The two bands who "brought rock back" from the depths of the 80s hair anthems. At least in the mainstream. If Nirvana revolutionized rock, then SP picked up the torch for at least a couple years. Both defined by their super-depressed, super-ego lead singers, the immortal Kurt Cobain and the sometimes insufferable Billy Corgan. Although Nirvana ripped off the Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins were mostly corporate from the start, nobody could deny the music was godly. Album wise we find a pretty stacked dual effort. Nirvana's "Nevermind" and "In Utero" vs "Siamese Dream" and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". Nirvana for me was more of a fad. Cobain was an overrated guitarist. 3 chord riffs all over the place. The vocals were raw, powerful, and heart-felt, and the music rocked, but Nirvana will always be slightly overrated because of Cobain's suicide which only amplified the popularity of the band. Pumpkins nailed down a pretty impressive sound. Even though a lot of people don't know that Corgan himself laid down 98% of the guitar work on the Siamese Dream album. Pumpkins rolled with James Iha on tour, Nirvana had Krist Novoselic on bass. Dave Grohl is a badass, Jimmy Chamberlain was a jazz drummer who could lay down a beat for sho. Personally, I think Pavement was right about SP in a lot of ways. They had a good sound but they marketed it from the beginning to be mainstream. Still, speaking about personal preference here... The Pumpkins held up better IMO than the teenage angst coming out of Cobain's screamy-whining voice.
Gosh, I hate to say this, with all due respect, how could you stand Corgan's voice?? I really like the S.P.'s music, like that Butterfly, but as soon as you hear, "In spite of my rage...", you're like "Please find some Dristan!!" Then again, I like Dylan and Dire Straits, so what am I talking about? The Pumpkins' music is very, very good.
Well I do believe that lyrics can make up for a sub-standard voice (Crystal Castles please don't take that to mean you). Dylan is a perfect example of that.
I'm taking issue with these two comments. Rip-off? perhaps, but Cobain never hid the fact that Pixies were a huge influence on Nirvana. I know a ton of songs with 3 chord riffs that don't compare to anything Nirvana did. Being a fan of the post-rock genre, I am extremely aware of the less-is-more concept. Give me a raw, stripped down, simplistic 3 chord riff with some emotion over a hollow, progressive, shredding, pentatonic scale anyday.
1.) Smells Like Teen Spirit was an admitted rip-off of the Pixies by the band itself. Cobain did say that Surfer Rosa was a huge influence on them. 2.) I agree with you, but what I meant is that a lot people viewed Cobain as some amazing guitarist. He wasn't.
Being in college during that time I can tell you that the first time you heard "Smells like Teen Spirit" you knew something was about to be revolutionized. It was that good, and that powerful. That said, I pretty much hated every other song that ever came out by them. To me, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were the ones who completely took over Nirvana's one hit wonder and went with it. Both had 2 incredible initial albums. Alice in Chains was right there, as well Smashing Pumpkins was there, but not in the same musical genre. They were more indie/emo-ish before emo was a word. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked a few of their songs and even had their first cassette so it wasn't that I didn't like them, they just didn't have the rawness that the aforementioned four did. Weird Al has a great byopic about the state of 90's alternative music. (skip to 1:24.) <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fVWjThlEzts?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fVWjThlEzts?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I don't really think you can call Nirvana a one-hit wonder. Smells Like Teen Spirit was unquestionably the song that shook the core, but they had a lot of good songs. Cobain really showed his range and influences on the 93 unplugged album, covering Bowie, Meat Puppets, The Vaselines, etc. I love that album. I'm not trying to start Grunge Wars 2011, but Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains certainly all hold their own place in music history.
This one is much harder to choose than Weezer v Green Day. I listened to Nirvana more back in the days but I would rather listen to SP now. Their songs never get played out..I don't think I can say the same for Nirvana
Pretty much how I feel. Nirvana was appealing to my younger, angsty core, it was something to latch onto, but I'd much rather listen to SP these days.
its SP for me and not even close for whatever reason I never liked Nirvana at all whenever their songs came on the radio i always switched the station. I understand how they are regarded as one of the most influential bands of the time but they werent for me. Tonight, Tonight is one of my favorite all time songs
I liked them both back in the day, but never really to a point where others have pretty much worshiped them. Nirvana's songs were OK, and like dandorotik has stated: Corgan's voice is annoying.
Growing up Smashing Pumpkins were by far my favorite band so this was an easy choice for me. Nirvana was great and I can see the argument that they were more influential, but as much as I liked some of their songs I never thought any of their entire albums were great. For Smashing Pumpkins I thought Gish, Siamese Dream, Melon Collie, and Adore were all top notch. And their B-Sides collections (Pisces Iscariot and The Aeroplane Flies High) from that period were just as good. Machina was good but not quite up to the level of the others.
I thought Pearl Jam was better than Nirvana...... among these 2, I guess I prefer the Pumpkins. I love me some Foo Fighters though.
Smashing Pumpkins was supposed to be the Queen of the 90's, with Nirvana occupying the Who role. Unfortunately, substance abuse ruined everything.
It's the Smashing Pumpkins for me. One of my favorite bands of all time. Nirvana will go down in history as the game changer, and deservedly so. Instant catchiness that no one could deny and they rocked hard, but if I listen to a few Nirvana songs in a row it almost gets monotonous. Just IMHO. SP albums were a journey, a diverse amount of guitar sounds, that droning My Bloody Valentine style wall of distortion in the background, etc. It all works for me.
You forgot the most obvious connection: both Cobain & Corgan did some of their best work writing for Hole. Cobain's one of the best lyricists of the last generation(s). Corgan, not so much. Nirvana's albums were anthemic. SP, hit-and-miss singles. Nirvana, and it's not even close.
although i liked the pumpkins better when i was younger i think i have to give my vote in 2011 to nirvana - the pumpkins are just embarrassing now. cobain didnt give himself enough time to become the shameless mockery that billy corgan became. ill just quote a couple previous posts of mine on this subject...
