But then we have a look at Nevemrind. There are no bad songs on this album. Even when the lyrics become muddled and Cobain's voice sounds shredded and dry, the songs are overwhelmingly brilliant. However - and this a huge however, a lot of that brilliance can be attributed not to Cobain, but to Dave Grohl (a god among men) and Krist Novoselic.
And this is why I beleive Kurt Cobain was and still is overrated. Not enough credit is given to Novoselic and Grohl for what they did with the lyrics, or for how they made the music play off of Kurt's unusual vocal stylings.
My point is this: It is a myth that Kurt Cobain singlehandedly changed the face of rock and roll, made alternative music mainstream or led a revolution that made grunge a household world. The fact is, it was Nirvana as a whole that did that, not just Cobain.
Ten years ago today I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of a Rockbottom drugstore, ready to shift into drive and head home. The DJ on KRock was just announcing the death of Cobain. No one was really surprised, given what had happened in Italy the week before. Still, it was a stun-gun kind of feeling to hear the news. If Kurt Cobain was dead, so was Nirvana. Only later would I discover that it didn't matter at all if Nirvana was dead.
It wasn't until Grohl formed the Foo Fighters that many people realized the truth. Not only were the Foo Fighters better than Nirvana, but it was really Grohl who changed the face of rock and roll in the early 90's.
I have no idea how a post that was supposed to be about Kurt Cobain turned into an ode to Grohl, but it's kind of fitting, I suppose, given that the same thing happened - at least in my mind - with grunge. It started out being about Cobain, but in the end it wasn't.
By the way, it's time to let go, kids.
Article comments
1 - JR
Well, I'm thinking that while his retinas might have registered the image of his brains splattered everywhere, but he couldn't possibly have "seen" it because his brain would no longer be attached to his optic nerves.
Anyway, since thought is the result of lots of neurons talking to each other, "he" must have been gone the instant all those neurons separated from each other.