Does our generation have a Nevermind or Nirvana?
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,116
Does our generation have a Nevermind? An album or band like Nirvana that encapsulated the hopes and fears of an entire generation? I felt that the album and that band sort of was distilling how I felt, and how Gen X felt. Does this new generation growing up, our generation, have that band, have that album that "gets us" when the outside and mainstream culture doesnt? Kids today are just as alienated and disillusioned as they were in 1991, I would argue even more so, but I cant off the top of my head think of an album or band that fits the criteria.
People especially Gen X's now, seem sort of to brush away the idea, and sure, the band didnt encompass every last person in the generation, but alot of people felt it, felt the words and music. I sure did.
i loved/love this record, and even as a young kid, I sensed the importance of it, that it tapped into something, and kurts death, once again, was something that I understood the importance of, despite my young age.
People especially Gen X's now, seem sort of to brush away the idea, and sure, the band didnt encompass every last person in the generation, but alot of people felt it, felt the words and music. I sure did.
i loved/love this record, and even as a young kid, I sensed the importance of it, that it tapped into something, and kurts death, once again, was something that I understood the importance of, despite my young age.
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"Vinyl or not, you will need to pay someone to take RA of your hands" - Smile05
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For me and a lot of my friends, it's definitely The White Stripes/Jack White. We point to Jack White as the artist just like Nirvana and The Beatles were for generation's past.
Also, we can forget about Kanye saying, "I'm the spokeman of this generation." Fuck him!
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
jack white is obviously hugely talented. no doubt about it. But, and this sort of piggybacks off my jack white thread, kurt and nirvana, were as azzerad has said "the last big rock star". Even taking into account every single project jack has been involved in, his star status, and his placement in rock history right now, is almost miniscule compared to what kurt and nirvana meant to teens in 1992.
The point being, Kurt and Nirvana, put into lyrical form and cd form, the feeling of being an outcast, of being forgotten, of being left behind, of being from a broken home. I dont think that was just a media invention. I sensed it, and couldnt put it into words, as I mentioned before, as I was a small kid, but I felt it. And I do, think kurt and nirvana stood for something, that their music was more than mere background noise to alot of teens at that time. That people, that teens understood the music in a deeper sense, they felt the music and the feeling of it, more deeply than your average rock band.
jack whites music while brilliant, lacks that. While people may rightly call him a musical genius, he isnt tapping into the wellspring of disenfranchised teens or disillusioned souls, like kurt did. To say kurt set out to do that, obviously suggests a complete lack of understanding of the band and the man, but, reguardless, his music, once released, meant a great deal to people. And his death as well, symbolized something as well. Rock stars dying has been going on since Day 1 of the dawn of rock music. But to do it the way kurt did it, to do it so shockingly, and so publicly, and to understand why he did it, there is alot to this folks.
Nevermind captured the feelings of a generation. These outcasts. People who didnt feel like they mattered. Who felt ignored by larger society. And with Nirvana and Kurt people could look at them and sort of identify with the spirit of the band.
Thats what I am looking for. Thats the question I am asking.
I think the defining album of this generation could be Hip Hop Album. Big hip hop albums seem to have more impact on our culture than rock albums do these days. With so much easy access to music, a rock album that strikes that cord is going to be harder to come by I think.
I actually watched some Nirvana concert this weekend and really listened to Kurt's voice and could sometimes hear the pain he was in about the outcast thing that you mention. It's such a tragic loss. He at times looked like a normal dude and you couldn't understand why he felt so out of place or that he didn't matter. But he was such a talent in expressing himself that everyone eventually understood and I think it's just a rare thing. People knew it was a rare thing because he was treated like a rock god on the basis of that one album. I liked the second record alot but know it wasn't as popular as the first. I don't think anyone has come close to Kurt's presence as it is such a rare thing.
And last of all... our genetion's answer to Nirvana and Kurt Cobain... the true torch carriers... THE DRONES from Melbourne, Australia with the best frontman in rock since Kurt, GARETH LIDDIARD. Recently Australia's musical luminaries voted the best Aussie rock song ever, and THE DRONES came out on top with "Sharkfin Blues". But the whole "Wait Long..." album blows minds, and will blow your mind! Listen to "Locust"... "Sharkfin Blues"... and you will never go back. Plus you will agree that they are the new Nirvana!
THE DRONES and GARETH LIDDIARD. Go listen! Fucking amazing!
http://thedrones.com.au/
EV - Canberra, Newcastle, Sydney 2011; Sydney 2014.
EV - Canberra, Newcastle, Sydney 2011; Sydney 2014.
I totally agree, that album was definitely a defining moment for a lot of young people. I'm not saying it was the best album ever, and I know why a lot of people hate them, but it definitely captured the mood of the time.
The singers voice sounds like Jo Strummer blended with Johnny Rotten.
Sadly, No.
Nothing of late comes close to Nevermind/Nirvana.
I eagerly await the next big thing in rock, I am 25 going onto 26, I want to be young whilst something big explodes, ala grunge early 90's.
Come on almost 20 years, it's been too long, so much crap music, need something new and real to blow all the crap away.
I still remember the Saturday morning that changed my life, I was thirteen years old watching TV around 8:30am. These 5 dudes with long hair and banging guitars and no tight black jeans with tight black t-shirts I turned up the volume and was caught. Even Flow. The Ten Album was and is my Nevermind. I understand what people say about Nevermind and have never argued their opinions but Ten is the album that I felt defined a generation, mine.
So the answer to the question after my ramble is NO. Not since Ten ah wait Nevermind
"if nothing is everything, i'll have it all"
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Every teenager I see seems to listen to horrendous, shitty, hardcore dance music.
+1 Ten was the album of my generation, as far as I'm concerned.
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The "album" as we know it is slowly becoming a very loose concept and will continue to erode so a defining album is obviously quite elusive. We are not to that point yet that albums are no longer the defining piece of music, but this generation is the first one where that grip has really begun to slip.
That does not completely answer your question because you could easily say well okay but still even if you don't look at it as just Nevermind what about Nirvana and their impact as a band.
The answer as others have already mention is contained in the idea of how music is shared and obtain so easily through the internet age. Mass media does not control what everyone hears anymore. It used to be if you got on MTV you fuckin made it man. Now there is no media outlet that anyone cares enough about. The closest thing to that is the "blog buzz". That is a very hard thing because their are so many of them.
It is just a different world in music. In many ways much better, but if you insist on being nostalgic and judging defined moments on past benchmarks it can be frustrating.
Case in point: If the music scene was today as it was in 1991 Arcade Fire might have been this generations Nirvana/Nevermind, but then again if the music scene was the same today as in 1991 they might have never blown up like they did because the mass media might not have deemed their sound worthy coming from a small record label like merge.
It is just a different game today.
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Americans and Europeans... listen to The Drones' "Wait Long..." album... or "Oh My" off the Havilah album... the new Nirvana!
EV - Canberra, Newcastle, Sydney 2011; Sydney 2014.
Maybe the sex pistols. Maybe Sargent Pepper.
-Greg Dulli
Yep sadly, this generations's Nevermind is called American Idol. And that makes me so sad.
How dare you criticize, you toe rag whiney guy.
I think Jack White is great, just because you don't like him, keep your opinions to yourself.
-Greg Dulli