Haha, I can't resist.
1.) National Socialism. Technically, Socialism is an enconomic policy and not a social one, as the name might suggest. The "racial" elements on Naziism have less to do with this, then, than they do with the national component. My AP Euro teacher in high school used to joke that National Socialism was neither national nor socialist, and there's a grain of truth to that - "national" is certianly somewhat of a stretch when you define the nation by race and physical appearance, and not common shared cultural experience, geographic boundaries, and sense of solidarity as a people that transcends race, and while the Third Reich was a pretty powerful political institution, still most of the means of production were in the hands of private citizens. Essentially, what we saw was a totalitarian regime with a pretty label, not a national socialist government.
2.) Cobain. Really, it depends what you like in a vocalist, of course, but I think a lot of the criticism leveled at Cobain is unwarranted. He didn't have a very "clean" voice, per se, but for that raw, raspy sound, I thought he was excellent. I never really considered his vocals "out of tune" either - sure, maybe the occasional drunken live show, and he undeniably did a bit of sliding into notes here and there, but keep in mind this is a guy who considered Leadbelly his favorite performer and had a pretty in-depth knowledge of the blues; it's not like he wasn't familiar with a tradition where this was accepted, even encouraged. And while his melodic range wasn't jaw-dropping, his dynamic one was. I consider his vocal on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" off Unplugged in New York one of the greatest rock vocal performances I've ever heard, ranging from a disarmingly innocent near-whisper to a tortured wail over the course of the tune. Would I have thought the same about that vocal had they just been some bar band? Hell, I was in my big anti-mainstream thing when I first heard that performance - I didn't even LIKE Nirvana very much until I heard that Leadbelly cover, and then suddenly I began to "get" them.
Could the guy play guitar? Eh, well enough to belt out some power chords, but that's about it. Could he sing, though? Sure, not as a metal guy would, but if you treat Nirvana as coming out of the blues tradition and not the hard rock and punk one, suddenly his vocal style makes a LOT more sense.
And noodles, if you mention that godawful annoying Cyrus tune around here again, I just may ban you on principle.
man, I hadn't even THOUGHT about that song in probably five years, and I bet it'll be stuck in my head all day. Thanks, dick.
