Chapter 6 - Interlude

Ok, here's a question. What are some of the standard criticisms or put downs of Kurt, the band, etc.? 

Well, there's that old joke "i used to like Nirvana until i realized i'm a better guitar player than Kurt." That's just pure feel-bad narcissism, and you're a jerk for thinking it. The sentiment is that he wasn't a great guitar player. What does "great" even mean? Could he play the notes he wanted to play when he wanted to play them? Why isn't that good enough? 

What else? The music is too simple, it encourages lazy sloppy copycat mediocrity, it minimizes virtuosity and the appreciation of excellence. 

Zappa famously stopped playing guitar for long periods of time just so that he would sound clumsy and unrehearsed on stage. How many Joe Bonamossa albums do you and your friends own? Is Kenny Wayne Shepherd still relevant? I can't think of anything less enjoyable than listening to Angel Vivaldi or John 5, but they certainly qualify as exceptionally virtuosic. And since when does complex equal exceptionally great. I don't see you guys sharing links to Brian Ferneyhough tracks. 

You may not realize it, but this is all a deep and heavily debated question in Aesthetics, brought into public awareness by some random band from Washington in the early 90s.

For you it might be a real sticking point, but for me it's a definite plus. I spent a few decades playing that game of chutes and ladders on the quest for excellence, now i'm the better part of a decade into really climbing up the chutes and sliding down the ladders because it's more interesting. 

Good or bad doesn't factor into it for me. Sure i like some things and dislike others, but my question is "why am i wrong?" This album is really tricky for me. As compy reminded us all, i love it and there's no way to change that. So i have to try to understand why people might hate it; not to change their minds, but to appreciate what effect it has on other people. Try to guess what it might mean for you with only the clumsy machinery of badly saying what it means for me. What i find funny, you might find grotesque, or tragic. Sure, that's not how most people listen to music, but i'm not most people. Time to listen to it again, me thinks.

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