posted
On this page of the Anywhere Machine forum's "Smexy" thread, I made an anti-grunge comment that I didn't expect to set off a snowball reaction. I don't want to throw the "Smexy" thread off-topic, so I'm going to re-activate my personal thread, get on my soapbox, and give what I hope is my last word on Why I Hate Grunge.
When I was a teenager, I didn't like my peers at all. I was a friendless loner. I had all sorts of issues with religion and sexuality and other things.
But despite my alienation, my tastes in popular culture were surprisingly conventional at the time, especially where music was concerned. Music, to me, was escapist ear candy. The only "angry" band that I liked was Guns n Roses, because they felt cathartic, they seemed defiant, and Axl Rose seemed (at first) like neither man nor woman but a feral omnisexual mutant, which was how I felt at that age. Of course, he went on to reveal his homophobia and grow a beard and stop washing his hair, but the impact of their first album and of the "Welcome to the Jungle" music video was something that could not be negated by sad reality.
Unlike my peers, I was perfectly happy with music the way it was and I didn't want some bunch of whining smackheads to pollute the airwaves with their lame "teen anthems" while pretending that they really didn't want to be rock stars and laying on the "tortured artiste" schtick way too thick.
Grunge was nothing but a swindle, and a swindle done with none of the flair of a Malcolm McLaren. It told teenagers, "be cynical, be resigned, be flippant, be a zombie." My response then was a resounding "F*** YOU" and a lingering skepticism on the very concept of "alternative" culture. Sorry, but when the peers who made my life a living hell started getting tattoos and piercings and wearing flannel and gathering like lemmings at Lollapalooza so that they could sing along to music that was every bit as "corporate" as what it claimed to oppose, you could count me out. And when my now middle-aged peers look at the 90s at the best of times, I laugh contemptuously.
I have since become a lot more open-minded about music, and have developed eclectic tastes. But grunge is, and will always be, my musical bete noire.
I'm not trying to start any arguments. If you're reading this and you like that stuff, have a ball with it. Despite my venom and bitterness in the above paragraphs, I do respect your opinion. I'm just getting something off my chest. We all have to sometimes.
cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
I posted the "Steve Albini" song in the lyrics thread just for you, Babe.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
So, Fanfie, now that you have a new name, are you going to rename this thread, too?
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
"Fanfic Lass' Fantabulous Land of Festivity?" That sounded so much better in my head.
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Kix & Trix With Fanfix?
Oh, forget it.
[skulks away]
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged |
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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