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Six years ago today, we lost an amazing man, musician, and songwriter. Elliott was 34 when he died and working on his most ambitious album of his career. We will never get to hear the undoubtedly amazing music that would have come from his future, but we have all the music he left behind to remember him by. Beautiful, fragile, heartbreaking, and hopeful; Elliott's songs captured all the emotions of life itself, putting them into short Beatles-esque pop songs and acoustic tunes. In my opinion, the best songwriter to ever live, we will never see a talent like his again, but I am just happy to have shared in his gift, his music.
A special post is coming soon with Dave from The Rawking Refuses To Stop about the best unreleased Elliott tunes. Until then, hop on over to YouTube, or your local record store and just enjoy what he left behind. I will.
Nirvana's monumental, breakthrough record Nevermind, came out on this day in 1991. Three people made that record; they were Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl. Even though the record is legal now (18 years old), there are still some unsettling questions about the grunge era and the band itself. What if kids weren't turned on by this movement? Where would the world of popular music be if Kurt was still alive? Would MTV still play music videos? What kind of music would be popular? What about alternative rock? And what about the future of the band? Would there be a Foo Fighters, Hole, or politician Novoselic? This record changed the face of rock music history and it will forever be one of my own (and many others) favorite albums of all time. Rest in peace, Kurt.
Despite his gloomy attitude, this is R.E.M.'s happiest and joyous album. It brought us 4 amazing singles: "Orange Crush", "Stand", "Pop Song 89", and "Get Up". Also, a personal favorite song about change, "World Leader Pretend", straight-up rocking "Turn You Inside-Out" and the provocative and experimental "Untitled (This World Is Big)". And even though I was only 6 months old when this record was released and R.E.M. has only been one of my favorite bands for a year or so, I'm sold on "Green". It is the greatest the four has recorded because it's R.E.M. at it's most beautiful, warmest, and strongest. It's their first record since signing onto Warner Brothers and before "Losing My Religion", so they still had something to gain. Not to mention "Pop Song" is my anthem. Get it? Pop? Last name? Whatever...this record is fun as hell.
In honor of this anniversary, here are the singles from this record, in order, and their music videos. All pretty great. I especially enjoy "Get Up". Enjoy:
Ah, greatness. I'm a fan.
Six years ago today, we lost an amazing man, musician, and songwriter. Elliott was 34 when he died and working on his most ambitious album of his career. We will never get to hear the undoubtedly amazing music that would have come from his future, but we have all the music he left behind to remember him by. Beautiful, fragile, heartbreaking, and hopeful; Elliott's songs captured all the emotions of life itself, putting them into short Beatles-esque pop songs and acoustic tunes. In my opinion, the best songwriter to ever live, we will never see a talent like his again, but I am just happy to have shared in his gift, his music.
