Slowhand

Naturally...

I'm sure everyone around here thinks they've got the best taste in music in the world. (You're wrong, I do ) But I think we all have bands we listen to who are guilty pleasures, bands you would never let your friends know you listened to or music you just KNOW is bad but still like it anyway, or music that you have in your I-Tunes that just doesn't seem like it fits. My top few are: 80's synth music. I love A-Ha and Tears for Fears, I can't help it. Fall Out Boy & The All American Rejects. I KNOW it's bad music, and I know it's pop fluff, but I like it, and listen. (BTW, old FOB is stuff I'm not even embarassed to like) Justin Timberlake. I hate to admit it, but damn it, I do like his music. The Barenaked Ladies. This isn't really a gulity pleasure I guess, because I LOVE BNL. Ludacris, Nelly, 50 Cent. I like to listen to terrible rap sometimes (not often) but I do know all the words to quite a few songs by those guys. (Which is not to say I don't like Jay Z, Eminem and Common, but that's what I consider good rap.) Alanis Morissette. I grew up with a single mother in the mid 90's, I was destined for this one. Coldplay. I went to their concert, it was good, I'm a sucker for brit-pop. The Go Go's. Again, single Mom. The Goralliz, love 'em. Hoobastank and (old) Incubus. NuMetal trash really, but it's catchy, and I like it. (Not ashamed of the new Incubus though, that's good stuff) Kid Rock. I'm from the south, it's just natural. Limp Bizkit. Great for working out and running, even if the lyrics are something a 7 year old could have written. Linkin Park. Ditto LB. Nickleback. I hate it, but I like it. Sheryl Crow. I actually really, really like her, but it's just not my normal genre. Snow Patrol. Ditto Coldplay, even though their Scottish. Sugar Ray, pure pop bliss. Will Smith. The nostalgia factor is heavy in that one...

Me and you Farin, we think alike!

Well naturally this is all cylical. Who's to say Pearl Jam couldn't have kicked off the grunge revolution too? It's all speculative, but this is just how I think it would have played out. That argument can just as easily be something like "Well give credit to Motzart, that guy revolutionized music and created an atmosphere where modern musicians could thrive." All music is interlaced, everyone takes from everyone else. I think the fact that they were first is a very important fact. They're Jackie Robinson man, it's the perfect analogy.

You're right, JA was a hit before Nirvana was around. And that kinda kills my RHCP argument too, because JA to RHCP is a pretty natural progression. Drat my young age, if only I were around to listen to the radio at the time you guys were...

The fact that those bands existed before Nirvana wasn't the argument I was trying to make. What I was trying to say was that there's a very good chance those bands would have never either achieved the success they have now, or would have never been formed or gotten famous in the first place, or would have had a much harder time doing so. For example, it's perfectly logical to say that the Foo Fighters could have formed had Nirvana not existed. But, they probably wouldn't be famous. I wouldn't say that Radiohead was influenced by Nirvana, but I think that it was a natural progression for the masses to go from grunge type music to the electronica-indie sound of Radiohead. Without Nirvna there as a buffer they probably would have lost a significant portion of their audience.

Well I have nothing against the Mets, so you're also fine by me. You're going to get Jose Contreras, take it to the bank!

Maybe not by name, but I bet casual music fans would both know "No Rain" and "Follow You Down" (or maybe "Hey Jealousy", I'm not really sure which was a bigger hit.) You're probably right about RHCP and JA, but I think they gained from the Nirvana success as much as anyone. I mean, I was only about 5 at the time so I don't really remember, but I'm sure Nirvana vaulted those bands into the stratosphere.

I'm actually really excited for the Sonics, because they'll probably be in OKC in a few years, right when they start to get good. The Red Sox aren't winning another one. You got all your luck from the past 100 years when you came back on the Yanks, and then mortgaged the next 100 years just to be able to pull that off. Ken Griffey isn't going anywhere, but I can see you guys getting Adam Dunn. Griffey is the reason people go to baseball games in Cincy, and wihtout him they'll never sniff a sell out again. A-Rod isn't going to the Angles either. Anaheim is too much of a small market to pull down his contract, and even though they have the young prospects the Yankees will probably be looking for, they simply cannot afford him, especially since he can opt out after this year and will likely get another huge contract. And I'll just let you take my lunch money, anyone who's a Syracuse fan probably needs it to buy booze to forget your pitiful football team. (Minus Dwight Freeney, Donovan McNabb, and Marvin Harrison, of course.)

The Twins are having a down year because the absolute stud of their staff, Franscisco Liriano, is out all year with Tommy John surgery. Santana can't do it by himself, even if Torii Hunter and Joe Mauer are studs. Just wait until next year when we have Liriano and Santana going full speed. The Yanks will be one year older, and probably minus A-Rod, Rivera and Clemens. Live it up while you can.

