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Nirvana were the best nihilistic buddhist rock & roll band ever. Kurt Cobain was one of the best songwriters & rockstars to ever grace our awareness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8SngmT4rmE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYbSxx-4Wik&feature=related

- two nice vinyl rips of Nirvana live

Nirvana were OK. Like some of the songs but not so much the grunge sound. I prefer Weird Al`s Smells Like Nirvana to the original. Though I do love that Cobain was always talking up cool underground bands in the press.

You know nothing about Nirvana, Alex. Please allow me the assumed superiority in knowledge to teach you. Kurt Cobain was not just some guy that played music. Kurt Cobain is living mythology. Kurt studied all the classic rock & roll cases particular with frontmen. Kurt designed his fate from day one - in a sense. Nevermind is so poppy [though much like Come As You Are is also expertly written] because Kurt wanted to breakthrough into the collective consciousness in a big way. In his suicide letter he said he was a narcissistic death rocker. Or thought of as such - and he also called himself narcissistic. Yes that's it. Anyway- point is, Kurt was the real deal. Nirvana was a Buddhist-Nihilist rock & roll band from unknown places in washington state. Kurt sang, Look on the bright side- suicide in Milk It over the Devil's Tritone beginning of that diabolical riff. Kurt reached entirely new artistic depths on In Utero. Scentless Apprentice, Heart Shaped Box, Milk It, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Tourrettes... these are not your mothers Nevermind album. These are Kurt's songs about his esoteric thoughts. Look on the bright side- suicide. The dark side I'm on your side.

Nirvana were one of the best rock & roll bands that have ever occurred. some days I even think The Beach Boys are nothing compared to Nirvana. In just a few blazing years Kurt Cobain set the world on fire & burned himself to nothingness. He epitomized the meaning of his band name. Nirvana in Buddhism means cessation, ceasing to be, like a flame disappearing. Kurt injected himself with a suicidal dose of heroin and before the major effect wiped him out of action he shot himself.

I have one word for Kurt Cobain that I hope you will all come to feel too : respect. Kurt was intense. If the suicide is true then it's just so intense. A murder is nicer to believe. You can believe in one man's evil, bad blood, or kill contract against a man, but you don't want to believe in one man's own evil, bad blood with himself, and suicide contract with himself. Kurt showed us all that - he wasn't just fucking around. Something got to Kurt Cobain. Something bad. Was it Courtney cheating? Heroin addiction [and drug addiction in general]? Fame? All the obligations with Nirvana doing tours etc? Nirvana also had various minor legal troubles that would've at least made Kurt paranoid at times. Song writing loyalty suits and stuff. Being sued by club owners for destroying their equipment. Kurt in pictures has a look I personally know all too well. He's there, you could talk to him. He's not unaware at all. In fact, Kurt Cobain is a lizard. He's vibrantly vividly aware of life around himself. Unless he's all smacked out but still. He's a beautiful man to watch- doing anything.

(http://www.kurtcobainnews.com/Kurt_Cobain_blocking_camera.jpg)
(http://kurtcobain.creation-website.com/website/307/images/htmleditor/kurt_cobain2.jpg)

(http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs43/f/2009/147/d/1/Kurt_Cobain_Wallpaper_6_by_grungejunky.jpg)

(http://realitystudio.org/images/people/kurt_cobain/kurt_cobain.visiting.william_burroughs.jpg)

Kurt adored William S Burroughs and they hung out together one day. They put out a single together too but they didn't record it together. Bill sent Kurt a recording of him reading a story and Kurt put music to it.

(http://www.thepostersshop.com/Portals/0/Imagenes/TPS92-Kurt%20Cobain-Posters.jpg)

Show me a picture of Brian Wilson looking THAT cool!

(http://sp8.fotolog.com/photo/40/30/87/beachboysproject/1303904035528_f.jpg)

I may not agree with your view, but I must admit that I admire your passionate way of writing about this subject.  :) You should write a book.  8)

I'm an idiot- if only you'd all realize. What do you guys do when you're sad? I'm sad exactly for the reason that I cannot have what I want. This is causing profound suffering. It has brought me to the point of Kurt Cobain when he conceived "Look on the bright side- suicide ; the dark side, I'm on your side" perhaps in a dope trance.

