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[MrCunningham]

EDIT: Also, like them or hate them, Green Day also was an influence band during the 90s and early 2000.

Green Day mostly ripped on the the Sex Pistols and Billy Joe patterned himself after Johnny Rotten and possibly even Billy Idol. You could call Green Day the radio friendly version of the Sex Pistols, but for the 90's, which made them very popular.

THe argument could be made that Cypress Hill was the last defining music act of the last generation with their weed schtick and metal rock influences that would define a lot the nu-metal of the two thousands while still keeping it real to their hip hop roots.

This is a really good choice. It is hard to peg them as the direct influence of Nu-Metal, as Run DMC and The Beastie Boys predate them. Faith No more also released "The Real Thing" in 1989 which is a heavy influence on the genre as well. But the laid back attitude and the sound of Cypress Hill did influence a lot. They were also the biggest selling Latino band worldwide during the peak of their popularity.

 

[Sequence Six]

I sure met a lot of folks as an undergrad that absolutely loathed Kubrick for being more of an artist than a storyteller. It was very similar to the people in my early upper-level English courses who refused to see allegory in works simply because they hated the idea of that being artsy as well.

There's no doubt that some people aim for popular and revered examples when they want to sound edgy in their critiques. But that's certainly not the only reason to criticize those artists.

 

[CharminUltra]

Here we are now, entertain us.

 

[BocoDragon]

In retrospect, rock music was only the default genre of popular music for about 40 years. I think really big pop artists or DJs are just as much the "generation defining" musicians if you aren't locked into the mindset that there must always be a new Beatles.

 

[Steamlord]

Bruh, sound of wind and moody breeze are music now because of Sigur Ros.

If that isn't revolutionised music nothing is.

Aleatoric music and musique concrète have been around since the first half of the 20th century. Their characteristics have been incorporated into more conventional song structures since at least the 60s.

 

[reelbigtink]

There's no doubt that some people aim for popular and revered examples when they want to sound edgy in their critiques. But that's certainly not the only reason to criticize those artists.

You're right about that. And of course Nirvana isn't perfect and should be criticized, just like everyone else.

But they defined a culture and represented a major upheaval of the status quo.. It doesn't matter who "really" did it. Pavement, Pearl Jam, PIxies, whoever. What matters is who gets the credit in the end.

 

[apocalidiot]

Important defining acts since Nirvana:

Radiohead
Death Grips
Arcade Fire

 

[not psycho]

Nirvana is one of my favorite bands, and In Utero may be the best album ever recorded, but when people call them a generation defining act it is not about the music. In terms of influence, there are plenty of bands with much more, including some of Nirvana's own influences. Even most other grunge bands and their followers never sounded like or seemed to draw much influence from Nirvana.

So put the music aside (again, I consider it among the best of all time). What you have left is the personality of the band and Kurt Cobain particularly. And in that aspect, it makes more sense to call them a generation defining music act. Cobain is seen as the defining music star of that era.

 

[Wiktor]

Guns and Roses was much bigger than Nirvana.

 

[DoktorEvil]

Radiohead exists, so no.

 

[norm9]

Guns and Roses was much bigger than Nirvana.

GnR were definitely way bigger. But if you were watching MTV and their top 10 videos at the time, you could see Nirvana and their ilk slowly displacing all the hairbands right after Teen Spirit. By the end of the year, Nelson, Mister Big, Damn Yankees and all these other bands were replaced by STP, Pearl Jam, and other grungy bands. So as far as influence, Nirvana definitely were bigger in that sense.

If you were a band in the Pacific Northwest, you got signed.

ETA2- Even my sister, who was a Bon Jovi mark, knew Nirvana songs.

Radiohead exists, so no.

ETA- Radiohead only influenced Coldplay.

 

[C4Lukins]

Rock music maybe yes.

You could argue Radiohead, but they were not on the same level popularity wise.

Eminem was a thing. And then Jay Z.

They are close, but Nirvana and a few other bands completely destroyed the idea of pop music for a few years. I am not sure we have had something comparable in the past 20 years.

