Nirvana Poll

[johnfrank1970]

Did you ever like them? Yes or no?

I liked Nevermind for awhile. I think it made the end of my top 25 list in 1991. I grew sick of it though, probably due to overexposure. Or maybe I blamed them for "killing metal", which never made much sense since hair metal had not been good for years by 1991, and underground metal was not affected by radio bands, for the most part. Death metal is totally to blame for the death of thrash though.

I know I bought Bleach on tape, after hearing Nevermind, of course. I recall thinking it was decent but not nearly as good as Nevermind. Never liked In Utero.

I do not recall caring much about Cobain's death. I don't think I made metal meathead jokes about it, but I cannot be sure.

I made this post because, in my leisure time, I am reading this AV Club series:

http://www.avclub.com/features/whatever-happened-to-alternative-nation/

It is somewhat interesting to me, as this was the pre-Internet period when I looked to grunge and "alternative" rock to fill the a musical void due to my inability to find much new metal. So I actually listened to the radio, and I am familiar with a lot of these bands.

Many metalheads (those who were not totally underground/kvlt/tr00/whathaveyou) seemed to appreciate Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Nirvana seems to have not gotten nearly as much love and seems to actually have inspired a lot of hatred among metalheads. Hence, my post.

 

[AngraRULES]

Yes, I like Nirvana, though I rarely listen to them nowadays.

 

[Akumu]

Or maybe I blamed them for "killing metal", which never made much sense since hair metal had not been good for years by 1991, and underground metal was not affected by radio bands, for the most part.

I had never heard of metalheads hating Nirvana for "killing metal" until I started reading these boards, and that argument always made me wonder for the exact reasons you listed.

I liked them. They were mainly background music for me, though.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I liked Nirvana I'll be completely honest. I didn't even start listening to them until about 2000 believe it or not (as I wasn't really into music until mid-high school). However, like Milt, I don't really listen to them much anymore. I tend to prefer Pearl Jam. I'll never agree that "grunge" killed metal though. It took over in popularity, yes but that genre itself didn't kill metal, the record labels giving up on metal is what "killed" it.

 

[Fizrider]

the record labels giving up on metal is what "killed" it.

But in the late 80's early 90's it was almost impossible for a "metal" or "Prog" band to get a label to listen to them since they employed more than 4 chords, did not wear jeans and flannel shirts.

Sorry - I have been in the "Grunge killed other music" camp since 1992. Grunge was the kudzu that choked out a lot of other music. This is one of the reasons I did not bother listening to "new" music until I discovered ProgPower. Thank God enough people supported these bands who quietly, without any corporate support, kept making great music.

 

[Corsair]

Between Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, Tad, Green River and Mudhoney....
Never saw much point in listening to Nirvana.


[/namedrop]

 

[Hal9000]

I can honestly say I hated Nirvana immediately. It was the first time I truly realized I had nothing in common with the mainstream.

 

[Rezz]

I remember calling the radio station the first time I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit to find out who the band was. Of course, this is before "Grunge killed Metal"; in fact I don't think the term "grunge" had been coined yet. At the time Nevermind was just a natural progression of all the other music out there with enough of a unique sound and look to get noticed. I think it has more in common with the so-called 80's metal that came before it than it did with the Grunge scene it's credited with starting. Pearl Jam's first disc is the same. Much more in common with 80's metal than with the rest of PJ's catalogue.

I was disappointed when Cobain killed himself, but I was far more amazed with the mass grief, comparisons to John Lennon (not even close) and overnight deification that were all bestowed on him.

 

[ZaneF2010]

I have never liked Nirvana, and not for the standard saying of "they killed metal", I just always thought they were the most overrated band in music. And I don't understand why Cobain blowing his own brains out all of the sudden makes them legends.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

HATED them since first hearing them. Hate them when I hear them now.... While there are a lot of reasons metal lost popularity in the late 80s/early 90s, I will associate them with the start of that downfall. It's kind of like remembering who was president during the worst time(s) of your life, they may not be responsible, but they are the figurehead....

 

[Fire breath]

I played Nevermind to literal death when it came out. I remember buying the black album more or less at the same time (yes I was late to that party!) and enjoying Nirvana more! It was pretty heavy for me and crunchy at times and most importantly of all packed with mammoth sized hooks. However I soon realised the error of my ways and came back to metal after he topped himself. I actually remember bad mouthing Nirvana to some metal friends when I knew full well I had been playing their record to death couple of years previously. I got the casette of In Utero when it came out but pretty much hated apart from a couple of tunes. I never got into Pearl Jam at all. Nirvana had far better songs for me.

 

[johnfrank1970]

Metal in the Grunge Years (1991-1996)

Yeah, grunge did not last until 1996 as a popular movement, but these are the lists I pilfered from two of my previous posts.

Certainly not the glory days for metal, but I still found some cool albums.

1991 through 1993...

