The Indie View of Hard Rock
 

I read something a while ago about Nirvana that I thought was really interesting but have never really had an oppurtunity to discuss it with anybody. It was about the fact that the band had recorded a cover of some Kiss song for a various artists compilation album and what it basically said was that British fans found this unthinkable coming from a punk band like Nirvana. Unthinkable because Nirvana and the underground had come to represent a kind of righteous political correctness in rock music that was oppossed to the sexist and homphobic glam bands and hard rock bands that had come before. Most of those bands had no political or social consciousness but bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam did and so the idea of Kurt Cobain fessing up to actually liking bands like Kiss and Aerosmith seemed at odds somehow. Apparently this attitude didnt hold any sway in America because Generation X had already grown up on Kiss, Aerosmith and AC/DC among others before they even heard punk whereaes in Britain the emergence of punk and impact was immediate and so the lines where drawn between metalheads and punks from the get go.

Being British myself I can definitely how such a thing can take hold of somebody and in fact for a few years I found it all but impossible to enjoy that style of music simply because of all the sexism, duh duh dumbness and spandex tights. It seemed ridiculous to me and unreal whereaes indie rock seemed far more genuine. The conclusion Ive come to is that it is more genuine and artistic than most of the glam bands of the '80s and the hard rock bands of the '70s. Whos going to be taken more seriously, the guy in a flannel shirt and jeans or Dee Snyder? What Ive come to realise though of late is that the point of hard rock and glam is that the music isnt to be taken seriously nor is the whole mentality of it. Its just dumb fun. Its dumb fun in the same way that the Ramones where or the garage bands where. The Ramones where not to be taken seriously and once you realise that its a lot easier to enjoy their music. You can't judge them with the same criteria as you might judge a Can album or a Velvet Underground one because those bands were trying to make artistic statements. I kind of think thats one of the illogical things about the way indie rockers, including myself at one time, perceive hard rock. They don't realise that those bands arent doing it to be great artists or be taken seriusly. Its just dumb fun.

It feels silly writing this because its obvious. Im doing it though because I kind of fell for the same trap that people did in the '70s and the early '90s. When punk came along young kids sold their Yes and Cream albums because it was outdated and out of touch. When Nirvana came along and made it impossible for Warrant to get a video on MTV anymore the same thing happened. If you can look past all the sexist song lyrics and stupid outfits some of that stuff is pretty good music. Some of AC/DC's stuff is pretty good and so is Twisted Sister. Ill draw the line with Bon Jovi and Van Halen but plenty of good stuff on the other side of the line. Its not as heady or arty as something by Beefheart or somebody but it has its own merits.

Therepy? did the same thing I seem to remember. Around the time of their first album they used to be all over the NME , so when they played the Reading festival they played a Judas Priest cover and alienated half their fan base.

I`ve always said there are two types of hair metal , you have the soft rock MTV hair metal which I can`t stand ,and then you have bands that were bought up on the likes of The Stones ,New York Dolls and T Rex who were much grittier and rawer.
I still listen to Hanoi Rocks quite a lot now.

i agree with you. Probably also why I have a harder time getting into some "Emo" music, or even punk.

But, I still can't get into Twisted Sister-and watching they're Christmas album on vh1 classic didn't help to change that.

To me theyre just a funny band. I listen to it with that in mind . Theyre just emblematic of all of those bands.

Its just so rawk man:lol:

I saw Twisted Sister in concert a little before this past Christmas. I went with low expectations, and even those low expectations were not met. They played a medley of various Christmas songs, metal style, and it was not a pretty sight. Partly because they seemed to lack passion for a lot of the songs. On the plus side I found their make-up very amusing.

hmm..guess i cant post pictures:(

heres the link anyway.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...B000ICLTKK.jpg

i think this is what me and logic were referring too.

Good stuff...

/sarcasm

I see your point, but personally I still think that even though, as you said, The Ramones weren't out to make any artistic statements, there is something more in their music than in the average hard rock or glam band. There's a passion, and a fierce sense of rebellion, that whole attitude of just "fuck everyone" that I just never got out of bands like Twisted Sister. I mean, they sang "We're Not Gonna Take It" but I never really believed them... whereas when Black Flag sang "Rise Above" I knew they weren't about to take anyone's shit. To me, glam and hard rock were sincere in that they were all about sex and decadence, but garage and punk really were pushing the bounds on what was socially acceptable, and often puking and defocating all over them.

So basically what I'm saying is this: as a disillusioned and spirited teenager, punk rock is a lot more relevant to me than hard rock or glam rock. If I want dumb fun, that's what I'll turn to, because to me dumb fun is more about slamming into other kids at shows than wearing tights and headbanging. And when I want to listen to music that's about more than just "dumb fun," I'll turn to my Velvet Underground, my Can, my Beefheart, and all my other artsy, experimental, avant-garde, assorted pretentious crap.

In conclusion, fuck Twisted Sister.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Whats your opinion though of all the un-pc stuff in hard rock vs the pc stuff of grunge? I used to find it replusive but now I just laugh at it. The lyrics to something like "Givin' the Dog A Bone" by AC/DC are just disgusting but you kind have to listen to it in the same way as you would listen to a Weird Al song.

Its kind of like that scene in Spinal Tap when theyre talking about the original cover of Smell the Glove. The band are so thick that they just can't see how it could possibly be seen as sexist.

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