I’ve never known a girl who was into R.E.M. Also: weened?

1. I agree that selling records isn’t the same thing as selling out. Although, it is difficult to argue that REM was huge in 1991 man. At least in the possibly narrow world I lived in, REM was for the girls. I owned 3 of the 5 albums you include in the list so I’m hardly naive. I just think this is the image that I hold of REM. Many people do, I’d imagine. They did swing for the record sales during that run, and I’m sure if I went back a little I could find some advertisements running REM music and all of the things you mentioned, as well. Wasn’t Michael Stipe in a bunch of movies around that time? I could be wrong.

2. I admittedly bought records other people bought in the late 80’s. I was as mainstream as they come, with the exception of probably early RHCP, Husker Du and my intense fandom of classic rock. In that time period, GNR and REM were both huge respectively, but the fan base for each was entirely different. All I was stating is that I wasn’t on the REM side so I cannot possibly agree with the statement.

3. Not downgrading any of the seminal bands at all man. I just wasn’t from that niche and didn’t listen to that stuff way back then. In a retrospective glance, personal attachment is obviously going to enter the discussion. It has to.

4. Longevity does count dude. You won’t hear me argue that.

5. Death nail is my informal mixture of “Death Knell” and “Nail in the Coffin.” I’ve always used this.

6. Word on the grammar with “revolts.” Pretty picky my friend lol. I did correct your’s openly the other day so what’s fair is fair.

Editor’s Note: Brian and I are still friends. I promise.

1. Selling records isn’t the same thing as selling out. Selling out is appearing in films to sell more records, collaborating with washed up mainstreamers to build buzz and filming hour long commercials on cable channels. (Alice in Chains on stage in the, admittedly awesome, Singles, Elton John appearing on Alice in Chains’ upcoming record, Alice in Chains on MTV’s Unplugged, respectively)

2. Kevin was “hell-forged deep into the rock scene” with Use Your Illusion and he’s giving me shit about listening to records that other people bought.

3. I probably blew it on Radiohead. But. The two classic albums in that stretch are OK Computer and Kid A; a lot of Radiohead is mythmaking on their part and the media’s. Was Hail to the Thief very good? Not really, but it’s political so we say it is.

4. People don’t go see Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr. to congratulate themselves on being cool. They go to see these bands because they’re amazing. (More on Burma on Monday, but, suffice it to say, dudes still have their fastball.)

5. Longevity counts. It’s not a silly requirement to talk about greatness over an extended period of time. If that dude could have kept the needle out of his arm, maybe we could talk about Alice in Chains as being an all time great; instead we’ve got a couple of great records from a band that should have made more. Same thing’s true for Nirvana and Nick Drake and Jimi Hendrix (and so on). Band of Gypsies is the best live record ever made, but that dude couldn’t stay straight. That has to count.

6a. What the hell is a deathnail? I know death knell, but not deathnail. Is this because I’m a dork? Is it some sort of “hell-forged” rock word that I would have learned if I didn’t spend all my time listening to records for pussies?

6b. “It revolts me” is non-grammatical. “Revolt” is to fill with distaste; “It fills with distaste me?” Of course not. “It is revolting to me” is the one that works. Again, is my tendency to harp on standard constructions a product of my wussified record collection? Do I even have a wussified record collection? I listen to way more Minor Threat than Kevin does. Is that for candy asses too? Could we count Ian MacKaye’s five record stretch across Minor Threat and Fugazi in the conversation? Is Red Medicine as good as Jar of Flies? Would Fugazi ever be on MTV for an hour and then sell the product? Do any of these questions matter?