Nirvana: All that and a bag of mediocrity?

[janradder]

I know it's been nearly fifteen years since the band actually existed but I recently finished reading Babylon's Burning by Clinton Heylin which attempts to trace punk to grunge (it was a bit heavy on the English bands). Reading about Nirvana got me to thinking about them and I really haven't done that in years.

When Kurt Cobain killed himself, it seemed like every rock journalist and critic eulogized him as another Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix -- someone who broke through mainstream music to create something, if not new, then at least inspirational or lasting or both. In the years since his death, though, have you really heard Nirvana played on the radio anymore? I haven't (and the Twin Cities has not one, but two indie radio stations). I also haven't played them in my house at all since maybe 1995. That's not really saying much for a band that was supposed to have changed the face of rock.

So, to try and remember what it was that so many people thought was great about Nirvana, I pulled out my old cassettes of their Bleach and In Utero and gave them a listen.

I have to say, I was left with the same impression I had when I first heard them: they were just an okay band -- good certainly, but most definitely not great. Their songs were all pretty simplistic, but not in a good way like the Ramones or the Velvet Underground or the Stooges or countless other punk and proto-punk bands. It was simplistic as in simple. Boring, even. Each song seemed to go on for way too long, plodding through sonic sludge much like a self-indulgent Led Zeppelin LP.

Much has been made about what effect the Nirvana-phenomenon had on music. If it weren't for Nevermind, among other things, Pearl Jam would have been another Aerosmith or Boston clone, Soundgarden would have gone straight from SST Records into cock-rock metal, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots would have been the Hair Bands they also wanted to be, countless other wanna-be grunge rockers would have started boy bands or found something else to make money at, and perhaps we all could have escaped the blight that is Tori Amos without her piano cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to catapult her into the limelight. I still wonder what it was that so many people heard in Nirvana because, in retrospect, I don't think it's there. Nirvana was just trio of con artists wrapping mediocre, recycled punk rock in a grungey new flannel-wrapped package.

Comments

[albionidaho.livejournal.com]

Ditto this, especially the comments about their energy, drive, and how they introduced punk to a whole new audience (Gen X) who needed it and was hungry for it at that particular time. It was elements of Nirvana itself, but it was also the time they appeared on the scene.

Sort of like how The Beatles' success is partially because they were The Beatles and because I truly believe a nation that was mourning for their fallen President/King needed them to bring some fun and joy back into the nation's consciousness at that time.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I just feel like what Nirvana brought to the table was a watered down re-hash of what had come before. I do understand how it stood out to people -- popular music at the time was pretty dreadful. At the time, though, they were given the label of "greatest band since . . ." and rock critics spoke of their songs with reverent tones as if Kurt Cobain were the new Dylan of our time. I just don't think that's panned out, given time and distance, though. The difference between the Beatles and Nirvana is that you still hear the Beatles, even forty plus years later. I really don't think Nirvana will have that longevity (they don't just fourteen plus years after their demise). I really think, given time, they'll be seen as more of a Dave Clark Five -- hit songs that were popular at the time but ultimately forgotten. I could be wrong, though.

[albionidaho.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're wrong. Though they did have a great amount of energy and drive and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is incredibly catchy and fun to dance around to, Nirvana's music means something to those people who listened to it during its first run. I don't know that my children will discover Nirvana at sixteen and listen to it over and over (as I did The Beatles and Bob Dylan), and that it will continue to be a huge favorite of theirs as they age. It's possible, but I doubt it. BUT I also suspect that there will be a great many Gen Xers who will always hold a place in their hearts for Kurt Cobain.

I always did prefer the original punk, myself. But my exposure to music is unconventional in relation to a good portion of my generation. I was the one wondering why Nirvana was covering David Bowie instead of wondering why David Bowie was covering Nirvana ;).

As far as the comparison to The Beatles goes, I was only trying to say that the cultural climate that exists during a cultural phenomenon is often directly related to the success of that phenomenon.

I don't doubt that The Beatles would have been successful without JFK's assassination; however, I think that their first appearance on American television soon after the assassination helped with their huge instant smash of popularity and their legend.

Your Tori Amos blight comment, however... Now that I heartily disagree with :D.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I totally don't disagree with what you said about the Beatles -- their sudden popularity definitely had something to do with the JFK assassination, at least in part. And you're right about cultural phenomena being related to the cultural climate it exists in. I used the Beatles just because I remember critics at the time comparing Nirvana to the Beatles which really doesn't seem justified in hindsight.

(If you disagree with my Tori Amos comment then I probably shouldn't mention how I feel about Ani DiFranco)

[albionidaho.livejournal.com]

Nah, it wasn't justified at all. Nor was the Oasis comparison ;).

Say all you want about Ani DiFranco =).

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I can't believe Oasis is even still around. What a dreadful band.

(I really shouldn't get started on Ani).

[albionidaho.livejournal.com]

Hehe. Yup, anything you want about Ani AND Oasis, and ESPECIALLY The Spice Girls.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Hah! I love that you include Ani in the same group as the Spice Girls.

[albionidaho.livejournal.com]

=) Well, you know how it is...