Nirvana wasn't very good. amirite?

There were other Seattle-based bands that sounded better. Which ones do you like?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

You wouldn't know them. They only played one show that was never recorded. Just had to be there I guess.

by Vernie64 2 days ago

My favorite band broke up before they even played one gig. Didn't even write a single song. Just had to incept into people's minds I guess

by Anonymous 2 days ago

This feels like Stefan from SNL. The name of this band is..... "screeching gasping monster noise"

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Didn't play a single note. Record guy made them do a music video, they just filmed themselves smashing stuff. Now that's alternative to alternative. Stupid. And contagious.

by PsychologicalTie7060 2 days ago

There was this guy in college who showed up to parties. He barely spoke a word to anyone, but at some point during the night he would suddenly and wordlessly unstrap his guitar and unleash the most mind boggling solos you've ever heard. The hardest toughest guys would immediately break down sobbing in each others arms. Girls would take their panties off there and then and throw them at him. I once personally witnessed a dead plant spring back to life when he started playing 'Persephone'. Another time when I wasn't there, the girl who's house it was said that her cat who had been dead for 6 years climbed out from his grave and strolled into the living room and started purring at his feet. It blew my mind that literally the greatest guitarist who any of us had ever seen or heard would only ever play in his bedroom or occasionally at parties. He was personally requested to perform with Led Zeppelin in their one off comeback show in 2007, but turned it down. When anyone asked him 'Why?' He would only ever give them a mysterious, knowing look and reply 'All in good time.'

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Macklemore /s

by Sweet_Passenger578 2 days ago

The first grunge band with something to say

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I'm going to see Mudhoney tomorrow night. Stoked.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

It all comes down to punk really. You like punk? You'll like Nirvana. Not so much a fan of punk? You'll favor Alice in Chains and Soundgarden with PJ in the middle. Personally? I think Alice in Chains were the best of those bands.

by metzmargaret 2 days ago

Billie Eyelash

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Screaming Trees; not a big fan of Pearl Jam, though I like a few of their songs. Also, on that note, I probably have listened to Temple of the Dog album more times than I did Nevermind or In Utero.

by Benton60 2 days ago

Yeah you simply werent a fan of their genre then

by Fine-Park-6617 2 days ago

Wtf are you talking about? The dude literally named every seattle grunge band Lol

by PresentationProof 1 day ago

Small. That album is peak WA grunge.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

One of the most consistent albums I've heard. Hits at an extremely high rate that I've only seen from some of the best.

by Rich_Status9929 1 day ago

Opened the 90s

by Anonymous 1 day ago

every time i listen to Nevermind it feels like the future of music

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Butch Vig for the win.

by sawaynbrandt 1 day ago

OP is probably a teenager, doesn't understand the impact that Nirvana had back in their day

by Anonymous 1 day ago

"Seinfeld is so cliche" energy

by NegotiationStock2742 1 day ago

I mean Seinfeld has jot aged particularly well. Nirvana, and especially Nevermind, is still full of bangers to this day.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Isn't the fact we're not back in their day relevant? It is, but people back in the day were back in the day

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You can "have an impact" and also "not be very good" in defense here

by johnathonoconne 1 day ago

I am 60 and they didn't do much for me as well. Sorry that Cobain killed himself (he wasn't the only musician), but that doesn't make their music more bearable.

by Sudden_Entrance 1 day ago

"They just got popular for some reason" 😂

by Opening_Concert_2351 1 day ago

I remember cleaning the kitchen when I was in 8th grade and that came on the radio for the first time. I hadn't heard anything like that before.

by Careless-Board 1 day ago

They just got popular for some reason. Timing. This was what rock sounded like when Teen spirit came out. Mainstream was tired of the music being played, and nobody had heard a song like Teen Spirit before. That heavy / mellow dynamic packed a punch.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Yeah, I was 11 when nirvana came out and it kicked so much ass compared to this crap.. firehouse, warrant slaughter, even Motley Crue went kinda soft.. nirvana and Pearl Jam were exactly what we needed. To OPs point tho, Pearl Jam and soundgarden I always felt were superior bands then nirvana tho

by reillybarbara 1 day ago

While that's true, if it weren't for Nirvana breaking the doors down, we might not have had those two as popular as they became. One begets the other!

