Kurt Cobain RIP - 1994 (Nirvana)

[Dru Edwards]

It was on this day, April 5 1994, that Kurt Cobain left us. He is probably the biggest name in the grunge movement, as is his former band Nirvana.

Your thoughts on his contributions to music? Were you a fan? Influenced?

[CoffeeFan]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

It was on this day, April 5 1994, that Kurt Cobain left us. He is probably the biggest name in the grunge movement, as is his former band Nirvana.

Your thoughts on his contributions to music? Were you a fan? Influenced?

Definitely a much bigger fan of Dave Grohl...

[Riverwolf]

Really like the MTV Unplugged concert and album.
The rest, not so much.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

Really like the MTV Unplugged concert and album.
The rest, not so much.

Yep, the MTV unplugged was huge. I just googled the top MTV unplugged concerts and Nirvana was ranked #1 and Eric Clapton was #2 on Spin. Those are the two biggest in my mind. I was surprised Clapton wasn't #1.

[Neil K Walk]

Nope. I didn't like him them and don't care to remember him now. I didn't find him to be particularly "deep" though Rolling Stone magazine LOVED him and his wife.

[Wengr]

I was never a fan.
They did however pretty effectively put an end to the hairband thing, and for that I was appreciative.

[Denny B]

I think Cobain and Nirvana hit the scene when something new was badly needed...

Was he talented? Sure...

Do I think he'd be held in such high regard now if he hadn't died so young, under such circumstances?

Hardly...

And on a similar note, I don't think James Dean was a "great" actor...his presence, personal style and attitude exploded at the right time...and he arrived and departed at the perfect times to create a "legend" and cult around him...

Same with Cobain...

[Silurian]

Nirvana were OK, but IMO the Pixies were the best band of that era. They pretty much invented the genre.


"I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies"

Kurt Cobain.

[fitness1]

I admit I know very little about him or his music, so I just read some of the Wiki page.

What a sad life he must have lived. Continual pain (physical and mental apparently) and heavy drug use.

I also watched one of the Unplugged videos (I think the first song) and it was very apparent he was not "right".

Always sad to see someone take their life at such a young age.

[Dirk Hofman]

He was a huge influence on a lot of people and players. Not the demographic here, but that’s ok. Was able to convey deep feeling with his voice and lyrics. Tragic, tortured soul, who made a lot of mistakes. Very gritty and human.

I’ve grown to appreciate their music more as time has worn on, mostly the earlier work. Grohl remains a huge talent. Ran into him once in a car dealership in Auburn in the late 90s. Super nice guy.

[Joe Beamish]

His music is similar to that of Nick Drake -- it's substantial but dark. Drake has lots of songs I still listen to anyway, but whenever I revisit to Nirvana, I don't stick with them at all.

Although I don't care for "indie", "grunge", whatever you call it, and only mildly enjoy bands like Spoon and the Shins -- or used to -- I acknowledge that Cobain's music has a presence of some kind, and a lot of heart.

I don't mind his admitting they ripped off the Pixies -- everybody rips off somebody, as you can learn from Lennon & McCartney if you're paying attention, and Dylan, and the Stones, and all the blues guys from way back, and so on. You still gotta come up with hooks, and Cobain did.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

Nope. I didn't like him them and don't care to remember him now. I didn't find him to be particularly "deep" though Rolling Stone magazine LOVED him and his wife.

Although I think that Cobain was very influential and helped defined a genre of music for a younger generation I'll admit I wasn't a fan either. I never got into grunge although I can look back and see some talented guitarists from that era, like Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains.

[1neeto]

That movement happened while I was in high school, so Nirvana does hold a special place in my heart. He was also heavily influenced by the Beatles believe it or not. The music video of In Bloom is a hat tip on their influence.

As for The unplugged performances, I think Pearl Jam was the best.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

He was a huge influence on a lot of people and players. Not the demographic here, but that’s ok. Was able to convey deep feeling with his voice and lyrics. Tragic, tortured soul, who made a lot of mistakes. Very gritty and human.

I’ve grown to appreciate their music more as time has worn on, mostly the earlier work. Grohl remains a huge talent. Ran into him once in a car dealership in Auburn in the late 90s. Super nice guy.

Kurt was incredibly influential and changed music, when it desperately needed to be changed. Sure, the Pixies were a better band, and the Seattle scene had a number of other talented artists emerging at the same time. But Nirvana brought that sound to the mainstream and led a music revolution that outlived Kurt into the latter half of the decade.

Kurt was overwhelmed with fame and the attention that came with it. He struggled with depression and addiction, and he didn't have the right support structure until it was too late. People like Michael Stipe tried to intervene, and if he'd been successful, it would have been amazing to see where Kurt's creativity would have taken him.

I quoted Dirk above b/c I agree that it's the wrong demographic here. But Kurt's influence flashed brightly in a dark time and will hold up on the corner of alternative music like Hendrix did 25 years earlier.

Grohl is a nice guy, but FF are a band of diminishing returns, IMHO. I enjoyed the HBO series he did 5-6 years ago and can't figure out what it's not available to stream in my HBO Go app.

[HodgdonExtreme]

I graduated high school in the 90s, so Nirvana and Kurt were in my wheelhouse.

I much preferred Smashing Pumpkins because I felt their music had a lot more substance. In fact, at the time, I felt Nirvana kinda stole smashing pumpkins thunder.

Years and years later, I like Nirvana ok, but I'm in agreement that he wasn't anything magical - his legend is a combination of having been in right place at right time, and having died at top of his game.

Anyone versed in the conspiracy theories of how Courtney had Kurt murdered? I think there's a 50/50 chance