 

[WaffleTaco]

I would say of the 2000's...probably Eminem. The 2010's...maybe Taylor Swift and Kanye West. Taylor for just having so many ridiculous hit songs in a row for years on end. Kanye for having just the egotistical actions and stunts that keeps people talking about him. One day he's naming an album Yeezus, a direct play on a major religion, marrying an incredibly rich fashion designer, naming his baby North, as well as finally give his wife the ability to come to terms with her step-father transitioning into a woman.

 

[C4Lukins]

Guns and Roses was much bigger than Nirvana.

Not really. Use Your Illusion 2 came out the same year as Nevermind and Ten. The Seattle bands killed Guns N Roses.

 

[C4Lukins]

This thread again?

Nirvana wasn't even the defining act of its decade. Cobain doesn't blow his brains out and nobody remembers that band.

I Will not attack you on this, because I just assume ignorance and you were either to young or just not paying attention.

Nirvana was huge well before Cobain decided to blow his brains out.

Nevermind had like 5 hits and sold ten million copies. In Utero was a number one album. And as is the popular but not mythic truth, Nirvana beat out Michael Jackson for the number one spot.

And withen a year, all the hair metal was dead. All of pop rock was dead. They helped kill it all. And it lead to STP, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins replacing Motley Crue, and well every other shitty band that was similar.


But as far as defining music acts. You had pop stars like Mariah Carrey around the same time. And then you also had NWA who were super influential. Other shit was happening in different genres.

 

[Onemic]

yeezy

 

[Livingskeletons]

Not really. Use Your Illusion 2 came out the same year as Nevermind and Ten. The Seattle bands killed Guns N Roses.

Eh GNR killed themselves by never making a proper follow up to Appetite. (also Axl being a complete nutcase drama queen)

Illusion had some good moments but way too much filler.

In any case Nirvana will always be the band that exposed the alt rock scene to the mainstream for better or for worse.

That's their legacy.

 

[daviyoung]

Tiesto is.

 

[T0KY0ST0MP]

I recently watched the montage of heck and lost a lot of respect for cobain.
Troubled or whatever, he wasn't a particularly smart person.
Previously he had a aura of artistry to me, but now he seems like a whiny cunt who happened to make it big.

 

[C4Lukins]

Eh GNR killed themselves by never making a proper follow up to Appetite. (also Axl being a complete nutcase drama queen)

Illusion had some good moments but way too much filler.

In any case Nirvana's will always be the band that exposed the alt rock scene to the mainstream.

That's their legacy in a nutshell.

GNR was the only hair band worthy of making it. And I have to agree, Nirvana did not kill them, they committed suicide with the Spaghetti Incident.

 

[chronic_archaic]

I feel they get a bit too much credit. They did what they did well. The problem is there were so many other bands in the same league. While the early 90s grunge period isn't my forte, I know enough about Nirvana to comment on something.

Nevermind and In Utero definitely aren't sister albums, but stylistically Nirvana never went far past the style on Bleach. It's unfortunate - Kurt definitely seemed like he had many ideas. As for the generation defining - Alice In Chains had a hit before Nevermind - Pearl Jam did as well. Smashing Pumpkins was a bit different but get shoved into grunge for some reason. And then STP being them. All those bands influenced a generation, not just one album.

 

[Wiktor]

Not really. Use Your Illusion 2 came out the same year as Nevermind and Ten. The Seattle bands killed Guns N Roses.

To me GnR was the last great rock band untill Kobain's emo wailing killed the genre for many years
But at their height of their pupularity GNR was a lot bigger than Nirvana ever was.

 

[C4Lukins]

I recently watched the montage of heck and lost a lot of respect for cobain.
Troubled or whatever, he wasn't a particularly smart person.
Previously he had a aura of artistry to me, but now he seems like a whiny cunt who happened to make it big.

That was a hard watch.

But you watch his Unplugged performance, and it is amazing. And that was shortly before his suicide.

He was a fucked up dude, who killed himself during his prime. I am still a little sympathetic though towards him. He was still a kid when he was on top of the world. It is a sad story.

 

[UraMallas]

I was an 8th grader when Teen Spirit hit MTV. I remember the first time I saw the video. I was watching MTV before school. I thought about it all day and when lunch came, my friends we're talking about it. I thought it was awesome but the legitimization through my classmates intensified it and vice-versa. I shit you not, within 2 weeks my school was half-filled with brown Doc Marten boots, baggy jeans with holes in them, oversized flannels and unkempt hair.

