My goodness. Who knew that it would take a post on Lynyrd Skynrd and REM to really get the blogosphere riled up. Never have I received such a deluge of hate mail and angry voice messages. It seems the REM fans really take issue with being compared to LS...somehow REM is "above" all those rough edges in southern rock. If I understand it right, REM fans are all about sitting around and musing about existentialism and the meaning of "eponymous" while LS fans are just drunken frat boys out looking for their next rape victim. Is that what you wanted to hear?
Maybe the YAWNs are not so boring after all? http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page94?oid=146758&sn=Detail
I don't know. Anyway, some of you seem to prefer that I compare Apples to Apples. That Southern Rockers be compared only to Southern Rockers. Others seem to think that although REM are arguably the biggest and maybe first of 90s alternative acts, LS are actually not as important to Southern Rock as the Allman brothers. So, I'm going to try to clear this up with a new post: LS vs. The Allman Brothers. Now we can have Apples and Apples. And we can clear up this "Fathers of Southern Rock" thing.
And oh yeah: to anyone who thought I was calling REM "southern" rock, I am SO SORRY, cause REM are obviously MUCH too nuanced to be "southern", even if they do happen to be from the South. (I do wonder though: If Michael Stipe was from Scotland, would that burnish REM's alternative/indie cred? Do REM fans secretly wish REM was from the UK?). If Michael Stipe WAS from Scotland, would he be as big as Bono today? I digress...
Today, it's Allman Bros vs. Lynrd Skynrd. Got it? I don't want to leave any room for confusion...
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Both Lynyrd Sknyrd and Allman Brothers lost pivotal members of their bands in tragic accidents... it's like trying to compare Nirvana and Sublime... but who is who?
I would pair LS with Nirvana; clearly, both bands were over when they lost their lead singers (though Nirvana never tried to tour with a spotlight on a mic)...
Then, by my own metaphor, Allman Bros. are the Sublime of Southern Rock, both bands riffing with extended jams. Where does that leave me?
Nirvana still has street cred with the rock purists, but I will admit listening and enjoying Sublime's sweet indie-frat-rock. But there is no doubt, we would be nothing without "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which was Nirvana's "Freebird"...
"Freebird" wins! Lynyrd Sknyrd is BIGGER!
PS... R.E.M. vs. U2 would be more appropriate...
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