what is the best record from Kurt Cobain's top 50 albums?

aerosmith?
really?

colossal youth, followed by she hangs brightly

anyways, i voted raincoats.

wipers - youth of america
(surfer rosa and raw power are 2 obv. choices)

Raw Power hands down

Good thread. Good list. Cobain had great taste (I'm also a big Nirvana fan). Still thinking about my pick.

http://www.cafebleu.net/ebtg/image/marine.jpg

That and Get The Knack, and I'm set for the weekend.

No Melvins, no credibility.

Where's Meat Puppets II, Kurt?

i was driving the other night and Nirvana's version of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" came on & hit hit like a knife. i literally got chills, and i remembered in an instant everything i loved about Cobain & Nirvana. Anyway, i voted for #50.

Wipers - Is This Real?

generic flipper

he got #1 right

Wow, so many good ones. I have to say Locust Abortion Technician.

If he'd put Cut instead of the "Typical Girls"/"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" 7"; or even if he'd put London Calling instead of Combat Rock; this would have been easy.

As it stands 'though, tough call between Kleenex / Liliput and Pixies.

A little surprised not to see any Killing Joke.

There are various entries on that list that are wrong. As in the details, not that they are selected.

Kleenex/Liliput split single? No. If they mean the 2CD set, then yes.

I did vote, and now I can't remember which...

Oh yeah, I remember now. 42.

Kleenex/Liliput split single? No. If they mean the 2CD set, then yes.

According to Wikipedia this came out in 2001. Am I getting you arse-backwards here?

The 2001 version's a reissue on Kill Rock Stars - it came out on a Swiss label in 1993.

Good knowledge, cheers.

Thread linked to in the initial post has everything I hoped for BTW

"Kleenex/Liliput split single?" Could there ever have been such a thing? Iirc Kleenex had to change their name (to LiLiPUT) because the tissue paper people were threatening to set their puppies on them....

Well, exactly. I'm sure there wasn't.

In fact, I'm fairly sure that Kurt's citing of the collection inflated the original 2CD to collector status. I know I spent ages looking for one when I found out it existed (I have a few of the singles of course, Eisiger Wind always having been one of my favourite / mixtape staples)

But then...

"Split" was a bside to "Die Matrosen"

The puzz continues.

I'm pretty sure they're talking about the 2CD comp, not some non-existent single, there.

I have no idea what this is:
32. Tales of Terror-s/t

Not sure about this one either:
Punk Comp California-What Is It? compilation

but I assume it's some What Records comp i.e. Germs, Skulls, Eyes etc

Tales Of Terror were a hardcore band from Seattle or nearby I think; I think you're right about the What? comp as well

Yeah these guys: http://www.lastdaysofmanonearth.com/blog/?p=258

From Cali not Seattle, but Mudhoney and Green River had the hots for them as well

Cool thanks for the link!

It's between two 7"s: Liliput's "Split" and The Saints' still underrated "Know Your Product" (even if its lyrics do borrow slightly too heavily for comfort from "Satisfaction").

Going with The Saints (for the second time today on an ILM poll).

Colossal Youth.

youth of america.

What Is It?
http://www.collectorscum.com/volume3/socal/va_what_lp.jpg

Dils, Eyes, Germs, Controllers, Skulls, KAOS. I feel like most copies of this wound up displayed on walls of record stores with absurd price tags.

Daydream Nation

aerosmith?
really?

-- funny farm, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 12:24 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Link

you're surprised by that?
really?

This list is about as lame as this guy's sorry-ass existence was.

I vote Aerosmith.

scratch acid

Wipers - Is This Real?

-- latebloomer, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 6:32 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Link

generic flipper

-- GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 6:35 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Link

its between these two for me and flipper takes it

I guess that What Is It comp probably has a lot of the same material as the What? Stuff CD that got reissued some time in the 90s?

No Funhouse, no cred.

So Kurt Cobain gets a pass and Stephin Merritt gets grilled?

give him a break, I'm sure he would've listed Ready To Die if he didn't, er, die before then.

I'm waiting for Geir to come on here and ask why the Fleet Foxes album isn't on the list.

aerosmith?
really?

-- funny farm, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 4:24 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Link

FUCK YES

good list overall

06. Fang-Landshark

Please tell me about this.

It's good. Sloppy nihilistic punk kinda like Flipper.

You may have heard Mudhoney (or Nirvana on some bootleg e.g. Outcesticide or whatever) covering The Money Will Roll Right In.

