NIRVANA, GUNS N' ROSES Classics Among Top Songs Of Past Two Decades

[FunkyMonkey]

ABC News reports that NIRVANA's iconic 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" beat out hits from MADONNA, BRITNEY SPEARS and U2 to be named the best pop song in 20 years by Britain's Q magazine.

In its November issue, which celebrates Q's 20th anniversary, the publication set out to identify the top 20 singles of the past two decades. Their picks range from pop sensations like BRITNEY SPEARS' "?Baby, One More Time", and OUTKAST's "Hey Ya" to THE PRODIGY's punk/techno mix "The Firestarter" and GUNS N' ROSES' hard-edged rock ballad, "Sweet Child O' Mine".

"The thing about 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', it was a watershed moment in rock music. It changed everything," said Q magazine deputy editor Gareth Grundy of the iconic NIRVANA hit. "It put heavy music back on the map in the early 90's, really, that combination of punk-rock anger and the heavy BLACK SABBATH 70's metal. It was something new. Sulky kids everywhere loved NIRVANA and continue to do so."

Read more at ABC News. http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2682023&page=1

[Bodhi]

I can not describe the way my blood boils when I see Nirvana in the same league and sometimes beating out GNR on some of these "all-time" and "best of" lists.....

[crow316]

well, Nirvana and GnR were both very important rock bands that have a lot of similarities. Its true that Nirvana gets credit for doing something that GnR got started: Ending Hair Metal. But whatever.

[metallex78]

"It put heavy music back on the map in the early 90's"

Um, are they forgetting how successful Metallica's Black album and GN'R's UYI albums were in the early 90's...?

[lennonisgod]

"It put heavy music back on the map in the early 90's"

Um, are they forgetting how successful Metallica's Black album and GN'R's UYI albums were in the early 90's...?

For some reason the majority of people forget about the Illusions.  I never understand it and I kind of get pissed when people refer to GN'R as an 80's band.  They had some great fucking music in the 90's and probably some of the best music to come out of that decade.  They also had one of the longest tours in the history of music from 1991-1993. 

Who really cares though I guess??  As long as we still love the music they gave us and don't forget it then nobody else's opinion matters.  GN'R won't be an 80's band much longer when CD comes out and HOPEFULLY blows people away that aren't expecting it.

[von]

Nirvana sucks. "Hair Metal" killed itself. The timing was coincidental at best, and their punk-posteuring was just to cover their radio-friendly pop melodies, heavily being pushed by MTV at the time. If Kurt Cobain hadn't gone and killed himself, they'd be just another footnote, along with the whole corporate produced "Grunge" movement.

And yes, the Illusions are a masterpiece.

[JimMorrison4]

GNR and Metallica killed hair metal. I still don't know why Nirvana gets "credit" for it.

[D]

HAIR METAL IS DEAD??? why the fuck didnt someone tell me!

Fuckin Mullet, no wonder people snicker when i walk by.

[Continental Drift]

Nirvana deserves their due... but I hate how they get annointed as the "saviour" band of all things cool and meaningful.... AFD delivered a hard kick to the balls of the music industry and "changed the rules" etc. 4 fucking years before Nevermind... and that's just fucking fact.

[ARC]

And yes, the Illusions are a masterpiece.

Are you serious...?

If you took the best six tracks off both albums and made it one then, yes, that would be a masterpiece. But as it is, there is a lot of generic filler on there, and everybody knows this. The Illusions are not masterpieces as they currently are. As much as I love GNR, and Lord knows I do, "Nevermind" is a better record than either UYI in my opinion. Bring on the heat... 

[Apollon]

And yes, the Illusions are a masterpiece.

Are you serious...?

If you took the best six tracks off both albums and made it one then, yes, that would be a masterpiece. But as it is, there is a lot of generic filler on there, and everybody knows this. The Illusions are not masterpieces as they currently are. As much as I love GNR, and Lord knows I do, "Nevermind" is a better record than either UYI in my opinion. Bring on the heat...?