Agreed with just about everything ghost said about Kurt. There are days when I think Nirvana > The Beach Boys.... but those days become farther and fewer between the older I get.  :lol

I definitely loved Nirvana in the early nineties until he killed himself (or whatever) but to compare them to the BB is way out there, man.
First of all, the only one of Nirvana's recordings that doesn't sound painfully dated is Bleach, and maybe some of the singles stuff from whatever that comp was called. I mean DATED. Bad, super selfconcious art rock like In Utero ,and really everything from that Jesus Lizard single on, sound like a bad time to me. And if you can sit through the horrible production on Nevermind and compare that to ANY brian-produced BB album (including Love You) then, my friend, we live in strange times indeed.
Sounds like you are more into the myth of Kurt Cobain, whatever that has turned into, than the deliberately provocative twenty-something guy who would complain about Rolling Stone magazine, in a Rolling Stone article, with HIM on the cover! A confused guy, for sure, with some good songs but neither the brains nor the foresight to see past himself and his 'problems' .
I've known a lot of guys like that, and there was nothing cool about their flame-out.
Anyway, Beach Boys rule!

You're overreaching, Ghost. If Kurt hadn't killed himself, their reputation would have gone the way of Pearl Jam, into ever-decreasing circles of blandness. Kurt had nowhere else to go but out.

A couple of good songs, though.

Said it before and will say it again - if Kurt hadn't shot himself noone would care about Nirvana now. Most people thought In Utero sucked.

Oh? What scientific polling was conducted to bring you to this conclusion?

Everyone in my school who liked Nevermind didn't like the follow up. Until he died. Then they did.

Most Nirvana "fans" say either In Utero or Incesticide. Also like to name drop Radio Friendly Unit Shifter and Milk It.

I see. It was a completely scientific undertaking on your part.  ;)

My experience was different. In Utero is frequently quoted as their favorite album (it's my favorite as well).

My reaction to Nirvana (1991 - 1994):

Wow, that's interesting that this song is getting so much airplay...it's pretty much a ripoff of the Pixies...but the lyrics aren't very good.

This heavier Seattle punk sound seems inspired by Husker Du...or at least Bob Mould's last record...that bass is very appealing, but those lyrics?

Seriously, this voice of a generation stuff has got to stop. Cobain's songs are alright, but the guy seems like he's a hopeless addict who would rather be anywhere else.

As unimpressed as I am with the band, I'm glad they opened the door for all these other cool bands to be heard...now excuse me while I listen to Sebadoh's latest one more time.

It sure sounds like a suicide attempt after that concert in Italy no matter how they spin it - Courtney is scaring me - I fear for their daughter.

He's gone missing? I bet he really did it this time - Oh man, what a shame - the way the media is spinning it, this guy will be like John Lennon in twenty years.

Just watch Unplugged. If that's not a satisfying experience for you then Nirvana is not meant for you, ever. Other people, myself included, find such a performance iconic and timeless - a friend that will always be there.

Kurt was a talented guy, but his music just doesn't do it for me. I'm not stopping you from loving Nirvana.

Actually, after posting I realized I forgot to include my reaction to seeing the UNPLUGGED show when it first aired, which was a very positive one. I liked the stripped-down arrangements and the cello really added a nice flavor, especially on my favorite Nirvana song "Dumb". I also appreciated Pat Smear being asked to contribute as well as the Meat Puppets (who I was a fan of at the time). Still, I found this setting tended to reveal Cobain's limitations as a singer/performer. I guess I just wanted Nirvana to have a stronger, more focused delivery with songs that made a more emotional connection for me ("Dumb" and one or two others do this).

I'm not trying to dissuade your love of this band; only note what my reaction was like to them at the time they were a going concern.

The version of Where Did You Sleep Last Night on Unplugged is one of my favourite live versions of any song ever, Kurts delivery is so powerful.

Paulos you've got the late sixties Brian look down to a T.

Kurt Cobain was a very talented songwriter--he captured a certain kind of mood, and was pretty damn innovative at recombining existing chords in a surprising and new-sounding way.

However:
He seemed to be able to only capture that one particular mood: misery. Very well, mind you, but just that one. I prefer artists who can capture every mood or every aspect of living. I wish he could have done that--he might have been happier, and perhaps lived longer. And reached a more varied audience.