Bah, I just had a long resposnse that I'm having to re-type. Here's the summary: Nirvana had to have something that set them apart from those other lables and their other contemparies. Sure, they probably weren't as good as their successors, but you know about their successors because of Nirvana. Without Nirvana you (probably) wouldn't have ever had: Sound Garden, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog*, Jane's Addiction and Toad the Wet Sproket, and the Red Hott Chili Peppers. Which would lead to these bands (again, probably) not ever being found out: The Foo Fighters (definietly), Live, Radiohead, The Stone Temple Pilots, The Gin Blossoms, Everclear, The Calling, Candlebox, Bush, Blind Melon, The Black Crowes, and Weezer. Again, that's all speculative, but I think it's logical to think that if Nirvana hadn't come around there's a very good chance we wouldn't know about those bands. Sure, some of them might have achieved mainsteam exposure, but Nirvana paved the way, much like Jackie Robinson probably wasn't the best black player in the negro leagues, but he's who everyone remembers because he was the first.

I listen to music mainly to be entertained by it... Which isn't to say that I can't appreicate the artful side of it, but it's more because I like what I'm hearing, not what is being said. Take Queen for example, their lyrics weren't anything I couldn't write, but they are just an amazing band. Pure entertainment, and that's why I listen.

No, what I meant to say with that little section was that Pearl Jam also achieved main stream exposure and got pretty rich and famous in the process, unlike someone such as Soundgarden who didn't recieve as much exposure. Commericial success has very little to do with what I think is good music, Granted, I don't listen to the radio anymore, but that's just because I enjoy my CD's more. I like a lot of main stream bands, like Weezer or My Chemical Romance, who are both beloved by top 40 stations. That's almost exactly what I was trying to say. Nirvana's music was not the best of the Seattle grunge scene, I'm not arguing that. The only point I was trying to make was that, even though their music might not have been the best, what they did makes the rock legends, and it's not even a question to me. Anytime you do something that influential, I don't think you can ever be over rated. They completly changed pop music, that's not easy.

Oh man, I know I'm a n00b here, but we need some sports talk around here. What do you guys think about the NBA draft? The Yankees sucking? The All-Star break, buyers and sellers? What teams do you guys like? I'm a huge college football fan, I go to the University of Oklahoma, so I'm a die hard Soonerns fan. I follow the NFL pretty closely too, but since Oklahoma doesn't have a team I have to root for the Dolphins. (My Mom is from Miami) I also enjoy the NBA (Mavericks) and MLB (Twins) but don't follow them nearly as close.

You can't argue with what Nirvana did, and to call the over rated would be a musical crime IMO. Sure, they had contemporaries that music snobs like us can point to and say were better. (Like Soundgarden for example, who I always thought was far superior.) Even Pearl Jam to some extent, even thought they achieved commerical success as well. But, bringing the Seattle grunge scene to the masses and completly overturning pop music with one fail guitar rift on "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is something that can't be ignored. It's the historical equivalent of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it brought in a whole new age and completly changed the world, and for that fact alone I don't think Nirvana can really ever be under rated.

I'm jealous of that KoL shirt, one of my favorites at the moment. I have: A replica of the 1981 Rolling Stones world tour shirt, it's brown with lighter brown speckles on it. A pretty standard Queen shirt with the lions and whatnot on it. A Better Than Ezra shirt that's blue and only has their logo on it. A black Billy Joel t-shirt, bought from his tour when he came to OKC. Tour locations and such on the back. And a really, really old Stevie Ray Vaughn shirt. I don't even wear this shirt because it's so cool.

Thanks elvish! (Clapton is the man, btw) I always figured Say it Ain't So was about something other then a relationship, some of the lyrics just don't fit, especially the last verse. It's just weezer for you, they can make anything sound angst-ridden and love lorn.

Say It Ain't So by Weezer and Firewater by Yellowcard are two of my favorites. Firewater: "You sat me down beside myself, to show me all the reasons I was wrong for you. Was this for real, it's hard to tell, 'cause this was such a beautiful mess we had got into. Can I swallow this bottle whole, so this brain in my head can forget your face?" Say it Ain't So: "I can't confront you I never could do That which might hurt you So try and be cool When I say This way is a waterslide away from me that takes you further every day (hey) So be cool"

In no particular order... Se7en Fight Club Pulp Fiction American Beauty Almost Famous The Departed Ocean's 11 A Civil Action The Shawshank Redemption Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Rentals was a band formed by Matt Sharp, who was the bassist for Weezer during the Blue Album and Pinkerton. Very much in the vein of those early Weezer albums, Sharp's Rentals carry on that angst-ridden, loveable loser sound that made early Weezer sound the way it did, Taking the Weezer formula and distorting it just a little bit, adding more distorted guitars and funky beats to sound a little more New Wave. The Reantals are worth a listen if you liked early Weezer. Here is their MySpace. The Man With Two Brains is a great little bit of song writing, Please Let that Be Me is one of my favorites, and Friends of P was their only mainstream hit. http://www.myspace.com/therentals YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/therentalsdotcom Other songs that I can't find links to that are my personal favorites are "My Summer Girl" and "Keep Sleeping"

Eric Clapton on Lead Guitar Billy Joel on Piano, doubling as head song writer Noel Gallagher on Rhythm Guitar and contributing song writer Dave Ghrol on Drums ... we don't need a basist, just let these guys jam.

Hey guys, I think you found a new regular in me, I'm a regular at Songfacts, and just stumbled into these forums. Thanks for the welcome!

Pinkerton by Weezer Independent Worm Saloon by the Butthole Surfers Both took a little time to sink in, and are now favorites.