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Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
With all the 20th anniversary nostalgia you might think 1991 was defined by Nevermind. If so, nobody told Axl Rose
2011 has seen a steady re-examination of pop culture from 20 years ago. Hinged on the anniversary of Nirvana's grunge lodestar Nevermind, anyone nostalgic for 1991 could also check out Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam 20 documentary, watch Soundgarden on tour (support from the Meat Puppets), enjoy the revived Beavis And Butthead, or the DVD of 1991: The Year Punk Broke. However, at the time, almost all of these were dwarfed by the release of Use Your Illusion I & II – Guns N' Roses' sprawling, long-delayed follow up to 1987's Appetite For Destruction. If anyone remembers Use Your Illusion now, though, it's as a byword for hubris, pomposity and a terminally unfashionable strain of stadium metal that was duly killed by grunge. 2011's retro fest will apparently pass with no homage to what was, in 1991, the biggest thing in pop music.
This erasure of Use Your Illusion from the collective memory is odd. On its release it was an enormous cultural event; midnight store openings, five-star reviews, seven-times platinum sales for both albums and a mammoth, 194-date tour marked by riots, resignations and the eventual explosion of the bassist's pancreas. But after this, the band set about enthusiastically traducing its own legacy with awful punk covers, a revolving door of session hacks and long periods of torpor. Axl Rose's grand folly became one of those things – like Thatcherism, or Robbie Williams – that was enormously popular at the time, but that nobody would later admit to having enjoyed.
In truth, the albums are sporadically brilliant (although the bad stuff is so remarkably terrible that it has a kind of halo effect on the music around it). What really condemned Use Your Illusion to ignominy was the fact that at the moment it arrived Kurt Cobain redefined what a rock star should be. And in 1991 that meant flannel shirts and political correctness, rather than stars and stripes cycling shorts and songs challenging journalists to a punch-up. Both parties did their bit to ramp up this hostile dichotomy: Rose reportedly threatening Cobain at the MTV Awards; Cobain publicly mocking GN'R for being "establishment rock'n'roll".
With 20 years' distance, Rose and his grunge nemesis don't seem so different: both were angry, provincial ingrates and, just as Nirvana were credited with killing off a lot of bad music, Guns N' Roses had dealt a similar death blow to the 1980s glam metal scene just three years earlier. The counterfactuals suggested around Nevermind's anniversary have focused on the great work that a still-living Cobain could have made. But, given these similarities, it's at least possible that he might have followed Axl Rose's lead, turning into a loopy, mansion-bound recluse, tinkering with unfinished projects, piling on the suet and emerging sporadically to sue his ex-bandmates and have a punch-up with Tommy Hilfiger. Maybe in another 10 years' time the hoopla surrounding Guns N' Roses (and those regrettable cycling shorts) will be forgotten to the point that Use Your Illusion will finally get a fair hearing.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicbl … NETTXT3487
Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
Great article.
It boils down to one thing only...
"Grunge music didn't kill metal. Grunge marketing killed metal" - Bret Michaels
Said it all then, says it all now. Granted it's coming from the lead singer/frontman of Poison, one of the most commercial, marketed bands of their era, but it still applies.
To this VERY DAY, the media pushes Kurt Cobain and Nirvana down the throats of the masses, because it's what they "believe" that their audiences wants to see and hear. Now I can't speak for the world. But I know in the U.S. this is very true, even down to our politics and how it's reported. If money is being made, and interest rates are low, and bankers are giving money away... over indulgent, excess excess excess, "anything worth doing is worth over-doing", is pushed. When the economy gets bad -- the media suddenly gives a shit about jobs and the poor and how tough it is and they doom n' gloom.
Why?
Because they believe viewers will tune in if they tell them what they want to hear. Because viewers meant more ad revenue money.
And the same is said for grunge and this revisionist history about how Kurt Cobain ruled the world for 3 years (91-94). They (media) believe that's what audiences want to see/hear/read.
If, and that's a big IF, Axl had properly rolled out CD when the iron was hot in 2001-02, and promoted the hell out of it... GN'R would've been what to talk about at least in rock music. Especially if the music could've grabbed current audiences, and not just rock enthusiasts.
The media would've went back and re-explored UYI I & II, their roll out, the lineup changes, Axl's mystique, why he was the last rock God left, why he remains the rock God today (as of 2002), blah blah blah.
It ain't nothing but what they want to push.
NOBODY likes fuckin' Coldplay. NOBODY. I haven't met one real mother fuckin' rock fan in my godforsaken life that likes Coldplay.
Yet... you hear of them ALL THE FUCKING TIME. It ain't nothing but marketing.
GN'R had their run in 91-93, but it doesn't translate to what perception is of what to talk about in 2011.