18. The Knack-Get the Knack

^^ lol

So Kurt Cobain gets a pass and Stephin Merritt gets grilled?

-- Eazy, Wednesday, 9 July 2008 15:36 (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Can't figure out if this is a serious comment, please advise thx

I just wish this list had been brought up during that whole hooha.

But I'm goofing too.

Rock for Light tears it up! More trebley and faster than ROIR sessions, good reggae tracks too!

Kurdt Kobain always had great taste in music - this is a tricky one. de I own THIRTY of that list!!!!

On tape

- no really

Wipers - Is This Real
Flipper - Generic
black Flag - Damaged
Bad Brains - Rock for Light

Wipers Is This Real is the one

The underdog and the underrated. Greg Sage was a fine, fine guitarist and the lyrics are truly depressed. It's darker than shit like Joy division but way better musically - and a three piece too. Always dug that hypnotic ,Can like drumming in much Wipers stuff.

I love loads of his list. It's the sort of snobby, contrived, eclectic one I would come up with.

But for fucks sake Curt - COMBAT ROCK!!! EEEK!!!

Is that What comp. worth a bit ? I've had it for years. Got me into the Dils - who only had about four good songs but they were worth the price alone. 'I hate the Rich' is on there?

I'm surprised Trout Mask replica ain't in there Curt to cover a few more bases. That and an early Sabbath LP?

25. R.E.M.-Green

This has escaped without scrutiny so far...

I own 33 of these and have all the rest except the Frogs, Leadbelly and that What comp (although I probably have everything on it in some other form) on mp3! So er yeah I think it's a good list although sure it's not particularly varied.

I should get that Leadbelly though, I've been meaning to check him out probably since the fucking MTV Unplugged CD came out! Oops.

where is king crimson - red?

went for PE but Green is awesome too and more like say Nevermind than other REM records, at least those made while he was still alive.

Am I the only one who's gonna vote for Saccharine Trust? I don't care. PaganIcons is an amazing record.

ah, yes, Dave Brubeck...i was just working off the top of my head...i just like the concept...Chet Baker might be too legit...need more female "jazz" singers who are more adult contemporary...Melissa Manchester...maybe list Steely Dan as the only rock band that matters...but then you start steering towards McLaughlin...maybe ELP could be jazz?

aerosmith?
really?

HA I voted for Aerosmith before I even scrolled down far enough for this to piss me off. Have you heard this record? It's a fucking BUCKET of sleaze. God almighty it's great.

xpost - that 'Human Certainty Song' is fantastic

Picking Raw Power and not even charting Fun House is pretty weird, though. I'd prolly do just the opposite.

Colonel P - know what you mean, not that varied but he's covered one or two genres there. Some punkers can be so conservative

'Human Certainty' srry

for me,

Entertainment vs. Colossal Youth vs. Dry

As for missing stuff, there's no reason to believe that Cobain's top 50 would be any more definitive than any ILMer's. I could do a top 50 right now, spend hours agonizing over it and tomorrrow I'd still be all "omg, how could I leave out _____?!" Even a "Top 50 Artists" list would result in a lot of regrettable exclusions.

Also, I'd love to see a list like this with the performer honestly and objectively including one of their own works at #43 or whatever, if they truly felt it merited inclusion. ('Course, since KC was obviously dissatisfied with life in general, there's no reason to believe he'd be particularly thrilled with any of his own work.)

If I had it do all over again and not go for the contrarian piss-take vote (I honestly go love Aerosmith, but let's be real), I'd prolly vote for either Nation of Millions or Damaged. Those are the two that still make the hair on the back of my neck stand up when they start, because I know what comes next is pure 100% rage, a full shipment of it, straight from the source, not even stepped on a little bit.

good list

Rocks is a great album! Toys in the Attic is better though.

Sez you!

Yeah, ok, Toys in the Attic def. ranks.

As for missing stuff, there's no reason to believe that Cobain's top 50 would be any more definitive than any ILMer's. I could do a top 50 right now, spend hours agonizing over it and tomorrrow I'd still be all "omg, how could I leave out _____?!"

^^^hidden reason for kurdt's suicide

25. R.E.M.-Green

This has escaped without scrutiny so far...

-- Eazy, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 2:06 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

Not by me, but hell, I'd have a couple roundly-loathed turds in my list, too, if I made one. I cut Kurt a lot of slack. (I mean, why not?)

Also, I'd love to see a list like this with the performer honestly and objectively including one of their own works at #43 or whatever, if they truly felt it merited inclusion.

