Watching a "Top 100" special on a cable TV channel that shall remain unnamed because I don't care to promote it, I was surprised that R.E.M. checked in as low as number 71. Then I was outraged that Def Leppard had taken the number 70 spot.
I'll admit, I don't think much of Def Leppard, but I still think that most music fans would agree that putting it above R.E.M. is a travesty.
The music that most of us take for granted today would not exist were it not for R.E.M. Arena rock dominated the scene when Murmur was released, and while by itself the album didn't turn things around, it was incredibly influential for the band's peers and soon-to-be followers. You didn't have to sound like Led Zeppelin to be a hit any more. You didn't have to be bombastic or pretentious or any of the other bad things that had hardened the arteries of the musical remnants of the '60s. That realization, plus the new viability of the college radio and touring circuit -- a viability that R.E.M. helped to establish -- paved the way for the legion of indie rock bands that eventually took over mainstream music.
Can Def Leppard claim such a legacy? Are you kidding me?
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