Which bands have Nirvana actually inspired?
To be inspired by somebody does not equate to making music that sounds the same. To be recognised as an inspiration does not require the people you inspire to gain recognition.
He inspired a cultural shift for a generation of kids. Whether you rate him as a musician/person/artist is irrelevant. Nobody in your list has had any of that kind of impact on the music world at large.
As a kid who grew up in the 80s blessed with the back catalogue of the 60/70s, I was into both the thrash side of things and Motley etc before I discovered Bathory, Death, Autopsy etc. If I felt it was great guitar music I loved it. Because I loved the guitar I loved ANY guitar music that inspired me to pick it up. I was painfully aware that I would never reach that standard of shreddery and that the lyrical content of a lot of Death/Thrash/Hair metal is just plain feckin dumb, so Kurt Cobains strait to the point and back to basics heavy tunes were properly inspirational. His cryptic lyrics spoke to people as well. He played it like he meant it, not like he had practiced hard to be there.
I can also understand why people who spent years in the 80s believing hair metal was the pinacle of musical excellence find Kurt and his music to be an affront to all they believe. Everything has its place, especially now that time has relegated all of the music trends of the past to a level playing field.
(I agree with you on Chuck Schuldiner but his band was always destined to be sidelined to the masses because of his largely terrible lyric writing. Maybe some of the worst lyrics ever... Please don't make me quote them)
Yes and the Spice Girls also inspired a generation of young women, oh and Robbie Williams' Angels is the greatest song ever based on the slack jawed masses and popularity. Simon Cowell oh hes good isnt he? Pearl Jam were overtaking Nirvana any way had Kurt not killed himself. Your 'cultural' argument falls down any way as many people credit Schuldiner for being the Godfather of Death Metal a genre with a very strong following to this day. Wheres grunges following?
I could go on a huge rant about that dirty, weak junkie but i dont want to waste my energy. I wish people like you would stop stop comparing him to proper musicians like Randy Rhoads and or Chuck Schuldiner. Cobain was no great lyricist either as far as im concerned and no I dont want you to quote any Schuldiner lyrics at least he didnt try and pass off 'It's better to burn off than to fade away' as his own or rip off riffs from other bands.
Next youll be telling me Dave Grohl is the best drummer ever :?
I don't mean to start a fight, but I feel like you're acting uneccessarily aggresive, not only to "Kurt" but to the users in general.
Also, I disagree with you.
Kurt Cobain wass certainly not in the same vein as people like the spice girls or Simon Cowell. He was the opposite.
He was the epitome of stripped down, natural music, and whether you like it or not he was a natural song writer that touched millions of people and showed that there was more than one way to make music in an era when everything was the same.
To say that he is cr@p is like saying that Bob Dylan, Tom Waits or BB King are cr@p.
Ignorant.
I'm not even a big fan of nirvana. I far prefer soundgarden and Pearl Jam but as an individual musician Kurt Cobain was undoubtedly special.
Also, you keep on referring back to Chuck and Rhoads as prime examples for "godly" musicians and not only is it very "fanboy-ish" but they are completely different musicians and you simply can't compare them to Cobain nor did they effect the world like he did. You're using the word "Inspiration" very directly. He change the way that people looked at music - just like Radiohead did with Kid A to a lesser extent, but you'll find very few people directly referencing them directly.
Guess why? Because when Cobain died so did the grunge scene and it hasn't come back.
That's how big his role was. He killed if glam rock and with killed of his own genre. Who else ever managed that?
Also...
Death have horrendous lyrics and Kurt's were much better and very similar to those of AiC, who you say that you love.
