Why Kurt Cobain!?

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In almost every top guitarists list i can find Kurt Cobain seems to appear in them (sometimes buckethead isnt even in them :eek: )

Why is he in them at all? I mean he wasnt a great guitarist was he? Hes just an influential guy who happened to play the guitar right? Or was he some sort of guitar god? :confused:
 
For me a great guitarist is somebody who can make 1000's of kids pick up a guitar and want to play.
For this reason Kurt Cobain, Johnny Ramone (Ramones), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) etc all fit the bill.
None of these are remotely 'GREAT' guitarists but are certainly influential and by default get the monicker.
 
What dmpoole said. I can remember back in school, every new guitarist knew a Nirvana song to play.
 
Everyone needs a smattering of Kurt Cobain. ;)
I apologise for that terrible joke

The only album he was involved in that I enjoyed was the Unplugged one, he still irritated the hell out of me but at least I could enjoy the album.

Lots of people were inspired by him though.

Simon/~Flibster
 
Protoman said:
yeh but what your sayin is hes a great influential person who happened to play guitar. But not a great guitarist.

But what is the definition of a great guitarist?
In my Dads day playing the intro of House Of the Rising Sun or the Shadows Apache made you a great guitarist.
 
id say the definition of a great guitarist is someone who can play guitar to an extremely high level of efficiency and skill. e.g buckethead, slash, jimi hendrix, joe satriani, steve vai...etc

not someone whos cool and can play guitar to a listenable level.
 
Protoman said:
not someone whos cool and can play guitar to a listenable level.

He wasnt just 'cool' he was in a band which defined a generation! he inspired a huge number of bands, he was an a incredible songwriter. he also played the guitar. Enough for you.;) Technicalities shouldnt come in as everything I am sure there are a lot of amazing guitar players around (probably better than Hendrix) that dont write good songs - its the way its played thats important I guess.
 
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Protoman said:
not someone whos cool and can play guitar to a listenable level.

haha funniest thing iv read in ages...

yes ok if it makes u feel better kurt cobain was just "cool" :rolleyes:

kurt cobain was and is a legend in his own right...he is the reason for most of the bands around today
 
Chrisp7 said:
its the way its played thats important I guess.

yeh thats what i mean, he couldnt play it amazingly, he could play it sure but it wasnt jaw dropping stuff

dont get me wrong i like(ed) him and his music, but i dont think he should be classed as a great guitarist.

rdizzle said:
kurt cobain was and is a legend in his own right...he is the reason for most of the bands around today

would you still be thinking that if he didnt die? hopefully people have noticed that if you die young and were in a fairly successful band your fame suddenly shoots sky high and your given legend status.




maybe im taking this too seriously :p
 
dmpoole said:
For me a great guitarist is somebody who can make 1000's of kids pick up a guitar and want to play.
For this reason Kurt Cobain, Johnny Ramone (Ramones), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) etc all fit the bill.
None of these are remotely 'GREAT' guitarists but are certainly influential and by default get the monicker.
Pretty much bang on.

He did something different at the end of the 80's/early 90's that with the help of a few other notable bands (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains) moved rock/guitar music in a totally new direction, and for that alone he deserves a pat on the back, despite not being the Jimmy Page of his generation.
 
Everyone knows 'Greatest guitarist' polls are absolute garbage, the only purpose they serve is to get other guitarists fired up about there not being 'X' guitarist in the top 10. Who cares?
 
Kurt Cobain should be known more for his song writing then his playing, I remember seeing an in bloom vid where when it got to the solo (my fave nirvana solo) he chucks his jag on the floor and rubs his feet along it, sounded crap, but says a lot about him.

Thing is I respect people like vai's playing ability, the stuff he does is beyond belief sometimes, but, 9 times out of 10, i'd rather listen to nirvana. (or satrani for that matter)


Kurt Cobain wasnt a great guitarist, but he was great.

tom morello on the other hand ;)
 
Protoman said:
yeh thats what i mean, he couldnt play it amazingly, he could play it sure but it wasnt jaw dropping stuff

dont get me wrong i like(ed) him and his music, but i dont think he should be classed as a great guitarist.



would you still be thinking that if he didnt die? hopefully people have noticed that if you die young and were in a fairly successful band your fame suddenly shoots sky high and your given legend status.




maybe im taking this too seriously :p

nirvana were one of the biggest bands in the world when kurt cobain died (part of the reason for his death) so you cant say that they shot to fame after his death. i think if kurt cobain was still alive today we would still class him as a legend in music, maybe even more so as he would have continued to make more pioneering music..
 
rdizzle said:
kurt cobain was and is a legend in his own right...he is the reason for most of the bands around today

kurt cobain was and is a *******...he is the reason for the turgidity of most of the bands around today.

*n
 
rdizzle said:
i think if kurt cobain was still alive today we would still class him as a legend in music, maybe even more so as he would have continued to make more pioneering music..

pray tell...what is pioneering about a fifth rate meat puppets covers band...?

...because I'm dying to find out...

*n
 
rdizzle said:
little insensitive don't you think?
sorry...you seem to have me mistaken for someone who cares for the feelings of dead junkies...

he was a talentless fop who happened to be in the right place at the right time and who remains worshipped by only two sections of society; kerrang readers and children of between the ages of 11 and 11 1/2

*n
 
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