Michael Azerrad Quotes

18 quotes in 445 categories

• Just as not all popular albums are wonderful, not all wonderful albums are popular.
• To begin with, the key principle of American indie rock wasn't a circumscribed musical style; it was the punk ethos of DIY, or do-it-yourself.  The…
• In eras past, mainstream culture was blandly, blindly complacent, so underground music was angry and dissatisfied. But now, mainstream culture isn’t complacent, it’s stupid and…
• The online musical universe has become Balkanized, with many sites focusing on minute niches. That works well for reaching very specific demographics, which is wonderful…
• As a journalist, I'm not supposed to be the subject, but as an author, I'm fair game - another ingredient in the media soup.
• I have this theory, bands with enigmatic lyrics attract crazies.
• I really believe in the power of music - and I mean literally the power of musical tones - to rearrange the way you can…
• Nine Inch Nails' sound is dominated by clanging synths and sardonic, shrieking vocals.
• There's a whole apparatus for indie bands now, but back in the eighties it was just getting built. The early people really took it on…
• There's no glamour in Nirvana, no glamour at all, in fact.
• A lot of music fans are still interested in insightful perspectives on music - maybe even more interested than ever, since everyone needs help making…
• Back in the day, in '91 or so, I tried to interview Fugazi for Rolling Stone, which the band felt stood for everything they detested…
• Bon Jovi's trick is to use heavy-metal chords and still sound absolutely safe. Rock & roll used to be rebellion disguised as commercialism; now so…
• For Nirvana, putting out their first major-label record was like getting into a new car. But the runaway success was like suddenly discovering that the…
• I'm always very careful to make the distinction between music criticism and music journalism. A lot of people don't. But criticism doesn't require reporting. You…
• Naturally, no one knows more about music than musicians. They talk about their own work all the time, but they rarely get to talk about…
• Ten percent of the American population thinks that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Those are the people that have not learned the skill of filtering…
• When you're writing, you're only a brain and some fingers, but drumming, you're involving all four limbs, and you're hearing stuff and you're converting your…

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