Nirvana

I’m posting this on Thursday because I’ll be out of town this weekend.  Moreover, my lazy writer’s block has me retrieving an issue which I meant to address earlier but never got around to until now:  one of the top Four Grunge bands, Nirvana.  Actually, I did discuss this band earlier, but that was before I got all three of their albums. 

As I mentioned earlier, my favorites of the grunge genre are Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, both of which I saw back in the early 90’s, the former on the Superunknown tour, the latter on the Facelift tour with Layne Staley, opening for the Clash of the Titans (Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth) and Van Halen.   Those two bands have a strong Black Sabbath influence which I liked. 

I heard so much Nirvana on the radio – particularly, of course, “Smells Like the Teen Spirit” – and music videos that I was never inclined to actually purchase any of their music.  None of it impressed me.  Kurt Cobain did not impress me.  Nor, for that matter, did Pearl Jam or Eddie Vedder, and while I have Ten and a few others by PJ, I’ve never bothered to see them in concert either.  Of the four bands, Nirvana seem to have a PUNK influence and less Iommi there.  Again, not impressed.

Bleach (1989).  This is their first album, and has Chas Channing on drums instead of Dave Grohl.  Krist Novoselic is the bassist, and of course the guitarist/vocalist/songwriter is Kurt Cobain.  I got the deluxe version with all the extra tracks and live stuff, basically to binge on everything.   It’s more raw and punk-oriented than Nevermind but OK to listen to.

Nevermind (1991).  This is clearly the album that blew them open big time.  “Smells Like The Teen Spirit”?  Yes, it’s on here.  The only songs I like are “In Bloom”, and the extra track (of course I got the two disc “deluxe edition”) “Curmudgeon”, which is Hawkwind-esque.  Whoever decided which songs should be the singles was 100% correct, as the other songs aren’t as good, though not as shitty as to qualify as filler. 

In Utero (1993).   As to say “f**K you” to the record company and all the lesser bandwagon fans who bought Nevermind at Sam Goody or FYE for $16.99, Kurt and the boys got as radio-unfriendly as they could on this album, even to the point of having an obnoxious song called “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter”.   

Kurt Cobain kills himself.  In April 1994 Kurt Cobain shot himself.  Game over.  His body was found after several days. 

            Apparently he was unhappy.  Duff McKagan, the GNR bassist, says shortly before that he was on the plane with Kurt going to Seattle, and Kurt was remarkably upbeat, out of character for him.  Duff said, “ok, that told me that something was very wrong with him.”  He had stomach problems and was also addicted to heroin.

            Among the Gen X crowd I was hanging out with at the time, at Montclair State University in New Jersey, who worshipped Kurt as a modern-day rock god, the suicide really bummed them out.  I was neither happy nor sad, and since Kurt had tried to kill himself before, not surprised either. 

Dave Grohl.  After Nirvana, drummer Dave Grohl formed a band, just for the hell of it, the Foo Fighters.  Like Tool, this band just to screw around ended up being more successful than many bands who actually try to be successful.  Grohl has also played in Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures, a supergroup with QOTSA guitarist/vocalist John Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.  I find Grohl much more likeable and normal than Kurt Cobain, though I’m not a big fan of the Foo Fighters and have never seen them in concert.  

Queens of the Stone Age

As you might have guessed, this blog is due to a recent concert, Queens of the Stone Age, at Merriweather Post Pavilion, in Columbia, Maryland, on July 17, 2014.   QOTSA (as they are commonly referred to) were the headliner for a change.  I had seen them three times before:  in June and September 2002 at the new 9:30 Club (Washington, DC) on the Songs for The Deaf tour, and in September 2008 on the Era Vulgaris tour at the Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore.   By now Nick Oliveri is no longer with the band.

The current lineup is Josh Homme (vocals & guitar), Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar), Dean Fertita (keyboards & guitars), Michael Shuman (bass), and Jon Theodore (drums).  In the past Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) has been on drums, and the inimitable Oliveri was the prior bassist.

They have six studio albums now, self-titled (1998), Rated R (2000), Songs For the Deaf (2002), Lullabies to Paralyze (2005), Era Vulgaris (2007) and …Like Clockwork (2013).   I got into them shortly after Rated R came out, and to date that remains my favorite album.  Somehow it breathes more, it’s less compressed, and it has my favorite songs, including “Better Living Through Chemistry.” 

QOTSA’s musical style can best be described – by me, at least – as a funky variant of Soundgarden.  They have their own style, somewhat twisted lyrics and sense of humor.  It has to be heard to be appreciated – if at all.

It’s funny that I didn’t like Oliveri when he was in the band, but I miss him now that he’s gone.   In his absence the band’s stage presence is simply Homme singing and playing guitar backed by 4 competent nobodies.  There are no gimmicks, lasers, light shows, or anything aside from the band.  Homme’s intersong banter is arrogant and nasty, but at least coherent.

QOTSA has a connection with the following three groups, which merit mention herein, as follows:

Kyuss.   Any discussion of QOTSA should include Kyuss.  This was one of the first “stoner rock” bands, active between 1987 and 1997, with a revolving lineup.  John Garcia (vocals), Homme, Oliveri, and Brant Bjork (drums) are the most important members.  They made 4 albums before breaking up, but they’ve reformed recently around Garcia, Bjork and Oliveri as Kyuss Lives.   Apparently Homme still has the rights to Kyuss, so Garcia then renamed the group Vista Chino.  I don’t find the Homme-less material as good as what they did with him.  We actually saw Kyuss in 1995, opening for White Zombie at Merriweather, but I can’t remember that set.  I made up for that by seeing Kyuss Lives in 2011. 

Masters of Reality.   Founder and main member Chris Goss has a close relationship with Homme and Kyuss.  He produced the Kyuss albums and the first two QOTSA albums, including Rated R.  While it may be a stretch to call him “the godfather of stoner rock” (as some do), he undeniably has a major role in the genre.  This band’s material is also good, though I’ve yet to collect all of it.

Them Crooked Vultures.  This was a short-lived “supergroup” of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones (yes, the Led Zeppelin bassist/keyboardist), with one self-titled album (2009) and a brief tour I couldn’t catch.  The band they sound closest to is (drumroll, please) QOTSA.