Curt Cobain

I love how people in their own heavy metal/punk rock types of bands classify Nirvana as "sloppy, art-house alternative rock".

And I love how everybody in their little MTV-huddle of musical tastes labels death metal as being nothing but screaming and violence. Everybody is capable of generalizing a band like that. It just so happens that in this situation, I'm right.

There was no one like Nirvana back in the day.

There's a pretty damned good reason for that. Because they sucked. People only started emulating that band because they got famous, and they only became famous because Kurt was capable of writing a few catchy riffs and didn't sound like any of the hair-metal bands that were dominating the airwaves at the time. They got big because they were a breath of new air, not necessarily because they were any good.

The fact is, they were a sloppy, sloppy band. Kurt Cobain was a terrible vocalist, a mediocre guitarist and a mediocre songwriter. I'm not one of those people who thinks technical skill is the apotheosis of talent. It takes a hell of a lot more than just skill to make good music. It takes a certain amount of passion, drive and inspiration to make music. However, it is clearly evident that Kurt Cobain had none of those things. Had he had any of those qualitities, he would have been willing to suffer for his art instead of taking the ultimate-chicken-shit route out of his misery. I think the absolute most despicable thing about Kurt Cobain was the fact that he took his own life in light of the fact that he was raising an infant daughter. I don't care how fucked up you are on drugs, that's not acceptable. My father was an acitve crack addict for nearly two years and he's still alive and working to right his wrongs. Kurt Cobain left a legacy of cowardice, selfishness and pure unadulterated loathsomeness behind and all because he couldn't handle the fame. Pathetic.

Heh, that is one way to think about it I guess, saying he couldn't handle the fame. I doubt that is the truth though. I highly doubt he was like, "Holy shit, I'm too famous, how about I just get really fucked up on drugs, then kill myself. That way, I don't have to deal with it!" Not likely.

They might not have been the greatest band ever, and I don't know if you are somehow involved in the decisions it takes to sign a band to a record label, but I'm sure they had just a little more than a few catchy riffs if they made it that big. There are plenty of different music styles out there, so I doubt they were just looking for the next new thing by chance. Truth is, although you might not have liked his music, vocals, etc. a very very large mass of people did. And clearly enough to make them a highly popular group that made successful album after successful album.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those all impressed individuals that cried when Kurt killed himself, but I do like a lot of their songs. You don't have to be a guitar expert or a song writer to see talent, but it can help.