When I was a teenager Nirvana was by far the greatest band ever. As I grew and matured (marginally) I noticed that I was no longer amused by the simplicity of their music and the monotony of his voice. Now I think of them as a band that spoke for a group of kids, and did bring change to popular music, but they weren't as special as I once thought they were. Like Kurt said in his note, it's better to burn out than to fade away.
Kurt Cobain
- Thread starter STDiva
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Harley Spencer
Official Checked Star Member
I have a huge crush on him. Ugh.
Several comments here I want to respond to, so in order:
@alexpnz I agree totally
@ApolloBalboa and @DP_LOVER Could not disagree more with your assessment of him as a weak musician. This is a mistake even some trained musicians and guitar players make, but it's absolutely untrue. A lot of people who don't play, or average players think the measure of a musicians skills is technical prowess, playing lots of notes fast, playing complex passages, etc., but that kind of thing is really a measure of advancing from beginner to above average player. The toughest skill to master is learning to play the simple stuff with such compelling sound that people are forced to listen. Cobain was a master of his craft, and a close listen shows he had an exceptionally gifted ear and was in complete control of his instrument at all times. Controlling the feedback and harmonics he created at the level he did it is a rare skill, and I say in all seriousness he was one of the greatest performing guitarists I ever heard, at least when he was playing sober enough to hold it together.
@squallumz I would not be too quick to assume Cobain would hate to be on guitar hero. He had a lot of conflicts with fame, and being seen as a mass appeal guy, but he wrote Nevermind with the intention of creating a commercially successful pop album, and modeled some of the sound of the album on the Smithereens, a band he admired for maintaining a rootsy alternative feel while getting MTV and Top40 play. Listen to "A Girl like You" and a Nirvana song back to back sometime, there's a definite connection there.
@zell Nirvana was doing some of the things the Pixies were doing, but the Pixies were not doing one thing Nirvana was, which is selling tons of records. Cobain had a gift for writing catchy melodies, and while many despise that pop sensibility people in the music industry are painfully aware that writing great hooks is both the rarest and most bankable talent there is. Lots of bands out there with amazing chops that never take off because they can't write singles, for years the Pixies were one of them. And yeah, I know the Pixies have sold some albums, mainly after Grunge led the way for that style of band to get noticed, but they aren't popular in the Nirvana sense, not nearly so.
@lurkingdirk Not liking the Beatles is one thing, but calling them mediocre? Now that's just absurd.
@alexpnz I agree totally
@ApolloBalboa and @DP_LOVER Could not disagree more with your assessment of him as a weak musician. This is a mistake even some trained musicians and guitar players make, but it's absolutely untrue. A lot of people who don't play, or average players think the measure of a musicians skills is technical prowess, playing lots of notes fast, playing complex passages, etc., but that kind of thing is really a measure of advancing from beginner to above average player. The toughest skill to master is learning to play the simple stuff with such compelling sound that people are forced to listen. Cobain was a master of his craft, and a close listen shows he had an exceptionally gifted ear and was in complete control of his instrument at all times. Controlling the feedback and harmonics he created at the level he did it is a rare skill, and I say in all seriousness he was one of the greatest performing guitarists I ever heard, at least when he was playing sober enough to hold it together.
@squallumz I would not be too quick to assume Cobain would hate to be on guitar hero. He had a lot of conflicts with fame, and being seen as a mass appeal guy, but he wrote Nevermind with the intention of creating a commercially successful pop album, and modeled some of the sound of the album on the Smithereens, a band he admired for maintaining a rootsy alternative feel while getting MTV and Top40 play. Listen to "A Girl like You" and a Nirvana song back to back sometime, there's a definite connection there.
@zell Nirvana was doing some of the things the Pixies were doing, but the Pixies were not doing one thing Nirvana was, which is selling tons of records. Cobain had a gift for writing catchy melodies, and while many despise that pop sensibility people in the music industry are painfully aware that writing great hooks is both the rarest and most bankable talent there is. Lots of bands out there with amazing chops that never take off because they can't write singles, for years the Pixies were one of them. And yeah, I know the Pixies have sold some albums, mainly after Grunge led the way for that style of band to get noticed, but they aren't popular in the Nirvana sense, not nearly so.
