2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

Love "Whip Smart", pretty much start to finish. 'X-Ray Man' and 'Go West' are a couple that stand out.

And probably will give "Whitechocolatespaceegg" a listen tonight with 'Big Tall Man' at max volume....

 

Not a chance. "Live Through This" was a great record, and it was nice of Cobain to let Courtney sing on it.

Whitney Houston isn't in yet. Much as I find the notion absurd, Lady Gaga probably gets in. Janet Jackson probably goes in, possibly this year.

 

Every year, I feel more and more like one of those old cranks who scream at kids to get off their yards. How does the RnRHof define Rock and Roll, anyway? Fewer acts seem fall under that category. They're mostly Pop or Dance or Rap or... Beyond the Foo Fighters and a few other groups, who is left?

 

I love Luscious Jackson. I think they might be one of the 3-4 best all-female bands ever. They getting in?

 

I liked them too ... and no way in the world.

 

Sleater-Kinney gets in before them ... to the EMP museum in Seattle, maybe. Great bands, but not enough "product" $old.

 

Maybe the Hall of Decent Acts That Opened for REM.

 

You can get in without selling millions of albums, but you have to be a groundbreaker like the Ramones.

 

In:

• Pearl Jam
• Tupac Shakur
• Journey
• Yes
• ELO
• Joan Baez

 

Unless you're just going to focus on older acts, then you're basically not going to enshrine anyone going forward, since rock has been replaced as the dominant music for years and years now by rap and R&B (and pop has always been bigger, depending on how you classify some acts). It's kind of a nebulous distinction. Rick Rubin-esque rock imprints are all over most forms of popular music now.

Here's the list of best-selling albums of the 2000s, from Wikipedia: List of best-selling albums of the 2000s (century) - Wikipedia - I guess Linkin Park is kind of the closest thing to "rock" in the Top 10, and it's at #5. After them, you have Linkin Park again (#15), Coldplay (#18), Evanescence (#21) and Green Day (#27). Coldplay and Linkin Park are the only ones to lead a year in record sales.

 

I think rock is dead, too, but you'd be surprised at the charts from other decades. Poking around, it looks like Hootie, Metallica, and Alanis Morrisette had the only albums close to "rock" in the top 10 from the '90s. Whole lot of Shania, Garth, and Backstreet Boys to fill out the list.

 

Joan Baez before Whitney Houston? Laughable.