Really? How many stand-out songs does "Nevermind" have?

[estrangedpaul]

And yes, the Illusions are a masterpiece.

Are you serious...?

If you took the best six tracks off both albums and made it one then, yes, that would be a masterpiece. But as it is, there is a lot of generic filler on there, and everybody knows this. The Illusions are not masterpieces as they currently are. As much as I love GNR, and Lord knows I do, "Nevermind" is a better record than either UYI in my opinion. Bring on the heat...?

They're is really only about two or three songs from each of the Illusion albums which are worthless or filler. The rest are at least great songs on a par with many of the songs on Nevermind, and at Most, classic. There are at least 20 songs worthy of Nevermind.

Having said that I like Nevermind as well, but don't listen to it much anymore. SLTS, Come As You Are, Something in The Way, Territorial Pissings, Breed, all great songs. But all the songs on the Illusions are so different. They're my two favourite albums and they are masterpieces. There are so many songs on the Illusions which people never talk about which are in fact, classics, e.g. Dust N' Bones, Bad Obsession, Back Off Bitch, Double Talkin' Jive, The Garden, Don't Damn Me, Dead Horse, 14 Years, Breakdown, Pretty Tied Up, Locomotive, etc.

Add in the more popular ones like Coma, Estranged, November Rain, Don't Cry, Civil War, You Could Be Mine, and you've got two amazing albums.

To compare the two look at this way; take Don't Damn Me. Nobody outside GnR fanatics know this that well, it's considered an average GnR song. If GnR had put out the albums combined as one CD, it wouldn't have made it. But it's still better than most of the songs on Nevermind.

[marino95]

I agree that GNR and Metallica killed hair metal......  and am also annoyed by all the Nirvana credit given after the fact.

The funny thing is, Nevermind and Ten were both out BEFORE UYI and the Black Album.  GNR and Metallica were still the biggest bands in the world for a while after that.  Plus, I think what annoys me the most is that Nirvana was IMO the worst of the 4 Seattle bands from that era.  AIC and Soundgarden don't get nearly enough credit.

It's also funny how dated some of the Nirvana stuff sounds now - as opposed to Jungle & some of the other GNR classics.

[kaasupoltin]

We are talking about the classics of the past two decades, so please anyone, tell me why Nirvana should not be there? 'Cause grunge ran over 'hair-metal'?

[GeraldFord]

And yes, the Illusions are a masterpiece.

Are you serious...?

If you took the best six tracks off both albums and made it one then, yes, that would be a masterpiece. But as it is, there is a lot of generic filler on there, and everybody knows this. The Illusions are not masterpieces as they currently are. As much as I love GNR, and Lord knows I do, "Nevermind" is a better record than either UYI in my opinion. Bring on the heat...?

Everybody knows this? Ever heard of something called "an opinion"? It is MY opinion that the UYI Illusion albums are far better than nevermind, and I don't give a shit what any so-called rock expert has to say. My opinion is as valid as the head-geek over at AMG, SPIN or NME.

[The Legend]

ABC News reports that NIRVANA's iconic 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" beat out hits from MADONNA, BRITNEY SPEARS and U2 to be named the best pop song in 20 years by Britain's Q magazine.

In its November issue, which celebrates Q's 20th anniversary, the publication set out to identify the top 20 singles of the past two decades. Their picks range from pop sensations like BRITNEY SPEARS' "?Baby, One More Time", and OUTKAST's "Hey Ya" to THE PRODIGY's punk/techno mix "The Firestarter" and GUNS N' ROSES' hard-edged rock ballad, "Sweet Child O' Mine".

"The thing about 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', it was a watershed moment in rock music. It changed everything," said Q magazine deputy editor Gareth Grundy of the iconic NIRVANA hit. "It put heavy music back on the map in the early 90's, really, that combination of punk-rock anger and the heavy BLACK SABBATH 70's metal. It was something new. Sulky kids everywhere loved NIRVANA and continue to do so."