@lurkingdirk Not liking the Beatles is one thing, but calling them mediocre? Now that's just absurd.
POTW nominee. Nice one, scott!
Cobain was shit guitar player compared to greats like Yngvie Malmsteen and George Lynch who have a totally unheard of sound when Cobain's sound is not, which is something you would hear in 10 year-old's basement. I agree completely in what ApolloBalboa said, "an average musician at best and overrated figurehead to thousands of Generation X teenagers." Even today, I see people selling those drawings of famous people including Kurt Cobain pictures at the mall, and kids at my son's school wearing Kurt Cobain/Nirvana t-shirts that they most likely bought at the nearest Hot Topic. These kids don't even like Nirvana, they only know one song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The only reason anybody even likes Kurt Cobain is because he was a drug-addicted waste bag who shot himself in the head. Even when he was alive I never liked Nirvana, I was at school listening to Metallica, and metal from the 80's, when everyone was listening to Nevermind non-stop, god it was annoying. The best thing about Nirvana was Dave Grohl, who is awesome.
People put a lot of importance on the ability to write a pop song. Kurt Cobain wrote a few hits. I don't think that makes him brilliant. Is Nickleback genius because they write hit after hit?
I don't buy into the broken soul turned musical genius schtick either. I don't think Nirvana was that great of a band and I don't think grunge is that great of a genre. He's just a guy that had some decent songs and killed himself. That's that. People seem to think being depressed and writing songs about it makes you more of an artist/genius than someone who writes songs about partying or banging chics. Sad doesn't equal art.
I'd rather listen to Nirvana than Ygnwei Malmsteen. That guy is a fucking wanker.
Being a master of your instrument doesn't make you any more of a musician than someone like Kurt or Tom Delonge.
I don't buy into the broken soul turned musical genius schtick either. I don't think Nirvana was that great of a band and I don't think grunge is that great of a genre. He's just a guy that had some decent songs and killed himself. That's that. People seem to think being depressed and writing songs about it makes you more of an artist/genius than someone who writes songs about partying or banging chics. Sad doesn't equal art.
I'd rather listen to Nirvana than Ygnwei Malmsteen. That guy is a fucking wanker.
Being a master of your instrument doesn't make you any more of a musician than someone like Kurt or Tom Delonge.
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I don't know whose worse Nickelback or Nirvana?
Nickleback is way worse.
True, they give rock music a bad name.
I find Kurt Cobain and Nirvana to be overrated, mainly because I prefer the work of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden (as bahodeme said). I also prefer the work of Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, who could be thrown into that group. In general, people give me shit over my opinions regarding this. It's nice to see people here are on the same page I am.
That being said, he's nowhere near being trash. Nirvana have quite a few songs that I like, and their influence is still felt in the world of rock music to this day.
That being said, he's nowhere near being trash. Nirvana have quite a few songs that I like, and their influence is still felt in the world of rock music to this day.
What's wrong with liking them? Ten is one of the premier albums of the 1990s.
Of all time. Certainly better than anything Nirvana ever did.
I've heard all sorts of stories about him; my buddy Terrence was his tour manager for 3 years.
As a huge NWOBHM fan and an occasional enthusiastic glam listener (mainly while getting it on, it's amazing how many chicks love it!), I don't have many reasons to like Kurt Cobain. But for some reason, I like Nirvana. Grew up with them I guess. So I think Cobain's a great songwriter/musician. It's amazing how much Nirvana sounds like the Beatles. And I think Cobain's getting a fair amount of recognition for "shaking it up" a bit in the 90's, which is a good thing. As a guitar player and performer, he's nowhere near the top IMO, and I think it's a shame that he's in all the "Best guitar players of all time" lists, because let's face it: he's below par. But I guess a lot of people on those lists don't deserve to be there and didn't have Cobain's influence on music industry.
