Smells Like Teen Spirit has 150,000,000 Youtube views

Whenever these types of discussions come up it always astonishes me when there are otherwise intelligent folks unable to recognize or acknowledge the transcendent nature of some bands like Nirvana, the Beatles, or any other "___" seminal band.

Like someone else said, it's okay that their stuff was not your cup of tea, but not recognizing their lasting impact on music or place in history seems silly. There are few bands whose influence is felt so long after they disappear.

Much like Surfguy said, it is a shame we did not get to see them mature and grow.

 

Love them. Don't think they are overrated at all.

 

It would be more impressive if there were 150,000,000 views for a song made in 2014.

 

This band is not necessarily my cup of tea. Hence forth, I proclaim them overrated.

There are PLENTY of other seminal bands/artists that are not my cup of tea (cool thread idea, actually) but I at least acknowledge their importance to history.

 

regardless of if you like their music or not, you have to admit that they were instrumental in changing the landscape of music. Before Nirvana, alternative music was considered to be for losers. After Nirvana, millions of frat boys decided that moshing (albeit incorrectly) was cool and Alternative music became mainstream..and well..no longer an alternative to the mainstream.

It was necessary. It seems that once every decade a group comes along that changes the sound of modern pop. Bill Haley in the 50's, the Beatles in the 60's, The Ramones in the 70's, and Nirvana at the end of the 80's. 2000's the Strokes. Right before every music revolution, music becomes monotonous and very pop-oriented. Stuff like Perry Como ruled the late 40's and early 50's, but Bill Haley marked the end of the Crooners (at least for young people..as Como still made music for the parents). Rock'n'roll was dead by the late fifties when Buddy Holly died, Elvis went to the military, Little Richard left to become a Pastor and Chuck Barry was thrown in jail (ruining his career at the time). The Beatles revitalized Rock music in the early 60's. In the 70's, songs were getting longer, more drawn out, stuff like Terry Jacks, Don McLean and Linda Ronstadt began ruling the radio - The Ramones gave rise to whole new bands recording new sounds and Punk and New wave influenced the airways for years. In the late 80's you had the rise of Tiffany, Debbie Gibson & New Kids on the Block. Thank you Nirvana for ending that for several years.

 

I'm pretty sure that the difference between that band and Nirvana is that Nirvana was fronted by someone considered a significant voice of his generation with one of the most successful rock musicians of the 90s on drums.

You can argue that other bands were better. You can argue that Kurt Cobain wouldn't be the star is today without having committed suicide at a young age. But you can't argue, given their legacy, that Nirvana is overrated just because you don't think the band is as cool as other people think it is. That's like saying that bands like Guns N Roses and U2 are overrated because they were massively popular and influential. I have a strong opinion that the Rolling Stones were easily as influential on rock music as the Beatles, and I strongly prefer the Stones, but to argue that the Beatles are overrated because I prefer the Stones is sophomoric.

 

Using the term "overrated" has become overrated.

 

I'm 28, so I was too young and unaware to of what was going on in music back then. It wasn't until the late 90's that I developed a taste for music and the bands I gravitated towards were Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

 

Early-mids '90s was a nice respite from boy bands, the only downside being that cynical commercial stuff had no production value. And R&B was basically just about making new catchphrases.

 

Were the Ramones mediocre...? They influenced Husker Du... along with Black Flag and Dead Kennedy's and The Clash and oh... you get the idea...

Do you also realize... there's no such thing as "the first" in punk...? Which is what Nirvana's "grunge" stemmed from musically...?

Things to think about when you're quick to dismiss the most successful band of the genre....

 

Nirvana was heavily influenced by World Championship Wrestling's three-time heavyweight champion, Diamond Dallas Page :

www.youtube.com/embed/KikWIVx_ANs

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KikWIVx_ANs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

The music industry is so copycat anyway. Nirvana comes out and they sound different from all the sunset strip bands so they instantly become rolling stone magazine chosen one and kill off hair metal. In 6 months there are 15 bands copying Nirvana and grunge becomes the same thing that hair metal had become just with tuned down guitars.

 

November Rain was released within months of Teen Spirit and has 237 million views. Your point is r****ded.

 

Yes, but November Rain took Axl close to a decade to perfect... and Kurt wrapped up his hit within weeks...

 

I dont really understand why Smells Like Teen Spirit specifically is so big (not that its bad) but Nirvana is good (and one of the most important bands ever). I used to be on the "oh they are so overrated" train until I really sat down and gave them a listen (and read more into how big they were to music in general)

Live At Reading is some great stuff. And all 3 studio albums are pretty good. I really wish they could have been around longer.

 

For most, it was the first song they heard by Nirvana. The video came on MTV and no one had ever seen or heard anything like it.

 

Pretty much this. It really was a great time in music. One of those moments in history when music got completely turned upside down. It seemed like overnight the hair metal bands went from being hugely popular to disappearing and being replaced with bands like Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. I'm glad I was old enough (junior high) to remember it. That was also pre-internet, so it wasn't nearly as easy to discover new music.

Holy crap I'm old.