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Warrant was great though, I always felt sorry for them arriving on the scene basically when glam died.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Same with Skid Row. They changed their sound a bit with Slave to the Grind, which was actually pretty great considering the shift in taste for rock, but they just couldn't keep afloat with what happened in the 90s after Nirvana.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

If you listen to interviews with Cobain and later interviews with Grohl, you get the feeling they would agree with you.

by Scary-Shift 1 day ago

They probably would, without a doubt.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Listen to their Unplugged performance, and your mind will change

by marvinkaitlyn 1 day ago

A masterpiece!!!

by Anonymous 1 day ago

If you see the other reply, you'll find another unpopular opinion

by marvinkaitlyn 1 day ago

This is off our first record, most people don't own it.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I respect them and like some of their stuff, I wouldn't agree on the "not very good", just a bit overrated IMO.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I think you corrected me on this; Overrated is probably what I should have written.

by Benton60 1 day ago

Definitely unpopular.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

It was music for GenX and it spoke to us. It was a backlash against hair bands and pop and spoke to the disillusionment we had with society and entertainment.

by Dry_Situation 1 day ago

Naw, they was good, finally a decent unpopular opinion, good work op.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

What have you listened to from them

by Nice_Barnacle_4501 1 day ago

The Bodhisattva take

by Ngoldner 1 day ago

It is played with feeling and ultimately feels good to listen to and that's really all that matters when it comes to appreciating music. It's absolutely irrelevant how technical the music is, unless that's all you came for and if so, I can see why you wouldn't be interested.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Were you alive at the time OP?

by Waelchijermaine 1 day ago

I remember very well when Nirvana came onto the scene. And I don't exactly disagree with the OP. It's not that Nirvana was really all that great. It's that the entire 'rock' genre had turned into stale glam-rock and hair-bands. People were tired of it, and Nirvana was a welcome change.

by AssociateNegative 1 day ago

Is this unpopular opinion or factually unsupported opinion?

by Opening_Concert_2351 1 day ago

Honestly I like the Foo Fighters more

by Any_Development_3040 1 day ago

They changed music forever. They literally killed off what was popular just by existing, and pulled the entire world into grunge. Were they talented musicians? Dave Grohl was and is, but no, grunge is an extension of punk, it was all power chords. Does that matter? Not at all, whether you liked them or not they were the most influential band of the last 40 years. We haven't had an IMMEDIATE radical shift in music like that again in my lifetime.

by Erik78 1 day ago

He's only poplar because he died. I too have never liked his music

by Juanareynolds 1 day ago

Daring today, are we?

by FixRich2777 1 day ago

When are you like, 28 or something?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Not quite sure where the popularity comes from. Kurt was beautiful, fashionable, a brilliant songwriter, charismatic, and the band's attitude and aesthetic were very representative of the zeitgeist of the time. Grohl was a ferocious drummer who created the perfect energy for Kurt's songs. Their popularity is easy to understand.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Huge cultural impact. Mid music. I agree.

by EngineeringGloomy947 1 day ago

Not just unpopular, it is completely wrong.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Young me would be livid reading this, but it's true. Alice in Chains was soooo much better. The reason Nirvana was popular, I think, is because the media (meaning MTV) pushed them so hard. They really weren't that great, objectively.

by Western_Garage_3980 1 day ago

I don't think they ignore the radio stations push them any harder than they did the other alternative music. They would play Pearl jam, Alice in chains then nervana and keep repeating the same cycles over and over again. I think the big difference media wise came from Kurt Cobain's death prior to that they weren't any bigger than the otherz

by Traditional-Clue5216 1 day ago

Yeah you're being soooo objective with the AiC stanning lmao

by MongooseExpress 1 day ago

This isn't an unpopular opinion as much as it is a total toolbox with no understanding of anything opening his mouth to hear what sounds come out.

by Upper-Shop-8094 1 day ago

Some garage bands make it big for no real artistic reason, Aerosmith is a prime example,

by StatisticianOther697 1 day ago

They were awesome.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The blew spandex and big hair into the abyss where it belongs

by Anonymous 1 day ago

It's because they were the most palatable band of the grunge movement. Everyone else had too much edge and couldn't be packaged up to sell to the masses. Nirvana feels edgy enough for people who don't listen to heavier music, when in reality it's just hard pop.

by Secret-Carry418 1 day ago

I don't think you have heard 50% of In Utero

by Anonymous 1 day ago

The best music came from the UK and Ireland.

by Sudden_Entrance 1 day ago

Not every band is for everyone. I don't really know enough about music to know who is "good" or even if an objective measure of being "good" exists. But regardless, it's obviously untrue they weren't good.

by Connect_Trainer_7980 1 day ago

Not very unpopular even Cobain didn't like their music.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

He's the one who likes all our pretty songs…

by No-Volume 1 day ago

Come on dude, tell us what you think is good. Particularly around the early 90s.