Read more at ABC News. http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2682023&page=1

Nirvana did not put heavy music back on the map. Metallica put heavy music back on the map.

That's a fact, that these freakin' Cobain ball lickers seem to forget...

[Crowebar]

I don't care what anyone says.......



Axl is  wayyyyyyyyyyyyy.........  more creative and talented than all of them.

[acompleteunknown]

There is nothing wrong with having an opinion.  If you don't like Nirvana, there's nothing wrong with that.  That's your opinion and your entitled to it.  But to say that Nirvana doesn't belong in as one of the most important bands, songs, albums, etc. is just wrong.  Were you asleep for 5 years in the early 90s?  How can you say the band would have been a footnote?  In Utero outsold UYI 1 before Cobain's death,  their unplugged performance was receiving heavy critical acclaim...again, before his death.  Regardless, Nirvana is here to stay. 

GNR and Metallica didn't kill hair metal.  Hair metal killed itself.  Hair metal was never good to begin with.  Oh sure some bands had some good material.  Cinderella, early Whitesnake, Def Leppard first two albums, etc. but on the whole, most of the music was pop versions of metal music...knock-offs of Van Halen, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin.  Metallica defined metal.  They were the band that set the mold for true metal music in the 80s.  That is why they have survived. 

GNR...was not metal.  They are a rock band.  A hard rock band.  They were unfairly looped in with metal.  But what GNR had that most glam/hair metal didn't have...is range!  Their songs had depth and texture.  But despite all this, hair metal still stuck around for 5 more years.  It was just the mode that the country was in.  Maybe defined by the cowboy political environment...but alternative music, despite its underground following...wasn't selling a lot of albums.

Metallica and GNR both has massive hit albums in the midst of an alternative revolution.  Why?  Because both bands were talented beyond the confines of their genre.  Nirvana just opened people's ears more than anything to different genres.  Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, RATM, NIN, and Soundgarden, AIC, STP all had equal hands in what happened.  Nirvana is given most of the credit because they were really the first. 

Were they first because they were great or great because they were first?  Well, that should really be the debate.

[CheapJon]

why have nirvana in the title of the thread

[gummyfish]

There is nothing wrong with having an opinion.? If you don't like Nirvana, there's nothing wrong with that.? That's your opinion and your entitled to it.? But to say that Nirvana doesn't belong in as one of the most important bands, songs, albums, etc. is just wrong.? Were you asleep for 5 years in the early 90s?? How can you say the band would have been a footnote?? In Utero outsold UYI 1 before Cobain's death,? their unplugged performance was receiving heavy critical acclaim...again, before his death.? Regardless, Nirvana is here to stay.?

GNR and Metallica didn't kill hair metal.? Hair metal killed itself.? Hair metal was never good to begin with.? Oh sure some bands had some good material.? Cinderella, early Whitesnake, Def Leppard first two albums, etc. but on the whole, most of the music was pop versions of metal music...knock-offs of Van Halen, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin.? Metallica defined metal.? They were the band that set the mold for true metal music in the 80s.? That is why they have survived.?

GNR...was not metal.? They are a rock band.? A hard rock band.? They were unfairly looped in with metal.? But what GNR had that most glam/hair metal didn't have...is range!? Their songs had depth and texture.? But despite all this, hair metal still stuck around for 5 more years.? It was just the mode that the country was in.? Maybe defined by the cowboy political environment...but alternative music, despite its underground following...wasn't selling a lot of albums.

Metallica and GNR both has massive hit albums in the midst of an alternative revolution.? Why?? Because both bands were talented beyond the confines of their genre.? Nirvana just opened people's ears more than anything to different genres.? Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, RATM, NIN, and Soundgarden, AIC, STP all had equal hands in what happened.? Nirvana is given most of the credit because they were really the first.?

Were they first because they were great or great because they were first?? Well, that should really be the debate.

well said.........but i still fucking hate cobain.. ..that pussy.