Word: nirvana
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Although Cobain has typically been portrayed by the media as a deeply committed musician who became swept up and ultimately overwhelmed by the accidental mass appeal of his art, the newest biography of the Nirvana frontman attempts to convince the reader otherwise. Heavier than Heaven (Hyperion, 381 pp., $24.95), by former Seattle music journalist Charles Cross, details the short and tumultuous life of a man who had always dreamed of being a Rock Star, drawing on evidence from over four years of research, 400 interviews and love letters and entries from Cobain’s private journals...
...shirts. In reality, Cobain re-invented and exaggerated many of his childhood memories, often crafting potential answers to interview questions in his journals. His music and lyrics were intensely personal and autiobiographical, always facing multiple revisions. And, in fact, Cobain was known to complain frequently when he felt that Nirvana was receiving inadequate exposure...
Kurt Cobain and Nirvana were to the Olympia indie-cum-grunge scene what Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols were to punk rock—what began as an esoteric musical offshoot of political turmoil (in the case of punk, economic and social turmoil in late-1970’s Britain; in the case of indie, rebellion against traditional gender roles in music and disdain towards the mass marketing of an art form) was deliberately sold as bandwagon rebellion. As Bart Simpson said while the Smashing Pumpkins played in front of him at Lollapalooza, “making teenagers depressed...
...most telling of Cobain’s desire for complete control was his approach to making music. As a child, Cobain insisted on taking guitar lessons and practiced diligently despite his later rehearsed claims to journalists that he disliked practicing and authority. Upon Cobain’s insistence, Nirvana went thorough a bevy of drummers before accepting the talented Dave Grohl as a permanent member, but was talking of firing Grohl towards the end of the band’s existence as the drummer tried to incorporate songs he had written into Nirvana’s sets. And despite...
...whose life has often been shrouded by awe and urban myth. Although at times Cross fails to see Cobain as a mere mortal, lauding the inner meaning and brilliance of lyrics, childhood doodles and teenage graffiti that are not extraordinary in any way, Cross separates himself from other Nirvana biographers in that he is unafraid to prove that despite his obvious musical talent, Cobain was a self-interested hypocrite who was drastically different from how he was portrayed by other journalists and from how he wished to present himself. Through interesting, relevant anecdotes gleaned from formidable amounts of research, Heavier...