The day Kurt died, I saw classmates crying in the hallways. The staff handed out fliers about suicide hotlines and going to the counselors if anybody needed to talk to someone about it.

I can't speak to cultural shifts that followed but looking back on that time and that music makes it hard to imagine another artist that had a similar effect since.

It was a pretty big deal.

 

[BocoDragon]

I was an 8th grader when Teen Spirit hit MTV. I remember the first time I saw the video. I was watching MTV before school. I thought about it all day and when lunch came, my friends we're talking about it. I thought it was awesome but the legitimization through my classmates intensified it and vice-versa. I shit you not, within 2 weeks my school was half-filled with brown Doc Marten boots, baggy jeans with holes in them, oversized flannels and unkempt hair.

The day Kurt died, I saw classmates crying in the hallways. The staff handed out fliers about suicide hotlines and going to the counselors if anybody needed to talk to someone about it.

I can't speak to cultural shifts that followed but looking back on that time and that music makes it hard to imagine another artist that had a similar effect since.

It was a pretty big deal.

There were teenage copycat suicides after Cobain died too.

 

[theignoramus]

Wu Tang Clan
Feels like a huge chunk of males between 25-40 even slightly in tune with pop culture grew up on their shit.
And then there's Eminem. He was a huge cultural obsession for white people in the early 2000s. When 8 mile came out, it got even crazier.

 

[Anth0ny]

I know no one wants to admit it, but...

Mr. 305 AKA Mr. Worldwide's unique blend of hip hop and house music has defined the modern sound of popular music.

You know it to be true.

 

[-Eddman-]

Globally, yes. In the United States rap took over the pop culture and influenced everything else up to these days.

Sadly, I don't think we will ever see another Elvis, Bowie, Morrison, Cobain, etc. The music industry has adopted the disposable japanese idol model since nobody buys records anymore.

 

[C4Lukins]

To me GnR was the last great rock band untill Kobain's emo wailing killed the genre for many years
But at their height of their pupularity GNR was a lot bigger than Nirvana ever was.

It does not matter who was bigger, Nirvana killed butt rock for a time. and Axel has had two decade to get his shit together, and postmortem Cobain is still the bigger name. I doubt if he had lived, we would ever had to experience orange dread locks and Cobain abandoning concerts looking like carrot top.

 

[Gr1mLock]

I feel they get a bit too much credit. They did what they did well. The problem is there were so many other bands in the same league. While the early 90s grunge period isn't my forte, I know enough about Nirvana to comment on something.

Nevermind and In Utero definitely aren't sister albums, but stylistically Nirvana never went far past the style on Bleach. It's unfortunate - Kurt definitely seemed like he had many ideas. As for the generation defining - Alice In Chains had a hit before Nevermind - Pearl Jam did as well. Smashing Pumpkins was a bit different but get shoved into grunge for some reason. And then STP being them. All those bands influenced a generation, not just one album.

The entire subpop stable was doing pretty good and was on the verge of blowing up nationally. Soundgarden had been a band for quite a while and AiC was opening up for Slayer the year Facelift came out. STP and RHCP were doing well in California too. White Zombie, Tool, Smashing Pumpkins etc etc were all producing great music in relatively close time windows.

 

[FZZ]

Yeezy

Yeezy obvs

Spoiler

popcorn.gif

It's kanye west.

Kanye, off of 808s alone.

yeezy

.

Nobody in this thread understands what generation or defining means. Spice Girls and Oasis?

We're talking about an entire sound that lasted for around 8 years which is absolutely epic in terms of music, we're talking about slamming the door shut on hair metal and new wave, we're talking about an *entire* generation and a before-after DEFINING moment when music changed forever.

I challenge anyone in this thread to name a musical act since Nirvana to be the defining moment of both an end of one genre and the (popular) foundation of the next. Other than Dre/Tupac/Biggie (which definitely had a before/after effect on everything), there really is nobody.

And I don't even like Nirvana. They owed their sound to the Pixies.

Oasis, LOL. You guys can have these big, awesome, massively popular acts that last for an entire decade but that's not what generation defining means. SPICE GIRLS. (!!!)

