Nirvana

I am somewhat of a fan on some of the bands you mentioned (Green Day, Bush, and The Offspring) but I considered Nirvana above that crap, for one thing I always felt Nirvana where artists, and felt Kurt Cobain was the real deal, not manufactured angst but a true artists expressing his pain, fustration and even humor.

'Bleach' and for the rest of their very small discography is some of the best music of the so called alternative rock music they helped kick off.

I personally saw them as a breathe of fresh air when they first came out, while I was a fan of pop/hair metal and thrash, I was getting burnt out on that style of music due to the 1000 bands all doing the same thing, and to my ears they sounded fresh and also led me to discover tons of non metal bands that I love til this day.

I remember when I first heard of Nirvana is when I saw a video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on MTV. I was blown away, because it was so much different from the crap that was being played at the time on that channel. There was a rawness and danger to the sound that was miles away from much of the polished, crappy pop and rock that infested the late 80's and the very beginning of the decade. I loved it, but did not think it would catch on. I was equally floored when suddenly they became the #1 video a couple of weeks later. It changed the course of music. Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" out of the number one spot in the album chart. Nuff said.

I liked Nirvana as soon as I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit." As Manny said, the hard rock/metal genre was in a bit of a slump at that time (way too many of "our" bands were coasting on their reps and putting out sub-par records) and let's face it, that damn song has hooks big enough to catch a whale.

Of course, the band quickly became overexposed as hell, to the point where I got a little sick of looking at'em and therefore I don't listen to 'em as much as I once did. One of these days I really need to upgrade my old NEVERMIND cassette to a CD copy. I also agree with S, that the "Unplugged in NY" album is a great disc.

Unlike a lot of metal heads, I never blamed Nirvana for the "downfall" of metal from the pop culture arena. As we all know, music works in cycles. Metal had a number of good years in the sun, but much of it had started to get realllly stupid by the end of the '80s, so it was time for something new to come along and take its place. If it hadn't been Nirvana, it would've been somebody or something else. Therefore, I always find it funny when I see some hair metal fan ranting on a message board about "F##in' Nirvana! If they hadn't come along, Britny Fox and Def Leppard would still be in the top 10 and everything would be right with the world!" or whatever.

Aside from that, and this is strictly a theory of my own so you can feel free to tell me to go jump in a lake, I have always felt that the main reason folks in my age group reacted so violently against Nirvana (and grunge in general) because its ascendance was the first sign that we weren't "hip" anymore and that pop culture was moving along without us.

I like Nirvana's music but the drama surrounding the band was exhausting. Kurt Cobain was a mentally ill guy on the edge who could write a catchy song. I know the generation that followed mine thinks differently, but it's the truth.

IMO, The best think that came from the band is Dave Grohl.

FF, I tend to agree with your last statement but of course being a metal fan I was never considered cool or hip to begin with.

manny wrote:

FF, I tend to agree with your last statement but of course being a metal fan I was never considered cool or hip to begin with.

Well, yeah, me neither, but you know what I mean. At the time our genre (hard rock/metal) was "the" genre that was getting all the MTV and radio love (even if it was the assembly line puffy-hair stuff that got most of the attention) and I would imagine for a lot of people (not just fans, but bands/industry people) it was pretty shocking when their bandwagon crashed into a brick wall virtually overnight.

You know how obsessive some fans of a certain artist or genre can be, hell, there are probably people out there who still blame The Beatles for ruining Elvis' career. ("F##kin' Beatles! If they hadn't come along, Elvis would still be alive and on top and all would be right with the world!")

I saw a pretty funny documentary a couple of years ago called "The Target Shoots First" about a guy who was working at Columbia House Music Club during the rise of the grunge era, and how the suits running that company were totally ignorant to the winds of change, they couldn't understand why the thousands of Warrant and Trixter CDs they'd ordered were suddenly rotting away in the warehouse, and they hadn't ordered heavily enough of the so-called "non-commercial" bands to keep up with the sudden demand.

I did not hear of Nirvana til the Smells Like Teen Spirit, I would to claim I had been there since 'Bleach' but I was not.

