Gen Xers tweak geezers' sacred cows

Albuquerque Tribune ^ | 7/9/04 | J.M. Baról

[Arkinsaw]

"I didn't like the whole American-by-birth, Southern-by-grace-of-God ethos that had come to be associated with Southern rock bands like Skynyrd," writes Potts, who was born and raised in Alabama.

"I wanted none of Skynyrd's talk of down-home values. It sounded like Moral Majority code speak, and this teenaged member of Greenpeace and fan of musical minimalists such as the Ramones and Devo was having none of this Confederate-flag-waving, axe-wielding mob of rednecks in bell-bottoms."

In other words, I have a stereotypical view that this band is not politically correct therefore I give their music a bad review. This is how you review music?

[Xenalyte]

And just like that, Potts buzz-saws through an institution no critic has had the gall to berate under his or her breath, let alone in a much-anticipated 300-page paperback - a book that received tyrannical criticism on the Internet weeks before its release.

Oh, come ON. I have been saying loud and proud for YEARS that - watch the argument this starts - SKYNYRD SUCKS.

[KarlInOhio]

She likes the Ramones? Wonder if she knows Joey Ramone is a Republican?

Was a Republican. He died in 2001 so he'll be voting for the Dems for now on.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Aha. I see. Now we see the emergence of the Michael Moore school of acquiring fame and fortune by dumping on other peoples' stuff with ephemeral nonsense and feigned insight.

[Xenalyte]

For Potts, two of her all-time favorite albums are U2's "The Joshua Tree," and Nirvana's "Nevermind" - two albums that showed up in the book.

U2 is an amazingly overrated band. When I was in grad school, we had access to a program that would do a fairly in-depth grammar analysis of whatever text you fed it. I fed it the lyrics to every U2 song I could lay hands on . . . and it found that on average, U2 songs use some 30% fewer discrete words than the usual song.

Which, of course, strengthens my contention that like Skynyrd, U2 sucks.

[Xenalyte]

AAAAAAARGH! The '80s broad with the frizzy bangs and the ugly eye makeup is back!

[Xenalyte]

I like the Ramones, Sabbath, AND Hank . . . but Skynyrd is better off never played around me, IMHO.

[Xenalyte]

Anyone who uses the word "hegemony" and isn't talking about geopolitics makes me want to retch.

[Auntbee]

I'm 47 and I like the Black Album but I also like Master of Puppets. But I also like Pink Floyd.

[Xenalyte]

Prince may not come across as much over the radio, but it wouldn't be a big stretch to call him a "musical genius." He can play just about every instrument there is, and usually plays the backup to his own albums in studio.

[workerbee]

"Call it a spirited assault on a pantheon that has been foisted upon us, or a defiant rejection of the hegemonic view of rock history espoused by the critics who preceded us," DeRogatis writes in the introduction.

Ummm... yeah. If this is just the introduction, I doubt too many "Gen Xers" are going to bother with the rest of the book. In fact, I wonder how long it took him to come up with such grandiose drivel.

[Tribune7]

"I wanted none of Skynyrd's talk of down-home values. It sounded like Moral Majority code speak, and this teenaged member of Greenpeace . . .

She doesn't like Skynyrd cause she's a hippie. LOL

Anyway since when are the Sex Pistols a Boomer band?

[dts32041]

I think I own only one of the albums on my list, but my brother is going to be real disappointed by the Dark Side of the Moon being on the list.

I for one have always thought the beetles and the beach boys were always over rated.

[Betis70]

I am a tepid Metallica fan. Dunno why, I just never got into them. The Black Album seemed good to me, but I had so many Metallica fans tell me they 'sold out' with that album. Whatever that means.

I like Floyd too. Right not I have Allison Krauss playing, and before that I had Everclear, The Waterboys, and John Williams (the classical guitarist guy, not the composer). So a bit of an eclectic mix.

[puroresu]

I agree that there's a tendency in society to deify certain legendary performers and to place them above criticism. In that sense, it's kind of refreshing to see someone taking on the sacred cows.

However, to do that the right way requires some true insights. I obviously haven't read this new book of critical reviews, but from the portions provided by this article it looks mostly like some shallow efforts to appear hoilier than thou on the PC scale.

So we get an attack on Lynyrd Skynyrd for being southern. We get some chick blasting some albums to get even with old boyfriends. Gee, that's intellectual.

I don't think I'll be wasting money on this book.

[puroresu]

I agree that there's a tendency in society to deify certain legendary performers and to place them above criticism. In that sense, it's kind of refreshing to see someone taking on the sacred cows.

However, to do that the right way requires some true insights. I obviously haven't read this new book of critical reviews, but from the portions provided by this article it looks mostly like some shallow efforts to appear hoilier than thou on the PC scale.

So we get an attack on Lynyrd Skynyrd for being southern. We get some chick blasting some albums to get even with old boyfriends. Gee, that's intellectual.

I don't think I'll be wasting money on this book.

[Auntbee]

I'm the same way. A little bit of everything (except country and rap).

[Betis70]

I listened to the early Rap (Run DMC kind of stuff), but don't really like much anymore.

I used to draw the line at opera too, but now I kinda like it. Well some of it anyway.

[GOPcapitalist]

I've been getting my 4-year-old daughter to say "Hay, mayun, play me sum Free Bird!" in the car.

Good work! That's more or less how I picked up on the classics myself - riding around in the car while dad had them on the "new" tape deck. We also had an 8 track in a Datsun Z, but that was a little before my time. Two decades later I still got the same stuff playing, only now on the CD changer in the back of my truck. So teach 'em right and it'll stick with them for the rest of their lives.

[bk1000]

"...it is Eric Clapton."

Last week there was a charity auction of many of EC's guitars.
One was the famous 'Blackie' he used during the Slow Hand period. It brought $850,000.00! It would seem others share your view!