Courtney Love is attacking muppets now. TMZ reports that Love believes Kermit the Frog and his gang of Muppet friends ‘raped’ the memory of her late husband and former Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain by using his song ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in their 2011 movie, without her permission.
Dear Nirvana fans—this year, it will have officially been 20 years since the release of Nirvana’s seminal disc, Nevermind (a.k.a., the one with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on it, for you non-fans). I know, I know—reading such information immediately makes you want to run your fingers through your thinning hair and adjust your ever-thickening glasses. But! Spin has done something refreshing with the information.
Nirvana’s memorable 1991 album Nevermind will be reissued in a mega Super Deluxe Edition on September 19. And to further prove just how fast time flies, the deluxe edition marks 20 years after the original was released.
Containing four CDs and one DVD, the Super Deluxe Edition will feature previously unreleased tracks, rarities, B-sides, alternate mixes, rare live recordings and BBC radio appearances. The DVD will be made up of an entire unreleased Nirvana concert.
Nirvana’s tenure as an active rock band ended tragically when frontman Kurt Cobain took his own life. It would have been blasphemy to trudge on with a new band leader, and anyway, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl always had far too much love and respect for their fallen friend to ever try to replace him.
Novoselic more or less exited the music scene, but Grohl went on to have a successful career of his own with the Foo Fighters, a band which he formed in part as a way to deal with the grief caused by Cobain’s death.
According to NME, two of the best parts of the 1990’s—i.e., Nirvana and Ren and Stimpy—were once would-be collaborators, as Kurt Cobain apparently attempted to write a song for the bizarre and irreverent scatological cartoon from the Nickelodeon network. Which would have pretty much been the greatest thing ever.
The 90s gave us some of the purest rock music ever, and it’s a testament to the quality of those bands that they were able to record dozens of solid albums and still have plenty of great rare material lying around. What follows is a list of some of the best B-sides, rarities, obscure tracks, and special releases from eight definitive 90s rock bands. Enjoy the flashback.
Nirvana fans, rejoice—at least until the inevitably crushing and depressing biopic is released—as the Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses exhibition is set to open at Seattle’s Experience Music Project on April 16th and will, according to Spinner, “boast more than 200 artifacts related to the legendary grunge group” including such nuggets as “rare and unseen pieces like a high school era painting by Cobain of aging, Reagan-era punks, a Teac reel-to-reel tape machine owned by Mari Earl, Cobain’s aunt, on which a young Kurt recorded material for his early bands, handwritten lyrics for the songs ‘Spank Thru’ and ‘Floyd the Barber,’ plus numerous instruments, including pieces of the first guitar that Cobain ever destroyed onstage.” Unfortunately, Courtney Love’s dignity could not be found on time to be displayed.
Although most don’t feel sorry for those in the Hollywood spotlight, it is a bit difficult to not have some sympathy for Frances Bean Cobain. As the daughter of Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain and Hole frontwoman, Courtney Love, the girl hasn’t had much time to get out of a media frenzy during her entire life. With her father’s tragic suicide at two years old and her mother constantly fighting lawsuits, issues were taken to another level when custody between her grandmother and mother made headlines.
Today may, however, may be the beginning of a new chapter for Cobain as she turns 18 today and inherits a good chunk of her father’s fortune from the Nirvana franchise.
The Melvins and a roaring crowd stormed through The Showbox Tuesday night and performed two 50 minute sets back to back with a short intermission to give the band and their wild fans a well-deserved rest. Powerhouse drummers Dale Crover (pictured above) and Coady Willis were stationed in the front center next to each other. Dressed like Vikings, Crover and Willis synchronized their drum beats perfectly.
