This week, the RIAA announced The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 has overtaken Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the number one selling album of all time. Both albums have bobbed and weaved between the number one and number two slots for several decades. There was enough of a bump after Michael Jackson’s death to push Thriller to the number one spot, where it remained until this week.
But the big news isn’t really that Greatest Hits overtook Thriller. The trending news is apparently millennial writers hate the Eagles. Writers at online sites such Jezebel and The AV Club have lamented this development. According to Maria Sherman, “You have every right to be outraged, and I have every right to blame the shift on your Dockers-donning dad.”
Never mind that Sherman has no clue what tracks are on Greatest Hits, but does apparently know those tracks are “baby boomer easy-listening shit.” I also suspect she doesn’t know what tracks are on Thriller either (other than “Thriller”). That’s not the point. The point is that dads (loosely translated as white dudes over 40) should not be buying music.
Which is pretty much a what the fuck moment filled with irony. Apparently, because me and my ilk have had the audacity to pay for the music we consume for the last millennia we are bad people. My generation (and the ones before me) supports and supported artists and musicians we enjoy by actually buying their product versus the millennial approach of streaming half a Drake song and moving on to the next thing, whatever that may be (nearly 50% of Spotify users will skip a song before it ends).
Many people hate the Eagles. Many people love the Eagles. Same with Michael Jackson. But millennials should not get their panties in a wad because old people buy music and they don’t; not to mention we are talking about two albums released long before they were born.
By the way, I own both The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 and Thriller.
Jamoosh Interrupted 