Controversial opinions on metal

[Westsiyeed]

You don't like the Red Album that much? That's my favorite of theirs.

Same. I've actually lost a bit of interest in Baroness with Yellow & Green, found it too straight-forward rock.

Smashing Pumpkins was another good grunge band from the 90's, especially with Siamese Dream.

Nirvana's Bleach was (and is) one of the top grunge albums.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Fuck yes. I'd rate Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger as one of the top albums from the 90's. Love the guitar sound on that album, and no bad tracks.

I prefer Superunknown but they're both great albums. Definitely one of the best grunge bands of all time ... if not thee best.

STP also had a few good "grungy" outings with Core and Purple.

Nirvana's Bleach was (and is) one of the top grunge albums.

QFT

 

[matt schrauben]

I used to not care for Soundgarden at all. Then I realized I was wrong. Cornell is a powerhouse.

 

[Dak]

I used to not care for Soundgarden at all. Then I realized I was wrong. Cornell is a powerhouse.

QFT. However, Cornell needed tempering with other musicians.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

You do not recall correctly. The riffs on the first album consist largely of distorted power chords, so obviously there's some overlap with Sabbath, but nothing I'd really call Sabbath-y. The rhythms being used have much more of a funk/rock/hip-hop feel.

First riff in Freedom, main riff of Killing in the Name (0:40), Wake Up (both 0:40 and the main verse riff a minute in if you ignore the funky chirping over it), etc are in the 70s metal/proto-metal vein, so if not Sabbath then at least Led Zeppelin or something. Admittedly those riffs are less featured than the "funky" ones on the album, but as far as the comparison to that one Tool riff goes, close enough.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Louder Than Love >>>>>>>>> Superunknown, btw. It and Badmotorfinger are all the Soundgarden I need. Anyone here listen to Skin Yard? Discovered them pretty recently, and their first two albums are surprisingly close to that period of Soundgarden despite predating it, very riffy and metallic with a powerful vocalist, 70s rock vibes, and tight musicianship.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the Soundgarden drummer played with them at one point, forgot that.

 

[Draehl]

Never could get into Rage. Had too much of a punky/hip-hoppy something to it.

 

[Dak]

Louder Than Love >>>>>>>>> Superunknown

That's absurd. Louder than Love has like 2-3 good tracks. Superunknown is strong all the way through.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I will take to the grave that Nirvana 100% earned their status, even if Cobain hadn't killed himself. No one has been able to sound quite like them, there are WAY more Pearl Jam clones. The composition was dead simple, but still distinctive and memorable, and Kurt's lyrics were leaps and bounds above ANYONE from that era. Fuck, you can't find anyone on the charts weaving his abstract lyrical tapestries NOW.

 

[waif]

First riff in Freedom

Nope

main riff of Killing in the Name (0:40)

Not really.

Wake Up (both 0:40 and the main verse riff a minute in if you ignore the funky chirping over it)

Not really. The bit at 0:40 actually sounds like something Tool would play.

As a guitarist who's played a lot of Sabbath stuff, Rage is about as far as you can get from Sabbath while playing heavy rock music.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

I will take to the grave that Nirvana 100% earned their status, even if Cobain hadn't killed himself. No one has been able to sound quite like them, there are WAY more Pearl Jam clones. The composition was dead simple, but still distinctive and memorable, and Kurt's lyrics were leaps and bounds above ANYONE from that era. Fuck, you can't find anyone on the charts weaving his abstract lyrical tapestries NOW.

Way to go out on a limb

 

[HamburgerBoy]

That's absurd. Louder than Love has like 2-3 good tracks. Superunknown is strong all the way through.

There isn't a single non-good song on Louder Than Love. A couple of them are a bit stupid/silly, but not enough to ruin anything. Kickass album all the way through, unlike Superunknown which can be dull and is way too damn long (although about half the album is still very good). Spoonman and 4th of July might be slightly higher highs than Ugly Truth and Hands All Over, though.

Nope

Not really.

Not really. The bit at 0:40 actually sounds like something Tool would play.

As a guitarist who's played a lot of Sabbath stuff, Rage is about as far as you can get from Sabbath while playing heavy rock music.

