From Magnificent to Maligned to Nostolgia

My buddy got the recently released Brit Box set from Rhino which, all at once, aged him. "How did the music of my youth suddenly become nostalgia," he asked. he then went on to point out that of the three discs one was jammed full of hits, one had some hits and the third was all filler. Of course filler is only one opinion. When Rhino works on these boxes they are trying to piece together a quintessential snapshot of an era. one man's filler is another man's goldmine.

One could argue (and win the argument) that any three set box intended to encapsulate an era would do the same. My era would be mid-seventies hard rock. But after some Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Kiss, Queen and Thin Lizzy, what's next? I love Judas Priest but someone else might want to hear Black Oak Arkansas. As a fan of seventies rock I had to endure the years that everyone laughed in my face and called it the lost decade of rock and roll. I stayed true to my record collection and a few years ago the seventies finally started to get the recognition it truly deserved.

The same can be said of the new wave which seemed so saccharine and plastic not too many years ago has suddenly come back into vogue and sacchariney and plastically.

The nineties are due for a comeback too. For as popular as Nirvana remains, the countless soundalikes are sure to be recognized as the collective saviours of rock and roll and herald the decade as a sort of renaissance.