(I kinda have the same problem with Aimee Mann--she even came out and said, 'Why would I write about happiness? That's boring--there's no drama in it.' What a closed and defeatist attitude.)

I would still vote for the Beach Boys over Nirvana. Coolness is irrelevant. The ability to capture all kinds of life in a set of songs is always relevant.

I'll subscribe to that view. Although it should be noted that Cobain also was very good at injecting his lyrics with irony and humor. Which is also what was so unique about him.

I know I'm being pedantic here, and I can't stop myself, but Cobain wasn't the only one to use irony and humour in his lyrics, therefore = not unique.

You are being pedantic. Completely.  :lol

That's unavoidable on a Friday afternoon at work!

You haven't heard much Nirvana if you think it's all misery. Just a few happy Nirvana songs off the top of my head: In Bloom, Breed, Lithium, Drain You, On A Plain, Beeswax, Mexican Seafood, Dive, etc....

None of those are about misery or conjur up a miserable mood. In Utero has most of his real misery laced songwriting - scentless apprentice, heart shaped box, milk it.........

and it's all AMAZING. milk it is one of the coolest songs i've ever heard. LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE SUICIDE, THE DARK SIDE I'M ON YOUR SIDE. the riff is mindblowing. this misery is invigorating.

I don't think teh kurdt ever really wrote a bad song.

i agree basically but there are some i consider lame - mr mustache..........

von eerie, u luv nirvana
let's hug

:(

My favorite Nirvana album is Story of Simon Simopath. :)

In Utero's echo-ish production turned me onto Pet Sounds.

How I made that association way back when, I don't know.  Somebody suggested it, I think.   But, I'm glad I did!

I want to know what Steve Albini thinks of The Beach Boys or Brian!

I grew up with Nirvana, and they were a huge impact on my young, dumb life. I still think that Cobain is one of the better songwriters of my generation, and it's weird to me that he seems to have been left by the wayside these days, I rarely talk to someone who remembers him as 'one of the greats'. I guess that's what happens to someone who becomes a superstar, but unlike, say, The Beatles who were able to maintain, people just got burned out on Nirvana. Hopefully with the 20th anniversary stuff coming out there'll be some changed opinions from people who forgot how good it was (and maybe in a couple years we'll actually get the Albini mix of In Utero!).

As for Albini and the Beach Boys...I dunno, Brian's production is very large and major-label backed, both of which Albini always seems to think as anathema. But I've never actually heard him say anything about the group one way or another.

He seems to like vocals way down in the mix so they're hard to understand over an instrumental backing. All instruments being equal or some hogwash. Been a while since I read the interview.

Not really a fan of his style... At least the 3 Albini produced/recorded albums I know I have. In Utero sounds the least offensive. But Chevelle's Point #1 and Scott Weiland's Happy In Galoshes could have sounded a whole lot better if they wanted to.

Produced by Brian Wilson, maybe.

I was in High School when Nirvana were big, at the time I had a crush on this little girl who was big into them, and all I listened to was 60's music.  So I kind of got into them since she was into them.  Well, one day she was playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and explained the chorus to me... "An albino; a Mullato; a Mosquito; my Libido". 

I'd never paid any attention to not only THAT lyric.... but *ANY* Lyrics!  I had been signing songs, my entire life that I loved but had never even really paid attention to the lyrics.  When I was a kid, I liked "Help me Rhonda" because I thought he was saying "Help Me Ronnie".  Now, you would think that the context clues of the rest of the song would have clued me in that it wasn't a song about a guy, but that's how I thought as a kid. 

So after that, I started getting into all the grunge bands or alternative bands out at the time.  I think some of the early, big bands were different that a lot of the copycat music that came afterwards.  I don't think Kurt Cobain took himself that seriously... a lot of modern rock is pretty pussified, Nirvana on the other hand was pretty bad ass in my opinion.  Although a lot of the lyrics could be about 'teenage angst' I dont' think Kurt meant for his music to be depressing or a downer, I think he was a pretty screwed up person with health and drug issues that leaked into his songs. 

I see him as pretty talented, though.  A lot of people are quick to throw him under the bus, but at the time he was pretty revolutionary.  He was also one of the first mainstream, pop acts that I saw, that was cool enough and willing enough to admit his 'uncool' at the time influences: He talked about how he liked the Beatles, and the Beach Boys, for instance when he was young.