[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I know it cliched around here, but I have recently been renewing my appreciation for Kurt Cobain and his influence on our culture here in the US.

Kurt Cobain became a mainstream caricature of himself in the media, but it is clear from even later interviews, journal entries, musical and artistic directions, that Cobain had remained the ghoulishly satirical, original and innovative person he always was that we saw epitomized in the antics of 1991:The Year That Punk Broke

I recently found Cobain Unseen real cheap so I picked it up. The author Cross is a bit dense and his lack of understanding the finer subtleties of underground reject punk rock culture and the sarcasm of Nirvana and Kurt in particular make his previous work Heavier than Heaven a comical farce not worth reading. But this book is better.. The writing is about as bad as the biography, but the subject material is more focused on the art, and in that it proves a better read. It is a more choreographed walk through some of Kurt's art and the Nirvana experience. Unfortunately Cross himself continues to project his nonsensical suicide king personification of Kurt and makes to much a point to wrongfully pointing out and insinuating Kurt having always been suicidal and constantly depressed blah blah woof woof..

But it highlights a lot of Nirvana artifacts, and has a lot of cool reproductions of flyers, liner notes, hand-written Nirvana stickers, pictures, etc etc and a lot of cool pictures from the Nirvana archives. It also provides a positive glimpse into Kurt's later family life with Courtney and Frances to humanize him away from this Morrissey type suicidal drug king.

In the process, I have renewed my appreciation for Kurt who is truly one of us. The kind of guy who filled up his notebooks with stoner drawings and obscure and sarcastic lyrics in the margins, who had a generally fuck it kind of attitude, was beyond satirical and ghoulishly sarcastic with the media, who had appeared to sell-out at times but actually was consciously thinking about kids across America who grew up poor and in small towns like his own, who needed mainstream access from radio and tv and walmart to get better records the the Top 40 crap of that era..

Kurt was sincere, and he was a lot like us, and we should all take our heads out of our asses sometimes and just appreciate it all. How many "rock stars" on the Top 40 have had that kind of sincerity and were such true anti-heroes? We here in SYG too often give Nirvana the Greenday treatment, and that is hardly fair.

Now that we have all grown up, lets not frown down upon our days of listening to albums all the time, painting and drawing bullshit, playing guitar all day, being ghoulishly sarcastic, and generally enjoying life with an eccentric kind of gusto that the establishment is just to weighted down to maintain..

Much like Jimi Henrdix, mainstream killed Kurt one way or the other, but the glimpse of real-life that Kurt brought to it is priceless..

Sure Nirvana was over, as it should be, but the genius of Unplugged and the artistic direction Kurt and even Dave on his own were going document that Nirvana was going the direction most good underground and indy bands go, splintering off into diverse side-projects and creating good music in the process.

 

 

 

[PAULYBEE2656]

agreed and repped!

[PAULYBEE2656]

......albeit repped when i spread em again!

[noisereductions]

I can never...

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to SuchFriendsAreDangerous again.

fuck cliches. They're still one of my favorite bands ever. I just got that Bleach deluxe for xmas finally too.

[DeadDiscoDildo]

I never forgot.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by DeadDiscoDildo

I never forgot.

I didn't really forget, but even much like Kurt himself, as I creep into my later 20s life presents less opportunity to spend my time doing those artistic stoner things, but from time to time I like to reflect on those times in my life where I was afforded the opportunities.. Now I am a teacher and mentor and I have to at least feign responsibility most of the time, but its nice to remember the more formative days and further let a bit of the old days out in the new me. At work or in other "adult" situations" I still like to make fun of itself the way Kurt's ghoulish humor spilled into the mainstream. I'm not quite a suit yet, and hopefully never will be.

