GOD I Miss you....... Review on Nirvana - Nirvana

This review is dedicated to my Friend Rehan, the biggest Kurt fan I have ever met in life. And I am so very thankful to him for introducing me to Nirvana and the God named Kurt Cobain.

Born on Feb 20, 1967 in Hoquaim, a small town 140 kms south-west of Seattle, Kurt Donald Cobain was the leader of Nirvana, the multi-platinum grunge band that redefined the sound of the nineties.

His mother was a cocktail waitress and his father an auto mechanic. Quite soon in his life, Cobain moved to a nearby depressing town called Aberdeen. Most of his childhood, Kurt was more of a sickly bronchitis child and things went bad with

him once when during his seventh year in this world, his parents divorced. It was later agreed by Cobain that his parent's traumatic split had a lot of influence in Nirvana's music. This divorce also led to a time in Cobain's life where he lived alone under a bridge. Some time back I read an article which said ''When Cobain was eleven he heard and was captivated by the Britain's Sex Pistols and after their self-destruction Cobain and friend Krist Novoselic continued to listen to the wave of British bands including Joy Division the nihilistic post-punk band that some say Nirvana are directly descended from in form of mood, melody and lyrical quality.''

By 1985, Cobain had moved to Olympia and formed/joined a series of bands before Nirvana came into the picture in 1986. During that time, Nirvana was a very volatile alliance between Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic and the eventual drummer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Grohl.

By 1988, Nirvana were doing shows and had demo tapes going around. In 1989 Nirvana recorded their first album Bleach.

Nirvana were actually the first in many a things. One such thing was to be the first non-mainstream band to sign a mega-label. This had come after they had attended instant popularity and recognition in Britain and Geffen bought their contract in 1989. Nevermind, a series of different, crunching, screaming songs that along with it's first single Smells Like Teen Spirit would propel Nirvana to mainstream stardom was released under the same label in 1993-94.

While making Smells Like Teen Spirit, Cobain used a seductive hookline to hook the listener. This made the song an instant hit and a highly acclaimed song. Nevermind went on to sell ten million copies and make a reported $550 million (US) leaving Nirvana overnight millionaires. Still 24, Cobain could not take in the life style of a highly influential rock star and he fell in to the dirty world of Heroin. Once confronted on it, he said he used it to cover up the distress caused by rigorous demands of touring and to stop the pain of stomach ulcers.

This period saw Cobain and Nirvana reach the heights of popularity and Kurt was actually distressed to find out that what he wrote and how it was interpreted could quite often be miles apart. He was appalled when he found out that Polly a heavily ironic anti-rape song had been used as background music in a real gang rape. He later appealed to fans on the Incesticide liner notes ''If any of you don't like gays or women or blacks, please leave us the f*ck alone.'' It was to no avail, Cobain found that as an overnight millionaire musician control was something he had very little of. Cobain also worried that his band had sold-out, that it was attracting the wrong kind of fans (i.e the type that used to beat him up during his childhood.)

In 1992, Cobain got married to the already pregnant Courtney Love in Hawaii. Later in the same year, Nirvana made another hit release, Incesticide followed by the birth Frances Bean Cobain. This year also saw Kurt being hospitalized for treatment of Heroin abuse.

In early 1993 In Utero was released into the top spot on the music charts. In Utero was widely acclaimed by the music press and it contains some of Cobain's most passionate work. In Utero was a lot more open than Nirvana's previous albums. Songs like All Apologies and Heart Shaped Box detailed aspects of Cobain's sometimes shaky marriage, other songs like Scentless Apprentice detailed the agonies and struggles of Cobain's experiences.

1993 was another trademark year in Nirvana's history. The band embarked on a support tour and recorded and filmed an ''unplugged'' (acoustic) performance for MTV in November of 1993. Nirvana's choice to honor bands and people that had influenced them and Cobain's passionate and intense vocals especially on ''Where Did You Sleep Last Night?'' silenced many of their who had labeled Cobain talent less. For the first time during the running of this year itself, rumors circulated that the MTV Unplugged compilation would be Nirvana's last album and the band were splitting up.

Cobain was a gun fanatic and always had several in his possession or in various forms of confiscation.

The northern winter of 1993-94 was the time when every thing started to change for Kurt Cobain. Twenty concerts into an extensive European tour, Cobain developed throat problems and their schedule was interrupted while he recovered.

On March the 4th Cobain was rushed to hospital in a coma after an unsuccessful suicide bid in which he washed down about fifty prescription painkillers with champagne. The suicide bid was officially called an accident and was not even made known to close friends and associates. After a lot of counseling from Courtney, friends and his then manager's Cobain finally agreed to take a detox program, but as per the missing person's report filled by his mother, he fled the program in L.A. after the first few elementary days itself.

Days later after being sited in Seattle with a shotgun, on the 5th of April Kurt barricaded himself into a flat behind his mansion, put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

Cobain's body was found when an electrician visiting the house to install a security system went round the back of the house when no one answered the front door and peered through windows. He thought he saw a mannequin sprawled on the floor until he noticed a splotch of blood by Cobain's ear. When police broke down the door they found Cobain dead on the floor, a shotgun still pointed at his chin and on a nearby counter a suicide note written in red ink addressed to Love and the couples then 19 month old daughter Frances Bean.

The suicide note ended with the words ''I love you, I love you.'' Two days after Kurt Cobain's body was found about 5,000 people gathered in Seattle for a candlelight vigil. The distraught crowd filled the air with profane chants, burnt their flannel shirts and fought with police. They also listened to a tape made by Cobain's wife in which she read from his suicide note. Several distressed teenagers in the U.S. and Australia killed themselves.

Till date, the investigation is in progress on whether this was a real time suicide or a murder that includes many a people as suspects including Courtney Love. The opinion of Nirvana fans is seemingly divide on this, but as far as my study on this topic is concerned; I support the group accusing Courtney Love.

Most of the content above is actually a combination of my thoughts and passion for Nirvana and Kurt Cobain and the material available on the Internet. Please feel free to rate this revu and put up your queries and feedback in the comments section.

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