Yeah it's Kanye.

Also for reference Kanye's discography will outlast Nirvana's by decades.

 

[-Eddman-]

.




Yeah it's Kanye.

Also for reference Kanye's discography will outlast Nirvana's by decades.

Americans really overestimate the number of people who give a shit about rap outside the US. I'm sure there will be kids from Tanzania or Nepal playing Smells Like Teen Spirit in their bedrooms with cheap guitars in fucking 2050.

 

[Mad Season]

Alice in chains had influenced more bands

 

[secondspace]

Grunge changed rock forever and Nirvana were the popular face of grunge. I don't think that their music stayed relevant for the masses for very long though and I wonder how much the internet had to do with the dramatic shift from rock to rap that came after.

 

[C4Lukins]

I feel they get a bit too much credit. They did what they did well. The problem is there were so many other bands in the same league. While the early 90s grunge period isn't my forte, I know enough about Nirvana to comment on something.

Nevermind and In Utero definitely aren't sister albums, but stylistically Nirvana never went far past the style on Bleach. It's unfortunate - Kurt definitely seemed like he had many ideas. As for the generation defining - Alice In Chains had a hit before Nevermind - Pearl Jam did as well. Smashing Pumpkins was a bit different but get shoved into grunge for some reason. And then STP being them. All those bands influenced a generation, not just one album.

True that it was several bands, and not just Nirvana.

But you are wrong on the chronology. Alice in Chains and Soundgarden had moderate hits on MTV before Smells like Teen Spirit. There was no big hit off of Gish for Smashing Pumpkins so again Nirvana predates Smashing Pumpkins. Ten came out before Nevermind, but Nirvana had the first hit.

Smells Like Teen Spirit was the game changer, and Would, Jeremy, Today, Creep, and Black Hole Sun were all after the fact.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

Most popular music today is garbage so who gives a shit who defines this generation. I don't hate Kanye West but nothing I've heard from him compels me to listen to more of his music. It's the same with a lot of artists today in every genre. Nothing grabs me. There are good albums here and there but overall new music sucks balls and has for awhile. Oldmanyellingatcloud.jpg

Nirvana was a great band but not even best of the 90s. Kurt getting murdered took the band into legendary status but if that didn't happen they would have crapped out another album or two, broke up, got back together years later and further ruined their legacy like every other band did

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Americans really overestimate the number of people who give a shit about rap outside the US. I'm sure there will be kids from Tanzania or Nepal playing Smells Like Teen Spirit in their bedrooms with cheap guitars in fucking 2050.

Some guy from the 313 fits that bill, but he doesn't sell $100 white tees show he's not exactly in with Milan crowd.

 

[C4Lukins]

Most popular music today is garbage so who gives a shit who defines this generation. I don't hate Kanye West but nothing I've heard from him compels me to listen to more of his music. It's the same with a lot of artists today in every genre. Nothing grabs me. There are good albums here and there but overall new music sucks balls and has for awhile. Oldmanyellingatcloud.jpg

Nirvana was a great band but not even best of the 90s. Kurt getting murdered took the band into legendary status but if that didn't happen they would have crapped out another album or two, broke up, got back together years later and further ruined their legacy like every other band did

He was not murdered. He totally killed himself. It took him three plus tries but he finally did it.

 

[GoonerTRON]

Spice Girls?

 

[bonesmccoy]

Nirvana, love them or hate them, were the representatives of grunge culture which was immensely popular in the early to mid 90s and grunge became the defining music of that particular generation. It was also possibly the last generation of music before the Internet became hugely popular.

It seems like since then popular music has become much more splintered and the top 40 generally caters to dance/club music.

Were Nirvana and co the last group to transcend their music and become a cultural movement?

If you ignore all the other hugely popular, generation-defining musical acts of that time period, sure!

 

[Gr1mLock]

.




Yeah it's Kanye.

Also for reference Kanye's discography will outlast Nirvana's by decades.

That's hilarious. 25 years later Nirvana still sells records, still plays on the radio, is still in movies and games, is still the subject of documentaries, books and magazine articles. 25 years from now the only way someone will hear a Kanye West song is if they accidentally watch the hangover. He will go down as the Creed of hip hop.

