2nd biggest band ever?

[Moffo]

so many bands wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Nirvana

Their contribution to the music scene is undeniable. They were the inspiration for many that made the 90s as great as it was

 

[carcharias]

Hevy Devon.... your an idiot.

Nirvana where huge way before he killed himself.

Just because Nirvana didn't play the music you pull you slug over doesn't mean they were no good.

They changed the fuggen world.

I will Listen to their albums forever ...it was the perfect music for that era.
They didn't need stupid fuggen outfits and makeup , nor did they carry on like superstars.

Maybe you just didn't get it.

 

[HevyDevy]

They were big, no doubt, but his death is what made them legendary.

Put it this way, they were no bigger than Pearl Jam at the time.

I like Nirvana and have most of their albums but as I've said before, give me 10 grunge bands and Nirvana would be the last I'd choose to listen to.

 

[HevyDevy]

so many bands wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Nirvana

Their contribution to the music scene is undeniable. They were the inspiration for many that made the 90s as great as it was

No argument from me.

By the same token, Nirvana were inspired by the likes of Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden who were at the heart of the Seattle grunge scene

 

[Alex28]

Pixies and Mudhoney are far more influential than Nirvana. Nirvana simply made alternate music more mainstream.

 

[carcharias]

Pixies and Mudhoney are far more influential than Nirvana. Nirvana simply made alternate music more mainstream.

Influential to who?

 

[Moffo]

Pixies and Mudhoney are far more influential than Nirvana. Nirvana simply made alternate music more mainstream.

infuluential to the music scene and wider community?

come on you have to be joking

 

[HevyDevy]

Influential to who?

Nirvana for a start

 

[carcharias]

Nirvana for a start

Yeah ...so how does that make them more influential?
Everyone has to be enfluenced in some capacity from someone else.

Cobain also mentions The Vasolines, The Melvins, the Beatles and Aerosmith as having an inflence on him.

Nirvana had a bigger impact on more people than Mudhoney ever did.

Fuggen hell Mark Arm would tell you that.

 

[HevyDevy]

At what point did I say they were more influential?

 

[carcharias]

At what point did I say they were more influential?

You didn't..but then again the question you answered wasn't directed at you.

 

[HevyDevy]

Here's my basic point.

Nirvana were certainly the most influential grunge band worldwide, marginally ahead of Pearl Jam. The difference was Kurt blowing his brains out - it pushed them from popular to legendary.

HOWEVER, they didn't have that level of influence in Seattle where the bands mentioned previously kickstarted the grunge trend. The grunge scene was already alive and kicking when Nirvana emerged from nowhere to take the world by storm. Ironically, Smells Like Teen Spirit has very little in common with grunge at all. It's a simple, catchy track that I'll only give credit to for the notoriety it helped bring the more interesting (albeit less commercial) Seattle bands - Alice in Chains etc.

It was tragic that Layne Staley's death passed with barely a murmer when he left Kurt for dead (no pun intended)

 

[Moffo]

that one song alone was deeply embedded in the brains of millions of youth worldwide. It literally kick started a new generation

You cannot underestimate the influence, even that song alone, had on the generation of that day

 

[HevyDevy]

As I said

 

[Raider_69]

The Stones or Queen IMO, both up there with the Beetles, and leave the rest for dead

 

[HevyDevy]

Zeppelin!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alex28]

No Mudhoney and Pixies = No Nirvana for starters. They essentially started the "grunge" genre. Just because they didn't sell a heap of albums doesn't mean they weren't influential.

All Nirvana did was make grunge music more accessable. Their music was certainly not any more revolutionary than the early bands - you can hear plenty of Pixies influences in 'Nevermind'. Ultimately they released a decent album and had a popular image. They were big back then but have become much bigger since Cobain killed himself.

Put them up on a pedistal if you will, but give the pioneers of grunge music their dues.

 

[HevyDevy]

Top all-time, best-selling bands, based on U.S. album sales (in millions):

1. The Beatles 163.52.
2. Led Zeppelin103.53.
3. Eagles 83.5
4. Pink Floyd 68.5
5. AC/DC 63.0
6. Aerosmith 59.5
7. The Rolling Stones 53.5
8. Van Halen 50.5
9. Metallica 48.0
10. Fleetwood Mac 46.0

 

[HevyDevy]

No Mudhoney and Pixies = No Nirvana for starters. They essentially started the "grunge" genre. Just because they didn't sell a heap of albums doesn't mean they weren't influential.

All Nirvana did was make grunge music more accessable. Their music was certainly not any more revolutionary than the early bands - you can hear plenty of Pixies influences in 'Nevermind'. Ultimately they released a decent album and had a popular image. They were big back then but have become much bigger since Cobain killed himself.

Put them up on a pedistal if you will, but give the pioneers of grunge music their dues.

Oh, and yes I agree

Incidentally, Alex28, have you heard the Mad Season album that was made as a tribute to the great Andrew Wood?

 

[Alex28]

Yeah ...so how does that make them more influential?
Everyone has to be enfluenced in some capacity from someone else.

Cobain also mentions The Vasolines, The Melvins, the Beatles and Aerosmith as having an inflence on him.

Nirvana had a bigger impact on more people than Mudhoney ever did.

Fuggen hell Mark Arm would tell you that.

infuluential to the music scene and wider community?

come on you have to be joking

When we mention 'influence' in this thread, are we referring to the influence a band has on other artists, or are we talking about how many t-shirts with the band on it are worn? I mean...seriously...Britney Spears is influential to a generation of teenage girls - but is that the influence we are referring to?

Nirvana influenced a wider community no doubt. I also think they initially got the youth interested in picking up a guitar and wanting to play their music.

However, within the music industry they certainly weren't the band that people wanted to make music like. People in the industry already knew who Pixies, The Melvins, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, et al were - Nirvana was the meal ticket they were all after and created a viable industry for their music.

For instance Silverchair listed bands like Helmet and You Am I as influences - both bands have sold bugger all albums but a band like You Am I have been incredibly influential to the Australian music industry just through their presence and longevity.