Nevermind, Siamese Dream, and In Utero are classics. At one point I'd put Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness on the same level, but somehow it just hasn't aged as well as the others. Most of the Pumpkins other albums didn't do much for me except for Gish, which was a solid debut album but not really a classic, probably better than Bleach though. But then with Nirvana you also have the legendary Unplugged performance/album as well as the greater influence. I chose Nirvana. Also, Butch Vig deserves a lot of credit for both of these band's success. The production on these albums was just amazing, and played a huge part in how popular they became. Albums that loud never sounded so good.
I've got to go with Smashing Pumpkins on this one, even though they sucked when I saw them in concert a couple years ago.
I liked both bands when I was young, but Nirvana's stuff sounds so dated now. Their songs are so slow... I get bored of it quickly and switch playlist. I've never seen Cobain described by anyone as a good guitarist Corgan is probably an underrated one though. In terms of guitar playing Iha might not have added anything special, but he wrote or co-wrote some important songs for SP. Mayonaise, Soma, etc, so his contributions were more than just being part of the tour band. What do you mean by this? Do you think they would have made better music if they didn't try to be "mainstream"? While I prefer SP, the one thing Nirvana had going for it over SP was the vocals. Corgan not only isn't a very good singer, it's really nasal and whiny. When they started, they wanted the band to be a Led Zep/Pink Floyd hybrid. They were going for the psychedellic rock thing while still producing catchy songs. I saw SP on their Arise tour (i think that's what it was called) in '98. Was a great experience, and I came away appreciating some songs on the Mellon Collie album better. The version of "thru the eyes of ruby" they played that night is one of my fav live performances ever.
They were pretty good a month ago. Good thread. I have to go with SP, even though Nirvana was my first love.
i saw them on the siamese dream tour and they rocked the house and i saw them on the melloncollie tour after they kicked the drummer out for being a junkie and it was possibly the worst concert ive ever seen (and i saw a richard marx/wilson phillips concert at astroworld!). i was never a huge nirvana fan when they were around, but i did see them once and they were very impressive live.
Moestavern, you've made my brain blow a fuse. There was a period in my life where BOTH of these bands were my favorite. They were both creative, they were both pioneering and unique for their era, they both have stellar discographies... Cobain has the advantage of having shot himself in the head, therefore can't put out any crap like Corgan has been doing, but if we're limiting it the meat of their works in the early to mid 90's, it's a push in my mind. I always remember reading a quote of how after hearing that Nirvana was dubbed as "The Beatles of the 90's", Corgan went ahead to say that well then, we're The Doors--something only someone as arrogant as Corgan would say--interestingly enough I'm not a Doors fan, but I still loved SP so much. These two bands defined my life when I was back in middle school/high school. I can't even vote for either one against the other. I just can't.
I had this discussion with a friend but it was Pearl Jam vs Nirvana. It's curious if Nirvana could have maintained its success like SP or Pearl Jam. I tend to think it couldn't have but who really knows. In the end I'd have to give it to Nirvana though. In a hundred years I'm almost positive they're going to play Smells Like Teen Spirit as the 90's anthem. They had a little something special that's hard to quantify, like a shooting star quality, among a host of very special groups (Soundgarden, STP, AIC) in that time.
Nirvana and its not even close. Nirvana was partly responsible for changing rock music. Smashing Pumpkins were just an average band and they have maybe 5 good songs in their catalog. The fact that Billy Corigan has wrecked that bands name the way Axl has destroyed GNR'S name doesn't help his arguement.
I'll give the edge to Nirvana, just cause they had a personality to them and were funny in interviews. Corgan was just a little too serious at times. Music wise it's tough cause I like both about the same. Made me think about Nine Inch Nails and what other similar band to have them go against in a poll, as they were the most successful in the industrial genre. Ministry maybe?
Hey. Who wants to see the ORIGINAL "Smells like teen spirit" video? This was what the director originally envisioned. Kurt had him remove a bunch of stuff and stood his ground, but this was how it was supposed to look initially. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kHJcTXt5G9o?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/kHJcTXt5G9o?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Clearly SP were better at twister than Nirvana so they get my vote. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3lqH2Ag6fxU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3lqH2Ag6fxU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
S T P The youtube comparison by viewcount, Nirvana absolutely crushes Smashing Pumpkins. Not a great measure but an indicator of what the public thinks. NIRVANA http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...egories=10&uni=3&search_sort=video_view_count SMASHING PUMPKINS http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...egories=10&uni=3&search_sort=video_view_count Smashing Pumpkins appeals to me more so I'll include bias in the choice go Pumpkins. Does Nirvana "Negative Creep" really sound as good as SP's "Rocket"? I actually think the Nirvana catalogue would be even more respected if Cobain was still alive or lived at least a LITTLE longer. Similar to how I think Christina Aguilera and pop stars BENEFIT from Britney Spears doing well, the whole alternative scene woulda benefited more if the top dog would have stayed on top. Nirvana sound is definitely more raw. Cobain's death made Nirvana more iconic but to me it didnt make them better. Just he had cooler hair and his fashion sense appealed more. He was the cute guy girls felt sorry for and thought they could change, and dudes ... wanted his hair. And liked his indifference.
Alice in Chains... Jerry Cantrell FTW. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q3djmDFMRQQ?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/Q3djmDFMRQQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Whale & Wasp ... who's cooking onions damn it? <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KqOO_OpD3pg?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/KqOO_OpD3pg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Rolling Stone ha Cobain in the top 15 on their all-time greatest guitarists list. Now most people know that RS is complete crap, but somebody must be reading it if it's still around.
I had the (mis)fortune of seeing them a couple years ago when they were doing two shows in every city. They always picked one of the two shows to be weird and "experimental." They barely played any of their hits and actually got booed at the end of the show.
