NAGLE KNOWS COLUMN: I hate Aerosmith
By Jennifer Nagle
Don’t get me wrong, I love classic rock: the Stones and the Who are amazing, but good music didn’t stop after the Seventies, and not all of the classics were that good. Dare I say how much I can’t see the hype in the Doors or the Eagles (NSYNC sold a lot of albums too, okay)?
Do I have to wait till I’m thirty to hear my favorite songs on the radio? Volumes of great music were published during the 80s and 90s, but local stations never give them any airtime. I’m talking about well-written guitar parts and meaningful lyrics that have been captured in real “classic” tunes.
The last two decades have supplied a wealth of gifted songwriters and musicians that have been influential to American, European, and now even Japanese culture, but many of the critics overlook them. Perhaps it’s time that some of the industry’s dinosaurs be weeded out.
This is a universal problem that strikes a chord locally as well. The local radio stations offer our area a nice variety of mainstream music.There’s the ten or so pop/lite rock stations that play the best hits from the 80s and 90s (there were hits in the 80s?), the one or two classical, the six or so country stations (which, cruelly enough, always come in crystal clear), and the two or three rock stations that play the “mandatory Metallica” and Areosmith hour, and feature interference from one of the country stations.
Recently, rock stations have been adding Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana to their rotation, but a few token songs (that aren’t even their good songs) are not enough. Stations completely overlook Beck, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, and the Breeders. Why is this? All of them have excellent albums, great guitar work, and memorable songs, but they aren’t classic.
Instead the “new classics” the songs of Motley Crue, Metallica, and Aerosmith. What’s next: Poison? If any of those musicians had half the talent that Thurston Moore or Kim Deal have, they wouldn’t be overweight, out of work hags.
Critics spout about the days when rock was great, but if they would’ve never sold out, they would realize that rock never turned sour. It’s up to the fans to declare the new queens and kings of rock, not let the industry and record sales dictate who’s hot and who’s not.
It should be apparent to all that I’m a huge music lover (if not, what have you been reading?) and I’d like to believe that I’m a good source of music criticism, and I understand that some readers might take this hard, but tough- I hate Aerosmith!