Time for some Sunday Reflections
Music to listen to: Frogs (unplugged) by Alice in Chains
I came across an internet conversation on a message board tonight on TheBigLead.com discussing 90’s music. Alice in Chains was mentioned and I decided to post Frogs from the band above. The lyrics of this song has gotten me though some rough times in my past and I’m sure that they will in the future as well.
In fact, let’s start with some of that.
-A few weeks ago, I was talking with my main man Diaz about him attending a Creed concert at the Sommet Center, which lead to an afternoon of mocking the band, which is always fun.
However, I came to a personal conclusion that I didn’t have a beef against the band but with Scott Stapp, who has the worst case of a Jesus complex that I’ve ever seen from an entertainer. I couldn’t stand that guy back in the day.
But years have passed and I don’t dislike him as much anymore. Plus, the emergence of the new band, Alterbridge, which is everyone from Creed minus Stapp, has been a good reprive and actually made the new Creed music listenable.
The point being is that nostalgia is a remedy for accepting your musical likes and dislikes. I appreciate Alice in Chains more now than ever because I see the current state of rock music as uninspiring. If an Alice in Chains at its peak (I mean with Layne still alive and not the current version of the band, which actually is decent but not the same), they would dominate today.
Unfortunately for Alice, they had to compete with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, etc. for attention. Those are all badass groups. Its similar to a player like Dominique Wilkins in the NBA.
It also goes the other way. My first ever concert in Nashville was to see Limp Bizkit. I loved that band. I was a perfect sucker for the whole rap/rock genre of the late 1990’s. I’ve always been a big rock fan and despite what some of you may think, I’ve always been a rap fan as well. While I was listening to my LL Cool J, Eric B and Rakim, NWA (war Ice Cube and Amerikkka’s Most Wanted), I was also getting my fix of Metallica, Led Zeppelin, and all of the bands mentioned with Alice.
So when Rage came out, that was the start of it. Then Korn came into my musical landscape and finally Limp Bizkit. I owned the albums, knew the lyrics, thought that Wes Boreland was our generation’s Jimmy Page, the whole deal.
I wasn’t the only one in this crowd. Bizkit actually had a diverse fan base with rappers and rockers.
That’s the biggest misconception that i would say that people have about fans of music in their late 20’s and early 30’s. People tend to think that white people listen to music by white artists while minorities listen to music by minorities.
We’re part of the MTV generation so when I was twelve in 1993, I would see a Nirvana video one minute and then get a Dr. Dre one the next. The same people were watching the Headbanger’s Ball and Yo MTV Raps is what I’m trying to say.
I leaned more towards the rock side so by the time I was an 18-year old in 1999, Limp Bizkit was the mix of both worlds.
In 2009, I can’t listen to any of their songs because I don’t like it. I used to be ashamed of it like knowing the words to a lot of Backstreet Boys and N’Sync songs. But I look back on it now with happiness and enjoy the fun times.
-Heck yeah, I know the words to the “boy bands” songs because while I was waiting to see the Korn videos on shows like MTV’s TRL or listen to the Bizkit songs on the radio, the boy bands songs would appear. If you listen to any song more than 10 times, even if you don’t like it, you’re going to memorize it.
-Saw UFC 105 last night and while it wasn’t the most thrilling MMA card of the year, three interesting developments took place.
1) We’re going to see an age of American professional sports making more of an implant in Europe and internationally in general. The economics of the United States are tight right now as we all know and there ‘s room for growth in foreign countries. Why do you think that the NFL plays games in London now and the NBA has been floating the possibility of European teams in the league for years. The UFC is currently there doing work and I even see it at my job in professional wrestling. Watch out for the Middle East being huge in a year or two.
2) Randy Couture is one of the most amazing and under-regarded legendary athletes of the past 25 years. People want to talk about Brett Farve and what he’s doing this season as a 40-year old quarterback in the NFL and deservedly so. However, you have a 46-year old man competing against guys literally half his age in a physical combat sport and not only looking good, but winning fights.
3) The UFC really, really, wants Brandon Vera to be a major player in MMA but it just may not happen. Vera has a unique quality that is a marketing dream for the sport. He’s an English-speaking Filipino who is a competent fighter. Besides Mexico, the biggest market that the UFC and really all combat sports like MMA, professional wrestling, boxing, etc. want to hit is Asia. Vera is a perfect candidate to do this but he may not be good enough. He’s just below being a title contender which isn’t anything to look down upon, but he’s missing that next level.
-How did Taylor Swift win all of those CMA awards earlier this week? As my friend Jared pointed out, its one thing to win Album of the Year, which I can kinda see because everyone bought that thing, but getting female vocalist of the year was a joke. She was the weakest singer in the group. First, how Martina McBride doesn’t win this award if Alison Krauss is up for it every year is a joke. Furthermore, I would take Miranda Lambert, Reba and even Carrie Underwood before I would pick Swift. Nothing personal, just stating an opinion.
Music to listen to: Frogs (unplugged) by Alice in Chains
I came across an internet conversation on a message board tonight on TheBigLead.com discussing 90’s music. Alice in Chains was mentioned and I decided to post Frogs from the band above. The lyrics of this song has gotten me though some rough times in my past and I’m sure that they will in the future as well.
In fact, let’s start with some of that.
-A few weeks ago, I was talking with my main man Diaz about him attending a Creed concert at the Sommet Center, which lead to an afternoon of mocking the band, which is always fun.
However, I came to a personal conclusion that I didn’t have a beef against the band but with Scott Stapp, who has the worst case of a Jesus complex that I’ve ever seen from an entertainer. I couldn’t stand that guy back in the day.
But years have passed and I don’t dislike him as much anymore. Plus, the emergence of the new band, Alterbridge, which is everyone from Creed minus Stapp, has been a good reprive and actually made the new Creed music listenable.
