Can We All Please Stop Sucking Nirvana's Dick?
by "The Last Waltz"

Can we all just give it a rest? I'm about to say some things that need to be said, and it's gonna piss people off, but I don't care.

First, I'm gonna set a few things straight:
1) Kurt's suicide was NOT the end of grunge, the break up of Soundgarden was.
2) They were not the best band from SEATTLE in the early 90s, much less THE WORLD.
3) Half of their songs made absolutely no sense.
4) He died 10 years ago, it was a tragedy, it's horrible, but there's gotta be a statute of limitations on lamenting.
5) "Nevermind" wasn't Nirvana's best album, much less the best album of the 90s or of the Seattle grunge movement.

I'm sorry, it had to be said. Nirvana was not the be-all end-all of music. Not of Seattle, not of grunge, not of alternative rock, not of the '90s. Bands like Green River, Soundgarden, and the Melvins started "grunge". Then came Tad, Mudhoney, and Mother Love Bone.

Was Nirvana the first to make it big? Yes.
Was "Nevermind" the first hugely popular album by a Seattle grunge band? Yes.
Does that mean it's the best? No.

Look at Britney Spears. She outsells just about every group on the market, does that mean her albums are the best produced, full of the best written, best played, and most meaningful songs? No. It means she's popular. Popularity does not equal greatness, we are not in high school. I'm sorry, but Nirvana was just not the best Seattle band of the early 90s. Just to look at the "Big 4", the most popular and famous of the bands: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, and I will tell you that Alice in Chains had better lyrics, Pearl Jam had better musicians, and Soundgarden was harder and heavier. And I'm sorry, but Chris, Layne, and Eddie all sang better than Kurt ever did. If Kurt hadn't died, I seriously doubt that Nirvana would have received as much praise and credit as they did. Pearl Jam's lyrics, musicianship, staying power, integrity, and innovative nature make them stand out as far superiour to the boys from Aberdeen. Jerry's virtuoso guitar playing, along with Mike's throbbing bass and Sean's thunderous drums, when accompanied by Layne's mournful voice that embodied agony and pain when he sang the dark, disturbing, painful, and yet beautiful and poetic lyrics that he and/or Jerry wrote... puts anything Nirvana did to shame. And not to mention a band that was a founding staple of Sub-Pop and grunge itself, the mighty Soundgarden: the heaviest, fastest, and loudest of the bands, coupled with "a voice that could peel paint" singing about broader issues than "woe is me and all this talent and fame" in a more musically talented manner that sounded more raw than Nirvana did. When facing these three bands, not to mention the plethora of other Seattle bands of the era that I'm not as familiar with, and therefore don't feel I could adequately judge: Green River, Mudhoney, Candlebox, Screaming Trees, Tad, etc. I just don't see how Nirvana gets the title of "best".

Kurt wrote some great songs, "Dumb", "All Apologies", and "Lithium" among them. But half of the songs made no sense. I consider myself a pretty smart guy, as most people who know me will attest, and that I also am pretty knowledgeable about music, and have a pretty decent grasp of poetry, and yet I can still make no sense of half of Nirvana's songs. They're still great rock songs, and I'm not saying that rock songs all have to have some deeper meaning, but to hold Cobain as this Messianic character, we have to look at his "gospels" and I'm sorry "Scentless Apprentice" just doesn't seem to be some deep, moving, spiritual piece. People are gonna call me a hypocrite about number 4 because of my previous post about Layne, to which I launch this preemptive response: Layne died only 2 years ago, so his memory is still fresh, and he was basically forgotten. During this time of year, everyone loves to get around and perform a circle jerk over Kurt's tomb, and that's fine, you wanna do that, fine, just don't expect me not to make some rude comments on the fact. He's dead, been dead, and all your crying ain't bringing him back, and in doing this, you're all forgetting about another legendary musician of the Seattle scene who also died a tragic death. And I'm sorry, but every list of best albums always puts "Nevermind" way up towards the top, if not at number 1. What about "Badmotorfinger", "Dirt", "Ten", "Vs.", "Louder than Love", "Above", "Vitalogy", "Superunknown," and "Facelift"? Hell, what about "In Utero" or "Bleach"? Both were superior to "Nevermind".

Now, this all being said, I feel I must also say this: I like Nirvana, a lot. I own 4 of their albums. I enjoy their music. I consider myself a fan. Hell, back in the early-mid 90s, I liked them more than PJ, AIC, or Soundgarden, but having been exposed to them, and listening to all their lyrics, and maturing in my musical tastes, i've realized that Nirvana is not god's gift to music, nor Seattle's gift to the world. They were a band. A great band. Definitely a legendary band. But they aren't as good as everyone likes to think they are. There's a difference between saying a band is "the greatest band ever" and your "favorite band ever." NIN is my favorite "band" ever, but I don't believe that they are all-time greatest band to ever play music. Try and take a step back from your emotional attachment to this band, and realize they aren't as great as the media would have us believe.

Was Nirvana a great band? Yes.
Was Kurt's death a tragedy?Yes.
Was Nirvana the best band from Seattle? No.
Was "Nevermind" the best album of the '90s? No.

Thank you.