That would be kind of fun to see (and actually, n/a listed his own band's album at #2 on the best-of-2008 thread), but personally speaking, there's no way I could be at all objective about the music I've made.

xpost Green is awesome, don't hate

I'm sort of intrigued as to the inclusion of that particular Leadbelly record instead of some other early blues or folk thing, King of the Delta Blues Singers being the obvious one I guess. 'Scuse my ignorance here, but is the Leadbelly all that?

Anyhow, sort of want to vote for Superfuzz Bigmuff for nostalgic reasons. Quite surprised that that I probably wouldn't put any of the top ten in my own top 500, were I nuts enough to make one.

Ow, those were terrible sentences.

The only one of these that I could see making my top 50 is probably Daydream Nation.

That's a good yardstick. I think I'd have Colossal Youth and Entertainment in my top 50, and I'm voting Entertainment. Another good yardstick: Would you be OK with having these records and no others on a long roadtrip? I say yes.

^^^hidden reason for kurdt's suicide

Heh.

Anyways, pretty good list. The Knack, Sonic YOuth and Raincoats are my frontrunners. Beatles, Buttholes, Stooges and (yes) Aerosmith all have other LPs I like a lot more.

xxp - not really, these (mostly) aren't road-tripping records.

Leadbelly, Mazzy Star, the Breeders and maybe PJ Harvey are the only ones I'd want for a long drive.

it's a good list, a bit obvious for Cobain, and too much post punk focused, but still good list.
also - meet the beatles and the man who sold the world - "i'm not going to put the obv. ones by them on my list"!

bill mcgill = alex in nyc with sabbath replacing killing joke?

I hear RTX do a mean cover of The Money Will Roll Right In.

!!!

Gotta hear it. Mudhoney's version of this destroys.

Am I the only one who's gonna vote for Saccharine Trust? I don't care. PaganIcons is an amazing record.

It really is a great record. I wish someone would redo the TOTALLY OFF THE MARK AMG 1 and a half star review of it.

Funhouse shoulda been on this list somewhere. That would've gotten my vote. As it stands, I vote Damaged, but it really could just as easily been 5 or 6 others.

As for missing stuff, there's no reason to believe that Cobain's top 50 would be any more definitive than any ILMer's. I could do a top 50 right now, spend hours agonizing over it and tomorrrow I'd still be all "omg, how could I leave out _____?!"

^^^hidden reason for kurdt's suicide

-- omar little, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 4:35 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Link

"It wasn't Colonel Mustard who killed him -- it was an ILM list thread!"

This list is about as lame as this guy's sorry-ass existence was.

omg so is yr face

Theres a part in the Journals where I remember him saying something to the extent that he didnt appreciate Clash as much as Sex Pistols, so it makes sense that he would opt to include one of the less-heralded Clash records.

Okay. .. Locust Abortion Technician.. This record is sick. My vote is in.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

What a hypocrite. He loves Aerosmith's Rocks but thinks GNR sucks?

what's gonna win????

What a hypocrite. He loves Aerosmith's Rocks but thinks GNR sucks?

are you talking to me?

its pretty easy to love the father and hate the son, as the case may be

"What a hypocrite. He loves Aerosmith's Rocks but thinks GNR sucks?"

i have no idea that that means. why hypocrite? GnR suck moldy eggs and Aerosmith were tremendous for a coupla records and Rocks is one of 'em.

(caveat: i vote Liliput - best all-female band evah)

bad brains

Wow. This album listing is SOOO unpredictable.
Good choices but obvious from him as fuck.

the list might have changed if he weren't dead, you know

^Fair point. I wonder what he'd have on the playlist now if he was alive? Lord forbid if he'd said Coldplay.

ROIR Sessions eat Rock for Light for breakfast.

Colossal Youth is flawless, but they left "Final Day" off the original release - probably my favorite song of theirs. Lots of other favorite bands here, but most of them have better albums or their best album is slightly less than perfect. Tough call, but I think I'll go with Scratch Acid today.

Seek out the NME 'Kurt's Choice' compilation for a nice, distilled mix tape of above. Picking from list is tough - between beatles, 'locust abortion technician' , 'surfer rosa', black flag, sy and scratch acid - so 'locust abortion technician' it is ('cause I would have loved to hear how Nirvana would have covered/emulated/etc.).

I cranked up Surfer Rosa last night while rustling up dinner and the conviction crystallized in me that "Where is My Mind?" is one of the all-time masterpieces of late 20th century pop music, something worthy of time capsule treatment.

"Ooo ooo..."

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.