Rock and roll didn’t have much to be proud of in the mid-1980s. Guns N’ Roses were making inroads in the California rock scene. The mainstream had gravitated to many artists who had nothing to offer other than their looks and the ability to hold a guitar correctly. Kurt Cobain was responsible for bringing the hair metal regime to its knees. He considered one of the founders of alternative rock to be the greatest to ever hit the big time.
Kurt Cobain never took the typical approach to becoming a musical icon when he was first putting bands together. Throughout Nirvana’s early years, Cobain wrote songs with a dissonant take on punk music. He idolized bands like Flipper while recording albums like Bleach.
Aside from the band’s obsession with noise, there was one standout track on the album that stood out above the rest. Cobain wrote the song ‘About a Girl’ in response to his girlfriend. It also features a singalong chorus that could have come from any Beatles record from their early years.
Although Cobain had his sense of melody, he admitted that R.E.M. was the primary influence on his melodic sensibilities which was coming from Athens, Georgia’s underground music scene. The alternative rock four-piece was known for bringing some of the most obscure rock and roll ever made above ground in the 1980s. They scored sleeper hits like ‘Radio Free Europe’ on the album charts.
Throughout the rest of the 1980s, the band continued to develop their unique sound. Fans tried to piece together whatever the hell Michael Stipe was trying to say on songs like “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” or “Camera”. R.E.M. was quickly recognized as one of the forefathers of the grunge movement by the time Cobain had become the biggest name in music as a result of Nevermind.
Stipe and the band continued experimenting with different sounds throughout the rest of their albums. They also build to different sonic heights on Automatic for the People by putting different orchestral arrangements behind them. Even while working on the album In Utero, Cobain declared himself a huge fan of the band. He even claimed that R.E.M. was one of the best rock bands in the world.
“I have a pretty good idea what [our next record] is going to sound like pretty ethereal, acoustic, like R.E.M.’s last album”. Cobain said in one of his final interviews for Rolling Stone. If I could just write a couple of songs as good as they have… I have no idea how that band does what they do. They’re the best, by far. They’ve handled their success like saints, and they’re still making great music.”
Stipe and Cobain had mutual respect for music. The world would never know what the next Nirvana record would be after the lead singer was found dead in his home in 1994.
