i'm not trying to discredit him or the band. just pointing out that they weren't the idealistic pariahs so many people want to try to see them as. he wanted his cake and to be able to eat it to. you can't have successful obscurity, you don't retain obscurity by playing label showcases.

they didn't go to the mainstream because they WERE the mainstream. they WERE the disenfranchised youth of the late 80s that hated the garbage being pandered to the masses as 'great new music'. they were the ones who recognized the attitude and decadence of the glam and hair music that dominated so much of the 80s was crap. they were the ones who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, in broken homes, with minimal money who saw the realities of the tanking economy of the late 80s and hated the poofy haired facade mainstream america was trying to uphold.

cobain made it absolutely clear when he screamed "here WE are now, entertain US!" that they (and their peers) were in fact the mainstream. whether or not the mainstream wanted to recognize the transition was another matter entirely. my generation did not give them a choice. it was our turn, and we took it.

I don't know if this means you like them as well...or you have an immense hatred for everything they encompass, haha

Love them! And their newer stuff is highly underrated.

I agree so much.

There are those kids who want to be "rebels" though, and if their favorite band goes mainstream, they'll turn on them in a snap.

Rather biased if you ask me.

I get so bored of this accusation being thrown around.

It's not a case of being 'rebels'. There's a lot of decent music on major labels, on the other hand i've seen plenty of independent bands sign up to major labels & sacrifice everything that was good about them in the first place from the pressure put on them of having to sell units.

I'm not against bands making more commercial records but if it comes to the point they become so bland & safe you can't listen to them anymore I think you have every right to call them on it.

Agreed. But do you think Nirvana were guilty of that? I don't..er..we are still discussing Nirvana, right?

If you have a good reason for not liking them anymore, then good for you.

All I was saying is that I don't like when somebody turns on a band JUST because they went mainstream.

There's plenty of other reasons why people would hate them for going mainstream.

Some bands songs just don't stand up to being played on radio or TV 30 times a day. That'll put me off a band instantly, I don't want to hear the same stuff over & over again. Even if it's stuff I like.

And then you have bands who bang on about loving how much they have the artistic freedom to do whatever they want and all this kind of stuff & 2 years later they have some song on an advert selling something.
I'm not against bands using music to make a bit of extra money, I just can't stand the hypocrisy of being preached to and then see them throw it in people's faces.

All valid reasons for not liking a band going mainstream

If I liked a song, I'll probably always like it, sure I'll get tired of it playing again and again. I mean I still think Stairway is a great song, but I do get tired of hearing it constantly.

Still, it's always annoying to see someone fap over a band only to later change their opinions and go on about how talentless that band is and how you're a moron if you like them and so on. Just because it took them so long to realise that other people liked them, which is totally uncool.

But then some music is supposed to be disposable.

There's been plenty of times when i've liked a song , played it for a few months and then never listened to that band again.

I don't think all music should be timeless there's nothing wrong with taking a snapshot of a particular moment enjoying it & then moving on to something else.

People are far too possessive about music.