Buzz Box

The Buzz Box.
(I am guessing that the Buzz comes from the fact that a lot of these tracks were Buzz tracks on MTV in the early 90s)

I must be going though the stages of grief, first there was;

1. SHOCK & DENIAL
Really, no really, am I really seeing this. Let me back up, last night I was catching a couple of moments of the Fall of Rome (Rock of Love) on VH1 (or which ever station the devil was showing it on) and a ad comes on for this crass, de-fanged, Ran-Dumb, collection.

2. PAIN & GUILT
The first words out of my mouth to my Brother and Sister were.... Do you remember when I literally used to joke about this day. And then it hit me, my cynicism catching up with me and the knowledge that something that meant something to me, the Alt Music scene wave 1, was now just cheap nostalgia.

3. ANGER & BARGAINING
There wasn't any bargaining, but a flash of anger did settle through me when I saw that it was worse than a pair of lame comps it was this:

4. "DEPRESSION", REFLECTION, LONELINESS
Wow, really has it been that long? Did some of these tunes really resonate with me? was there something that I thought was going to change the world? Where is everyone? All those people I stood on the stairs with at Warehouse Records the night that Pearl Jam's second album came out?.... shit did I really look forward to Pearl Jam's second record (I no longer have the LP or the CD of that one, I only have my CD copy of Ten, which I haven't seriously listened to in over 10 years)...... and what is missing from these comps? why isn't some of that great stuff that got lost in the shuffle on there to be rediscovered?

5. THE UPWARD TURN
Wait what is missing? a lot of stuff, I wonder what wasn't considered for inclusion? who told the PR fucks to go fuck themselves and their tracks aren't for sale? Screaming Trees? Alice in Chains? Soundgarden? Pearl Jam? The Melvins? Temple of the Dog? Mother Love Bone? Afgan Wigs? maybe someone still has a scruples?.... and yes I wonder how many of the artists on these comes didn't have a choice, did they sign contracts that allowed the labels to license their stuff for comps like this? How many saw the chance to pay some bills and gave in?

6. RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH-
I recall Iggy Pop saying that his songs were not conceived commercially and if someone 20+ years later want to pay to use them, sure. I understand the way it all works, artists often make little or no money off of their sales and if these comps bring in some cash, cause some people to start looking back and wanting to see live shows by people that had an impact on them when they were young, why not. Just because I don't choose to live in the musical era that I was brought up in (my playlists tend to be time traveling, as anyone that reads my monthly playlist post on mog should know), doesn't give me the right to be snobby and tell others that there is more to life than the records that came out and were popular during their late teens and early twenties.

7. ACCEPTANCE & HOPE
I am old, I am aging (Still aging as TSOOL said), there are plenty of tracks missing from this pop confection, and when I look at it in comparison with other collections of this type is that others often times include a mix of the hits and best known or recalled tracks of the era, but also the overlooked, forgotten, and odd ball bands and tracks of the era. If you look at almost any of the great Rhino box sets, (any of the Nuggets, The loud, fast, and out of Control, the Doowop boxes, Rockin' Bones, ect) you will see that in addition to the music there is great liner notes that give a history of the scene, photos and info on the bands, and other historic information about the scene and era.

There is also the hope that Rhino will get their act together and do a proper box set, more likely a couple of them. A Seattle box, a first wave of Alternative box, a Nuggets from the First Alternative era box (which I have written about before a couple of years back, and I would call it Splinters, but hey I don't get to produce the set, so what,)..... and now, next what?

Luckily for me the other scenes that I have been involved with and care about never were above ground enough to warrant the kind of nostalgia this collection is trading on....
Thoughts, comments, media-care, spare change?
(I am going to post the track list in the comments, and I hope that anyone reading this will look it over and let me know what's missing)