I've been sanctified

Sometime in the early 90s, Famous rock critic Gina Arnold wrote two simple words. She wrote "We won". Who was this 'we'? What did this 'we' win? The 'we' she referred too was a generation of underground and college music fans, DJs and bands. The 'won' referred to the fact that Nirvana's mega-bestselling Nevermind was dominating the Billboard top 40 charts. Curt Cobain's (Nirvana's lead singer/song writer) face was plastered all over every music magazine in the country, and then some. For about 15 years Nirvana has been credit with dramatically altering the American pop-musical landscape. Nirvana stuck Excalibur in the heart of the dragon hair metal, synthesized pop, and bubble gum teeny bop that dominated the charts the years before the band. They made the music world safe again for the masses. Supposedly.

What seems to be unknown to the masses, Nirvana was a child of the 80s. An eventuality of an 'alternative' rock scene… nay, more than scene… a revolution. A revolution that had been brewing right under the nose of the conservative Reagan Eighties. A small but sprawling network of bands, labels, fanzines, radio stations lived, breathed and created music that was deeply personal, often brilliant, always challenging, never trite and immensely influential. I too am a child of the 80s and a big fan of the music of this era. So I set out to find a recent release that celebrated this music. I may have found one in the strangest of places. The Apple iTunes music store.

To access iTunes music store, go to the Apple Web site and download iTunes. I wont get into the technical aspects of this, just know that iTunes can be used with Mac or Windows and it's free. The CD is a part of a series - The 'iTunes Essentials'. Some body at Apple with more musical knowledge and time than you or I has painstakingly complied essential songs of different genres and musical styles. In this category I found a three part set called 80s College Rock.

The first CD, '80s College Rock - The Basics', seems to be the most obvious place to start. This is a decent overview of the era. All the usual suspects are here. REM, The Smiths, Pixies, The Replacements, The Cure, etc., are all accounted for. Unfortunately, some of the key players, like Minutemen and Fugazi are absent. This is probably due to the fact that iTunes Music store is relatively new, and takes awhile for an on-line catalogs like this to grow. I will admit, iTunes has been getting better by the month. (At this point, I think Apple owes me a check. But I digress). There are some welcome surprises on this collection -- The Church and The Jesus and Mary Chain. And a couple that seemed a bit out of place -- Janes Addiction and Faith No More (I loved them both by-the-way). But all-in-all, this should be a great place to start for anyone who wants to rid themselves of the evils of corporate rock and go back in time. Go back in time to a place where rap and metal never blend. Where the words, 'Hey. They write there own music.' were ever uttered. To a time of where the 'do-it-yourself punk' credo was the rule of the day. To a time when young people found an aesthetic and a community through the music that was bigger than the music.

But alas, after listing to these songs, Nirvana's decisive victory feels hollow indeed. Nirvana slew the dragon. But in the process opened the floodgates. David Geffen (CEO of Geffen Records) went to Seattle playing who wants to be a millionaire to slew of mediocre bands looking to cash in on the grunge explosion. Worthy bands like the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. got lost in the mix. In retrospect maybe Nirvana never matterd. By the time Cobain committed suicide in 1994, the alt-rock revolution was already winding down, clearing the field for the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and other jokes of a musical nature.

I can't wait to download the second installment in this series, '80s College Rock - Next steps.' I need some sanctifying.