Yes, You Should’ve Heard The Joshua Tree By Now
Let’s just get this out of the way: I’ve
been absent. I’ve faltered in my blogging responsibilities. Hey, it happens to everyone. You’re blogging away, and then suddenly you realize it’s easier to just make cheap cracks in your Facebook status updates, and it’s all over. Blogging lethargy. Lapse of faith.
But I got a fire under me now. Why? Well, the “You’ve Never Heard?!” feature on NPR Music’s (otherwise great) All Songs Considered blog, for one. As the site editors describe it: “This is a recurring series in which we ask our unimaginably young interns to review classic albums they’ve never heard before.” OK, sure.
Now, I’m all for discovery. The learning process. Expanding horizons. But friends, this tyranny cannot stand. How is it acceptable that you’re an intern at a music site, and you’ve never heard, for example, Cream’s Disraeli Gears? OK, OK, while I consider that particular album to be Eric Clapton’s only palatable work, not to mention a critical album in a mini-age of rock power trios, let’s try another one. Something a bit more obvious. Say… Beach Boys Pet Sounds. No? Haven’t heard that? How about maybe The Velvet Underground & Nico? Not influential enough? Doesn’t ring a bell?
Here’s one. How about the fuggin Joshua Tree? U2? Know that one? “With or Without You”? “Where the Streets Have No Name”? “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”? 25 million copies sold? No?
Geezer alert on this, but since when is it OK to be seeking a career in music journalism and not have heard this stuff? How did this come about, exactly? Here’s a better question: When did dignity get so scarce that you might be an intern at a music website and actually admit to never having heard this stuff? In the words of Pantera, “Is there no standard anymore?”
Earth, I quit. There is nothing more I can do here.
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