It might help if Axl actually promoted the band as actually fucking existing on some level, rather than just booking shows and not telling anyone about it. Or having a non-existant website in 2011.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
1991 was ALL about Metallica and GN'R for me. Never really got the Nirvana thing until years later after all the hype had passed.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
UYI made GN'R the Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones of our generation, it sucks that those albums aren't as highly regarded as other albums that came out that year.
Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
What's funny about the albums that came out in 1991 is the most important album released in terms of a band's respective career is quite likely U2's Achtung Baby. Yeah Nevermind and Ten spear headed the whole "grunge" thing and the Illusions were huge and Metallica conformed to rock radio but U2's Achtung Baby may be the biggest reason why the biggest band on the planet in 2011 is U2. It is in my opinion the greatest album of all time and belive me I did NOT think that back then. It was the most daring album released by a major band that year, it wasn't anything in the vein of grunge, it was nothing like what had brought U2 to the dance. It was in essence the reason why U2 was able to continue on in the 90's as a major force in the industry. Had they released another Joshua Tree or Rattle and Hum durring that period it would have tanked.
Nevermind is overrated and as I've said many times on this board Pearl Jam's Ten was the big new thing and the Illusions were the biggest albums all throughout highschool. I remember U2's Achtung Baby but it was the older kids who seemed to like that stuff.
1991 was an absolutely epic year in music.
Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
I'm sorry, but no marketing campaign made those kids by Nevermind in 1992 or anything else. A lot of guys seem to take offense to Nevermind's success. Did the media jump on grunge? Yes, but no one swayed any kids to get into Nirava when they debuted in 1992. Labels and media were still treating hair metal as relevant. I'm sorry Bret Michaels, Poison was a joke, as was the entire hair metal scene and the moment kids found something else and you werent' popular anymore, they dropped them, just like boy bands.
Alt rock of the late 80's helped Nirvana. The media jumped on Nirvana and Grunge after Nirvana's succes, not before. The media never sets trends, they're always chasing it and then bastardizing it.
GN'R did own 1991, though. 1992 was Nirvana's year, but GN'R were right there with them. November Rain was HUGE.
Re: Never mind Nevermind, 1991 was all about Guns N' Roses
I'm sorry, but no marketing campaign made those kids by Nevermind in 1992 or anything else. A lot of guys seem to take offense to Nevermind's success. Did the media jump on grunge? Yes, but no one swayed any kids to get into Nirava when they debuted in 1992. Labels and media were still treating hair metal as relevant. I'm sorry Bret Michaels, Poison was a joke, as was the entire hair metal scene and the moment kids found something else and you werent' popular anymore, they dropped them, just like boy bands.
Alt rock of the late 80's helped Nirvana. The media jumped on Nirvana and Grunge after Nirvana's succes, not before. The media never sets trends, they're always chasing it and then bastardizing it.
GN'R did own 1991, though. 1992 was Nirvana's year, but GN'R were right there with them. November Rain was HUGE.
Pearl Jam are the ones who came out fo the gates and blew up "grunge" The media jumped on it when Nirvana released a poppy hit single in Smells Like Teen Sprite. I don't resent Nirvana's success but I do resent their legacy because fact is Pearl Jam broke before Nirvana did and I can't speak for all parts of the world but Ten was much bigger where I live than Nevermind ever was. Everyone was into Pearl Jam very few were inot Nirvana. Yes everybody liked Smells Like Teen Spirit but Pearl Jam was far and away the most popular new band. And it was legit. It wasn't forced upon us by the media the way Nirvana was. I clearly remember back in 1992/1993 thhinking the media needed to give it a rest because they were making Nirvana out to be something they were not and they continue to do so.
Nirvana's legacy was a produt of media manipulation. Not marketing campaigne but media manipulation. I compare it to Radiohead's legacy. I love Radiohead but my fucking god did the media milk that shit. Ok Computer the greatest album ever and the transformation the band made from that to Kid A suddenly made Radiohead this artistic band with more integrity than any other band out there? Give me a break. U2 was doing Radiohead before Radiohead was doing Radiohead. Kid A is an average album in a genre loaded with artists who do that stuff better but the media needed something to blow up.
Nirvana put out some great stuff but they get WAY TOO MUCH credit for changing the landscaoe of music. It started with Pearl Jam and when Pearl Jam remained true to what they belived in by avoiding MTV and magazine covers Nirvana jumped all over that. they did the music videos, they did the magazine covers and all of it. Pearl Jam was everything Kurt Cobain claimed himself to be.
Again I can only speak for the place I live but Pearl Jam was THE band in terms of the grunge movement and I didn't even like Pearl Jam back then but I coudl see it and feel it. It was never Nirvana despite what media wanted everyone to believe. Pearl Jam's Vs album was much more anticipated than Nirvana's In Utero. Ten also had more it singles than Nevermind.
Most people are scared to say this but in essence Nirvana was a one hit wonder. There was a movement taking place and the media latched onto the catchy pop single with a grunge tone and one that was titled "Smells Like TEEN SPIRIT" Gee I wonder why they picked that and ran with it.
