Nirvana Is Overrated!

LaFours

I can say I was very much aware of Nirvana's impact in '92, being 14 at thew time. They, simply put, changed mainstream music. Sure you had your "heavy" bands that got play, GNR, Motley Crue, whatever. But rock for the most part, true rock, not some schtick, was nowhere on the map. You had to dig for it which, funily enough I now relish.
But Nirvana, as the flick "Hype!" put it changed everything. Suddenly there was a band telling America how f'd up their kids were feeling, and those kids finally had something to relate to, not some pappy crap you heard on your radio or some cheerful video on MTV. This was from the heart, viceral. Smells Like Teen Spirit was the coolest f'n thing on tv in a long time, a big f u to "normal" life.
True Soundgarden and AIC were signed before this, but neither had the impact, I don't know anyone that had Louder than Love, Flower, or Fopp, before Badmotorfinger, maybe in the Seattle area they did. I think I'm forgeting one.

catefrances

yeah i was very aware of nirvana. they were like a punch to the face. and they appeared to be just like us. and they were. the issues they dealt with, were the same ones we dealt with. it wasn't about drinking and getting stoned and whoring for the mindless fun of it. it was about feeling and fuck you and yeah sometimes i feel a bit down so get off my back. same goes for what eddie was writing about on TEN. the music was the result of their upbringing. it was stuff grown ups didn't want to be articulated because a lot of the time it reflected badly on them.i was already a parent when nirvana exploded, but i was the same age, and here were someone telling me it was okay to feel the way i felt. it wasn't music that just appealed to angsty teenagers.
you know one of the most amusing images i have from the nineties, is seeing axl rose shimmying across this huge stage wearing a flannette shirt. now how's that for having an impact?

bacchanal

PearlStripes wrote:

I didn't read this entire thread, but my question is how many people (on the board) were actually "there" in the late 80's/early 90's when Nirvana burst onto the scene and how can you truly comment on it if you weren't old enough to see what was going on? They totally changed the music scene. How can anyone say they are overrated, unless you are just referring to so much of the media shoving it down your throat that it makes you sick of hearing it? As far as 3 minute riffs, Nirvana could do more in three minutes than most bands could do in an entire album or career. And IMO it came from within the depths of Kurdt and how he expressed himself. You don't see that in very many musicians. He was a true artist and Nirvana was a great band.

I was 18 in 91.....saw them once in san diego at a tiny club.....u have no idea unless u saw them live how truly amazing they were.....kurt was totally wasted....and he played perfectly while rolling around on the ground and stage diving.....it was absolutely amazing.....truly paved the way for all good music after!!!!

reeferchief

RehabDoll wrote:

True Soundgarden and AIC were signed before this, but neither had the impact, I don't know anyone that had Louder than Love, Flower, or Fopp, before Badmotorfinger, maybe in the Seattle area they did. I think I'm forgeting one.

Ultramega OK.:)

And yeah I was a teen when Nirvana came out, and they had the same impact in the 90's that The Beatles had in the 60's, fucking blew everything out of the water, yeah the media took things out of proportion but thats not Kurt, Dave or Krist's fault is it?