@catholiclore@BUDDYHEAD_ I have arguments there. I feel like Kurt cobain was a great songwriter who was transparent about his many influences. Pearl Jam just seemed like a bland pastiche of a couple different bands. I like some of their songs though
@catholiclore@BUDDYHEAD_ The smashing pumpkins first album came out in 1991. Pearl Jam is incredibly general sounding. They took the Kurt cobain songwriting tool kit and added generic pentatonic minor solos to appease consumers
@catholiclore@BUDDYHEAD_ Nirvana’s first album came out in 1989. The smashing pumpkins were playing goth music and Pearl Jam hadn’t even formed. All those other bands adapted elements of nirvana’s style including their pseudo anti corporate attitudes
@catholiclore@BUDDYHEAD_ The opposite is true. Nirvana were pioneers. The smashing pumpkins and Pearl Jam both rode on the coattails of the grunge wave and had corporatized sounds that were more palatable to consumers. They also had a huge major label corporate machine boosting them