Quote:
Originally Posted by Surell
Well I think it at least deserves its significant stature for being the first full-fledged movement of full-on musical nihilism. Nothing before Punk had their ****-all attitude, coming down even to not caring how to play your instruments in what one would call a decent fashion. I may be wrong, but the only people I can think of using that kind of abandon in their music would be individual bands, not an entire genre. Not to mention the influence it had on greater movements down the line, like Post-Punk, or much super-ironic, irreverent indie music, or, as much as we may detest, grunge, hardcore and its branches (metalcore, mathcore, grindcore, etc.), and so on. Music hadn't been quite that overly aggressive until then, and its aggression can be felt to this day; I think that warrants its merit. Unless, of course, I have it all wrong.
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But you had all that with the first wave. Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, etc. Why did we need a whole 'nother decade of countless bands rehashing the same three chords (not to mention the insufferable political ranting)? The smart bands like Wire, Subway Sect, Talking Heads, etc took those bands, got inspired and went off to do their own thing and NOT just rip them off without even the desire for originality besides just playing faster and more aggressive (of course there were exceptions, but they tended to be few and far between). All those bands were basically just heavy metal bands that didn't want to admit it. They may not have played the same stereotypes, but they were just angry teenagers who wanted to make noise.
I love metal, but I fully admit that a substantial chunk of metal bands have the same lack of originality. I mean, for god's sake, do we really need another death metal band? The difference to me is that metal is just a genre that is basically about making loud music. There are of course bands that aren't content with just making a racket, but the bands that are just about a racket aren't really committing any sin. Punk on the other hand was based on being original and not being satisfied with the same old rock and roll stereotypes that had become a self parody. Of course, that doesn't necessarily stop stereotypical punk bands from being fun, so, if you just like punk as a genre, then don't let me stop you. I still love Dead Kennedys and the Misfits after all.