Finding a signature sound is one of the hardest things to come by for any musician. There have already been thousands of artists before that have their sound nailed down to a science, so how are you supposed to differentiate yourself from the millions of other prospective superstars who are trying to figure things out…
Nirvana’s meteoric rise to fame brought both opportunities and challenges for Kurt Cobain. While he appreciated reaching a wider audience, he grappled with the notion of selling out and maintaining his independence as a rock musician. Cobain’s introspective struggles were reflected in his music, including the song ‘I Hate Myself and I Want To Die’,…
The album Nevermind is the pinnacle of Nirvana’s commercial and critical success in part thanks to the immediacy of its songs. From the opening guitar strums of the lead single ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’, the record is filled with catchy hooks and lyrics aplenty. Yet some of the lyrics are definitely easier than others to…
The world could always count on late Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain for a surprising opinion. He was one of music’s ultimate realists and, in his time, kept fans and the media on their toes by being the most self-aware rockstar of his day. Sardonic, humble and most importantly, honest, this nature made him such a…
For any great songwriter, everything normally comes back to the melody. You can have the greatest guitar tone ever heard or a set of lyrics that will hit you in the heart the minute that you hear them, but if there isn’t some type of throughline connecting them together, you’ve got absolutely nothing. While Kurt…
Kurt Cobain got sick of the formula behind Nirvana’s songs. He noted “About a Girl” had some similarities to R.E.M. songs. “About a Girl” was a hit. Nirvana and R.E.M. were both integral parts of 1990s classic rock. During an interview, Kurt Cobain said Nirvana released a song called “About a Girl” that was similar…
Unsurprisingly, given his position as the songwriter and frontman behind the most notorious group of the grunge era, Kurt Cobain is afforded something of a legendary status. The prevailing image of the songwriter is one of a dark, tortured artist fuelled by rage and a desire to tear down notions of conformity and the musical…
Few frontmen have transformed the rock realm quite like Kurt Cobain did. As the driving force behind Nirvana, he brought nihilistic grunge to teenagers who were growing tired of hair metal and changed the rockstar persona with his open support for feminism and equality. With little help from his bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl,…
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” is undoubtedly Nirvana’s signature song. However, Kurt Cobain wasn’t always enthusiastic about the track. During Kurt Cobain’s tragically short time in the spotlight, Nirvana gave the world several classic tracks. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” remains the bands’ signature song. In fact, some people know “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and no other…
When they cement rock into musical history, Nirvana will probably be given a prime spot among the all-time greats. The world was coaxing by just fine listening to hair metal, then in one fell swoop, Kurt Cobain turned up with music that made every single teased-hair band seem irrelevant by comparison. We should probably credit…