Kamikazi Kat

At times, I come across as somebody that hates Nirvana, but its not the band that I hate, its the other things that turn me off. There are the legions of Nirvana fans that worship cobain and preach his name every chance they get, there is the way songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit are almost ruined because of the constant aftertaste of MTV, terrible high school talent show covers, and of course the worship of the song itself, and then there was that one jock in my school that kicked me in the shins when I told him I didn't know who Kurt cobain was. I try to be strong and just listen to the music, but this kind of stuff brings you down and has delayed me getting past the bull and into the band itself for years now.

The band itself I recently started liking after giving In Utero an honest listen and my perception of the band was instantly changed. I agree with Satchmo that Nirvana is best listened to within its historical context. The band's and cobain's history and impact interest me more then music itself and make the listening experience much more interesting. I haven't really listened to anything else other then In Utero, I doubt whatever I hear will be better then In Utero, but I think its worth it to appreciate the impact of the music.

Really, its not the extreme cobain praise that bothers me as much anymore but more the ignorant hate. Although I'm not one to praise him as the guy that saved rock, I'll stand up for him because honestly, his heart seemed to be in the right place and I tend to view his suicide with more empathy then many others I've seen that have this "he was a selfish whiny jerk" attitude. I think people overall completely misunderstand Nirvana and Kurt cobain, fans and haters alike. Nirvana is always a nice reminder why its good that many of my favorite bands don't keep massive mainstream recognition because then I'm going to have to deal with people completely misinterpreting and misunderstanding the ideas of my favorite bands and the music itself.