 

 

[atsonicpark]

Yeah, here in the past few years, I have really appreciated Cobain/Nirvana a lot more than I did when I was a teenager, when I wrote them off without much thought (for the record, IN UTERO is the first album I ever owned, but I never really liked it very much -- I still think half of it kinda sucks) -- I always was like "man, there isn't much to this music, it's simple and boring." Like, 11-12 years ago,, I was more into Melt Banana, the Locust, Dillinger Escape Plan, and stuff... crazy, complex shit, not verse-chorus-verse stuff. I think, the older I get, the less I am blown away by complex music, I just want to hear good songs. And you know what? Nirvana flat-out have some damn good songs -- a song like "Blandest" is simply one of the most awesome songs I've EVER heard, PERIOD -- and they have some creative, downright unconventional melodies. You don't hear riffs like the verses in "Lithium" anymore. In fact, to think of a band like Nirvana succeeding on a mainstream level is kinda mindblowing; and even though we take a cd like Nevermind for granted today, it really was a landmark cd, and Nirvana was an important, landmark band. It took me a long time to realize that and to appreciate that talent and importance, but you really can't deny the raw energy, melodicism, riffing, and POWER of songs like "Aneurysm", "Negative Creep", "Very Ape", and so on. Great band. Also, Kurt had a GREAT taste in music -- Beefheart, Melvins, Sonic Youth, Pixies, and so on. He got a lot of people into bands they would have otherwise ignored. That, in itself, is remarkable.

Anyway, SCENTLESS APPRENTICE is one of my favorite songs ever. That drum beat -- fuck yeah. I don't really think Nevermind or In Utero are very consistent records... the record that really made me dig Nirvana was FROM THE MUDDY BANKS OF THE WISHKAH. It has some of their best songs (including the MASTERPIECE "Spank Thru"), and I think it's the album that really made me understand the appeal of the band. A song like "School" sounds kinda bland on Bleach, but hearing it live (and seeing the performance on "1991", also) really translated the raw energy and power of the band, and what made them so compelling. Also, as far as guitarists go, Kurt is one of the better "guitar heroes" around. He had a very simple style, usually somewhat strange chording (lots of "wrong" chords and notes) in the verses and then the loud power chord stuff in the choruses. Very interesting, consistent style, but he had a great ear for weird noises and feedback, look at the verse riff in "Negative Creep" for example. He was able to wrangle some odd little sounds out of his guitar at times, and he actually had lots of good guitar solos as well. All around, a compelling, interesting, energetic, and frequently awesome band. Dave and Krist were REALLY tight players, and kept the songs from dissolving in a live setting.

[EVOLghost]

first rock band I can remember listening to and have always been one of my favorite bands

[knox]

Listening to bleach is fun (tho my favorite is in utero).
Nostalgia aside, of course sometimes one thinks 'was I really that impresssed?' but the answer is yes. It made me quit piano lessons, and that I resent.

[EVOLghost]

In Utero is the best evar1

[DeadDiscoDildo]

I love this video of School

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svvp-WP3uzk

[Mortte Jousimo]

When I heard 1991 (I´m not sure about the year) Smells like teen spirit first time, it´s just blew my mind!!! To me Nirvana still wasn´t never as great as Sonic Youth for example, but I think it´s still very good band. I have been going to listen the third album I have quite a while, but haven´t done it yet because there has been much other good listening. Maybe also one reason is, that I have only Nevermind in vinyl, Bleach and In Utero are in c-cassette. But I will listen them all soon!!! I´m also a little bit proud that I saw Nirvana live here in Finland 1992.

[ann ashtray]

One of the things I always enjoyed about Nirvana is how much information is out there. There's plenty to critique, making it easy for the individual to form his/her own opinion on the band as well as it's front man. Unlike Zeppelin or Jimi, the mythological aspects are fairly easy to sort out. Kurt had problems, he was a junky, he could be an asshole (even to fans and bandmates), he had attempted suicide on more than one occasion, he was also sweet and funny and intelligent...sure. He was OBVIOUSLY human to anyone that took/takes the time to pay attention. Thus, there was (and will be for some time) those that identify with the guy.

They were the first band I ever identified with on a personal level. The music was simple, yet still thought provoking. None of that "rock god" bullshit. Next-to-no stories of groupies/backstage blow jobs/parties at the Playboy mansion. They just always seemed like a group of guys I could easily hang out with and not feel too far out of place. Shit, I likely could have felt comfortable even jamming with them. They were the band that made me want to pick up a guitar, not only because I identified and wanted to create something similar, but also because I felt like I could. The music of my parents and whatever other shit I heard on the radio prior to discovering Nirvana (5th grade) made me feel anything but.

