Spin's 100 Greatest

I tell my clients that you're getting old when you paid more for your last car than your first house, but your also not young when your music buying slows considerably. I think itunes, iPods, Napster, et.al. in general may reverse that. When kids and mortgage start to eat up discretionary income, dropping $15 on Gwen Stephani stings a little, however 99 cents on Hollaback Girl seems ok. Plus the importance of pop music drops like a stone compared to the importance of that combo tap/ballet class the girls want.

Riding the elyptical at the gym last night, I thumbed through Spin Magazine's 100 greatest albums of the Spin era (1885 - 2005) issue. I'm afraid to say, I have not heard of many of the albums and/or artists. But here's my comments on the countdown with my own collection as reference. The ones I own are in bold.

99. Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen (Elektra, 1993) - Cincinnati band, but never bought it. Shame.
93. Pearl Jam, Ten (Epic, 1991) - Grunge happened a little too late for me. I needed to be 15 or so, but it still struck a chord with me. Powerful album. 3 tracks are on my iPod.
85. R.E.M, Automatic for the People (Warner Bros., 1992) Yawn. No, it's good. I'm being petulant. However, I'm turned off by the self-importance that drips off of REM. Everyone tells me they are great. They're ok. I don't like having a band forced on to me and that's what people do with REM. You have to like them!!
Whoops! The link above cuts off after 25 entries. Jerks. Here's another.
54 The Breeders - Last Splash (1993) - Dayton band when we lived in Dayton. I like it, but I listened a few weeks ago and it seemed a bit dated. Maybe forced. I think the article said the lead singer joined the Pixies. Don't know them.
51 Nirvana - In Utero (1993) - Call me a child of the early 90's. I was in my early 20s. but I will isten to anything by Nirvana. Except that Incestide crap I paid for. Total garbage.
49 Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) -- I borrowed this from someone at the office ust to have something to listen to. I blew me away and I didn't get any work done. This album will be around a long time. I haven't listened in a while, it's like books that I've read that I love. I'm afraid to go back and read them again because they might not be as good as I remember. This one is. Plus she does the abc's on a sesame street video Daughter #1 and I watched over and over years ago. What happened to her?
44 Green Day - Dookie (1994) - call me crazy, I've tried to listen a few times to this. I just don't connect with it. See comments on REM. They seem rather forced also. The lead guy always seems to be saying "Look at me - see how cool I am."
19 Hole - Live Through This (1994) - possibly my favorite non-Beatle album. Powerful, raw, rageful. Just what rock should be. I can only listen when The Divine Mrs. M is out of the house and then I play it very loud. Plus I find Ms. Love strangely alurring. Yes, I know I'm sick.
18 Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987) -- I had a dubbed tape. They ended bands with hair spray thank God. However, anytime a Bengals commercial comes on they play "Welcome to the Jungle" (the Jungle being Paul Brown Stadium) so I'm sick of it.
8 Prince - Sign 'o' the Times (1987) - Is there anything that he does that I can't listen to? No.
3 Nirvana - Nevermind (1991) -- See nirvana comments above.

I at least own a few of the 100 greatest albums as decided by poseur editors at spin. Am I still cool. No. I'm a dad who worries about everything. Cool is no longer me. Plus the last album I bought on the list is 7 years old. Nope. I'm now settled into a life of Sting (the Neil Diamond of our generation) and Bare Naked Ladies. Inoffensive, non-challenging, and the kids can listen to.

Ho-hum. Oh, hell, I like BNL. So screw off. I'm embracing my thirties.

Stay You.
Back to Main Page