The Nirvana song James Hetfield says ‘the world needed’
Whilst Nirvana and Metallica might have made rather distinct music, there was still a great deal of respect shared between the bands. While Nirvana were grunge pioneers, a genre hailed for killing off the overproduced and excessive 1980s hair metal, and Metallica remain thrash pioneers who breathed new life into metal by combining it with the ferocity of hardcore punk, they are united by their underlying connection to the punk genre. Metallica’s respect for Nirvana is something frontman James Hetfield once revealed in the most lucid of ways.
When speaking to Rolling Stone in 2004, Hetfield listed his ten favourite songs of all time. As part of the list, which featured cuts from Elton John and Black Sabbath, he included Nirvana’s momentous 1991 breakout single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. Notably, the song announced Kurt Cobain and his group’s arrival to the world, seeing them become global superstars almost overnight and setting them up as the definitive group of the decade.
Given the era-defining and pop culture-changing gravity of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, it is regarded as the song that sounded the end of 1980s hair metal, which most music fans of an objective character were sick of. This is something that James Hetfield noted when listing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit‘, saying that it was “what music needed”. He asserted: “When all that ’80s hair metal was getting overproduced, Nirvana came along with this thrashy garage sound and a huge hook. It was what music needed.”
Kurt Cobain, a big fan of Metallica’s early work, would return this love. In the 2006 documentary Get Thrashed, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett – a friend of Cobain’s – revealed a humourous anecdote from when the Nirvana leader went to see his band and named his favourite song by them.
Remembering when he first came across Nirvana, he said: “When we recorded The Black Album I was listening to this band that was on this independent record label. I was really into their first album. I sat down with the singer and his name was Kurt. He said that one of his favourite albums was Ride The Lightning. (Also) that one of his favourite Metallica songs was ‘Whiplash'”.
The guitarist remembered that after Metallica released their hit 1991 album, which arrived in August, it was followed by Nirvana’s masterpiece Nevermind the following month, signalling the arrival of grunge as the musical zeitgeist. Hammett recalled: “Right after we finished recording The Black Album, Kurt put out an album called Nevermind. Then, all of a sudden, grunge was everywhere. Kurt was a big Metallica fan. I can remember when we played in Seattle. I think it was 1992, Kurt came to the show.”
During the Metallica show, Hammett claimed that Cobain asked him if they would play his favourite song, ‘Whiplash’, from their 1983 debut album Kill ‘Em All. “He was in the snakepit, a little area on the stage. I remember the entire time we were playing he kept waving his arms at me. I went over there. His one question to me was ‘Are you guys gonna play ‘Whiplash’ tonight?’ (laughs) And we did,” Hammett concluded.
Listen to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ below.
