwards 'the British Kurt Cobain' but they tend to be rock journailists.

[Laodicean]

5 Things You Didn't Know About Nirvana's 'Nevermind'

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplif ... -nevermind

[Canadian_watcher]

When I first heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" it was about a week after I had purchased a new deoderant called "Teen Spirit" (which uh, doesn't exist anymore and didn't for more than twenty seconds or something.)
Anyway not to steal Hugh's thunder but it smacked of keyword hijacking before there were keywords to hijack. (name it whatever you want)

Anyway, due not only to that but also to the fact that Nirvana's sound was like a bunch of street toughs who had stolen high quality musical instruments, gotten drunk and commenced playing them in a hollow squatter's mansion next door to my rented apartment, I turned off my radio and didn't turn it back on until the grunge movement was over.

Sure, it made me really unhip. But I still have my hearing and managed to become depressed anyway, all on my own, without a musical guide.

[freemason9]

When I first heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" it was about a week after I had purchased a new deoderant called "Teen Spirit" (which uh, doesn't exist anymore and didn't for more than twenty seconds or something.)
Anyway not to steal Hugh's thunder but it smacked of keyword hijacking before there were keywords to hijack. (name it whatever you want)

Anyway, due not only to that but also to the fact that Nirvana's sound was like a bunch of street toughs who had stolen high quality musical instruments, gotten drunk and commenced playing them in a hollow squatter's mansion next door to my rented apartment, I turned off my radio and didn't turn it back on until the grunge movement was over.

Sure, it made me really unhip. But I still have my hearing and managed to become depressed anyway, all on my own, without a musical guide.

with all due respect, i had some of the best sex of my life during the grunge movement.

putting that aside, pet sounds.

[whipstitch]

When I first heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" it was about a week after I had purchased a new deoderant called "Teen Spirit" (which uh, doesn't exist anymore and didn't for more than twenty seconds or something.)

They are still making and selling it.

[Canadian_watcher]

When I first heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" it was about a week after I had purchased a new deoderant called "Teen Spirit" (which uh, doesn't exist anymore and didn't for more than twenty seconds or something.)

They are still making and selling it.

ha! I wondered if anyone would look it up. I really should have.
HOWEVER, I must counter:
If they are still 'making it' then why oh why would they be 'selling it' for over $20.00 per unit? (women's antiperspirant is only about $3.50 here in Canada)

in either case, it stinks.

[Nordic]

Okay, I've been wondering why there have been sort of a plethora of "news" stories and opinion pieces about this album, all the sudden. That shit never happens by accident.

And I found it, in one of the links above.

Next week, a massive deluxe reissue will celebrate its legacy.

So this is all just PR, advertising, the usual manipulative bullshit. I wondered "why the headline about being the "most important" and all that rot?", well, they want people to argue about this. You know, just like we are.

Hype.

There was, in fact, a documentary made about the Seattle rock explosion called "Hype". Anybody see that? It played at Sundance and SXSW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype!

[Hammer of Los]

So this is all just PR, advertising, the usual manipulative bullshit.

That's exactly right nordic.

Did you only just realise?



Only kiddin' ya.

Planet rock* has been promoting the reissued hi def hi res dvd bluray 3d whatever fan collector packs etc etc for weeks.

Someone, somewhere is making some money.

Not that I object to that per se.

*I listen to Planet Rock on the radio when I do the dishes, the laundry and the cleaning. Oh, and the more manly diy and general flat maintenance jobs, not to mention maid duties, valet duties, chef duties, shopping duties, babysitting, tuition everything else in this goddamn place. They treat it like a hotel etc etc.

[Nordic]

Yeah it took me a while, didn't it ...?

I guess I was looking for some other motive more interesting. Than just the usual "the press is in the business of advertising and pr for the corporations."

I'm getting so bored with that!

[annie aronburg]

Who cares what a bunch of hindsighted squares and marketing executives think?

interview and photo by Joe Preston
originally published in Matt Lukins Legs
reprinted by permission in Snipehunt 1989

on offer at French Connection on Robson Street, forgot to check the price

[justdrew]

Who cares what a bunch of hindsighted squares and marketing executives think?

interview and photo by Joe Preston
originally published in Matt Lukins Legs
reprinted by permission in Snipehunt 1989

sweet find Annie, always nice to see some old zine stuff out there.

[jam.fuse]

Disclaimer: I have only read the first page or two of this thread.

