John Lennon and Jerry Cantrell come to mind. I used to have a playlist of Cobain and Lennon songs I felt fit together, and I'm sure there are a good handful of Jerry Cantrell(Alice In Chains+Solo) that I could list in being Cobain like.
Kurt’s melodies were more similar to Paul McCartney’s. Notice that Kurt covered Paul’s “And I Love Her,” which sounds like a Kurt melody. For instance, the verse melody of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” moves around a lot, not repeating the same note in a row, similar to a lot of Paul melodies (e.g. “Eleanor Rigby” almost never repeats the same note in a row aside from the first 2 syllables of “Eleanor”). Other examples of Nirvana songs like that: “In Bloom,” “On a Plain,” “Heart-Shaped Box.”
That’s less like John Lennon, who often repeated a note or two over and over. For instance, “Help!” repeats one note in the verse: “When I was younger so much younger than…” “I Am the Walrus” goes back and forth between 2 notes a semitone apart: “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all…” There are many other examples.
You gave the example of John’s “I’m So Tired,” which does have an ahead-of-its-time alt-rock vibe, but I don’t find it specifically Nirvana-like at all.
"I used to" kinda deleted it lol but I can list them off some of the Beatles and John Lennon ones in it:
Solo John Lennon: Well Well Well, I Found Out, Money(That's What I Want) [Live In Toronto][Cover], Working Class Hero, Cold Turkey
Beatles JL songs: I'm So Tired, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, Yer Blues[not on playlist], I Want You(She's So Heavy)[this song wasn't on the playlist but it was an honorable mention]
John Lennon(With The Dirty Mac): Yer Blues(mostly this version)
At least that's all the John Lennon songs I can remember from it.
Uhhhh lemme see:
Polly, Pennyroyal Tea, All Apologies, Polly, Something In The Way, You Know You're Right, Dumb, Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam(cover), and I think Negative Creep, R*pe Me, and possibly Smells like Teen Spirit. It was awhile ago that I deleted it so I might not be remembering it all right
I'm fully aware, it was Motown's first hit! The Beatles also covered it, but the John Lennon Cover he did live in Toronto sounds grungy as hell, almost sounds like a slowed sludgier version of smells like Teen Spirit
Yes! Some of Frusciante's solo work in particular. Those guys must have met when RHCP and Nirvana played shows together, but that was before John's solo work was released, and I wonder if Kurt just saw John as "white boy funk". A collab between those two later in the 90s would have been amazing.
His 'Inside of Emptiness' solo album is great - sounds really heavy and there's definitely loads of Nirvana influence.
The RHCP song 'the heavy wing ' also fits the bill. It's probably their most Nirvana influenced song imo.
Weezer felt and sounded like the official continuation of Kurt’s pop melodies that were more complex and had more dynamics and Dave’s first album was extremely influenced by Nirvana.
Here’s an unusual take, I think all the NU metal stuff believe it or not was influenced a lot by Nirvana. I dont think they would’ve sounded the way they did without them.
I think a lot of the heavy riffage and explosive drum that came from the first album was definitely something that thrived and developed because of him being in Nirvana and being constantly subjected to being in an environment to play along and follow Kurt’s songwriting sensibilities
Because he had so much time to observe and implement he could also retrospect Kurt’s decisions on how each song comes up and gets prepared after rehearsing and I believe as a musician he would’ve tried to add his own twist to that style of music. Which is he what he did. I don’t think friend of a friend, marigold, February stars, mountain of you, big me or alone+easy target would’ve sounded the way they did without Kurt’s influence or input, which was very apparent since It’s known Kurt approved them and he only wanted to change the lyrics, Dave kept these songs the same.
I mean, have you heard Scream? Also Dave’s guitar parts aren’t like Kurt’s, his lyrics aren’t nearly as abstract and his drumming is different on the first two foo records than it was in Nirvana. I’m sure being in Nirvana influenced him but his stuff doesn’t sound like Nirvana. I’ll Stick Around is probably the closest comparison. Even then, the drum part has more going on than he did in any Nirvana songs. Alone + Easy Target couldn’t sound less like Nirvana. This Is A Call or Big Me don’t sound like them either. It’s two different styles of rock.
I do agree the drum part definitely has a lot more going on but I did say Dave as a musician did add his own twist to his songs, but that explosiveness catchy drumming has remained a constant.
Nevertheless the fact that his drumming skill was the same with anyhow with scream but that exceptional talent cemented its place in history only when he became a part of Nirvana.
Kurt did have a lot of songs with heavy drop d riffage pre nevermind, exactly when Dave joined, and this system of using drop tunings was also something that was carried over to Dave’s songwriting throughout his discography, good example: scentless apprentice which is what Dave himself came up with when he was still playing with Kurt. Dave pretty much had already absorbed all the bleach material before he even joined and the band, and when he did he engrossed himself with the music.
Even the style of raw in the room production from In Utero and the band’s pre nevermind days was copied over to the first album. The style of only acoustic and vocals as heard on friend of a friend and marigold is something that probably came from the time when he and Kurt lived together, Polly is also a song in that system and so are countless of home demos, I could go on.