 

[wildfire]

Nobody in this thread understands what generation or defining means. Spice Girls and Oasis?

We're talking about an entire sound that lasted for around 8 years which is absolutely epic in terms of music, we're talking about slamming the door shut on hair metal and new wave, we're talking about an *entire* generation and a before-after DEFINING moment when music changed forever.

I challenge anyone in this thread to name a musical act since Nirvana to be the defining moment of both an end of one genre and the (popular) foundation of the next. Other than Dre/Tupac/Biggie (which definitely had a before/after effect on everything), there really is nobody.

And I don't even like Nirvana. They owed their sound to the Pixies.

Oasis, LOL. You guys can have these big, awesome, massively popular acts that last for an entire decade but that's not what generation defining means. SPICE GIRLS. (!!!)

The people who mentioned Britney Spears and Kanye were on point. No need to get mad over music you don't like.

I Will not attack you on this, because I just assume ignorance and you were either to young or just not paying attention.

Nirvana was huge well before Cobain decided to blow his brains out.

....

Other shit was happening in different genres.

True enough. Around the same time Nirvana was super popular so was Wu Tang Clan and they seemed to be fairly influential.

 

[C4Lukins]

.




Yeah it's Kanye.

Also for reference Kanye's discography will outlast Nirvana's by decades.

I think they will both have a long shelf life.

But Nirvana is at 25 million albums sold in the US. Kanye is at 11, with twice as many albums. Actually Nevermind has outsold Kanyes entire library. So yeah that is a thing.

 

[sandy1297]

yeah, him dying caused Nirvana to ascend from a great band into legendary status

I mean, you will never knew what will happened next since he's dead, he might started going downhill like Axl or cashing in on old popularity like Hetfield

or goes totally nuts with creativity like this dude that used to make good music

 

[The Bad Guy]

Dipset by far...

 

[computers putin']

Soulja Boy Tellem. He paved the way for being signed off of Youtube/the Internet and gave unsigned internet artists hope.

I never would've thought of Soulja Boy, but yeah, I agree with you.

 

[MattKeil]

They didn't come to define "the" generation until well after. Hell, in the early 90s you were still either into Pearl Jam or Nirvana. The idea that a single fan could like both bands was sort of grunge apostasy. You would have had a lot of people arguing against you in 1992 or 1993 if you said that Nirvana is this generational voice, as popular as they were, similar to how if you ever said that about any music act today, you'd get a big blowback. Music is more splintered now, but Beyonce and Taylor Swift both seem to have a far greater reach today than Nirvana had in 1991 or 1992.

This is pretty much nonsense. There was no doubt at the time that Nirvana was the absolute game changer. I have no memory whatsoever of any kind of Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam fan rivalry. Everyone liked both of them, but Smells Like Teen Spirit was universally acknowledged as the watershed moment.

 

[Vice]

Rock music maybe yes.

You could argue Radiohead, but they were not on the same level popularity wise.

Eminem was a thing. And then Jay Z.

They are close, but Nirvana and a few other bands completely destroyed the idea of pop music for a few years. I am not sure we have had something comparable in the past 20 years.

Kanye and Garth Brooks both had massive crossover appeal.Both had tons of imitators and their influence lasted for years as well in and out of their genre.

I think they will both have a long shelf life.

But Nirvana is at 25 million albums sold in the US. Kanye is at 11, with twice as many albums. Actually Nevermind has outsold Kanyes entire library. So yeah that is a thing.

Pre-napster and post-Napster sales comparisons will result in nearly any major act from the past always leading in sales to a contemporary act.

Edit: As far as world wide appeal goes, I believe Kanye was part of the trend of popular rappers who branched out internationally in the early 00s. It wasn't unusual to hear Kanye or Pharrell on a Japanese or European hip-hop album dropping a verse.

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

Absolutely. The were a driving force behind the popularization of Alternative music, destroyed 80s "cock rock," and turned an underground scene into a nationwide bonanza. Skaters were wearing flannel while performing to a bastardized version of grunge at Ice Capades, for fucks sake.

 

[Siegcram]

Also for reference Kanye's discography will outlast Nirvana's by decades.

What am I reading?