Recently I read where TRENT REZNOR of NINE INCH NAILS stated that “90’s Grunge was more dangerous than today’s shitty music”. And in going back to look for that article, I ran across two other quotes from TRENT; one was that DONALD TRUMP was a “fucking moron” and the other where “social media has ruined” the music industry because the internet “has become a pool” for untalented people to push down the talented ones. There were a few other things that he said that I just passed over as I was clicking the X to close the window of the browser.
I mean in a matter of 30 minutes I accidentally came across 4 other items TRENT REZNOR had been quoted on. I mean, he’s either got a lot to say or he’s drumming up to go back on tour so the Press Machine get his name out in the squishiness of the public’s brain matter. Either way, what struck me to write this rebuttal of sorts to Mr. REZNOR, was the article in ALTERNATIVE NATION about today’s music being shitty. I mean, he is entitled to his opinion clearly, but it is kind of a slap in the face to the whole music community, to be honest. Granted we all can’t be like him and write songs that empower people on a dance floor to want to copulate like animals, now can we? And I never thought of NINE INCH NAILS as being all that dangerous, really in calling people up to fight for some social injustice that was going on in the world at any given time. If his music was that, anthemic in nature, I missed the message. Quite possibly, the only fight the now 53 year old has even been apart of was his own with the various record labels he’s been associated with or pissed off at.
But to be so arrogant to say that music now was “shitty” was kind of, I don’t know, rude. Of course there are bands and artists that have been popular over the last 40 decades that haven’t had a lot of talent, or have had one hit and then produced shit. And clubs not been as popular of an activity for young Americans at the time for “DOWN IN IT” and “HEAD LIKE A HOLE” to rise up the ranks in the 90’s, I doubt that we would even know who TRENT REZNOR was.
I really want to say,
“Dude, you’re listening to the wrong music.”
Now I get that we all can’t love the same bands or same style at the same time. That would be pretty difficult, not to mention lame. I can’t really grasp what genre of music he’s referring to; his own industrial style or pop or rock or metal or radio music. Because there are a LOT of really great artists out there in all genres. I’m going to list a few of them for you to check out if you’re so inclined and if on the slight chance you’re actually reading this at any time. Ok, ready? Here are some kick ass bands that aren’t making “shitty” music: Wednesday 13, Falling In Reverse, He Is Legend, Hail The Yeti, Blacktop Mojo, Invidia, BrokenRail, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Mission Jibe and so many more!
Look, TRENT, we live in a different time than how we grew up. We grew up waiting with bated breath for King Radio to feed us what he wanted us to hear. I don’t think that King Radio would have ever played NIN without it being force fed by the public due to the club craze of the 90’s. I will be the first to tell y’all though; I love NIN, then and now. There was nothing like that feeling when “DOWN IN IT” started playing at the club, was there?
We don’t live apart from being connected now in the Digital Age. Music fans now have the incredible gift of hearing the talented musicians and artists because of the rate at which information is wanted and received. I mean, let’s be real – we can’t be so arrogant to think that there wasn’t talented musicians in the days where NIN climbed up in rank. I am betting that there were 10 bands world wide that were much better than or equal to NIN but just didn’t have the resources or have that lucky break that latched on to TRENT REZNOR.
A few years ago, I jumped on the “Rock & Roll Is Dead” bandwagon because it seemed that GENE SIMMONS had some valid points. But they weren’t completely rooted in truth and I was just too lazy to go find where the rock was hiding. I was still conditioned to wait for the next biggest thing to hit the airwaves. Boy, was that a mistake (especially living in Dallas, Texas where rock radio is pretty much nonexistent) and had I held my breath while waiting, I’d have dropped dead. It wasn’t until I started listening to OCTANE on SIRIUS that I realized that rock was officially alive, well, breathing and spawning like salmon in a river. Bands like AMITY AFFLICTION, NOTHING MORE, CANDLE LIGHT RED and others were stoking the fire underneath the rock pot. Sprouts from band members branching off and doing their own thing like TIMES OF GRACE, PROBOT, WEDNESDAY 13, STONE SOUR have also pitched in to keep things aflame, even if the world wasn’t watching.
Funny thing, and I’d like to state that this is merely an observation here for Mr. REZNOR to possibly roll around in his brain for a minute. I’ll go ahead and say it without beating around the bush: Sir, I’m going to venture out and say that if you asked all the shitty musicians out there right now if they like NIN and you, TRENT REZNOR, I’m going to guess that most everyone of them would say yes. That in some way, shape or form NIN and YOUR music affected them, influenced them, sparked creativity – something from you is in them and in a roundabout way, in their music. So aren’t you kind of saying that your music is shitty? I mean, influence is influence no matter what side of the coin it falls on.
My point to this is, we can find shitty things in everything. There are bad apples in every bushel and just because you bit into it doesn’t mean that all the apples are shit. This is common sense and coupled with “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” golden rule that your mother or grandmother should have carved into your skulls so that when you close your eyes you can literally see the “STFU” message. Unfortunately, we don’t remember to look for that warning. I’m totally guilty of doing this; totally have done this before and will probably do it again…unless I’m reminded like this finger-upchuck is to remind REZNOR that too.
Until Next Time – MRML
