IT'S ONLY ROCK & ROLL

I think this is the book that has officially put me off rock music criticism and the whole concept of placing it into a greater cultural context.  The present isn't moving into the future fast enough for these people, so all they can keep doing is rehashing the past, telling the same old anecdotes, categorizing the same bands (or insisting that they defy categorization), compiling variations of the same GREATEST OF ALL TIME lists, etc etc.

I've always known that music was more of a visceral thing for me, pleasing to both my ears and my gut, but when the trend began, I was intrigued by the idea of placing contemporary music into a broader cultural spectrum, ESPECIALLY when the 70s and 80s alternative scenes finally got their day in the sun. 

Now, tho, I'm just tired of it.  I loved hearing EXILE ON MAIN STREET for the first time much more than I enjoyed reading and re-reading and re-reading articles by a zillion different people tell me WHY it's the ultimate Stones album.  Or the  contrary types who want to tell me why it's not.

I love Echo and the Bunnymen.  Don't give a shit where they stand in the INFLUENTIAL BANDS OF THE 80s lists of anyone but myself.  They were one of the first non-mainstream bands I got into, and I still listen to those first 4 albums quite a bit.  Not as nostalgia, but because they still give me a visceral thrill.  That's good music.  Period.

My oldest kid gets all kinds of annoyed when I can't give him a list of my all time fave bands or movies, I keep telling him he's 30+ years too late for lists from me.  Back in the day, I went from Cheap Trick to Pink Floyd to the Clash to REM to the Jesus and Mary Chain, but I hung onto the bands I moved past.  Why limit yourself? 

Anyway, the book isn't bad, but the guy just takes this shit waaaaaaay too seriously, and it really isn't worth it.  Life's too short.  Gotta go check the crock pot, see how my chicken & black bean soup is doing.