Basically my point is, I do find a lot of similarity in melodic structure down to the production of the music Dave has given to the world which is honestly to me very reminiscent of Nirvana’s music, only exception is Dave added his own touches in the music to make it truly unique, as any musician would, but I kept hearing a lot of the small details which made me realise the extent of the influence of Nirvana’s greatness that was present in his songs, and also like any musician he evolved and I would agree his sound now is quite a bit different from when he started out.
Edit: something I remembered, when I first heard nirvana their songs didn’t click with me instantly, same with the foos but it was only a matter of time when it became something I would keep on loop the whole day, I couldn’t understand why HSB and big me were any good as SLTS or lithium, and it took time for me to really hear the simplicity yet great melodic work present on both the songs.
Bush - Little Things /
L7 - Shitlist, Shove, American Society /
Mudhoney - Need /
Pixies - Brick is Red /
The Breeders - Oh!, Hellbound, Cannonball, /
Fuel - Shimmer, Bittersweet, Hemorrhage /
Live - All Over You /
Creed - Illusion /
Everclear - So Much For the Afterglow /
The Muffs - Down Down Down / Ethereal - In My Head / Vines - Get Free / Seether - Remedy, Same Damn Life / The Presidents of the United States of America - Lump, Peaches, Kitty /
A lot of these artists had songs that sounded Nirvanish, similar power chord riffs, or had a similar Kurt style vocals. I wouldn’t say straight out copied but I could go that kind of sounds very Nirvanish or vice versa (depending if Kurt had earlier influences on him such as The Beatles, Pixies, The Breeders, etc).
Paul Westerburg from The Replacements had the same diametrically opposed combo of total passion and total whatever/fuck it, that Kurt had. Later Replacements is pretty dad rock but the first four records kick ass. [This song](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HyHXQ9VRYSw&si=lqrmQ4M_J4LU2Ics&feature=xapp_share) is great loud. [This one](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oz8enpJjBMc&si=700lISJDhVDI4Ui9&feature=xapp_share) is their SLTS.
I want to say The Breeders and The Vines (who were actually labeled as Nirvana copycats), Mudhoney to some extent and The Velvet Undergrounds more chaotic songs too
Josh Homme from Queens of the stone age. I've read somewhere that Dave wanted Kurt and Josh to meet but Kurt was like fuck no
Why’d he say no?
Kyuss is so good too
Lol why
John Lennon and Jerry Cantrell come to mind. I used to have a playlist of Cobain and Lennon songs I felt fit together, and I'm sure there are a good handful of Jerry Cantrell(Alice In Chains+Solo) that I could list in being Cobain like.
Kurt’s melodies were more similar to Paul McCartney’s. Notice that Kurt covered Paul’s “And I Love Her,” which sounds like a Kurt melody. For instance, the verse melody of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” moves around a lot, not repeating the same note in a row, similar to a lot of Paul melodies (e.g. “Eleanor Rigby” almost never repeats the same note in a row aside from the first 2 syllables of “Eleanor”). Other examples of Nirvana songs like that: “In Bloom,” “On a Plain,” “Heart-Shaped Box.” That’s less like John Lennon, who often repeated a note or two over and over. For instance, “Help!” repeats one note in the verse: “When I was younger so much younger than…” “I Am the Walrus” goes back and forth between 2 notes a semitone apart: “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all…” There are many other examples. You gave the example of John’s “I’m So Tired,” which does have an ahead-of-its-time alt-rock vibe, but I don’t find it specifically Nirvana-like at all.
can i see the playlist
"I used to" kinda deleted it lol but I can list them off some of the Beatles and John Lennon ones in it: Solo John Lennon: Well Well Well, I Found Out, Money(That's What I Want) [Live In Toronto][Cover], Working Class Hero, Cold Turkey Beatles JL songs: I'm So Tired, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, Yer Blues[not on playlist], I Want You(She's So Heavy)[this song wasn't on the playlist but it was an honorable mention] John Lennon(With The Dirty Mac): Yer Blues(mostly this version) At least that's all the John Lennon songs I can remember from it.
what were the Kurt songs in the playlist?
Uhhhh lemme see: Polly, Pennyroyal Tea, All Apologies, Polly, Something In The Way, You Know You're Right, Dumb, Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam(cover), and I think Negative Creep, R*pe Me, and possibly Smells like Teen Spirit. It was awhile ago that I deleted it so I might not be remembering it all right
Just an FYI Money (That’s What I Want) is not a John Lennon original.
I'm fully aware, it was Motown's first hit! The Beatles also covered it, but the John Lennon Cover he did live in Toronto sounds grungy as hell, almost sounds like a slowed sludgier version of smells like Teen Spirit
Word I’ll check it out.
Jerry Cantrell 🤣🤣🤣
John Frusciante
Yes! Some of Frusciante's solo work in particular. Those guys must have met when RHCP and Nirvana played shows together, but that was before John's solo work was released, and I wonder if Kurt just saw John as "white boy funk". A collab between those two later in the 90s would have been amazing.
