"If they hadn't put out "Yoshimi...", that's all most people would remember his band for."

there was also this album called "The Soft Bulletin" that some of us sort of remember (it usually outranks "Nevermind" on best of the 90s lists not made by Rolling Stone and VH1).

it's a real case of pop amnesia, however, to say that "Nevermind" is a shitty record or that it was all hype. that album is, in terms of depth, the 1997 Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball team - they've got starters on anyone else's team coming off the bench. since the sports metaphor has exhausted itself, just try these on for size - "Polly," "Drain You," "Lounge Act," "On a Plain". these were the songs they *didn't* shop to radio. "In Utero" is meaner, nastier and has better singles, but pound for pound, it also has a lot more filler than "Nevermind".

for god's sake, guys, can't it just be a great record without carrying this "voice of a generation" horse puckey? is it overrated? YES! but does overrated automatically mean "worthless piece of shit?"

westartedthis

Isn't releasing an album on 4 separate CDs that must be played simultaneously on 4 separate cd players just about the most self-indulgent "I'm an ARTIST DAMNIT!" idea ever? I mean, are you even allowed to refer to anything as "navel gazing" after that?

Secondly, yeah, you need to be on some pretty heavy drugs to listen to anything the Lips have done. Except for, like, the lips songs that get used in commercials.

liljayjay

Maura Johnston

Cam/ron

zibby

JoeGermuska

antistar

As far as Nevermind goes, I agree with MC completely. It always happens: genuinely good underground music eventually breaks through to the mainstream, and is then co-opted by the mainstream and turned into a shiny new product that is more easily digestable for the average consumer, without the rough edges or smart commentary. This is how Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Soundgarden gave way to Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind, Nickelback, etc.

But you can't hold it against Nirvana that they launched a legion of crap bands. It's like saying you wish "Ten" had never been released just so you wouldn't have to deal with Candlebox.

StopKillingMe

But to say it didn't have any cultural impact or that it was mostly hype is just plain dumb. As a freshman in college in '91, even the black kids on my dorm hall were jamming "Teen Spirit" with the bass cranked. Mainstream rock was on its deathbed at the time (Great White anyone?), and the album basically extended the life of your standard guitar-bass-drums rock band for another 20 years at least. It did this by mainstreaming punk anger, adding irony to the formula, and bringing some fun and a little bit of danger back into Top 40 rock that had become boring retreads of "Life is a highway."

Now, you can make the argument that mainstream rock assimilated Nirvana's influence merely to turn out turgid minor-key crapola like Nickleback, etc. But to say they were hype or without talent makes you look like you're 14 yrs old. Kill yr idols and all that, but at least know what you're talking about.

MC

merely

Cam/ron

And, admittedly, "Negative Creep", "Floyd The Barber", "Sliver", "All Apologies", etc. are songs I so prefer these days than anything off Nevermind. I really like Nirvana, but Wayne is right when it comes to its canonical status having reduced the experience of that album for me. Perhaps that says more about me (or Wayne for that matter) than Nirvana.

mackro

But, they'll still go down as "the voice of a generation" because that moniker has been burned onto the brains of said generation.

Pete the Chop

niwi

MC

MC

But overall, they were musically nothing special, the "voice of a generation" thing was 100% hype, and they will be a footnote to music history.

drjimmy11

Idolator, who do you hate?

The HZA.