Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) Not sure if this thread is going to survive. I'm NOT trying to start Nirvana vs. GN'R or Axl vs. Kurt arguments. I know I'm 30 years late to the party on this one but I'm going through Nirvana's music for the first time in my life. I was only six when Kurt died. My earliest memory of Nirvana was being with my parents at their friends' house and hearing them play Smells Like Teen Spirit on their new sound system. Anyways, I've been curious about Nirvana for a while and I honestly hesitated getting into their music because I was worried I might like GN'R less. Nirvana was at the forefront of a musical movement that sucked the wind out of GN'R's sails. Kurt is revered. Axl is kind of mocked. With Nirvana, I've started with the self-titled greatest hits album that released in 2002. I'm really digging it! A lot! Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, You Know You're Right, Come As You Are, Pennyroyal Tea, Heart-Shaped Box, and The Man Who Sold The World (a cover of a David Bowie song I recently found out), are my favorites. As I'm listening to this I feel GN'R has a lot more variety in the sound of their singles. Compare Don't Cry to Nightrain (Nightrain was a single wasn't it?), or November Rain to WTTJ. I feel like so much of the Nirvana songs I've heard have this uniform soft verse followed by hard chorus (or vice versa) formula. I'm not trying to insult Nirvana here. I know I've only listened to an album comprised mainly by their singles so I still have a lot of their music to go through. Just an initial impression I have is that GN'R has more variety in the sound of their music. You have soft ballads (Don't Cry), call-to-arms rockers (WTTJ, Perfect Crime), epic rock ballads (November Rain, KOHD, Estranged), punkier sounding songs (It's So Easy, Rocket Queen), bluesy-rock (14 Years, You Ain't the First, Dust N' Bones), etc. So far with Nirvana, I feel like you have grungey-sounding songs I may get ripped to shreds for this initial impression. I know that I at least still need to go through Bleach, Nevermind, and In Utero. After spending time with their greatest hits album, I love their sound and I'm going to listen to all of their studio albums. I'm just surprised that my fear, that I would value GN'R less if I listened to Nirvana, was completely off base. I value GN'R more now. They turned out amazing hard rock music. I have a growing respect for Kurt Cobain though. With GN'R, Axl, Duff, Izzy, and Slash (and to a lesser extent Matt, Steven, and Gilby) all interest me. With Nirvana, Kurt is kind of the only one in the band I'm super interested in learning a lot about. As far as Axl vs. Kurt, I get where both are coming from. Axl is the last of the great Rock N' Roll frontmen. Kurt is the face of anti-establishment rock. Kurt thinks Axl is more of the same and boring. Axl thinks Kurt is pompous and probably hypocritical. I kind of lean towards supporting Axl more in this conflict. Axl DID support Nirvana and was a fan. It sort of sounds like Kurt (and Courtney) enjoyed getting a rise out of Axl. Either way, both are/were immensely talented What about you though? Has listening to more music ever added to or diminished your enjoyment of GN'R? Edited March 16, 2016 by Caught_in_a_Coma 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
action Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 ah... with the reunion, these old nirvana vs GNR argument have to be settled too of course, once and for all. *unloads the popcorn machine* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killuridols Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Stand by your opinion, that's all I can advice you with This is your opinion and for sure, a lot will disagree and a lot more will agree. It's not a sin to like one band more than the other. It happens to most people. The only Nirvana albums I have are Nevermind and MTV Unplugged. I hardly play any of them anymore. I like Nevermind but I will never like it like the GNR ones. It doesn't mean it is better or worse. I'm more emotionally attached to GN'R, I guess. From an "objective" point of view, if something like objectivity exists, I think their music is like Apple and Oranges, you know? I got never hooked up on Nirvana's music and lyrics, even though my depression fitted Nevermind better than with anything else And to answer your last question: no, different music or even same genre didn't added to or diminished my GNR fandom. I enjoy every artist that I like, for different reasons. GNR will always be the band that I like the most, even if they release shitty music. Its like when you have kids, you love them even if they are horrible things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooker Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 9 minutes ago, action said: ah... with the reunion, these old nirvana vs GNR argument have to be settled too of course, once and for all. *unloads the popcorn machine* Thanks for the corn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post The Real McCoy Posted March 16, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted March 16, 2016 I'll never buy in to the Kurt was anti-establishment thing. If that were really true, he wouldn't do music videos or pose for Rolling Stone. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Title made me choke on my lunch LOLing. I haven't read anything in this thread....just the title. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 2 minutes ago, The Real McCoy said: I'll never buy in to the Kurt was anti-establishment thing. If that were really true, he wouldn't do music videos or pose for Rolling Stone. I see what you mean but maybe it's more strictly on a musical level (the sound of his music) where he was anti-establishment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
action Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 there is no denying Kurt was a brilliant artist. he was a painter, sculptor, writer, guitarist, singer... like a modern times Van Gogh. he could create landscapes with his guitar, the way hendrix could. listen to the track "scentless apprentice". it's fascinating. the guitar growls and moans, like a giant lovecraftian monster. unlike anything i have heard. he had the very rare gift of creating melodies too. it came effortlessly. his posthumous works, like "montage of heck" and "with the lights out" show what a fascinating mindset he had. there is no comparing him with anything GNR did though. apples and oranges is the least you could say. slash and his crew were brilliant in their own way. i enjoy them both, i enjoy any kind of great music for that matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Italian girl Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Listeing to every kind of music in these days makes me appreciate GNR more 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
action Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 9 minutes ago, Caught_in_a_Coma said: I see what you mean but maybe it's more strictly on a musical level (the sound of his music) where he was anti-establishment i'm going to open a can of worms, but in his diary he specifically wrote "kill the rockefellers". that's pretty anti-establishment if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) 15 minutes ago, action said: there is no denying Kurt was a brilliant artist. he was a painter, sculptor, writer, guitarist, singer... like a modern times Van Gogh. he could create landscapes with his guitar, the way hendrix could. listen to the track "scentless apprentice". it's fascinating. the guitar growls and moans, like a giant lovecraftian monster. unlike anything i have heard. he had the very rare gift of creating melodies too. it came effortlessly. his posthumous works, like "montage of heck" and "with the lights out" show what a fascinating mindset he had. there is no comparing him with anything GNR did though. apples and oranges is the least you could say. slash and his crew were brilliant in their own way. i enjoy them both, i enjoy any kind of great music for that matter It's so funny you mention this. I HAVE listened to Scentless Apprentice. I got it off iTunes just a few days ago after finishing the greatest hits album. I wanted to hear one of their more notable songs on In Utero so I grabbed that one. It's an awesome song Edited March 16, 2016 by Caught_in_a_Coma 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSHGUNS Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I'm really only into the Nirvana hits and kinda only listen to greatest hits when in the mood. To be honest i do not understand the whole worship thing that people have for Kurt, he sounded a bit of a douche ... the whole MTV thing between Axl and Kurt made me come to that conclusion.... and before anyone say anthing...Yes Axl can be an Asshole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) 5 minutes ago, SSHGUNS said: I'm really only into the Nirvana hits and kinda only listen to greatest hits when in the mood. To be honest i do not understand the whole worship thing that people have for Kurt, he sounded a bit of a douche ... the whole MTV thing between Axl and Kurt made me come to that conclusion.... and before anyone say anthing...Yes Axl can be an Asshole. If you're referring to when Courtney called out to Axl asking if he'd be the Godfather to their kid, that is the same incident that has me leaning towards Axl's side in the feud. Like I said, I think Courtney and Kurt wanted to get a rise out of Axl. Axl saw Nirvana's talent and there was a time where he was a fan. Nirvana are not obligated to accept Axl's invite to tour with GN'R, and I know Axl didn't need to respond to them turning down the offer by hating Kurt and Nirvana. I just kind of favor Axl more in this feud Edited March 16, 2016 by Caught_in_a_Coma 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) 24 minutes ago, The Real McCoy said: I'll never buy in to the Kurt was anti-establishment thing. If that were really true, he wouldn't do music videos or pose for Rolling Stone. Same as Axl was back in the day. Gnr fans have painted Axl with that same brush in a way to raise his "last true rock star and mr anti-establishment" persona. Meanwhile, he is spending millions of dollars on videos, was all over MTV and rock magazines, released18 singles from The Illusions, does private shows for Hollywood actors, and does commercials or takes sponsorship from beer to energy drinks to crappy fast food restaurants. . *************+*• @Caught in a Coma sorry bro, stopped reading when you said you didn't want to check out Nirvana in case it made you like GnR less. No offense but that is one of the weirder and most backwards things I've ever read on the forum. Every time I hear a new song by a new band I HOPE they end up being better than GnR. Hasn't happened yet. But I still hope it does. I would love to find five new bands that I love more than GnR. When your friend asks you to go try the new pizza place in town do you refuse to go because it might taste better than your current pizza place? Did you refuse to watch Dexter because you were afraid it might be better than Breaking Bad? Finally - yes. This is a GnR forum so must people will agree with you that GnR was a better band than Nirvana. Edited March 16, 2016 by Apollo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axlsalinger Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Unfortunately every time there is a Nirvana thread, a bunch of people with damaged eardrums pop up out of the wordwork to criticize Kurt by typing a bunch of hateful bullshit, largely because he and Axl had a little spat 24 years ago that they still think is worth whining about. In my view, Nirvana was a great band, Kurt was very talented. He had a bit of an attitude problem but at the time grunge was growing in popularity as an alternative to what was seen as a bloated hair metal scene that had become the mainstream. GNR was part of that scene, but as we all know they were not a hair metal band and ended up transcending the genre. (In much the same way that bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and AIC transcended the genre when grunge fizzled out a few years later). GNR is my favourite band ever (along with the Beatles) so I agree with your premise. They were both great bands and there's no reason to pick sides. You can like both. But while Nirvana did try to branch out a little bit on In Utero, it's fair to say there is a lot more variety in Guns' catalog than there was with Nirvana. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 15 minutes ago, axlsalinger said: Unfortunately every time there is a Nirvana thread, a bunch of people with damaged eardrums pop up out of the wordwork to criticize Kurt by typing a bunch of hateful bullshit, largely because he and Axl had a little spat 24 years ago that they still think is worth whining about. In my view, Nirvana was a great band, Kurt was very talented. He had a bit of an attitude problem but at the time grunge was growing in popularity as an alternative to what was seen as a bloated hair metal scene that had become the mainstream. GNR was part of that scene, but as we all know they were not a hair metal band and ended up transcending the genre. (In much the same way that bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and AIC transcended the genre when grunge fizzled out a few years later). GNR is my favourite band ever (along with the Beatles) so I agree with your premise. They were both great bands and there's no reason to pick sides. You can like both. But while Nirvana did try to branch out a little bit on In Utero, it's fair to say there is a lot more variety in Guns' catalog than there was with Nirvana. Really good assessment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 25 minutes ago, Apollo said: Same as Axl was back in the day. Gnr fans have painted Axl with that same brush in a way to raise his "last true rock star and mr anti-establishment" persona. Meanwhile, he is spending millions of dollars on videos, was all over MTV and rock magazines, released18 singles from The Illusions, does private shows for Hollywood actors, and does commercials or takes sponsorship from beer to energy drinks to crappy fast food restaurants. . *************+*• @Caught in a Coma sorry bro, stopped reading when you said you didn't want to check out Nirvana in case it made you like GnR less. No offense but that is one of the weirder and most backwards things I've ever read on the forum. Every time I hear a new song by a new band I HOPE they end up being better than GnR. Hasn't happened yet. But I still hope it does. I would love to find five new bands that I love more than GnR. When your friend asks you to go try the new pizza place in town do you refuse to go because it might taste better than your current pizza place? Did you refuse to watch Dexter because you were afraid it might be better than Breaking Bad? Finally - yes. This is a GnR forum so must people will agree with you that GnR was a better band than Nirvana. It was a petty reason to not check them out. I did eventually change, am going through their music, and am developing a sincere appreciation for them though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-W.A.R- Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 this is the reason GNR is my favorite band they can give you any type of record whether it be head banger, an epic or even an acoustic and do it better than any band imho im a Nirvana fan though...but ive always leaned more to the heavy rocking side even when i listened to hip hop a majority of the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalGunner Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 If you are worried that liking music from another band will somehow effect how you like GnR, you are musicing wrong. Just enjoy good music and good bands for what they are. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandanaman Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Nirvana is ok but in my opinion it's not great. It's not something I would need to see perform live. I don't get any feelings from their music. Their music is empty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caught_in_a_Coma Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 14 minutes ago, tremolo said: And that's what pisses me off about GNR, and Axl in particular: so much wasted time, so much wasted talent. I guess in the end is not listening to other bands what has changed my enjoyment of GNR, IT'S THE LACK OF MATERIAL. I feel the same way. I'm really hoping the reunion lineup is able to release something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shjtjustgotreal Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) cobain can work his whole life and will never be on axls level and no, im not talking about the douchebag or asshole level, muscial Edited March 16, 2016 by shjtjustgotreal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoKiss344 Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Never liked Nirvana, always thought they were boring. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shjtjustgotreal Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 1 minute ago, tremolo said: That doesn't matter, because that never was his goal. They were in 2 different scenes. I get more musicianship out of the raw intensity of TAD than from boring virtuoso shit like Dream Theater. holy shit this dude just said DT is boring virtuoso shit, some1 ban him pls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Słash Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Im not even going to read this thread, but I know @Forsaken is a big Nirvana fan, so he might like to say a few things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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