You have to admit he was unique, and the band he was part of were innovative... Like a lot of other Seattle bands at the time... They were doing something that a lot of other bands at the time weren't...
Just like Motley Crue was innovative back in 1981... Love them or hate them, they were one of the originals that moved the whole genre forward, because of albums like "Too Fast for Love"...
And like Van Halen was innovative back in 1978 (Eruption, man!)... And etc. etc. etc.
There's my rant about innovations that has nothing to do with the current discussion...
Eddie Van Halen not only innovated music, but guitars and guitar playing. Cobain, least of all, was an innovator. That's the thing you could probably praise him for the least. As for him being unique...most focused on, sure. Alice in Chains had a better, far more unique sound, as did Soundgarden.
They may have been innovative to the mainstream, but they honestly were not doing anything that other bands from their own scene were doing better than them, in my opinion.
They just got famous first and most of all. This, in turn, caused a change in music, but that probably would have happened had any of those bands came forth. In fact, Nirvana succeeded mostly cos they were a relatable band to the youth of that term. It wasn't necessarily innovative, they weren't ahead of anything by their own doing.
Nirvana were important pioneers, not really innovators. Creative, not original.
Van Halen changed guitars and guitar playing more than music imo. Then again, most of the techniques we pioneered had been used in jazz for a long time, like tapping. He put it in a rock song and blew people's minds...
Malmsteen is another guy that really changed guitar playing in metal when he pioneered the sweep, another technique long in use in jazz already.
Ok, so tapping was used before Van Halen, but he pretty much made the technique his own as well as bursting through a warphole with it. I think it's personally a bit cheap to say "People did it before.", yeah they did, but hardly anything like Van Halen.
It's a bit like saying "Yeah, people played drums at Africa's Gong Rock since...the dawn of time. You can't really give Terry Bozzio that much credit.".
I gave him lots of credit for it. I agree that he changed guitar playing in rock. That's an incredible achievement. There are only a handful that have really done that.
I didn't know that. Never been a KISS fan, can't stand them. I'll guess that EVH revolutionized it's usage though. It's another case of being super important pioneers not necessarily innovators. However, EVH did apparently bring in the unlocking tremolo which is what he turned his back to audiences to hide from what I've heard.
He didn't hide the existence of the tremolo because tremolos were in long use. I'll ask my friend again what was special about Van Halen's but I think it was a double locking tremolo or a fine tuner or something to that effect that basically no one else was using.
You have your opinion on the matter, as do I. You make such a big deal out of "innovation". And that's all well and good. But there's a lot to be said for perfecting a style of music. The person who comes up with something, doesn't by virtue, imply they're the best at it or that they're the only ones who can take it as far as it can go. And that's just my opinion of his music.
Anyone who offs themselves under the guise of their own genius overwhelming them, is just stupid.
But, I can say this for the man. He had the balls to do it. He didn't just wander around for 20 years of his life, being depressed and overwhelmed by himself. Cobain followed through on his own wasted depression. An example not many others had the chutzpah to follow.
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KMC Community Forums
Nov 2nd, 2007 08:33 PM
