Kurt Cobain’s favourite alt-rock albums
More ink has been spilt over the private life of Kurt Cobain than just about any other rock star in history. So much, in fact, that fans started growing tired of what was readily available and began raiding his personal documents and diaries. This has both illuminated the enigmatic man to a greater degree but also sometimes prised open an unfortunate can of worms.
When Kurt Cobain wrote, ”I hope I die before I become Pete Townshend,” the Who guitarist was never going to take it lightly… even if Cobain was now dead and he was reading it in the publication of his Journals. So, he reviewed the collection of drawings and diaries for The Observer. His take on Journals was far from five-star, and the late Cobain copped some of the brunt of it.
”The scribblings of a crazed and depressed drug addict in the midst of what those of us who have been through drug rehab describe as ‘stinking thinking’,” Townshend wrote. However, his main gripe was with the fact that Journals was published in the first place, labelling it ”a despicable exercise in sensationalist rock necrophilia”.
His statement holds more than a grain of truth. But for all the unfortunate probings into the life of the late alt-rock legend, there have also been some more wholesome findings for fans of his music and the gift he gave the world rather than the intense fetishisation of tragedy. One of the best things to be prised from his controversially published Journals was his well-thumbed, handwritten list of his favourite albums.
This gave a unique insight into the music that inspired him. Understandably, alongside his penchant for punk and hardcore, much of it belonged to grunge’s nearest neighbour, alt-rock. One of which was the album that arguably spawned the genre: David Bowie’s obscure 1970 record, The Man Who Sold the World.
However, typically, Cobain also had his eye on the humble DIY stylings when it came to alt-rock. As he said of his beloved Vaselines, “Eugene + Francis = documented love.” Further eulogising the Scottish band, he explained, “I just have this feeling they had a really cool relationship.”
Continuing, he added: “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I just think it’s a really amazing thing when a couple can get together and write some of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. They’re kind of sharing their life with people. Eugene and Francis are the Captain & Tennille of the underground.”
In many ways, their expression typified what Cobain craved in alternative music. There was a sense of unpolished expression. As he stated, ”In Webster’s terms, ‘nirvana’ means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that’s pretty close to my definition of Punk Rock.”
We have collated all of these albums into a playlist (where the record wasn’t available on Spotify; approximations have been made).
Kurt Cobain’s favourite alt-rock albums:
- Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)
- The Breeders – Pod (1990)
- The Vaselines – Dying for It (1988, listed as Pink EP)
- Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid (1984, listed as 1st EP)
- Butthole Surfers – Pee Pee the Sailor (1983)
- The Frogs – It’s Only Right and Natural (1989)
- Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
- Kleenex – “anything by:” (1978–1983, collected on 1993’s Kleenex/LiLiPUT anthology)
- The Raincoats – The Raincoats (1979)
- R.E.M. – Green (1988)
- Beat Happening – Jamboree (1988)
- Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
- Half Japanese – We Are They Who Ache with Amorous Love (1990)
- Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician (1987)
- David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
- Swans – Young God (1984, erroneously listed as Raping a Slave)