So what would you compare those riffs to, then? They don't sound remotely like any funk I'm familiar with (again, ignoring the guitar chirping on top of that one Wake Up riff).

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I will take to the grave that Nirvana 100% earned their status, even if Cobain hadn't killed himself. No one has been able to sound quite like them, there are WAY more Pearl Jam clones. The composition was dead simple, but still distinctive and memorable, and Kurt's lyrics were leaps and bounds above ANYONE from that era. Fuck, you can't find anyone on the charts weaving his abstract lyrical tapestries NOW.

That others have cloned Pearl Jam alone doesn't really say much about the quality of Pearl Jam themselves. More significant would be the other way around, and it's not like you can't find a lot of obvious influences in Nirvana's sound.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Way to go out on a limb

Around here? It is. Nirvana seems to have fallen into that same bucket along with the aforementioned Tool and other "easy to hate because they were popular" bands. It's en vogue to trash Kurt's simplistic guitar riffs and his bad voice, the fact that he needed a second guitarist on tour just to make sure if he forgot what he was doing the song wouldn't die, and to say that Dave Grohl was the only competent musician in the band.

I don't agree. I feel like Kurt was Janis Joplin for the alternative rock world. Sure the band's lineage is easy as shit to trace (and they never denied who their influences are), but the one-two punch of Nevermind and In Utero is just monumental, to say nothing of Unplugged in New York being one of the best live albums PERIOD and the fact that the last song he recorded before he died was somehow in the top 5 of the band's discography.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

 

[waif]

So what would you compare those riffs to, then? They don't sound remotely like any funk I'm familiar with (again, ignoring the guitar chirping on top of that one Wake Up riff).

I feel like Morello's influences are pretty broad. I hear elements of hip-hop, funk, hard rock, nu-metal, punk, industrial, and techno in his playing, but it's some pretty fucking original stuff and I think you're trying too hard to pigeon-hole it. Tom Morello might be the single most unique and distinctive guitarist I can think of, although far from the best.

 

[matt schrauben]

I will take to the grave that Nirvana 100% earned their status, even if Cobain hadn't killed himself. No one has been able to sound quite like them, there are WAY more Pearl Jam clones. The composition was dead simple, but still distinctive and memorable, and Kurt's lyrics were leaps and bounds above ANYONE from that era. Fuck, you can't find anyone on the charts weaving his abstract lyrical tapestries NOW.

Really? Even better than Alice in Chains? I'd take Alice in Chains over any band from that era, myself. I think they were better than the rest on pretty much every level.

 

[ProphetofHatred]

I love how Nirvana has turned into a band that kids like to be "different" or "cool", you know like, they'll brag about listening to "old" music over the current trendy stuff.

 

[Funerary_Doom]

I will take to the grave that Nirvana 100% earned their status, even if Cobain hadn't killed himself. No one has been able to sound quite like them, there are WAY more Pearl Jam clones. The composition was dead simple, but still distinctive and memorable, and Kurt's lyrics were leaps and bounds above ANYONE from that era. Fuck, you can't find anyone on the charts weaving his abstract lyrical tapestries NOW.

I agree with most of this. Fucking love Nirvana. Even to this day, I listen to them pretty often. Kurt Cobain's vocals have a really nice color to them. And yeah his lyrics are pure id mixed in with stream of consciousness which makes them really interesting to be honest moreso than some of the more thought out ones during his day.

Though I'd say I like Nirvana and Alice in Chains quite equally. Layne had the nice color thing going on with his vocals as well.

Also best Soundgarden is definitely superunknown. The entire album has a ton of standout tracks.

And lastly (to the mini Baroness conversation that was happening) the only Baroness albums I enjoyed were the Red Album and First & Second (i think this is their first album but that riff in Tower Falls is to DIE for!). The rest is really boring and the vocals get really shitty imo.

 

[Onder]

I love how Nirvana has turned into a band that kids like to be "different" or "cool", you know like, they'll brag about listening to "old" music over the current trendy stuff.

Yeah those are the youtube posts like "I'm 12 but I listen to real music like Led Zeppelin, not Justin Bieber."

What a stupid trend.