I'm the first mammal to wear pants...
One of my Christmas gifts was a copy of the two-disc, 20th anniversary edition of Nirvana's Nevermind. While not my favorite Nirvana album (that honor goes to Bleach), I still feel Nevermind is pretty damn close to perfect and I love it dearly. And, while listening to it on the way home this evening, I expressed this "near perfect" claim on Twitter.
One of my Twitter friends, @cystsfts replied, "@kapgar I don't think Nevermind has aged nearly as well as Pearl Jam's Ten. It sounds really dated in comparison."
It's hard to argue that point. Nirvana's Nevermind does sound dated. It is 20 years old, after all. But why, per his Tweet, does Pearl Jam's Ten, also 20 years old last year, hold up better in his estimation?
It got me wondering if it has to do with the fact that Nevermind, like Bleach and In Utero, serve as a time capsule of an era in music history that no longer exists. Whereas, for Pearl Jam, Ten was the starting point of a 20-year history of evolution where fans were able to see the highs and the lows, the changes, the growth... all that jazz.
So, based on that, if Pearl Jam were to have ended the way Nirvana did and, say, Vs. was their final album (PJ's next album after Ten like In Utero was the next album after Nevermind), would Ten come off as "dated"?
If Kurt Cobain never died and we were able to continue listening to Nirvana over the course of the last 18 years, would their sound have changed such that Nevermind became the starting gate of an evolution?
It's impossible to say. How can we ever know? Events panned out as they did and we are left to do nothing but wonder what could have been.
For the record, no, I do not wish ill on Pearl Jam or Eddie Vedder. My brothers-in-law would kill me if I did.
But I do miss Kurt. Even if I didn't realize it immediately after his death.
Why are movie studios so intent on screwing fans?
Just a year after many studios announced they were going to bend us over by making us wait 28 days after the release of a movie at retail outlets before they could rent it, now Warner Bros (and potentially Universal) want to make all rental companies (this time including Blockbuster, whom were exempted the last time through) wait 56 days before allowing rentals of their movies.
The purpose behind this move is to try to force as many sales as possible before "giving up" to the rental industry.
Oddly enough, the fans "white knight," as it were, is Redbox who is basically telling Warner and Universal to bugger off. Redbox is willing to buy the discs themselves instead of waiting for their shipments from the studios so that they can provide them to fans after 28 days instead of making them wait 56.
While I'm willing to wait the 56 days, I have to admit I like the idea of Redbox flipping the bird to the studios and it makes me want to become a customer. And I would love to see Blockbuster and Netflix join the fight. Maybe strike a deal with a big-box store such as Wal-Mart or Target to supply them at a discounted rate due to the bulk amount of purchases. It could work.
Rock on, Redbox! Fight the good fight!
At least somebody remembers that fans are important.
I like that idea for the rental companies to buy from Target. These studios need to take their head out of their ass because I'm not going to buy a movie just because I have to wait longer. If anything I wont see the movie at all or just wait til it's available on cable instead where they will make less money than me renting.
Posted by: Nicole | Monday, 09 January 2012 at 09:39 PM
I like how you think and I'm the same way. I almost never buy movies anymore and it's gotten to be even less since the original 28-day delay announcement.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 09 January 2012 at 09:48 PM
If they charged a more reasonable price for DVD/Blu-ray purchases, more people would purchase. Moreover, if the incentivized purchasing a rented movie, more people would purchase. If the also incentivized ticket purchase and movie purchase combos, more people would purchase.
I couple of years ago, the Bourne movies were sold on Blu-ray with a voucher for a ticket to The Green Zone. I think the Blu-rays were around $20 with a up-to-$10 value voucher. Maybe cheaper. I bought all three and took two people to the movie when it came out. I was very satisfied with that purchase.
Don't even get me started on the digital copy codes expiring. Idiotic. Thankfully, the codes that came with the Back to the Future Blu-rays I received for Christmas worked even though they were listed as "may expire" back in October, so perhaps this situation is improving.
Posted by: Ren | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 09:22 AM
I totally agree on incentivizing the experience. Free movie tickets or always providing combo packs (so long as there is no expiry or that damned Ultraviolet format) or whatever it takes. Make it look like studios and the MPAA actually care about us and not just our money.
Posted by: kapgar | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 09:26 AM
That makes me want to start using Redbox, for sure!