Two other things that I agree with FF, by the time their second album hit 'In Utero' I was so sick of them, that when a friend of mine had a free ticket I refused to go, due to (no fault of the band) of their over exposure of 'Nevermind'. I of course have regretted it ever since.

Also to blame Nirvana for metal's implosion is silly, if it was not to be Nirvana it would have been another band.

manny wrote:

Also to blame Nirvan for metal's implosion is silly, if it was not to be Nirvana it would have been another band.

The early 90s were a weird time for music. I remember reading an article in SPIN mag (at least I think it was SPIN) prior to Nirvana's ascendance, talking about what they thought was going to be "the sound of the 90s." They predicted that Grindcore (!!) was going to be the next big thing. Would've been pretty hilarious if that one came thru. We might've seen Napalm Death playing live on MTV's "TRL"

I don't like Nirvana on the whole, but something about the song "In Bloom" just appeals to me. I did acquire the Fecal Matter material out of curiosity.

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Fecal Matter

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on the whole

I have that problem sometimes too.

All I know is, for whatever reason, I never "got it" until a couple years ago w/ Unplugged In NY...and I am now so glad I do.

So many people blame "Nirvana" for the implosion of Hair Metal and, I agree, that's just silly. They were just a band trying to do their thing...it's not their fault that so many people gravitated toward it. Some make it sound like Kurt Cobain made it his mission to destroy Hair Metal and take over the world when in actuality he just wanted to play music.

Or, as he once put it, "Maybe people are just tired of listening to Warrant..."

S wrote:

Some make it sound like Kurt Cobain made it his mission to destroy Hair Metal and take over the world when in actuality he just wanted to play music.

Yea, that's what I'm talkin' about. They think Kurt was the mastermind of this grand conspiracy to erase Warrant and Kip Winger from the face of the earth.

...when most of the time he was so jacked up on heroin that he could barely dress himself, he was in no shape to be the mastermind of anything!!!

MetalGuy71 wrote:

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Fecal Matter

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on the whole

I have that problem sometimes too.

"I agree, Preparation H does feel good on the hole"

I like a lot of their stuff but I'm not a massive fan, I don't hate them anyway.

I love their MTV unplugged album, Kurt puts so much feeling into his performance. Also, I'm a bit sentimental about them since the were the band that introduced me to rock music.

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So many people blame "Nirvana" for the implosion of Hair Metal

I was one of those people at the time.

It's easy to look back now and realize how silly it sounds, but at the time, when "hair metal" as we knew it was being killed off, we needed a scapegoat. Nirvana fit the bill as they were the antithesis of what we knew and loved. They held the smoking gun that smelled like teen spirit.

Sure it was inevitable that metal was too watered-down, bloated and lazy at that point and something new & fresh needed to come along. Alot of us just didn't want to admit it. But it could've just as easily been another grung/alternative band. Nirvana was at the right place at the right time to fill the roll of both "fresh & new" as well as "grunge posterboys".

S- That was how i got into Nirvana was Their unplugged performance, it was early 1994 for me, before Kurt's body was found I mean it was like a few weeks for me during that time I felt depressed and angst I was miserable, Nirvana I feel I could relate. I loved the covers they did on that performance. At the time Teen Spirit came out I hated Nirvana couldnt stand Teen Spirit, even when Heart Shaped Box came out I poked fun at it. Its cool that you're getting into them, Have any favorite songs?

Cobain was an artist, in every sense of the word. Music was just one of his outlets, He loved to write poetry, and loved to paint. Kurt had an ability to write definitly I saw an interview with Courtney Love where said Kurt Wrote "Dumb" and one other tune in 15 minutes. Its a shame that he's gone its a shame that he could not find cures to the physical ailments that ravaged him.

I definitly agree that Dave Grohl is the best thing to come out of Nirvana, Who knew Dave would amass a new band and be as successful as he is. I just read about a year ago a book on Grohl he was writing early Foo Fighters tunes before joining Nirvana, if he had downtime he spent it in the studio. And now he's Drummer for hire of sorts having played with Slash, Duff, Garbage (Bad Boyfriend on Bleed Like Me) Im a bigger Grohl fan than I am of Nirvana

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So many people blame "Nirvana" for the implosion of Hair Metal


I was one of those people at the time.

