"90's Music" (and the first of many conversations about Metallica)

Mr. Lonesome:

Mr Mean posted a Posies video last night, saying how they were wrongly lumped into the Grunge movement. It got me to thinking: what exactly is 90s music? Nirvana killed glam rock, Hootie (to quote Mr Mean) killed college radio. And pop music seemed to kill itself. The 80s sound is so indelibly definable. What exactly happened in the 90s?

Mr. Mean:

Some of the bad things in the 90s had more to do with the media and recording industry than the artists themselves.  Billboard decided to not have “singles” be eligible for the hot 100 charts exclusively, like they had done since the 50s or whatever.  Any song could chart and it was based on radio airplay more than sales.  Therefore, big labels with crap talent and large pockets could put anyone on the charts. That’s why you had Mariah Carey or some other crap pop star have 3-5 entries in the billboard top 100 at any time, and sometimes all were in the top ten.  Radio was corrupt, too.  Clear channel bought up so many FM stations in large markets that it was nothing but a popularity free-for-all.  The art of the radio DJ waned and is all but gone now.  No one needle drops anything.  It is all computerized and force fed to them by the channel and the labels.  Basically, money ruled in the 90s. There were some great scenes in music though that get overshadowed by the Macarena and grunge.  For instance, while Hootie and the Blowfish murdered college rock, the American indie scene thrived and basically turned into a similar scene of the 80s REM/Replacements/etc college rock style with bands like guided by voices, pavement, unrest, etc. and Britpop was killer. Great scene.  Very fun, but translated over here in the states with nothing but Wonderwall, Song 2, and Bittersweet Symphony.

Mr. Lonesome:

I absolutely loved the 90s Britpop scene. I didn’t mind that Oasis got so much love. They were killer on the first two records. I also loved The Bends when it came out, and subsequently, OK Computer. When I was in my college band, OK Computer was a big influence on our songwriting. As was the “grunge” scene, though I’m still not sure how that movement is defined, other than Seattle + Guitar. I gravitated more toward Alice in Chains than any of the other bands. Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell were genius together. But you make excellent points on the way radio changed and started playing bands that normally wouldn’t have been singles bands (i.e. Metallica became a singles band with the Black Album, and even Sepultura and Slayer had videos in constant rotation).

Mr. Mean:

Yeah, but The Unforgiven and Enter Sandman were released as singles proper.  The thing with radio later in the 90s was that anything could chart if it rec’d enough airplay.  Before, a single charted based on singles sales (45, cassette single, CD single, 12”) and now it is just based on album tracks and airplay. Lots of labels threw money around to make their songs chart.

Mr. Lonesome:

Right, they were singles proper. But it’s interesting that they decided “hey, let’s release singles.” It can’t be that it was only because the songs were shorter compositions than anything prior. There was a conscious marketing effort to make the singles and to chart. I’m pretty sure the Black Album would have still debuted at #1 even without singles.

Mr. Mean:

Definitely would have charted at #1. …and justice for all put them on the “stadium” map. Metallica, despite my hatred of their music post 1991, are/were the next led zeppelin. Van Halen could have been but effed that up with the David Lee Roth exit.  Speaking of which…I heard a new V.H. song last night on the radio.  It’s pretty good.  They really sound like V.H. again.

Mr. Lonesome:

It’s funny you say that. Kirk Hammett, when discussing the Load-era backlash, compared their evolution to that of Zeppelin, commenting on how he saw a similarity on how the band (at the time) wasn’t the same sounding band they used to be. Of course, I am a well-known Metallica apologist, and I think the Death Magnetic and Beyond Magnetic songs are just fantastic (engineering notwithstanding). I think they are actually what the Black Album should have been, a natural progression from … And Justice.

Mr. On’ry:

Why?  Why does every single freaking music conversation come back to Metallica?  Metallica started releasing singles because they got a taste of “singles” success when they decided to make a video for “One”.  MTV played the living hell out of that video and I’m sure that it not only played into their songwriting but they then looked at what they had written and said ‘Oh, that’s a single…and that one can be a single too!  Hooray!’  I think though that the Metallica/Led Zeppelin comparison is perfect…because both bands started off awesome and then began to create albums that are so effing terrible that they sully the band’s good name.

Oh and stop using the term “grunge”.  It was a nothing but a marketing ploy to get people to buy records.  It was a figment of the record industry’s imagination.  No two bands ever labeled “grunge” even sound alike so get off this concept that there is a “grunge sound”.  It’s b.s.    

Mr. Lonesome:

Well, someone’s On’ry today.

Mr. On’ry:

Hey, you were all warned ahead of time!

Mr. Lonesome:

I don’t doubt that my beloved Metallica saw a way to make a lot of money. And I give them full props for that. The most I ever made from a show is $250, and the most I ever made from our EP was exactly $0. I want to punch the kneecaps of those pretentious musicians who say  “it’s about the music, man, not the money.” Because if that was the case, they would have stayed in their bedroom and out of a recording studio. Fuck those guys. Kneecaps, I say!

Mr. On’ry:

I never said the band shouldn’t make money.  You want to be a professional musician you better be able to pay your electric bill.  You waxed poetic though about the evolution of Metallica from “album band” to “singles band” and I’m telling you how it happened.  They were savvy enough to see the way the music industry was changing (exactly how Mr. Mean over there spelled it out) and they jumped for the brass ring.  Good for them.  If their music hadn’t suffered for it I’d still be a fan.  There are plenty of money-making bands I dig.  There are also plenty of “bedroom bands” I love.  If the music is good I’m listening to it...hence why I don’t listen to Metallica post-1988.  

*Editor's Note: Mr. Lonesome's e-mail crapped out and wouldn't receive anymore e-mails...but don't worry. he'll bring up Metallica again real soon.  

*Comment below and tell us who's full of crap!