As far as Nevermind (I looove Bleach, too) being dated - that's hard to say. I know I've had this conversation about Nirvana with people - if Nirvana's on a station or whatever, I never turn it off. Ever. That's not true with Pearl Jam- or a whole lot of other bands, actually. I have yet to find anyone say that turn off Nirvana. I love Eddie Vedder, and I love Ten, but they've done a whole lot of music since that bores the shit out of me.
Posted by: Sybil Law | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 11:09 AM
I think PJ's Ten has lived on for two reasons, hatred and love. But it's complicated. Basically there are two different sets of Ten fans. The first set, which I refer to lovingly as "Idiots", are the people who think Ten and Vs. are the only good albums and stopped listening to them completely after Vitalogy. To them the only real good stuff is what they liked in the first place and will never understand why the band decided to change and evolve. The second set of fans, "Geniuses", have listened to PJ over the past 20 years and appreciate how much they've changed. They understand that the four core guys who wrote Ten from a very depressed and resentful state of mind probably aren't depressed and resentful any more. Would anyone have the same problems as a depressed, broke 25 year old as they would being a rich, successful 45 year old? No, and that's where their music comes from now. It's not depressing and not dark becasue their lives are not depressing and dark.
What both Idiots and Geniuses have in common is their love for Ten. Why? Because of their hatred and love of the band itself. Idiots hate the band now and wax nostalgic on Ten because of their said current hatred. Geniuses love Ten because they understand that there would be no PJ of 2012 without the PJ of 1991. Either way it keeps Ten in the rotation of radio stations and keeps it relevent. Maybe if Nirvana was still a band 20 years later you'd have the same situation with their fans. Nevermind wouldn't seem so dated and their "new" music would help keep it fresh through their fans hatred and love of the band.
Posted by: Scott | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 12:47 PM
OK. Since I made the initial comment, it's only fair that I reply with my answer. I've actually re-listened to both albums since yesterday, just to be be able to make a fair assessment. Let me give a couple points here:
Nevermind is a HUGE sounding record. Butch Vig made it as slick and beefed up as possible and, in the process, removed much of the raw visceral energy that Bleach has. Nevermind isn't a bad album at all it's just not great the way that Ten is.
You mentioned the legacy of both bands and stated, "If Pearl Jam were to have ended the way Nirvana did... would Ten come off as dated?" I don't think so. For me, I haven't listened to "new" music from Pearl Jam since Vitology, at least not with intent to do so. I haven't followed their career arc at all since then so, for me at least, the argument can't be made that their longevity somehow makes Ten sound better today than Nevermind.
I'm sort of rambling here, but, the way I see it, there is a huge difference between Ten and Nevermind that most people miss:
Ten is an incredible album with incredible songs. It's head and shoulders greater than Nevermind in terms of quality. The rub is that Nevermind is a significantly more important album. It's not nearly as good. The songs aren't really all that great but what they stand for and what they represent to an entire generation and to "music" is undeniable.
Nevermind is (arguably) the most IMPORTANT rock album of the last 30 years, but because of that fact it is so representative of a time and movement that it can't sound anything but dated.
Posted by: Eric | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 01:05 PM
And I think those low points are an important part of PJ's evolution. I feel Nirvana would've had them too given more time. But, again, we'll never know. And there was a point when I did turn off Nirvana. Happened late in my undergrad and into grad school. Rediscovered my love around 2000.
Posted by: kapgar | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 03:12 PM
Interesting theory and well worded. But I wouldn't necessarily agree with the implication that Nevermind isn't relevant. I hear Nirvana on the radio more often than Pearl Jam.
Out of curiosity, how do you classify the people like me who will listen to all their albums but with peak-and-valley attentiveness? Meaning that I listen pretty hardcore when a new album is released but then stop for a year or more in between album releases.
Posted by: kapgar | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 03:17 PM
I completely agree with you on the beginning and ending of your comment. It is MUCH slicker and lacking in the raw power of Bleach and it does seem dated due to its representative status. I just don't know about the PJ stuff as I am a person who has continued to listen through the highs and lows (often felt more low than not) but I don't consider myself a huge fan. Like them? Yes. Seen them live? Yes. Live, breathe, and die? Not a chance. I wouldn't even place them in my top 10 though I think my Last.fm account might argue the contrary. Thanks for reading. Seriously.
Posted by: kapgar | Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 03:22 PM