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Green Day > Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc.?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by WaylonJennings, Jun 30, 2009.

  1. andyouare?

    andyouare? Guest

    Listening to Nirvana unplugged in New York, you can't help but wonder where they would be musically now -- or if they would still be together. (Probably not Yoko Courtney Oko Love!)

    I would think Cobain would have continued to mature and outgrow the i-hate-everyone-who-loves-me thing.

    Also, I think I'm the last person on the planet who doesn't own American Idiot.

    So, I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know.
     
  2. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    If you've got the greatest hits from Nirvana, and you can start to see where Kurt was headed with his songwriting in "You Know You're Right" (I think that's the name of it). I don't know if Dave Grohl would have stayed with the band. I imagine he would have gone off to do his own thing. He's really far too brilliant in his own right to have continued to play second fiddle.

    American Idiot is worth picking up. I'm not the biggest Green Day fan (as in I own Dookie, American Idiot and about five other songs), but I adore that album. The songs flow brilliantly, and it's not four or five obvious singles surrounded by a bunch of crap.
     
  3. Some Guy

    Some Guy Active Member

    I've had the same thought. I think it's safe to say Nirvana wouldn't have made it. That band was too much of a powder keg.

    I too would be interested to hear what kind of music Cobain would be making now. Maybe he'd be collaborating with Timbaland (*cough*Cornell*cough*).
     
  4. Ashy Larry

    Ashy Larry Active Member

    GREAT post Kurt V!

    As for Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam.....compare their second albums, Pearl Jams' was twice as good. For me that indicates Nirvana was already on their way down.

    But, I'm far from objective....I've seen PJ at least 10x.
     
  5. JimmyOlson

    JimmyOlson Member

    Some Guy, you are Secretariat to my Rest of the Field on this one.

    Couple points ...

    1. Yeah, I think Green Day's music has matured. Forget the anti-Bush songs for a second (and there were all of two on American Idiot). "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a beautiful song (even before it was overplayed on every radio station in the country). To listen to that and realize that it's the same band that wrote "Longview" ... yeah, that's maturing. So are some of the songs on the new album - "Last Night on Earth" almost feels like a Beatles song.

    2. No doubt Pearl Jam was the biggest band in the world in mid-late 90s. And they've absolutely taken chances in the studio. They're one of the musical giants of this era.

    3. I remember having this same debate with a buddy of mine a few years ago, just after American Idiot blew up - did this move Green Day into the Pantheon of Great Rock Bands? I think it did. Whether or not you like the fact that 14-year-old girls love the band, Green Day has still been one of the biggest bands in the world for five years now. That, coupled with their strong catalog before, moves them into Hall of Fame status in my book. Hands down

    Are they better than Pearl Jam? I think they're absolutely in the same league. Just because Green Day used to be a bunch of bratty kids who threw mud and sang about masturbation doesn't diminish what they've done recently. But that's just me. I'm a sucker for good three-chord rock song.

    4. At least we agree on Nirvana. I found a copy of their last show in Italy from 1994 - man, they were a DEVASTATING live band.

    Man, I could debate this stuff all day.
     
  6. JimmyOlson

    JimmyOlson Member

    Sorry ... forgot to give dap my last post to Kurt V as well.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I've always been a Green Day fan. I used to watch them play small clubs in Northern California when I was in high school. I never thought in a million years they would hit it as big as they have.

    They're one of the best bands of the last 20 years, but they are nowhere close to Nirvana or Pearl Jam. Granted, Nirvana only had a few albums, but no Green Day song is or will ever be as identifiable and popular as "Teen Spirit"

    With Pearl Jam, it's not even close.
     
  8. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    you know what? i disagree. if only due to its use on "seinfeld," i contend "time of your life" is known by a far more wide-raging audience than "teen spirit" could ever aspire to.

    for example, my folks know "time of your life." they wouldn't know "teen spirit" from a hole in the wall.

    "t.o.y.l.," for one, is inredibly identifiable and popular, far beyond the grunge crowd.
     
  9. dreunc1542

    dreunc1542 Active Member

    It's known so well that people don't even know the real name of the song :) It's actually Good Riddance with Time of Your Life if parentheses.
     
  10. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    whatever. ::) ::) ::)
     
  11. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    David Peel and the Lower Eastside > Pearl Jam
    Steely Dan > Pearl Jam
    The Cure > Pearl Jam
    The Brian Jonestown Massacre > Pearl Jam
    The White Stripes > Pearl Jam
     
  12. To me, Nirvana is removed from discussion, again, because of the longevity issue.
    And The Foo Fighters have an enormous body of work that trumps Kurt's crew musically - of course without the incalculable influence which is a separate argument. Give me the best 20 Foo Fighters songs over the best 20 Nirvana songs anyday.

    Pearl Jam's up there. Green Day's up there. You could argue for either or in my book, as offended as some Pearl Jam fans get when Green Day is mentioned in the same ballpark. Green Day's last two albums (American Idiot & 21st Century Breakdown) are superb, better than anything PJ has put out in the past decade plus, so I'd give them an edge. Even if they have become "too preachy" for some, musically the albums are so much better than any current mainstream material and compare with some of the best works of recent years. And they do have a number of non-Dookie records that do hold up well still (love Warning and Nimrod and Insomniac was a darker Dookie).

    I always thought Pearl Jam peaked at Vitalogy, brilliant and flawless first three albums, but I quickly became disinterested after Yield.
     
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