Hall of Fame Edition

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions went off without incident on Monday night. R.E.M.: , Patti Smith, The Ronettes, Van Halen and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were all made members of the hall, with Grand Master Flash being the first rap inductee, prompting thoughts that the name of the hall should be changed to be a bit more inclusive of genres.

As with other years, this class was not without controversy. The only members of Van Halen to make the gig were Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. Eddie's in rehab, and Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth were in a snit and declined to attend. And then there's The Ronettes, who went out of their way not to thank their producer(and lead singer Ronnie Spector's ex-husband) Phil Spector, currently awaiting trial on murder charges, whose Wall of Sound technique was as much a part of their success as the trio's singing. Just pop on Be My Baby with a pair of good headphones and crank it. Astounding.

Steve Hyden at the Onion AV Club wrote an article about R.E.M.'s shrinking legacy. I've listened to R.E.M. for years. The Out of Time album was the first CD I ever bought, and I played the hell out of their back catalogue in my late teens/early 20s, but I stopped buying after the sublime New Adventures in Hi-Fi was followed up by UP, the first album after drummer Bill Berry left. I'm not saying they aren't deserving of accolades, but it's been a looooong time since I felt the need to go buy an REM disc, let alone on the release date. Pearl Jam, U2, and Oasis have all seemed to fallen into that category with me: love the older stuff, still listen to the occasional new single, and they could justify me buying a ticket to an arena show, but I can't say any of their releases in the past 5 years have really got me excited like they used to. Green Day, The Beastie Boys, David Bowie, and Radiohead still have that power to get me as excited now as they did when the first albums came out, and that's even after Green Day put out Warning, so never dismiss the possibility of the comeback album.

With new inductees eligible 25 years after the release of their first album, next year's potential nominees looks pretty lively: Metallica, Madonna, and the Beastie Boys are all eligible. In the next few years, we're going to see more nominees that reflect the rise and fall of arena rock (Metallica, Guns and Roses), the increased popularity of rap (Run DMC), and the rise of indie music that would pave the way for grunge (The Pixies, Flaming Lips, and Sonic Youth).