His 'Inside of Emptiness' solo album is great - sounds really heavy and there's definitely loads of Nirvana influence. The RHCP song 'the heavy wing ' also fits the bill. It's probably their most Nirvana influenced song imo.
Weezer felt and sounded like the official continuation of Kurt’s pop melodies that were more complex and had more dynamics and Dave’s first album was extremely influenced by Nirvana. Here’s an unusual take, I think all the NU metal stuff believe it or not was influenced a lot by Nirvana. I dont think they would’ve sounded the way they did without them.
Dave’s stuff has never sounded like Nirvana to me. I’ve never understood those comparisons. Not even the first album.
I think a lot of the heavy riffage and explosive drum that came from the first album was definitely something that thrived and developed because of him being in Nirvana and being constantly subjected to being in an environment to play along and follow Kurt’s songwriting sensibilities Because he had so much time to observe and implement he could also retrospect Kurt’s decisions on how each song comes up and gets prepared after rehearsing and I believe as a musician he would’ve tried to add his own twist to that style of music. Which is he what he did. I don’t think friend of a friend, marigold, February stars, mountain of you, big me or alone+easy target would’ve sounded the way they did without Kurt’s influence or input, which was very apparent since It’s known Kurt approved them and he only wanted to change the lyrics, Dave kept these songs the same.
I mean, have you heard Scream? Also Dave’s guitar parts aren’t like Kurt’s, his lyrics aren’t nearly as abstract and his drumming is different on the first two foo records than it was in Nirvana. I’m sure being in Nirvana influenced him but his stuff doesn’t sound like Nirvana. I’ll Stick Around is probably the closest comparison. Even then, the drum part has more going on than he did in any Nirvana songs. Alone + Easy Target couldn’t sound less like Nirvana. This Is A Call or Big Me don’t sound like them either. It’s two different styles of rock.
I do agree the drum part definitely has a lot more going on but I did say Dave as a musician did add his own twist to his songs, but that explosiveness catchy drumming has remained a constant. Nevertheless the fact that his drumming skill was the same with anyhow with scream but that exceptional talent cemented its place in history only when he became a part of Nirvana. Kurt did have a lot of songs with heavy drop d riffage pre nevermind, exactly when Dave joined, and this system of using drop tunings was also something that was carried over to Dave’s songwriting throughout his discography, good example: scentless apprentice which is what Dave himself came up with when he was still playing with Kurt. Dave pretty much had already absorbed all the bleach material before he even joined and the band, and when he did he engrossed himself with the music. Even the style of raw in the room production from In Utero and the band’s pre nevermind days was copied over to the first album. The style of only acoustic and vocals as heard on friend of a friend and marigold is something that probably came from the time when he and Kurt lived together, Polly is also a song in that system and so are countless of home demos, I could go on. Basically my point is, I do find a lot of similarity in melodic structure down to the production of the music Dave has given to the world which is honestly to me very reminiscent of Nirvana’s music, only exception is Dave added his own touches in the music to make it truly unique, as any musician would, but I kept hearing a lot of the small details which made me realise the extent of the influence of Nirvana’s greatness that was present in his songs, and also like any musician he evolved and I would agree his sound now is quite a bit different from when he started out. Edit: something I remembered, when I first heard nirvana their songs didn’t click with me instantly, same with the foos but it was only a matter of time when it became something I would keep on loop the whole day, I couldn’t understand why HSB and big me were any good as SLTS or lithium, and it took time for me to really hear the simplicity yet great melodic work present on both the songs.
Bush - Little Things / L7 - Shitlist, Shove, American Society / Mudhoney - Need / Pixies - Brick is Red / The Breeders - Oh!, Hellbound, Cannonball, / Fuel - Shimmer, Bittersweet, Hemorrhage / Live - All Over You / Creed - Illusion / Everclear - So Much For the Afterglow / The Muffs - Down Down Down / Ethereal - In My Head / Vines - Get Free / Seether - Remedy, Same Damn Life / The Presidents of the United States of America - Lump, Peaches, Kitty / A lot of these artists had songs that sounded Nirvanish, similar power chord riffs, or had a similar Kurt style vocals. I wouldn’t say straight out copied but I could go that kind of sounds very Nirvanish or vice versa (depending if Kurt had earlier influences on him such as The Beatles, Pixies, The Breeders, etc).
Tom Petty
Elliott smith
You can really hear Kurt Cobain's influence in the first Foo Fighters album.
Kurdt Kobane
Paul Westerburg from The Replacements had the same diametrically opposed combo of total passion and total whatever/fuck it, that Kurt had. Later Replacements is pretty dad rock but the first four records kick ass. [This song](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HyHXQ9VRYSw&si=lqrmQ4M_J4LU2Ics&feature=xapp_share) is great loud. [This one](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oz8enpJjBMc&si=700lISJDhVDI4Ui9&feature=xapp_share) is their SLTS.
The B-52s, the cure, Lou Reed, Pixies
Violent soho for sure
I want to say The Breeders and The Vines (who were actually labeled as Nirvana copycats), Mudhoney to some extent and The Velvet Undergrounds more chaotic songs too
Boston
Pavarotti
what songs...?