It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns

How's it going my gumdrops? Today is the day I learned in 1994, that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain committed suicide. I will never forget it. I was home for Easter and Spring Break. Learning on Good Friday from my mother, that the lead singer of a highly worshiped Grunge band died was a shocker as an 11-year-old. 

After watching TV during the afternoon on April 8, 1994, my mother walked into my bedroom saying, "The lead singer of Nirvana killed himself. They talked about it on the news, a little while ago." As if it wasn't depressing enough that John Candy died and my guinea pig was euthanized because he was sick on March 4, 1994. Literally 1 month later, I learned about Kurt Cobain committing suicide.

I highly doubt that preteens or so-called "'tweens" today would be able to endure all this tragic news. Then again, younger Millennials and Generation Zero have no idea what it's like to live through the last best decade of the 20th Century.

I am so glad I was able to grow up during the 1980's and '90s as opposed to the 21st Century. We are almost 20 years into this century and most of today's mainstream entertainment is garbage.

Yesterday I stumbled upon a Kids React video on YouTube. Watching kids as young as I was listening to Nirvana today made me laugh.

Kids React To Nirvana (2017)

Even children today cannot understand a single word coming from Kurt Cobain's mouth, which is hilarious. I always thought it was only me. As time progressed, I learned that other people had problems understanding what the man was saying.

It was not until I got my own TV and used closed captioning, that I was able to know what the hell Kurt Cobain was saying. Maybe had he not been so high on heroin, he could've enunciated his lyrics better.

Over the years, I watched Kurt Cobain in past interviews. He seemed really coherent and didn't mumble. When it came to Nirvana's albums and concert performances, he was fucked up on heroin. Kurt LOVED to vandalize music instruments and equipment. This was besides slamming himself into them. Looking back, I guess Kurt did have a death wish after all.

More than 2 decades later, journalists, critics, and hardcore Nirvana fans continue to put Kurt Cobain on a pedestal and label him as a "god." As much as I enjoyed Nirvana during my youth, I must admit that they were and still are a highly overrated 1990's Grunge band.

No disrespect to Kurt, his family, friends, former band mates, and die hard fans, but there were MORE TALENTED vocalists than him. He did some phenomenal art work before Nirvana and really should've pursued an art career. However, the drums and guitar riffs compensated for his indistinct singing abilities.

There have been other Grunge bands, during the 1990's which had better lead singers such as Sound Garden, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, etc. Some of you already know how much of a Stone Temple Pilots fan I was, during my youth from past blogs. I was also an Alice In Chains fan.

Kurt supposedly committed suicide (people still believe that his widow Courtney Love had him murdered) on April 5, 1994. 8 years later Alice In Chains' frontman, Layne Staley died from a drug overdose. By that time, I was already going into my college sophomore year.

Layne's death was shocking and sad. He was 1 of the more talented lead singers from a Grunge band.

Now that I am older, I believe Layne Staley was a MORE talented and versatile lead singer than Kurt Cobain ever could've been. The main reason why Kurt gets so much praise is because he was more of a "political activist" whereas Layne Staley was not. Layne battled with heroin addiction much like Kurt.

All the while, Layne still maintained the ability to ENUNCIATE the lyrics in songs he performed with Alice In Chains, Mad Season, and Class of '99. Alice In Chains really should've been praised a lot more than Nirvana.

I cannot recall of Nirvana being listed on any soundtracks the way Alice In Chains was during the '90s. Most importantly, Layne could sing The Blues like a Blues singer while fronting Grunge, Metal, and Hard Rock bands. This could NEVER be said about Kurt. It may seem as though I am bashing Kurt Cobain but I am not.

If anything, I am simply pointing out, that the media has spent more than 2 decades giving Kurt Cobain walk on water reviews, when there were more talented singers fronting other Grunge bands.

Considering all that I have said, here are 2 previous Song Saturday blogs I published featuring Alice In Chains and Nirvana.

Song Saturday: Nirvana Tribute (2014)

Song Saturday: Alice In Chains, Mad Season, & Class of '99's Layne Staley Tribute (2014)

In addition, here is a rarely played Nirvana song from their last album In Utero. Listen to the band's song "Dumb," while reading the lyrics. 

1) Nirvana "Dumb" In Utero (1994)

Meanwhile, here is a triple dose of rare Alice In Chains music videos for today's Song Saturday.

2) Alice In Chains "We Die Young" Facelift (1990)

3) Alice In Chains "Bleed The Freak" Facelift (1990)

4) Alice In Chains "Angry Chair" Dirt (1992)

Thank you my gumdrops! Don't forget to like, retweet, subscribe, share, + 1 on Google Plus, and leave your feedback in the comments section below!