That's accurate. "Sheeranfreude?" I found myself grimacing yet tapping my foot to "Shape of You" the other day: annoyed with the dysphoria of admiring his voice, but rolling my eyes at the message and goofy music video. I suppose it's comparable to living through the Pet Shop Boys or later N*sync and Backstreet Boys formulas, whereas now it's from the outside in.
Blasphemy.
I suspected that might ruffle some feathers. I'm not denying Nirvana's influence, quite the opposite: I'm stating they are overhyped because of their popularity, not talent. That and Kurt Cobaine was a counterculture icon, a figurehead so to speak of a target demographic whose stagelife abruptly ended and thus cemented his influence in a generation's collective minds. But compared to similarly-fated Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, or Randy Rhoads, Cobaine and Nirvana as a whole weren't known for their musicianship, just their raw, emotional energy - like an outlet for the political undertones of that era. Like Zach de la Rocha or RHCP, Cobaine delivered what the producers and audience wanted, not what the artist wanted. My only beef with the White Stripes is that White just reminds me too much of Jimmy Page and that his rock was reworked music from earlier generations with mismatched or annoying vocals. Essentially, White was just the most successful indie act of the 2000s, but only because the genre was working itself out, not because his sound was revolutionary or an exciting new direction. Again, Dylan is a folklorist, a talented lyricist...and a mediocre singer - hardly deserving of a Nobel Prize in Literature. (Reminds me of how tail-end Boomers venerate Neil Young) That's like awarding a wartime president a peace prize - image over substance.