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A Rate-A-Record with Some Marvel(ous) Classics for the Next Generation
Pondering a Different March Madness Outcome
As voting continues in the Elite Eight round of my “Rate-An-Album March Madness” competition (results on Tuesday), I was looking over some of the albums that were, frankly, crushed in the first round of voting. Back in Black, Nevermind, and Appetite for Destruction were all destroyed (pun intended) by, respectively, Led Zeppelin IV, What’s Going On, and Rubber Soul. I personally voted for the latter three myself, and looking over who voted, I realized something.
The vast majority of the votes reflected the age range of my normal readership: Generation X and older, with a few Millennials thrown in for good measure and the occasional Gen Z outlier. This makes total sense; the kids are all watching TikTok videos, not reading my inane ramblings. And while AC/DC, Nirvana, and Guns N’ Roses are all Gen X-era bands, they stood little chance against Zeppelin, Marvin, and the Fab Four, with us at least.
But what about 25 years from now, when my oldest daughter is 50? My youngest never listens to Led Zeppelin and probably has no clue who Marvin Gaye is (proof of my failure as a father). It’s likely that the only time she’s ever heard Marvin’s name is from when Falcon mentions the Trouble Man soundtrack to Captain…
