The Over-rated Nirvana...

Many critics in recent weeks have been singing the praises of the recent release of a box set by Nirvana. I want to start this post by saying one thing first and foremost: I like Nirvana, own all the albums, think they were a good band and enjoyable for their time. Now that that's out of the way, I want to say another thing that's been on my mind. Nirvana are probably (maybe only eclipsed by the Sex Pistols, more to come on these clowns in the future...) the most overrated band of all time. Many critics have compared Kurt Cobain to John Lennon and made other grand statements about how he was the voice of a generation. This is really, really far off. The only reason Kurt Cobain is considered in such high regard these days is because he cowardly took his own life. His band was no more important than any of the other bands exploding at the time, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins were all as "great" if not more so. Many times a magazine will try to convince me that Nirvana is one of the top five bands of all time, and I put the rag down, shake my head and just stare off in to the distance puzzled. How can one make an argument that Niravana belongs in the same league as artists such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, U2, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, etc... ? Quite simply, you can't.
Nevermind was a great album, and that was about it for Nirvana. But you can't take a band that released one great album and seriously make an argument that they belong in a group that released albums of similar quality but volumes of it. Would Nirvana have released a few more landmark albums had Kurt Cobain not killed himself. Maybe, but more than likely not. One album does not a legend make in my book. Some will say that I'm being too hard on them, no one will ever be a "Beatles" or "Bob Dylan" and I would say that maybe that's the point. Those bands are considered the greatest based upon a volume of classic work, whereas Nirvana has one "landmark" album to lean on. In conclusion, he wasn't the "voice of a generation" (in fairness, he would tell you so himself...), Nirvana weren't the only band that blew hair metal back where it belonged, and they will never belong in a list of the top ten greatest of all time.