THE GRUNGE MATCH - 046
Match 046:
Alice In Chains "So Close" (1995)
Nirvana "Rape Me" (1993)
Pearl Jam "Lukin'" (1996)
Soundgarden "Girl U Want" (1992)
"So Close" is the definition of a late album track from the 90's. It's a short, punchy and utterly forgettable morsel of hard rock. It's got energy to it, but it leads to nothing. That's not to say it's bad, but hands up if you remember this song. That's what I thought; not a lot of you.
"Rape Me" was okay when I first heard it, insufferable after Cobain died because of the overplay, even worse once I realized it was just a rip off of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (which I was sick of before Cobain died), and pretty ugly to listen to now because holy shit I don't want to hear someone shout about rape a bunch to the tune of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Some might say it's not 100% fair to write this song off as trash because Cobain was trying to write an anti-rape anthem, but it doesn't come across that way to me. It just sounds like someone found a word more shocking than "fuck" or "shit" that you could say without getting bleeped on the radio and here we are a quarter century later and this shit is still in semi-heavy rock rotation. It's not nearly as ubiquitous as it used to be, but....it's a shit song, let's be honest. There's nothing cool here; no compelling riffs, no deeper lyrical meaning, not even a good vocal line. It's shit. (Oh, and the track listing for the single is as follows: 1. All Apologies / 2. Rape Me / 3. Moist Vagina. I need a shower.)
"Lukin" is about a real stalker problem Eddie Vedder had in the mid-90's. It's also only a minute long and you can't understand a G'YAD damn thing he's barking. At least "Rape Me" had a structure; this song is just...pointless.
And the hands down winner is Soundgarden covering Devo's "Girl U Want". The original is twice as fast, but this slowed down version manages to be crunchy without being aggressive, sensual without being sappy and slow without being boring. They walk the tightrope perfectly and come out with a 4. It's the right way for a band like this to cover a song like that.
"Girl U Want": 4
"So Close": 3
"Rape Me": 2
"Lukin": 1
TOTALS:
Pearl Jam: 131
Alice In Chains: 126
Nirvana: 103
Soundgarden: 102
If not for Pearl Jam dropping the biggest turd of their career thusfar, Soundgarden would have joined the 100 club and tied Nirvana with one fell swoop, but alas they had to settle for just the former. Come back tomorrow to see if we have our first position change since Mach #004 (where Nirvana overtook Soundgarden before either band even hit 10 points).
Alice In Chains "So Close" (1995)
Nirvana "Rape Me" (1993)
Pearl Jam "Lukin'" (1996)
Soundgarden "Girl U Want" (1992)
"So Close" is the definition of a late album track from the 90's. It's a short, punchy and utterly forgettable morsel of hard rock. It's got energy to it, but it leads to nothing. That's not to say it's bad, but hands up if you remember this song. That's what I thought; not a lot of you.
"Rape Me" was okay when I first heard it, insufferable after Cobain died because of the overplay, even worse once I realized it was just a rip off of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (which I was sick of before Cobain died), and pretty ugly to listen to now because holy shit I don't want to hear someone shout about rape a bunch to the tune of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Some might say it's not 100% fair to write this song off as trash because Cobain was trying to write an anti-rape anthem, but it doesn't come across that way to me. It just sounds like someone found a word more shocking than "fuck" or "shit" that you could say without getting bleeped on the radio and here we are a quarter century later and this shit is still in semi-heavy rock rotation. It's not nearly as ubiquitous as it used to be, but....it's a shit song, let's be honest. There's nothing cool here; no compelling riffs, no deeper lyrical meaning, not even a good vocal line. It's shit. (Oh, and the track listing for the single is as follows: 1. All Apologies / 2. Rape Me / 3. Moist Vagina. I need a shower.)
"Lukin" is about a real stalker problem Eddie Vedder had in the mid-90's. It's also only a minute long and you can't understand a G'YAD damn thing he's barking. At least "Rape Me" had a structure; this song is just...pointless.
And the hands down winner is Soundgarden covering Devo's "Girl U Want". The original is twice as fast, but this slowed down version manages to be crunchy without being aggressive, sensual without being sappy and slow without being boring. They walk the tightrope perfectly and come out with a 4. It's the right way for a band like this to cover a song like that.
"Girl U Want": 4
"So Close": 3
"Rape Me": 2
"Lukin": 1
TOTALS:
Pearl Jam: 131
Alice In Chains: 126
Nirvana: 103
Soundgarden: 102
If not for Pearl Jam dropping the biggest turd of their career thusfar, Soundgarden would have joined the 100 club and tied Nirvana with one fell swoop, but alas they had to settle for just the former. Come back tomorrow to see if we have our first position change since Mach #004 (where Nirvana overtook Soundgarden before either band even hit 10 points).
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