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Idk why but I never sat down and listened to it through. Strong front half, less strong back half. I feel like I finally understand a bunch of kids I was in bands with.

he was a very strong lyricist , above and beyond most other "rock " bands of the day.

Listened to that one a million and a half times in the 90s.
I recently went back and relistened to a bunch of Nirvana and have been reimpressed with them.
Credit where its due on so many different elements.
Obviously great drumming but the magic really happens with the song writing and Kurts vocal performances. Hell I've even come to really like and respect how the bass tone fills out the sound a more traditional bass tone wouldn't.

It's a great record. Deserving of its legendary status, especially given what it did to music in the early 90s. Some great songs on there, and Cobain was a great songwriter, lyricist, and he wrote some killer melodies. Polly, and Something In the Way are two really underrated songs, IMO.

But Territorial Pissings is one of the most annoying songs ever recorded.

Nirvana took a lot of flack from jealous musicians who thought they were better players.

"better" doesn't mean shit if you don't have a look/a voice/a vibe/a sound/etc.

Nirvana was the real deal. Kurt was truly disturbed, which luckily came through beautifully in his art/lyrics/music.

Kurt's writing philosophy was brilliant. The melody comes first. It should be simple, like nursery rhymes. He used lyrics that SOUNDED cool, whether they were unintelligible OR made sense.


The brilliance of Nirvana can't be understated. They've stood the test of time, and they were a one in a million band. I love the fact that they're not THAT derivative of anything. I mean, I get the Pixies influence, but it's not that close.

BroSlinger wrote:Nirvana took a lot of flack from jealous musicians who thought they were better players.

"better" doesn't mean shit if you don't have a look/a voice/a vibe/a sound/etc.

Nirvana was the real deal. Kurt was truly disturbed, which luckily came through beautifully in his art/lyrics/music.

Kurt's writing philosophy was brilliant. The melody comes first. It should be simple, like nursery rhymes. He used lyrics that SOUNDED cool, whether they were unintelligible OR made sense.


The brilliance of Nirvana can't be understated. They've stood the test of time, and they were a one in a million band. I love the fact that they're not THAT derivative of anything. I mean, I get the Pixies influence, but it's not that close.

Agreed and well stated Gene.

I liked Nirvana fine when they first broke.

Three years later when you could hear seventy five clones with less to offer on any given radio station, not so much.

Now, with some distance, I still enjoy Nirvana. Most of the clones either disappeared or found their way to something different. Some of them worth a shit, most not. But Kurt's songs still feel like they matter, even if it's not my favorite sound or vibe.

Also, stating the obvious here, but Nirvana > Foo Fighters. Don't get me wrong, I love Dave Grohl, and the Foos do have some killer songs, but a LOT of their albums are mostly generic filler.

Murdoch wrote:Also, stating the obvious here, but Nirvana > Foo Fighters. Don't get me wrong, I love Dave Grohl, and the Foos do have some killer songs, but a LOT of their albums are mostly generic filler.

I like Dave but will say straight out the Foo Fighters are horrendously boring at their best. Tedious and shit at their worst.

nightflameauto wrote:

Murdoch wrote:Also, stating the obvious here, but Nirvana > Foo Fighters. Don't get me wrong, I love Dave Grohl, and the Foos do have some killer songs, but a LOT of their albums are mostly generic filler.

I like Dave but will say straight out the Foo Fighters are horrendously boring at their best. Tedious and shit at their worst.

I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

SuperFlyinMonke wrote:I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

I guess everything I've heard of them comes across like the band is somehow way less than the sum of its parts.

nightflameauto wrote:

SuperFlyinMonke wrote:I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

I guess everything I've heard of them comes across like the band is somehow way less than the sum of its parts.

Have you ever put on Wasting Light in its entirety?
I agree with your general statement about the Foos but I'm with my man Jeff here. Colour and Shape is great and Wasting Light is about as good as a band like that can get IMO. Tons of good riffs, great song writing and performances, killer tones, etc.

Think the 2nd half is much better than the front. Territorial Pissings , Lounge Act and On a Plain are all great Nirvana songs and perhaps my favorite Nirvana song is Something in the Way. That song is probably the fucking highlight for me.

SuperFlyinMonke wrote:

nightflameauto wrote:

Murdoch wrote:Also, stating the obvious here, but Nirvana > Foo Fighters. Don't get me wrong, I love Dave Grohl, and the Foos do have some killer songs, but a LOT of their albums are mostly generic filler.

I like Dave but will say straight out the Foo Fighters are horrendously boring at their best. Tedious and shit at their worst.

I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

Wasting Light is an amazing record. Some killer, killer songs on there...plus Bob Mould doing guest vocals.

K-Bizzle wrote:

nightflameauto wrote:

SuperFlyinMonke wrote:I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

I guess everything I've heard of them comes across like the band is somehow way less than the sum of its parts.

Have you ever put on Wasting Light in its entirety?
I agree with your general statement about the Foos but I'm with my man Jeff here. Colour and Shape is great and Wasting Light is about as good as a band like that can get IMO. Tons of good riffs, great song writing and performances, killer tones, etc.