The point being is that nostalgia is a remedy for accepting your musical likes and dislikes. I appreciate Alice in Chains more now than ever because I see the current state of rock music as uninspiring. If an Alice in Chains at its peak (I mean with Layne still alive and not the current version of the band, which actually is decent but not the same), they would dominate today.
Unfortunately for Alice, they had to compete with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, etc. for attention. Those are all badass groups. Its similar to a player like Dominique Wilkins in the NBA.
It also goes the other way. My first ever concert in Nashville was to see Limp Bizkit. I loved that band. I was a perfect sucker for the whole rap/rock genre of the late 1990’s. I’ve always been a big rock fan and despite what some of you may think, I’ve always been a rap fan as well. While I was listening to my LL Cool J, Eric B and Rakim, NWA (war Ice Cube and Amerikkka’s Most Wanted), I was also getting my fix of Metallica, Led Zeppelin, and all of the bands mentioned with Alice.
So when Rage came out, that was the start of it. Then Korn came into my musical landscape and finally Limp Bizkit. I owned the albums, knew the lyrics, thought that Wes Boreland was our generation’s Jimmy Page, the whole deal.
I wasn’t the only one in this crowd. Bizkit actually had a diverse fan base with rappers and rockers.
That’s the biggest misconception that i would say that people have about fans of music in their late 20’s and early 30’s. People tend to think that white people listen to music by white artists while minorities listen to music by minorities.
We’re part of the MTV generation so when I was twelve in 1993, I would see a Nirvana video one minute and then get a Dr. Dre one the next. The same people were watching the Headbanger’s Ball and Yo MTV Raps is what I’m trying to say.
I leaned more towards the rock side so by the time I was an 18-year old in 1999, Limp Bizkit was the mix of both worlds.
In 2009, I can’t listen to any of their songs because I don’t like it. I used to be ashamed of it like knowing the words to a lot of Backstreet Boys and N’Sync songs. But I look back on it now with happiness and enjoy the fun times.
-Heck yeah, I know the words to the “boy bands” songs because while I was waiting to see the Korn videos on shows like MTV’s TRL or listen to the Bizkit songs on the radio, the boy bands songs would appear. If you listen to any song more than 10 times, even if you don’t like it, you’re going to memorize it.
-Saw UFC 105 last night and while it wasn’t the most thrilling MMA card of the year, three interesting developments took place.
1) We’re going to see an age of American professional sports making more of an implant in Europe and internationally in general. The economics of the United States are tight right now as we all know and there ‘s room for growth in foreign countries. Why do you think that the NFL plays games in London now and the NBA has been floating the possibility of European teams in the league for years. The UFC is currently there doing work and I even see it at my job in professional wrestling. Watch out for the Middle East being huge in a year or two.
2) Randy Couture is one of the most amazing and under-regarded legendary athletes of the past 25 years. People want to talk about Brett Farve and what he’s doing this season as a 40-year old quarterback in the NFL and deservedly so. However, you have a 46-year old man competing against guys literally half his age in a physical combat sport and not only looking good, but winning fights.
3) The UFC really, really, wants Brandon Vera to be a major player in MMA but it just may not happen. Vera has a unique quality that is a marketing dream for the sport. He’s an English-speaking Filipino who is a competent fighter. Besides Mexico, the biggest market that the UFC and really all combat sports like MMA, professional wrestling, boxing, etc. want to hit is Asia. Vera is a perfect candidate to do this but he may not be good enough. He’s just below being a title contender which isn’t anything to look down upon, but he’s missing that next level.
-How did Taylor Swift win all of those CMA awards earlier this week? As my friend Jared pointed out, its one thing to win Album of the Year, which I can kinda see because everyone bought that thing, but getting female vocalist of the year was a joke. She was the weakest singer in the group. First, how Martina McBride doesn’t win this award if Alison Krauss is up for it every year is a joke. Furthermore, I would take Miranda Lambert, Reba and even Carrie Underwood before I would pick Swift. Nothing personal, just stating an opinion.
Then she gets Entertainer of the Year over Brad Paisley, who may have had his best musical content year of his career, Chesney and Keith Urban? Really?
Look, I know that Taylor writes her own songs, has a happy personality and actually seems like a nice person, but I don’t get it.
The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say that country music really wants her to succeed because she’s the last legit crossover YOUNG country star that’s come across in a very long time. Her videos are playing on frickin MTV with Britney Spears, that’s major. She’s even more of a household name with the Kanye West MTV Video Music Awards fiasco a few months ago.
So to legitimize Swift, the voters gave her some love. Here are the other females to win the Entertainer of the Year Award: Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks. She’s not even on the same level as the first three and the last two I can argue were better musicians. OK, she’s better than Shania but you get my point.
However, much love to Darius Rucker for getting the Rook of the Year Award (that’s what I call it). When he came out with a country album, like most of you I thought, what is Hootie doing releasing a country album? I’ve heard it, its very good and he got some love.
The question now has to be is he the best Black country musician not named Charlie Pride in history? Its not as far off as you would think.
-Didn’t see the Pacquiao and Cotto fight on Saturday but it sounded like another dominating performance from Manny. I hope he beats the crap out of Mayweather when that fight happens but boxing has a funny way of screwing itself up so don’t wait up for that fight to take place.
-Was at the laundry today and I literally saw a grown man with his pants down past his butt so I could see his boxers. PULL YOUR PANTS UP!!!!
-Greatly enjoyed the season premiere of Tough Love on VH1 tonight. You will hear me talk a lot more about this show in the upcoming weeks.
OK, time for me to get some sleep but good fight and good night everybody.
1 comment:
Alice in Chains "Check My Brain" off the new one- love it.
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