What I recently learned, and or remembered, thanks to this thread from electricalaudio and the links therein is this, short version:

In the eighties there was a thriving and powerful underground american rock scene, so called indie rock. As it got more popular and exciting corporate record labels became interested, as they smelled the opportunity to make lots of money and began courting what they saw as bands with the potential to generate said mountains of cash. Sonic Youth took the bait, and signed to Geffen, and SY mastermind Thurston Moore signed on as a talent scout for said label, and basically delivered Nirvana as the most marketable act. Kurt, as Nirvana exploded in popularity, soon famously had a fan base composed largely of legions of stupid jocks just like the ones who kicked the shit out of him as a kid for entertainment.

I think there was a news story regarding a gang rape while the attackers were singing one of their songs, Polly or something, I am not familiar with the record in question. He became what he hated the most, a corporate rock star. Someone I know who was on a S. Youth and Nirvana tour opined Kurt wanted a divorce but Courtney promised an ugly court battle, just hearsay of course. And such things killed him one way or another.



http://www.electricalaudio.com/phpBB3/v ... +interview

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-q/2010/09/steve-albini.html

GQ: :What about bands like Sonic Youth, who signed to a major label with a full adult understanding of the choice they were making?

Steve Albini: I don't know the exact circumstances of Sonic Youth's decision, so I'm not comfortable saying they did it wrong. But a lot of the things they were involved with as part of the mainstream were distasteful to me. And a lot of the things that happened as a direct result of their association with the mainstream music industry gave credibility to some of the nonsense notions that hover around the star-making machinery. A lot of that stuff was offensive to me and I saw it as a sellout and a corruption of a perfectly valid, well-oiled music scene. Sonic Youth chose to abandon it in order to become a modestly successful mainstream band—as opposed to being a quite successful independent band that could have used their resources and influence to extend that end of the culture. They chose to join the mainstream culture and become a foot soldier for that culture's encroachment into my neck of the woods by acting as scouts. I thought it was crass and I thought it reflected poorly on them. I still consider them friends and their music has its own integrity, but that kind of behavior—I can't say that I think it's not embarrassing for them. I think they should be embarrassed about it.

GQ: How do you think music might be different today if Sonic Youth hadn't brought all those bands—Bikini Kill, Pavement, Nirvana, to name a few—into the mainstream fold?

Steve Albini: I think what they did was take a lot of people who didn't have aspirations or ambitions and encouraged them to be part of the mainstream music industry. They validated the fleeting notions that these kids had that they might one day be rock stars. And then they participated in inducing a lot of them to make very stupid career moves. That was a period where the music scene got quite ugly—there were a lot of parasitic people involved like lawyers and managers. There were people who were making a living on the backs of bands, who were doing all the work. Had Sonic Youth not done what they did I don't know what would have happened—the alternative history game is kind of silly. But I think it cheapened music quite a bit. It made music culture kind of empty and ugly and was generally a kind of bad influence.

edited one time for typos

[IanEye]

I don't know the exact circumstances of Sonic Youth's decision, so I'm not comfortable saying they did it wrong.
But a lot of the things they were involved with as part of the mainstream were distasteful to me.
And a lot of the things that happened as a direct result of their association with the mainstream music industry gave credibility to some of the nonsense notions that hover around the star-making machinery.

In 1998, Sonic Youth collaborated with some guy named Jim O'Rourke:





Also in 1998, Steve Albini collaborated with these guys:

[Nordic]

The 2 radio stations in Los Angeles that are actually rock stations (and both of which have no idea how much they suck compared to other cities -- LA has truly one of the worst radio scenes you can imagine) have been taking the bait with this and playing more Nirvana than ever. Which is saying something, because they usually play a Nirvana song about once an hour. They might be playing more nirvana now than they ever did.

Radio here is so bizarre. KROQ, whivh fancies itself a top rock station, but which is not, plays nirvana every hour. Also old Smashing Pumpkins once an hour. And I would guess Red Hot Chile Peppers about every 30 minutes. They remind me of supposed "rock" stations in places like Dallas which still constantly play The Eagles like it's still new.

I honestly don't get it.

[jam.fuse]

Albini, famously, allegedly, will work with absolutely anyone who pays his recording and equipment rental fees which are by industry standards extremely reasonable considering his resume, fame and expertise, does not ask for a demo of any kind, would charge you or I the same as Page and Plant, Iggy or any other megastar, does not accept royalties from the sales of the music he records, refuses to be credited as 'producer' although that is what he does, preferring the title of "recorder", or something, and expressly deals exclusively with bands, and not labels.

Songs on the radio are essentially commercials to keep you listening while waiting for the real commercials, the fees for which pay the salaries of the station workers, 'talent' and owners. The smaller the roster of songs played, the less royalties to be paid, I am guessing.



Brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.

:edited one time for grammar and typos