donjunio

Starblazer: that's why it's off the charts, unreachable...

In a 1989 interview, King Buzzo was asked what he thought of the Seattle scene. He replied: "Soundgarden are Led Zeppelin, Mudhoney are the Stooges, and Nirvana... the Beatles" (with a wicked grin, ed). Indeed, "About a Girl" features a memorable Lennon-esque melody, skillfully woven into the typical offbeat riffs of grunge. If it wasn't clear from that track that Cobain was a potential pop superstar... not to mention the anthemic scream of "School" or the 1990 single "Sliver," which serves as the true connection between the two albums. The Nirvana were also recommended to David Geffen by Sonic Youth, who perhaps understood a bit more about that slimy, shitty individual, who at the time was too busy squandering the big bucks that Guns N' Roses deposited into his bank account on hookers and coke.

Thank goodness you had the intuition that it would sell millions of copies; you should have become a record label executive. The very executives at Geffen Italy didn't think so, to the point that they handed the promo for the record to Alberto Campo for a legendary episode of "Planet Rock," without even having decided to release it in our country (even in America, they believed it would max out at half a million copies). Cobain was quite satisfied with "Nevermind," especially with the songs, to the extent that the concerts of the 1991 tour are unanimously considered the best by Nirvana (even better than the 1989 UK tour with Mudhoney, where according to the UK press, Cobain and the others were clearly superior). Evidently, Kurt enjoyed playing that repertoire. He just couldn’t digest the sleazy mixing by Andy Wallace, which was crucial in giving tracks like “Teen Spirit” and “Come as You Are” a more accessible sheen for radio without compromising their impact. It’s no coincidence that for the next album, he chose Steve Albini, producer of the beloved "Surfer Rosa" by the Pixies you mentioned, to regain that abrasive and stinging sound that matched all the indie-carbonara rhetoric he had soaked up in the '80s (the same rhetoric that made him feel guilty for the outrageous success he had achieved). The interview where he compared "Nevermind" to Motley Crue was his last, given to "Rolling Stone" in January 1994; he also stated that his next album would be quite different and experimental, between Butthole Surfers, Jesus Lizard, and acoustic R.E.M., and that he wouldn’t necessarily be making it with Grohl and Novoselic. Maybe he wouldn’t have succeeded and would have produced a flop, but certainly, he wouldn’t have ended up singing “Every Breath You Take” or attending Versace's vernissages as many would have liked. So much so that conspiracy theorists believe Cobain was eliminated because he was now absolutely unmanageable according to commercial logic (Nirvana had practically disbanded by the early days of April '94, and the withdrawal from headlining Lollapalooza led to million-dollar losses for the band's management and for the vulture David Geffen himself) and that, from that perspective, he served much better as a sacrificial lamb of the lost rock innocence to be peddled in Wal-Marts across America. An excessive thesis in my opinion, but it perfectly aligns with the fact that Cobain was left utterly alone in the last days of his life. Assuming he also had significant personal problems, had he been less isolated, perhaps someone would have helped him understand that others had gone through similar torments, like a certain guy who had himself depicted on an album cover, turned away on a beach. And who emerged from that cover, to stay among us.

No, I don't think so. I believe it's an unfortunate comparison, similar to those who, after "Harvest," thought they had found in Neil Young the new John Denver. Nirvana were already rockstars, far more important to the lives of millions than all the Police in this world have ever been, but they had their own style. Cobain's and Sting's approach to the word rockstar was indeed quite different, a bit like that of Giovanni Falcone and Totò Cuffaro around the concept of the State. And then there’s a substantial difference. The Police were, for me, the denial of punk, bringing back formal impeccability in the midst of the new wave era, while Nirvana dragged punk rock to the top of the charts. Although for many this is one of Cobain's serious faults, besides being able to write songs that could break the wall separating a small group of enthusiasts from the larger public (unlike the great Mudhoney) and being the right man at the right time and place. And when you say "the Mudhoney couldn't have existed without the Blue Cheer...the Nirvana could." I respond that many of the Blue Cheer might not care one bit and that Nirvana couldn't have existed without the Wipers. And I will forever cherish Greg Sage and those who have been his worthy heirs.

For me, in the end, this is the best of the firehose, even though they never missed a shot until "flyin' the fannel" of 1991, a stunning album that marks the golden year of indie rock by taking the melodic approach present here to the extreme.

"Mudhoney could never have become the Police of the new decade, Nirvana could."...thank goodness you care so deeply for Cobain, otherwise who knows what you would have written... :)

A review as perfect as the three-pointer Bird slammed in Wilkins' face as a seal on their duel in that game 7.

Bartle, I can’t even imagine what you did in the shower, you pig. Boredom, considering how much hot stuff there is in Belgium? I remember when I was in Liège during the Euro 2000, Italy and Turkey both won a match on the same day, and the squares were filled with immigrants from both nations… good times…

Splendid manifesto of blackness, melancholic and sweaty. I love you.

To claim that Tizio had Caio as a teacher does not mean, in my opinion, that Tizio has blindly followed Caio's path, but rather that he has followed his example to forge new and very different ones: otherwise, no one would write that Guthrie was a teacher of Dylan, for example. The magnificence of Buckley's career is evident to all, and there is no need for me to remind you of it; if the term "teacher" feels limiting towards Tim for you, just pretend I didn't use it. Bye!