Highlights include:

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence1991
Death - Human 1991
Fates Warning - Parallels 1991
Heathen - Victims of Deception 1991
Metal Church - The Human Factor 1991
Mordred - In This Life 1991
Overkill - Horrorscope 1991
Prong - Prove You Wrong 1991
Sepultura - Arise 1991
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind 1991
Skyclad - The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth 1991
Swamp Terrorists - Grow-Speed-Injection 1991

Carcass - Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious 1992
Despair - Beyond All Reason 1992
Exhorder - The Law 1992
Ministry - "Psalm 69" 1992
Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power1992
Skyclad - A Burnt Offering for the Bone Idol 1992
Thought Industry - Songs for Insects 1992

Anacrusis - Screams and Whispers 1993
Antagonist - s/t EP1993
Anthrax - Sound of White Noise 1993
Atheist - Elements 1993
Believer - Dimensions 1993
Cynic - Focus 1993
Death - Individual Thought Patterns1993
Disincarnate - Dreams of the Carrion Kind 1993
Embrionic Death - Stream of Solidarity... Demo1993
Fear Factory - Fear Is the Mindkiller EP1993
Havoc Mass - Killing the Future1993
Obliveon - Nemesis1993
Oracle - As Darkness Reigns1993
Pitchshifter - Desensitized 1993
Primus - Pork Soda 1993
Sentenced - North from Here 1993
Swamp Terrorists - Combat Shock 1993
Thought Industry - MODs Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and Godsflesh 1993

I was thinking the worst years in metal for me were 1994-1996...

Looking at them now, however, although none of the years yielded a large quantity of albums I like, a few of my all-time faves (*) were released each year. These three years were rather grim for me overall. I was not introduced to melodeath until 1997, so almost of the death metal releases listed were unknown to me during these three years.

Arcane - Ambiguity EP 1994
At the Gates - Terminal Spirit Disease 1994
Carcass - Heartwork 1994 (*)
Die Monster Die - Withdrawal Method 1994
Dissonance (Cze) - Look To Forget 1994
Forte - Division 1994
In Flames - Lunar Strain 1994
Machine Head - Burn My Eyes 1994
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven 1994
Queensryche - Promised Land 1994
Skeptic Sense - Presence of Mind 1994
Skrew - Dusted 1994
Slayer - Divine Intervention 1994
Stabbing Westward - Ungod 1994
Testament - Low 1994 (*)
Unanimated - Ancient God of Evil 1994

At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul 1995 (*)
Catharsis - Pathways to Wholeness 1995
Ceremonial Oath - Carpet 1995
Death - Symbolic 1995
Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane 1995
Fear Factory - Demanufacture 1995
Hieronymus Bosch - The Human Abstract 1995
Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings 1995
In Flames - Subterranean EP 1995
King Diamond - The Spider's Lullabye 1995
Kreator - Cause for Conflict 1995
Rammstein - Herzeleid 1995
Sieges Even - Sophisticated 1995
Skyclad - Prince of the Poverty Line 1995
Strangulation - Between Nothing and Eternity 1995
Thy Nature - s/t EP 1995
White Zombie - AstroCreep 2000 1995

Agretator - Distorted Logic EP 1996
Arch Enemy - Black Earth 1996
Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery 1996
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga 1996
In Flames - The Jester Race 1996 (*)
Lethargy - It's Hard to Write with a Little Hand 1996
Lost in Misery - Carousel of Memories 1996
Mercury Rising - Upon Deaf Ears 1996 (*)
Monstrosity - Millennium 1996
Nevermore - In Memory EP 1996
Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy 1996 (*)
Pitchshifter - Infotainment? 1996
Polluted Inheritance - Betrayed 1996
Puncture - Immune 1996
Quo Vadis - Forever... 1996
Sacrilege (Swe) - Lost in the Beauty You Slay 1996
Stuck Mojo - Pigwalk 1996
Swamp Terrorists - Killer 1996

 

[AeonicSlumber]

Bleach rules, everything else is overrated imo.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I hated them then. I hate them now. I will hate them always. I felt it was best not to mince words.

 

[OrbWeaver]

Never was a fan.

I always liked this, though:

 

[Comic Book Dude]

I hated them then. I hate them now. I will hate them always. I felt it was best not to mince words.

These sentiments sum up my feelings about Nirvana (and all other "grunge" bands). Well said Purveyor.

 

[AngraRULES]

Angra's Angels Cry came out in 1993. That disproves any "metal is dead" complaints from that era...

 

[Diamond45]

Did not care for them and probably never will. They changed the rock music scene overnight and IMHO not for the better. Rock died. Metal died. All we got was this "alt rock" and "modern rock" stuff from then forward. Power metal, as we know it really didn't get started until circa 1996. Prog metal as we know it probably started a bit earlier with Dream Theater. Queensryche was still on the scene, but by this time they had gone mainstream.

I was in a "classic rock rut" from about the time Nirvana came on the scene until my friend Steve turned me on to prog and power metal in 2005. I think I maybe bought 5 CDs in 14 years from 1991 to 2005. Now it seems like I buy 20-30 or more a year (all power/prog music of course!).

 

[nomisofsiman]

Angra's Angels Cry came out in 1993. That disproves any "metal is dead" complaints from that era...

That's why I put "dead" in quotes. I don't believe the actual music ever died, just that a lot of people stopped listening to it and some of the bands we loved, started to sell out.

 

[modernwizardry]

Don't love them but I also don't hate them. There are a few good tunes.