Kurt Cobain’s 50 favorite albums
Dangerousminds.net reports this deeply sincere and honest phrase of Kurt Cobain: “Punk rock should mean freedom, pleasure and accept anything you like. Playing what you want. With all the flavor you want. As long as it is good and with passion”. Punk rock, in the vision of the frontman of Nirvanait wasn’t a fashion: it was a refusal. Cobain was obsessed with chaos and authenticity. His list of ’50 favorite albums’ It is not a well -kept playlist to get the public approval, it is a personal manifesto. Ignore the prestigious names.
During a 1993 interview granted to the Rolling Stone magazine, he commented on his relationship with the Beatles: “John Lennon was definitely my favorite beatle, without a doubt. I don’t know who wrote which parts of which Beatles songs, but McCartney embarrasses me. Lennon was obviously disturbed. So I could understand it.”
Continuing to talk about Lennon he said again: “From the books I read – and I am very skeptical about everything I read, especially on rock books – I was really sorry for him. Being locked up in that apartment. John Lennon was my idol for a lifetime, but you are wrong about the revolution. Find a representative of the wholesale or oppression and sauté the head of those children”.
Then there is Iggy. Bowie could also be glam, but Iggy embodied chaos and determination. Cobain declared that Iggy was the only rock star he really liked before he became it. Listen “Raw Power” It’s like receiving a kick in the stomach. While not loving rock stars, Cobain has always respected Iggy Pop: “Meeting people is in a certain sense a positive side of being a rock star. But in reality I met Iggy Pop before we became rock star, and it is practically the only person I have ever met that I admire and that I really appreciate a lot”.
Which makes his favorite album a little predictable: “I have always loved” Raw Power. I like the sound: the sincere sound of boys trying to break the barrier of sterile and artificial rock. And they succeeded. Excellent guitar and wonderful voice of Iggy. Source of inspiration for young people still today “.
THE
Pixies
They showed to Cobain that moderation can be equally hard. A moment a whisper, the one after a scream, all wrapped in extravagant pop returns. Kurt confessed to have written
“Smells like Teen Spirit”
trying to “copy” that atmosphere. “When I listened to the pixies for the first time, I felt so deeply linked to that band that I should have been part of it, or at least in a pixies cover band”. And talking about
“Smells like Teen Spirit”
: “I was trying to write the definitive pop song. In practice, I was trying to copy the pixies. I have to admit it.”
This to follow is the list of Kurt Cobain’s fifty favorite albums:
Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)
The Breeders – Pod (1990)
The Vaselines – Dying for It (1988, Lister As Pink Ep)
The Shaggs – Philosophy of the World (1969)
Fang – Landshark! (1982)
MDC – Millions of Dead Cops (1981)
Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid (1984, LISTED AS 1st EP)
Saccharine Trust – Paganicons (1981, Lister As 1st Ep)
Butthole Surfers – Pee Pee The Sailor (1983)
Black Flag – My War (1984)
Bad Brains – Rock for Light (1983)
Gang of Four – Entertainment! (1979)
Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
The Frogs – It’s Only Right and Natural (1989)
PJ Harvey – Dry (1992)
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
The Knack – Get the Knack (1979)
The Saints – Know Your Product (1978)
Kleenex – “Anything by:” (1978–1983, Collected on 1993’s Kleenex/Liliput Anthology)
The Raincoats – The Raincoats (1979)
Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth (1980)
Aerosmith – Rocks (1976)
Various Artists – What is it. (1982, Erroneously LISTED AS What is this?)
Rem – Green (1988)
Shonen Knife – Burning Farm (K Records Version, 1985)
The Slits – Cut (1979, Listed As Typical Girls)
The Clash – Combat Rock (1982)
The Faith/Void – The Faith/Void (1982)
Rites of Spring – Rites of Spring (1985)
Beat Happening – Jamboree (1988)
Tales of Terror – Tales of Terror (1984)
Leadbelly – Leadbelly’s Last Sessions Volume One (1953)
Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
Daniel Johnston – Yip/Jump Music (1983)
Flipper – Album – Generic Flipper (1982)
The Beatles – Meet The Beatles! (1964)
Half Japanese – We are they Who Ache With Amorous Love (1990)
Butthole Surfers – Locust ABORATION TECHNICIAN (1987)
Black Flag – Damaged (1981)
Fear – The Record (1982)
Public Image Ltd – The Flowers of Romance (1981)
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
Marine Girls – Beach Party (1981)
David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World (1970)
WIPERS – Is This Real? (1980)
WIPERS – Youth of America (1981)
WIPERS – Over the Edge (1983)
Mazzy Star – She Hangs Brightly (1990)
Swans – Young God (1984, erroneously listed as Raping a slave)
