I was pleased to read Chuck Klosterman's claim that it's fair to disregard later works when evaluating a rock band: "Unless they die before the age of thirty-three, nobody's entire career matters, and we all unconsciously understand this. If you're trapped in a Beatles–Stones debate, it's not like anybody tries to prove a point by comparing Help! to Steel Wheels." Can we lower that age to 30? That way, listing Weezer or the Beastie Boys as a favorite band would automatically mean you were talking only about the 20th century—you wouldn't have to worry* about explaining that you're talking about the blue album and Pinkerton and nothing post-Harvard...or that Hello Nasty was good fun and "Ch-Check It Out" all well and good but that that's not what you're talking about when you talk about love.
Yeah, man: 30. I approve of most everything John Lennon ever did, but I wouldn't be too devastated if I had to surrender my copies of everything after Plastic Ono Band. (The dream is over, dude.) And I liked Sea Change O.K., but I woudn't really be comfortable naming Beck as one of my favorites unless we stopped after Midnite Vultures. I'm even happy cutting Ween off at White Pepper, much as I enjoy Shinola. Or take my teenage hero Frank Zappa:** I find him most tolerable now in those first few Mothers LPs; hold up only Absolutely Free and We're Only in It for the Money and I feel no shame.*** Set it at 30 and Prince cuts out after Sign o' the Times: nobody can wonder whether you're talking about the Batman soundtrack. Works just fine for old Lou Reed, too: I like Berlin,**** but I can survive without it. (I'm not exactly sure where all this leaves me, with a birthday coming up this month...I guess maybe I'll never be a rock'n'roll legend? I've still got a couple of weeks...)
So: I like Weezer! I like the Beastie Boys! Another way to say it: I never really made it out of college...?
(Now, lowering it to 29 would erase Use Your Illusion...)
* Not that a well-adjusted person would worry about this anyway.
** I was the teenager, not Zappa.
*** Although I am sort of in love with the 32-year-old Zappa's guitar solo in "Zomby Woof": yowza, yowza, yowza.
**** I may actually like the Schnabel concert film better than the album—really picks up steam partway through (and singlehandedly convinced me that I like Antony Hegarty, which as far as I can tell is not actually true).
2 comments:
This post has been totally and unreasonably worrying me! I was relieved to discover, though, that the phenomenon does not hold true for the great ladies of country music. The awesomest Loretta Lynn (b. 1935) songs are from the late '60s and '70s: You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man), Coal Miner's Daughter, the Conway Twitty duets, and The Pill. And although Dolly Parton (b. 1946) released Jolene and I Will Always Love You just shy of 30 in 1974, 9 to 5 is from 1980, the Trio record is from 1987, and The Grass Is Blue is 1999. It's true that the most heartbreaking Tammy Wynette (b. 1942) song, Til I Get It Right, was released at age 30 in 1972, but I don't think you get to sing a song so beautiful until you get to be 30.
I am underfamiliar with this business, SRL, but it sounds convincing. And I guess Johnny Cash was just a month shy of 36 when he performed at Folsom Prison. So rock ≠ country, it would seem.
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