Michael Jackson is collaborating with New Kids On The Block? Are they for real? Assuming he doesn’t still think Donnie et al are still in their teens, the only reason he’d team up with a group he wouldn’t have been caught dead with 20 years ago is that he really misses 20 years ago. And it seems he’s not alone. We’ve got Sonic Youth filling most to all of their sets with Daydream Nation, Public Enemy taking a nation of millions back in time, Dinosaur Jr. reunited, R.E.M. showing off a drummer, My Bloody Valentine acting like ain’t a damn thing changed, Lloyd and Lil’ Wayne sampling “Ashley’s Roachclip,” and Pretty Ricky rocking giant shoulderpads. While it’s no news that nostalgia can run in twenty-year loops, it’s possible that no one who pushed product back in the day, and is still trying to do so now, wouldn’t mind hearing it was 1989 again. Are any artists actually in a better state now than they were then? I could think of very, very few.
1. Green Day
American Idiot is their biggest album since Dookie, so the boys probably aren’t ready to get back in touch with their inner Gillman St. An Operation Ivy reunion, though? With Rancid now stuck with the drummer from the Used, that shit could happen tomorrow.
2. U2
On a relative scale, that post-Rattle & Hum period was a bit icky. Not that most bands today wouldn’t be happy to have been in their cowboy hats.
3. Kid Rock
Oh sure, “All Summer Long” is nostalgic. But not for this.
Beyond that, I’m at a loss! Even old bands with comeback albums like Motley Crue and Def Leppard were still doing better in ‘89! Journey was on hiatus, but Neal Schon was still making hit ballads with Bad English! Don Henley may not have had the Eagles, but he had The End Of The Innocence! Rod Stewart could do what he wanted, and Janet could rely on the Rhythm Nation. Neil Young may be proud of Living With War, but it’s not “Rockin’ In The Free World.” Elvis Costello had “Veronica,” Paul Westerberg had “I’ll Be You,” Donna Summer had “This Time I Know It’s For Real.” Rattle & Hum was only barely a flop, but I just cannot think of an act that did worse but is doing fine now. Can you think of a veteran artist today who can say they are in a better state, commercially and artistically, than they were in 1989?
Michael Jackson Plans Comeback With New Kids On The Block [Showbiz Spy]
Green Day live @ Paint Factory 1989 prt1 [YouTube]
Siskel & Ebert review “Rattle & Hum” [YouTube]
Kid Rock - Yo Da Lin In The Valley [YouTube]
the music hasn’t changed a whole lot, but i expect ralph stanley’s making more money now than he was in 1989.
Another place to spew my half-baked ideas about Technique being the greatest album of all time.
Thanks for listening!
Gotta go with the old guys: Dylan (Oh Mercy vs. Modern Times); Al Green (I Get Joy vs. Lay It Down); Paul McCartney (Flowers in the Dirt vs. Memory Almost Full); John Prine (German Afternoons vs. Fair and Square).
Dylan? Oh Mercy was praised to the heavens back then, but even Rolling Stone has retroactively demoted it, and the last three Dylan discs were praised by everyone.
Today I got really excited about a clip of Young MC on Arsenio from ‘89 — which makes me wish for an Arsenio DVD compilation.
Of course, 1989 was a pretty good year for music. Witness:
[www.themorningnews.org]
@Chris Molanphy: Yeah, Wilburys or no, Dylan’s in a cushier spot now. Good #4.
Prince? His last couple albums were received better than the Batman soundtrack, and have sold at least as well. He’s also got the whole “Isn’t this guy amazing?” thing going for him since 2004, while in 89, I think folks were starting to tire of him.
The Black Sabbath crew is doing better than ever.
McCartney?
actually this was all the last stage of Bush’s “No Music Artist Left Behind” initiative, intended to turn all of pop culture back to ‘89, since he finished taking everything else back there
@Captain Wrong: Oh I think he wishes Linda was still alive and singing “My Brave Face.” Also, “Veronica.”
Wire
Gang of Four
Mission of Burma
“R.E.M. showing off a drummer”?
“Hawaiian Sophie” vs. clowning Oasis at Glastonbury?
i’m probably alone in this, but i’d say information society’s album from last winter was better than what they were doing in 1989.
I know U2 came off pretty pretentious in most of “Rattle & Hum” but the music performances were great. Ebert really seemed like a clueless old guy in that review.
In 1989, The Cure unleashed “Disintegration”.
In 2008, The Cure will release “The album we haven’t bothered to name yet despite the fact we’ve already released two singles off of it and it comes out in two months”.
I’d rather have 1989.