Nirvana and Seattle grunge was no more a deviation from "true rock" (whatever that may be) than, say, Pink Floyd, ELP, and the whole prog-rock movement was, or the punk movement.

Rock is full of offshoots, reactions, and counter-reactions. Nirvana and grunge are not special in this regard, save perhaps being one of the last ones to enjoy mainstream cultural relevance. I think it's romanticizing things a bit to view a "true rock" lineage from Chuck Berry to GnR.

Remember when people younger than you started listening to sh*tty music, and way too loud? Yeah, that's when.

Bad puns FTW!

Now that song is stuck in my head.. Thanks!

Since people with an IQ of under 80 were allowed to express their opinion.

Since we got old.

Nirvana is totally classic rock. Nevermind came out about 16 years ago. Think back to your adolesence - would you consider 16 year old music to be classic rock? For me I'll think of listening to R.E.M. circa 1990. I would have easily considered Pink Floyd classic rock at the time.

Classic Rock is not a style. It is merely a representation of what was playing on rock stations during the target demographic's high school years. We cling to this music, either consciously or subconsciously. You've just reached the the beginning years of most classic rock stations target demographic. If you want to be truly horrified, check out what they consider "Oldies" now.

Nirvana really did blow everything up. Think about it. You never hear The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, or Television on Classic Rock stations. But then, they never got play on AOR. But Nirvana crossed over, and was bigger than big, obviously.

I saw Nirvana for the first time in '89 at the Outhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. Honestly, I was there to see 24-7 Spyz, who Nirvana opened for. When Nevermind hit, I turned my nose up at first. I loved Blew, but saw Nevermind as just another indie band going to a major label. Of course, one of my best friends insisted I listen to it anyway. Right then we knew the rules had changed.

I saw Nirvana for the seond and last time at the Kansas Ballroom in '91, just after Nevermind came out. Even then, I was more interested in seeing their opening act, Urge Overkill. But again, it was clear that Nirvana was a beast.

Right there, that was the end of seeing the best bands in America for $5-$15 at local bars and hole in the walls. Nirvana ruined live music in many ways. It wasn't long after them that "indie" bands started showing up at bigger and more expensive venues.

The Outhouse was a shack in the middle of a cornfield. Well, it was a converted tractor garage with power lines strung to it. The only other stuff added was a stage, two makeshift bathrooms, and graffiti. My guess is that it cost me $5-$8 bucks to see Nirvana the first time, and I got to bring in my own booze. There was no security, concessions, not even a ticket stub or band on your wrist. It was complete mayhem, that would never be tolerated today.

That night it was wall to wall. I never really moshed, but would just enough to make my way to the front of the stage. This night it got so crazy, that I was soon flattened face first on to the stage, with my feet still on the floor. So I climbed up and sat on the stage. Pretty soon, we were two deep. I moved over to the side was was in real danger of getting clobbered by the bass player for 24-7 Spyz. The singer was calling for the audience to grab people standing on chairs around the edges of the place and throw them in the pit. It was easily the closest I ever came to pure chaos. It was scary there for a while.

To contrast, I saw the Rolling Stones the night before. At Arrowhead Stadium. I watched them with binoculars. One night later I'm on the stage. Little did I know that the opening band would one day be playing venues as big as the Stones. Kind of pathetic, really.

Bingo!

It's not romanticizing, it's genre. In it's essential form, American Rock 'n' Roll is a musical discipline (anti-discipline would be more apt) that began as revved up blues and descended through the geneology I sketched above. That form of music "died" with G'n'R. It's no coincidence that the Use Your Illusions, the last hurrah of the 3 Chords and a face-melting solo style of hard rock, were released the same year as Nevermind. No such albums ever enjoyed that type of wide popularity again. This may hold little personal significance given your own musical preferences, but you are understating its significance in rock history to the point of absurdity.

Lower your shields, captain. I'm not attacking proggy/indie acts or even weighing in on the relative worth of various rock styles. I'm just a guy who feels pretty f*cking old because he heard Nirvana one day in his shower.

Rock the f*ck on, bro. Seriously, great post. Worthy of its own thread.

Since "Fresh Prince of Belair" started running on Nick at Nite.

I heard Tears for Fears on the oldies station the other day. I'd like to think that oldies are songs that came out before I was alive.

I was two when "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" came out. That's too soon for oldies.

Why don't you just come over and kick me in the nuts? Probably feel about the same as reading that post.

I wonder if they've started to play stuff like "Thriller" on the stations that used to be "music from before my mother was born".

Woah, Guns and Roses are classic rock now?

This is demonstrably wrong, both in terms of the genealogy and the "death" of the genre. Guns N' Roses started life as an Aerosmith knock-off straight out of the 80's LA glam scene, and to call the overblown corporate art-rock pretensions of Use Your Illusion the last hurrah of American Rock & Roll is...well, let's just say that I cordially disagree with your assessment.

Welcome to the Jungle came on the radio the other day while I was having a "Safety Meeting" (...nobody moves, nobody gets hurt...) in the shop the other day.
I looked over at the new guy and asked him when he was born... let's just say the song came first.
It is now my obligation to call him "Junior" for the entire time he works here.