I wonder if genius is carried in the genes?
If so, let's see what happens with Kurt's grandson.
Nevermind, an album on major chords
71–80 of 114 posts
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s just not true. Off the top of my head Lithium, Dumb, About A Girl have critical minor and major chords. Also part of what made him so good was how he played vocal melody and rhythm off of chords. So in some songs you might have plain power chords but the melody hits important major or minor notes. I don’t know what your definition for genius is but the guy wrote some of the best songs in human history and did…
[flagged]
> you have lost credibility in my eyes
> Have you any idea
> What a ridiculous statement
Can you please make your substantive points thoughtfully and edit out swipes, as the site guidelines ask?
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#73This is a remarkably ignorant take. Literally every detail is wrong. They aren't major chords, they're mostly power chords, which are neither major nor minor (no third and the third provides the major/minor tonality). They often function as minor chords because of the melody or other parts, or just because of how the progression fits together. They aren't unique or new with Cobain, he was part of a long history of pu…
About halfway through my first reading of this piece I thought it was satire. I’m still not convinced it isn’t.
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mostly agree with you, but I suspect there's an element of just being the right age. I think of Kurt Cobain like an accidental Elvis Presley. Perfect for the moment, and (unlike Elvis) mostly organically grown, but with very clear antecedents. I cannot point to strong antecedents of Pixies, Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses, PJ Harvey, Cocteau Twins, Bauhaus, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Slits, Bongwater, Kate Bush, The C…
Pixies antecedents are Husker Du and Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth was the Velvets and The Fall; I found a list of setlists from '70s CBGB and made a playlist, and you can hear Sonic Youth all over it. Throwing Muses (a favorite of mine) a little harder to pinpoint, feels to me like the product of a scene more than a direct evolution of clear antecedents, rather than an act like Dinosaur Jr. was a perversion of Neil Young…
Interesting. I hear the echoes that you mention in Sonic Youth. I would add New York Dolls.
But Sonic Youth also brought something new, more than most bands do. I've listened, as professional obligation, to the entire catalog of Velvet Underground, The Fall, New York Dolls, Iggy Pop. The Fall were the most inventive but Sonic Youth still exceeded them. I recognize that these are the giants upon whose shoulders so many other artists stand, though.
As with The Cure, there are (at least) two Sonic Youths. I see The Top and Daydream Nation as the final recordings of their respective original incarnations.
Interesting that you hear Throwing Muses as a product of a scene. I'd agree for the later records (post-House Tornado), but there was definitely no contemporary scene that the first few records fit into.
I thought about including Lush in my previous list, but did not because, although they had a unique sound, they are a clear extension of the scene they emerged from. Again thinking of the first few releases (EPs) primarily -- after 1993 or so all Brit pop sounds alike for several years.
Re: Kate Bush -- aside from the Fairlight (as successor to Moog) synth, and concept albums, I don't hear much prog rock in there. I think I may prefer to remain ignorant here!
I also left out Siouxsie & The Banshees (again, ~1980-~1990), which was an inexcusable oversight!
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
But I think most of us would take a musician with great instincts and not much theoretical understanding over one with extraordinary theory and poor instinct. How many thousands of boring jazz players have been pumped out by university programs over the past 50 years? Meanwhile John Lee Hooker could just vamp over a single chord and I could listen to it for hours. I'm remembering a scene in Hampton Hawes's autobiogra…
FWIW, I'm a huge fan of both John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed, who had similar vamp-based playing styles and were untutored, couldn't read music, &c. One of my guitar teachers knew Hooker and he even imparted "the secret of the guitar" to him, which he then passed down to me. But yeah, feel, instinct, and having good ears can carry you a long way especially for solo artists. I'm still glad I can read music and wouldn't…
Yeah absolutely, I'm not arguing against theory by any means. I'm happy I know it, but often times I wish my early music teachers spent more time with me on following my ears than whatever it was they were trying to do. It wasn't until I was an adult that I found someone that really cared about that.
But also... what's John Lee Hooker's secret of the guitar??? Don't hold out on us!
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#76Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Loud-quiet-loud was the signature sounds of Nirvana - borrowed from Frank Black who pioneered it with the Pixies. Kurt was a way better singer and better looking than Frank Black. Along with good songs, that was a recipe for success. I am a big Nirvana fan. But a bigger Pixies fan. A chunk of Pixies sound/energy was inspired from the guitar middle/outro in B52's "Rock Lobster".
I like both of them, I don't think either is a genius, and I think both Frank Black and Cobain are on basically the same level. I really think it's underappreciated how much the early Seattle sound was just a fusion of 80s punk and hair metal. If you play Smells Like Teen Spirit and the Breeders "Hellbound" back to back, and you like Nirvana much more, what you really like is Guns n Roses. There's no shame in that!
Nevermind is my second favorite GnR album.
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#78I can explain this in one sentence: major chords sound the best on distorted guitar because of the harmonic series, eot.
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What's yours? Just not whatever that guy's is. Less cheekily, I agree with you that, in the case of something like music, the concept of "best" has no correct meaning. It's literal nonsense.
The point was that the guy was a genius. Most definitions of genius are more liberal than a 1 and a million talent and he was at least that. Actually try a definition and see what happens. Rolling stone made a best list. SLTS was number 5. He’s written some of the best songs ever by many definitions. That makes him a genius. Both terms are ambiguous, debating that is boring.
Both terms are flexible, sure. And I agree that debating definitions is boring.
> The point is that the guy was a genius.
Is that the point? Are we discussing the man himself, or are we discussing his work? Both, I guess, according to the following:
> He’s written some of the best songs ever by many definitions. That makes him a genius.
It doesn't. Genius is a capacity, not an accomplishment. One can be a genius without accomplishing anything, and one who isn't a genius can do high-level, history-making work.
Re: Nevermind, an album on major chords
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What's yours? Just not whatever that guy's is. Less cheekily, I agree with you that, in the case of something like music, the concept of "best" has no correct meaning. It's literal nonsense.
The point was that the guy was a genius. Most definitions of genius are more liberal than a 1 and a million talent and he was at least that. Actually try a definition and see what happens. Rolling stone made a best list. SLTS was number 5. He’s written some of the best songs ever by many definitions. That makes him a genius. Both terms are ambiguous, debating that is boring.
I think it's important not to overlook Butch Vig though.
Are there Nevermind demos circulating? (Maybe an official release even, I've never looked)...
They were good songs, maybe even great songs. But I think I could name a dozen bands from the same period who had equally-good songs.
Butch Vig turned those good-great songs into anthemic stadium crashers. I'm not a huge fan of Butch Vig, I think he has a very heavy touch! But he met (or predicted) the moment on that record. The industry/audience moment at least, I don't think the band entirely wanted what they got!
Most people would never have heard those songs without Butch Vig. They would not be on any RS Top X lists.
Kurt might still have been a genius, but he'd have been sharing a tour bus with others. I wonder if he'd still be alive.