The late Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain always stuck to his guns. Whether this be in his defence of women’s rights or his lifelong dedication to sticking it to the man, Cobain’s authenticity and evident righteousness was one of the main reasons he rose so meteorically as the quintessential champion of Generation X.
One area in which Cobain never compromised was his musical taste. Emerging from a metal and punk background and being brought up on classic work by the likes of The Beatles, Cobain knew what he liked and precisely what was anathema to him. He enjoyed good, authentic music made with honesty and genuine artistic craft. These are what he attempted to pour into his own work.
Accordingly, in his time, the Nirvana leader provided a host of takes on other artists, ranging from glowing praise to scathing critiques. In the former category is Cobain’s praise of Scottish indie legends Teenage Fanclub, who Cobain had so much love for that he once reportedly proclaimed them the “best band in the world”. Elsewhere, he also claimed that Japanese punks Shonen Knife were the best band in the world, showing that when Cobain valued a group, he really held them close.
On the other side of the coin, there were many occasions in which Cobain was more than comfortable slamming the works of others, as controversial American hard rockers Guns N’ Roses once found out. Famously, the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ songwriter was unimpressed when he heard Axl Rose and his band’s music, telling one interviewer, “We’re not your typical Guns’ N’ Roses type of band that has absolutely nothing to say”.
This comment kicked off a feud with Rose, who was so offended he even made a dubious comment about the Nirvana frontman, his wife Courtney Love, and their child, Francis Bean. Rose said: “If the baby is born deformed, I think they both ought to go to prison”. Following up on his original comment, when speaking to The Advocate in 1993, Cobain said of Rose: “The guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe, and you can’t be on his side and be on our side”.
Whilst many may disagree with Cobain’s comments about Guns N’ Roses, you cannot criticise his conviction or motivations. Unsurprisingly, this was his approach to all of his critiques. Cobain was so driven by what some would call ‘keeping it real’ that he was unafraid to call out any he thought were bad news, sell-outs or just plain terrible.
When speaking to Melody Maker in 1992, Cobain, who was then at the top of the world after Nirvana broke out the previous year with their masterpiece Nevermind, delivered one of his most notorious and pointed critiques of a fellow artist. Undertaken when the frontman was starting to struggle with the gravity of his stature and success, across the conversation, it’s clear that he was frustrated with the machinations of the music business.
As the interviewer, Everett True, writes, at one point, Cobain paused to build up “for another rant”. The grunge icon asked True, “You know what I hate about rock?” before tearing into Genesis man and 1980s pop star Phil Collins, a musician closely tied to the decade’s yuppie culture – the musical antithesis to Nirvana. Collins represented the man in society, so there’s no surprise that Cobain hated him.
Not done there, he also slammed hippie heroes, the Grateful Dead. However, the takedown of Collins stands out the most for its intensity of vitriol. Cobain said: “Cartoons and horns. I hate Phil Collins, all of that while male soul. I hate tie-dyed tee-shirts, too. You know there are bootleg tie-dyed tee-shirts of Nirvana? I hate that. I wouldn’t wear a tie-dyed tee-shirt unless it was dyed with the urine of Phil Collins and the blood of Jerry Garcia.”