by RevolutionaryPeak886 1 day ago

They were different. They changed the way rock sounded. They were groundbreaking. You don't have to like them, but you don't seem to really understand what impact they had on mainstream rock.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

They were a great band. But i really dislike Kurt his "singing" it suits the songs, but it grates on my ears.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Serious question: Who was better? Nirvana or Pearl Jam? I go with Pearl Jam

by Goyettekeeley 1 day ago

To each their own. It was certainly a time and maybe you had to be there at the right age to get it I don't know.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Cuz kurt was chad bruhhh

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I agree. But, you know what? I feel that way about most popular music. But, yeah, the lyrics in Nirvana songs are so dumb.

by logan30 1 day ago

Not every sound is for every listener. Nirvana is quite stripped back in that most beginners can play a lot of their songs, so they don't impress with complexity the way say Soundgarden did. This is actually not even that unpopular of a view, a lot of my musician friends agree. Personally I love Kurt's music writing and especially his guitar playing, he makes it it sound so alive and organic, even live/accoustic

by demariopacocha 1 day ago

Very unpopular indeed..

by Franeckiangelo 1 day ago

I want to agree because I don't think that they are head and shoulders above the rest of the grunge bands like people seem to think they are (Alice in Chains was better), BUT Nevermind is one of the greatest albums of all time and so I cannot deny their greatness on that front.

by Successful-Fix 1 day ago

I still like them. They were the grunge movement best music ever.

by Independent-Pea-5723 1 day ago

I'm from their area. I can walk to the Cobain bridge. There's a diner that still sells nirvana shirts and hoodies and the local classic rock station still plays their songs all the time. AIC is/was better

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Their B sides are significantly better than anything that really took off by them. A lot of it is almost hardcore and it's great.

by Matildebode 1 day ago

Pearl Jam is better

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I agree and I think Kurt Cobain would too. He was a great songwriter and they were all great performers bit they came out at the right time. But I genuinely believe that if Kurt hadn't taken his own life they wouldn't be as big as they are currently. They would've called it quits and become a(relatively) obscure grunge band or they would've kept going past their expiration date and started making terrible music

by Anonymous 1 day ago

As you asked "Was it because Cobain had the IT factor?" Most likely yes. There probably was better bands but their frontman wasn't IT and or they didn't have a marketable "look"/could appeal to the mainstream..

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I agree with this 100%. Their music is dull and unimaginative. Hole were better - but that's not saying much.

by Possible_Progress_11 1 day ago

You have a right to i to your opinion no matter how ridiculous and unintelligent it is.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Kurat was great at writing "pop" songs (his own words). He was a massive Beatles fan and had a flair for writing crossover mainstream rock. That plus timing -- the right sound at the right time. Kurt (again his own words) wasn't a technically great musician, he was just interested in the audience's overall experience, not that each note was perfect -- that mindset contributed to the success. (As Kurt once quipped when a journalist asked him if he was the greatest rock guitarist in the world -- "I'm not even the greatest guitarist in Nirvana"). Lest we forget also that a young death does a hell of a lot to cement legendary status ... If he'd lived for another few years, it would be more widely known that he was in the legal process of dropping Krist and Dave's share of royalties down from a third each to 3% combined ... That wouldn't have done a whole lot for his "punk" image.

by Summerschroeder 1 day ago

As a fan of their music, I agree. Many of their songs legit just have the exact same melody too.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

They weren't my thing but I can see why they're as revered as they are. The GLAM scene was so bloated and overdone by that point and the kids were ready for something different. Alice In Chains were my favourite ‘Seattle' band

by Substantial-Hand 1 day ago

You just had to be there

by Calm_Attempt 1 day ago

Melvins > than any other grunge band.

by NoPlan 1 day ago

You using the term "mid" is very telling. You missed the boat.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

This is also one of the popularest edgelord opinions ever by the way

by No-Volume 1 day ago

It's okay, not everyone has good taste

by Anonymous 1 day ago

This isn't an unpopular opinion. Every band/artist has way more people that dont like them or think they are just ok compared to people that think they are good or great. So congrats! You dont like a band!

by Honest_Bumblebee_951 1 day ago

Tell that to the entire generation of hairbands who nirvana put out of work.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You need to say which bands are better or this opinion is useless

by PlasticLayer5220 1 day ago

Explain "wasn't very good". You sound like a 5 year old.

by Dry-Interview-368 1 day ago

I remember when Nirvana came out. I was in middle school, and it was a pretty epic release. However, I agree with OP that there were better Seattle bands. For example, Sunny Day Real Estate is way better, but then I'm biased because they're my favorite of all time.