It's easy to look back now and realize how silly it sounds, but at the time, when "hair metal" as we knew it was being killed off, we needed a scapegoat. Nirvana fit the bill as they were the antithesis of what we knew and loved. They held the smoking gun that smelled like teen spirit.

Sure it was inevitable that metal was too watered-down, bloated and lazy at that point and something new & fresh needed to come along. Alot of us just didn't want to admit it. But it could've just as easily been another grung/alternative band. Nirvana was at the right place at the right time to fill the roll of both "fresh & new" as well as "grunge posterboys".

Sad thing is theres people who post both here and other places who still strongly believe that.

My favorite Nirvana album Id have to say is Bleach but I also love the unreleased stuff some of my favs are those.

Good tune to check out is "Oh The Guilt" another Nirvana fav of mine

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Im a bigger Grohl fan than I am of Nirvana

I'd say the same thing. I own Nivana's Unplugged album and like it quite a bit, but other than that, I'm not much of a fan. I have their Greatests Hits that I inherited from my wife's meager cd collection that gets the occasional spin.

For the longest time, I wouldn't give Dave Grohl or the Foo Fighter's the time of day just because of his Nirvana/grunge connection either. Again, it seems silly now when I look back, but I held that grudge for a long time.

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S- Its cool that you're getting into them, Have any favorite songs?

I really like his renditions of "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Lake Of Fire"...also, from Bleach, I really like "Blew", "About A Girl", "Negative Creep" and "Scoff"...

I'm torn with whether to hold out for the probable 20th Anniversary repackaging of Nevermind or to just get it now...

S wrote:

I'm torn with whether to hold out for the probable 20th Anniversary repackaging of Nevermind or to just get it now...

"Probable?" More like "inevitable." There's no way the record label is going to let the 20th anniversary of that album pass by without doing something with it.

In fact I've held off on buying a CD copy of NEVERMIND for a while now just cuz I've had a feeling that some kind of deluxe package will come along next year...

In Utero is IMO Nirvanas best album. I used to like these guys when I was younger because my drummer at the time would play Nevermind endlessly and he would always ask me to learn songs like Lithium, Breed, In Bloom, and Smells like Teen Spirit. Pretty simple songs but you can't deny Kurt could write around those simple chord structures..

Not a fan at all anymore. Grew tired of them really fast and I prefer tons of other bands from that time.

I also think Grohl is the best thing to come out of Nirvana..

S wrote:

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S- Its cool that you're getting into them, Have any favorite songs?

I really like his renditions of "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Lake Of Fire"...also, from Bleach, I really like "Blew", "About A Girl", "Negative Creep" and "Scoff"...

I'm torn with whether to hold out for the probable 20th Anniversary repackaging of Nevermind or to just get it now...

Get it now

manny wrote:

S wrote:

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S- Its cool that you're getting into them, Have any favorite songs?

I really like his renditions of "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Lake Of Fire"...also, from Bleach, I really like "Blew", "About A Girl", "Negative Creep" and "Scoff"...

I'm torn with whether to hold out for the probable 20th Anniversary repackaging of Nevermind or to just get it now...

Get it now

Haha! Maybe I'll "borrow" a copy til the inevitable deluxe edition comes out next year...

I love their Bowie cover "Man Who Sold The World" that was awesome, "Plateau" is what got it started for me, which i found funny as it's a Meat Puppets tune

Im close to having all the Nirvana albums, I need the box set and the Live albums.

I have a lot of bootleg stuff I bought, Fecal Matter the Outcesticides (1-4) I think plus some live stuff, I got the Oh The Guilt single on both Tape (200k pressed at the time) and the CD single.

From Bleach I like
Negative Creep
Swap Meet
Blew
Love Buzz
Big Cheese

Nevermind

In Bloom
Teen Spirit
Lounge Act
Something's in The Way
Come as you are
Lithium

In Utero

Pennyroyal Tea
Dumb
All Apologies
Serve the Servants
Rape Me
Heart Shaped Box

I'm looking forward to getting more into them as time goes on...

If you havent yet, start with Bleach IMO thats their top album its raw and heavy