Of course, I've gotten older. I don't look up to Kurt anymore being that I'm 27 years old. Thinking about him and the stories I grew up reading still interest me, but at times it just feels nostalgic. I've reached a point to where I identify with music (+ art in general) in a completely different way than I did as a kid. Lyrics and interviews and personal lives mean very little. I don't mind listening to more complex shit and embracing it for what it is and even attempting to take notes from it. In other words, I think I learned everything I could/can from that band...it's ok for me to move on + explore other forms of music a 14 year old Sway would have made fun of (+ fuck yeah, I used to hate Zeppelin).

There's been a pattern over the last several years. I'll listen to Nirvana for about a week or two, reread a couple books, then forget about 'em and move onto something else paying little to no attention to them for the remainder of the year.

Nice post.

[SonikJesus]

One of the best bands ever. Been goin back to listening to older stuf I listened to and have been listening to Nirvana in my car for the past month. In Utero is such a good record. Radio friendly Unit Shifter, Scentless Apprentice, and Milk It are some of the best Nirvana songs. They've always been one of my favorite bands. But now I'm discovering songs I never really paid much attention to. Mostly I listen to live shows though. Great Great band.

And I also don't really like any other of the "grunge" bands. Nirvana was the only good one to me. And Mudhoney too. All of those other bands always seemed like stupid 70s riff rock to me but with a bit more edge. Nirvana had awesome songs that were noisy, poppy, fucking rocking, and weird. They always seemed more connected to punk than any of the other bands. Kurt also liked a lot of really good music and was inspired by it.

[Mortte Jousimo]

Originally Posted by SonikJesus

And I also don't really like any other of the "grunge" bands. Nirvana was the only good one to me. And Mudhoney too. All of those other bands always seemed like stupid 70s riff rock to me but with a bit more edge. Nirvana had awesome songs that were noisy, poppy, fucking rocking, and weird. They always seemed more connected to punk than any of the other bands. Kurt also liked a lot of really good music and was inspired by it.

I agree!!! I think also Mudhoney is almost as great as Nirvana, but the other bands didn´t mean much to me. I have also Soundgarden Badmotorfinger in cassette, it´s ok, but I haven´t listened it much. And I wasn´t very excited about Superunknown. Sonic Youth members said in some finnish rockmagazine interview that they wanted to do album (Experimental) that is like life, not larger than life as Superunknown is. I agree about that.

[Mortte Jousimo]

I forgot to mention that I like also Hole. I have "Pretty on the inside" and "Live through this" on c-cassette. I must listen them also, because I haven´t listen them a long time. Hope I find someday all my Nirvana, Mudhoney and Hole cassettes in vinyl somehere...

[knox]

'pretty on the inside' is one of the most amazing albums ever.

[SonikJesus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrEi8WRALhA

the melody for this song rules. and i love this footage of it

[bloodcrystallisetosand]

'pretty on the inside' was produced by kim so you KNOW it's gotta be good...

I got into Nirvana the wrong way round, so I've never 'grown out of them' only to 'rediscover' them: I picked up Bleach then Incesticide, the latter being the best thing they ever put out. So much invention - it hadn't even occurred to anyone that trying to be the Vaselines, Raincoats and Melvins at the same time was even an option.

I've always related to him in that way too - not as some idol who speaks my innermosts but as a switched on lad with a cracking record collection, a sarcastic as hell sense of humour ("I Hate Myself and Want to Die" is an amazing name for an album) and a penchant for the naughty stuff which, alas, got the better of him in the end.

Finally: the Bleach reissue is quality, the live set is excellent and segues from the album really nicely.

[keep poppin pimples]

i appreciate nirvana

i however recently got myself a copy of "with the lights out" that doesn't include the book, which i would like to read, does anyone know where i can get pdfs,scans or whatever of it? the torrents i've found seem to be just the cds and dvd