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Jonathan Epstein speculates while waiting for Bjork's empirical inventory.. I'm pleased to see that the posting I made has stirred such a response. I'm looking forward to Sam Smiths content analysis of tonights B&B. I am also intrigued by his discussion of the differences between alternative and metal. There has been quite a crossover between the two forms lately. Bands like Soundgarden and Stone temple pilots could be considered both (also Tool?). there has also been an influx of "industrial" aesthetics into alternative. This, to me is fascinating, if a bit predictable. Beavis and Butthead's celebration of Metallica is almost demanded by their characters. Metallica is the band of their generation, without a doubt. Metallica is also quite "intelligent" and have used texts like _Johnnie Got his Gun_ and _For Whom the Bell Tolls_ as the basis for their lyrics. One has to wonder just how much of this, however, resonates with the Beavises of the world (was 10% the number here?) Doug Kellner's point is well taken. My point here is that we, as academics, may sometimes privledge certain cultural forms and that rap is currently in such a position. Kellner's argument for a "no center" position clearly would explain B&B's musical tastes and I stand corrected. I would also argue, however, that Rap and Heavy Metal are very similar remembering that the first crossover of rap into rock was Aerosmith, followed shortly their after by Anthrax and then everyone else including Def Leppard and Rush. It works the other way, as well. Hence all the Led Zeppelin and Van Halen samples in Hip Hop. Ice-T (or Ice Cube I can't recall) and Slayer also collaborated once. Now that, I'm sure was about as aggressive as rock could possibly get. Patrick Bjork also made an excellent point about the "consumer mind set." I'm reminded of Metallica and Nirvana both of whom have used the "we're not corporate rockers" image for corporate ads. Jonathon Epstein Department of Sociology, Kent State University
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