The Case Against GnR and RCHP

What I like about 2012’s list of nominees are the bands I hate: Guns ‘n’ Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

By hate, I mean once loved these bands. Man, I loved them. They were once everything rock and roll embodied. Completely rad and kick ass.

I didn’t stop liking them because I became an ironic self-congratulatory hipster who liked them, then disliked them in favor of some Williamsburg suck squad making hip-pop when theramins and beards, only to restart liking them because retro is cool again again. Ha. Ha.

I stopped liking them because I’ve exhausted myself trying to find just one thing in their post-1993 catalogues that bears a semblance to rock and roll.

If both bands would have stopped in 1993, there is no question both of them would be locks.

But. They. Need. To. Stop. Making. Music.

Now.

The more new music they make now, the more disqualified they become as nominees.

Sure, you could say the same about most nominees in any given class. I counter that by saying they are just indulging themselves because they know they aren’t going platinum again.

Here’s the difference. While GnR and RCHP sharted on record several times since 1993, Joan Jett released seven compilation albums in that span – the first of which came in 1993.

You could call that a lazy way to get paid. But if I’m a Rock Hall voter, I’d consider it an acknowledgement and constant reminder of what we love about rock and roll.