by Connect_Carry_4498 1 day ago

I had a lot of opinions like this (including this one) when I was 16-19. You need to look at things through a lens of the time. Nirvana was a great antithesis to what pop culture was at the time, but had fairly digestible "pop" songs that still had that edgy feel. They sounded dark, but not alienating. I like Mudhoney more than Nirvana, but saying Nirvana wasn't good, or not respecting the impact they had on music is silly.

by Pretend_Newt6172 1 day ago

Its overrated but only minimally. I think its above average music, that gets a tad more love than it would because of kurts demise. But it doesn't suck.

by Equivalent_Jello_386 1 day ago

It's not just the music itself, it was the moment in time.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

There were other Seattle-based bands that sounded better. I'll give you Alice In Chains and maybe even Soundgarden but after that the argument is pretty weak.

by OneClassic 1 day ago

I 110% agree.

by Timely-Jackfruit 1 day ago

They were the anti C&C Music Factory

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I feel Bush was far superior to them

by jennifer38 1 day ago

I think there is a difference between you not liking it and it not being very good.

by schambergergina 1 day ago

Their tunes weren't complicated or elaborate but they were catchy as hell. I think the band also projected an image that was pretty cool by the standards of the day but not too hard- just digestible enough for wide spread consumption.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Can you at least try to name the better bands?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I like them but my favorite grunge era band is Alice in Chains and it's not even close.

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

We need to figure out a way to differentiate between what would constitute an unpopular opinion and what is basically flame bait

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

They're the Beatles for me of grunge. They pioneered a genre and sound but were not the best at their craft imo

by Pristine-Degree1066 23 hours ago

"oh well whatever nevermind"

by gloverana 22 hours ago

How long have you known this?

by Anonymous 22 hours ago

I loved them when I was 14. After that I never really cared for them. I was too young when they were at peak popularity tho.

by Kshlerinmonty 22 hours ago

is this ragebait?

by Odd_Training 21 hours ago

Nirvana used to be my absolute favorite, but as I've gotten older Pearl Jam and Soundgarden have bypassed them. Maybe because the others were able to grow and mature and whatnot

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

It was a moment

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

When they came out I remember thinking this. Listening to them as an adult I see why they are revered. It's some excellent stuff. Songwriting, construction, instrumentally, etc all really good.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

Ted Greene, legendary jazz guitarist and instructor, said Kurt Cobain was the only musician of the 90s whose harmonies were creative in any way Another jazz player I know and is a close friend of mine, who has the craziest hearing abilities I've ever seen (reconstructing chords within seconds from hearing them) also confirmed that Cobain came up with really cool, musically beautiful and creative harmonies Might not be your cup of tea but there are a lot of people who respect and like Nirvana

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

I've said this before. I think if Kurt was still alive, Nirvana would just be Dave Grohls old band that had that one huge hit in the early 90s

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

I just don't like grunge in general, I find it boringly self hating and miserable. Though I will say the hairband stuff that preceded it as popular rock was way worse, and I like some of the influences they drew from

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

Next do the Beatles

by Street-Blueberry2134 20 hours ago

It was because it was the next logical step in alternative music and rock, bridging punk, rock, and influenced by the likes of Pixies and Sonic Youth etc while being a bit more melodic and accessible. ...and other reasons too. I had listened to Bleach (their debutalbum) while skating ramp, it was gritty and noisy, but they made it more restrained and accessible with more professional production. It is often referred to as the year punk broke.

by Expert-Activity-6624 19 hours ago

Totalt aggree, Nirvana sucks ass.. Boring and bland music

by Anonymous 19 hours ago

You can be wrong

by Anonymous 19 hours ago

Shut up

by CellEfficient5925 18 hours ago

You should try reading or listening to "the tipping point". History is littered with bands, books, movies that were amazing and just didn't get the love and media that wasn't good being extremely popular

by Exact-Application856 18 hours ago

I often wonder where nirvana would be today had Kurt not off'ed himself. I think foo fighter have been far more successful than nirvana ever would have reached.

by Any_Bathroom_5458 18 hours ago

Lake of fire is my fav, for everything else go to Alice in Chains and try to score some china white No 4

by Anonymous 18 hours ago

"I didn't listen to Nirvana until after he died" Also I'm 15

by shieldselsa 18 hours ago

"They weren't very good." I guess the millions of people who listened to their music, and the fact that they were the leading edge of a sea change in popular rock music, doesn't count. Look, I'm not even a huge Nirvana fan. I got sick of hearing their songs on the radio after awhile. But the best metric of whether or not a band is "good" is how many people know their songs. And by that metric, Nirvana is a great band.

by Anonymous 17 hours ago