I don't know that I've ever heard an entire album of theirs all the way through. My friends that bought their albums tend to be ADHD as fuck with their listening habits and would rotate out after a song or two to something else. Maybe I'll borrow them from somebody and give 'em a spin some evening when I'm feeling like doing nothing.

EndTime wrote:Think the 2nd half is much better than the front. Territorial Pissings , Lounge Act and On a Plain are all great Nirvana songs and perhaps my favorite Nirvana song is Something in the Way. That song is probably the fucking highlight for me.

Lounge Act is probably one of my favorites too

EndTime wrote:Think the 2nd half is much better than the front. Territorial Pissings , Lounge Act and On a Plain are all great Nirvana songs and perhaps my favorite Nirvana song is Something in the Way. That song is probably the fucking highlight for me.

Something in the Way is awesome

Foos first two albums are great but I never choose to listen to them if I can help it.

K-Bizzle wrote:

nightflameauto wrote:

SuperFlyinMonke wrote:I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

I guess everything I've heard of them comes across like the band is somehow way less than the sum of its parts.

Have you ever put on Wasting Light in its entirety?
I agree with your general statement about the Foos but I'm with my man Jeff here. Colour and Shape is great and Wasting Light is about as good as a band like that can get IMO. Tons of good riffs, great song writing and performances, killer tones, etc.

Wasting Light is what made me like the Foo Fighters. Such a great album.

I think beside that album there are maybe 10 FF songs I actually enjoy regularly

Meh. I lived through it and never really understood the hype. Don't get me wrong, they were a good band, but imho not even in the same league as several other "grunge" bands. Kurt knew it, and took matters into his own hands. Or was it Courtney? Anyway, had he not offed himself, the band would not be as revered as they are today.

_ej_ wrote:Idk why but I never sat down and listened to it through. Strong front half, less strong back half. I feel like I finally understand a bunch of kids I was in bands with.

I'd say the first half was more commercial and now on a re-listen it's the half I skip tracks the most on since I really never have to hear Smells like Teen Spirit ever in life again since its just been over played over the years, Come as you are is kinda the same thing for me .... when you look at it the first half had all the singles form that album too... Drain You is still one of my top 5 Nirvana songs... Lounge Act was the bass tone I wanted to get when I first started playing.....

SuperFlyinMonke wrote:

nightflameauto wrote:

Murdoch wrote:Also, stating the obvious here, but Nirvana > Foo Fighters. Don't get me wrong, I love Dave Grohl, and the Foos do have some killer songs, but a LOT of their albums are mostly generic filler.

I like Dave but will say straight out the Foo Fighters are horrendously boring at their best. Tedious and shit at their worst.

I have to disagree, but the only 2 truly great albums out of their catalogue are The Color and the Shape and Wasting Light. The rest are pretty mediocre.

agreed...... Colour and the Shape and Wasting Light are just flawless albums... the other albums had some strong singles but a a fair share of filler tracks... I will say they are an AMAZING live band.... I saw them on the Wasting Light tour and they hammered out a 3 hour set in MSG and pulled out all the stops... really just played not just the singles but the GREAT songs from their albums that you maybe don't hear that often....

I've honestly still never listened to the whole thing; I've never owned a Nirvana record. I need to fix that

I do like them but I was just more heavily in to other bands at the time (Mudhoney, AIC, STP, Soundgarden etc)

I think Foo Fighters are great but again I've never owned any of their albums

Marc G wrote:

_ej_ wrote:Idk why but I never sat down and listened to it through. Strong front half, less strong back half. I feel like I finally understand a bunch of kids I was in bands with.

I'd say the first half was more commercial and now on a re-listen it's the half I skip tracks the most on since I really never have to hear Smells like Teen Spirit ever in life again since its just been over played over the years, Come as you are is kinda the same thing for me .... when you look at it the first half had all the singles form that album too... Drain You is still one of my top 5 Nirvana songs... Lounge Act was the bass tone I wanted to get when I first started playing.....

I was at the gym and I felt like the energy level tapered off a bit, its probably coloring my opinion. I'll definitely be spinning it again, it was nice to hear a bunch of Nirvana songs I'd only heard once or twice.

Old man rant: The Foos are soooooo lucky that the bar for "good rock band" right now is so low it's not even funny.

_ej_ wrote:

Marc G wrote:

_ej_ wrote:Idk why but I never sat down and listened to it through. Strong front half, less strong back half. I feel like I finally understand a bunch of kids I was in bands with.

I'd say the first half was more commercial and now on a re-listen it's the half I skip tracks the most on since I really never have to hear Smells like Teen Spirit ever in life again since its just been over played over the years, Come as you are is kinda the same thing for me .... when you look at it the first half had all the singles form that album too... Drain You is still one of my top 5 Nirvana songs... Lounge Act was the bass tone I wanted to get when I first started playing.....

I was at the gym and I felt like the energy level tapered off a bit, its probably coloring my opinion. I'll definitely be spinning it again, it was nice to hear a bunch of Nirvana songs I'd only heard once or twice.

yeah.... Polly would suck the energy right out of a room lol