Album Rating: 5.0

Songs like Milk It and Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Negative Creep, those are some seriously heavy fuckin' riffs man, Nirvana were certainly far more interested in melodic, more pop oriented metal/punk songwriting but to say they weren't as "heavy" as AIC or Soundgarden is wrong IMO, AIC and Soundgarden were definitely more "metal" than Nirvana but Nirvana were heavy as fuck as well and like I said in response to the comment that said they weren't known for being "heavy", that's all everyone said about In Utero. A lot of the more pop-minded casual fans were turned off by how abrasive and noisy and angry that record was. So they were definitely known for their heavy sound at that time. And Bleach is much the same way. I wouldn't argue AIC and Soundgarden were more metal. I guess it just depends on what your interpretation of being a "heavy" band means. Cause like I said some of those riffs on In Utero and Bleach are heavy as all fuck.

Album Rating: 4.5

Sure some of their songs are heavy, but Nirvana’s heaviest was another walk in the park for Soundgarden. Even then, Nirvana only had a handful of songs like that, whereas Alice In Chains and especially Soundgarden made careers out of it. It’s like saying Creed is heavier than deathcore because two or three Creed songs have breakdowns.

a rare fearbefore sighting

Album Rating: 5.0

And damn do people want to debate him.

Well, we will surely all be smarter about what heaviness really means.

Album Rating: 5.0

Soundgarden never made songs as unhinged as some of the ones on In Utero that were mentioned above. Nirvana are definitely a heavy band compared to most radio rock

Sure, it's not exactly metalcore, deathcore, sputcore, trumpcore, obamacare, yomamacore or any of the other cores that this website is obsessed with, but it's pretty heavy stuff.

Album Rating: 5.0

Alright I think that settles it, people!

Album Rating: 4.5

It’s not about us being elitists. I moderately like and certainly respect Nirvana’s work. But they aren’t metal.

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah. They just aren’t! But they’re heavy in a different way, especially on In Utero. But it’s more heavy ass punk than metal. AiC and, to a slightly lesser extent, Soundgarden are the two “metal grunge” bands. Pearl Jam is classic rock grunge. Pumpkins and STP are more alt metal grunge.



Fuck am I talking about, STP and Pumpkins aren’t grunge.

Album Rating: 5.0

Genre labels are stupid. Gruuuunge haha. All those bands sound pretty different. They’re all rock/hard rock though!

Album Rating: 4.0

"STP and Pumpkins aren’t grunge."



I'd say STP is totally grunge unless you restrict grunge only to the Seattle area, which I wouldn't

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah STP is grunge through and through

Album Rating: 4.5

Even STP is heavier than Nirvana. Core has some good metal influence in there.

I though the reason people disliked STP was that they supposedly ripped off other grunge bands

Album Rating: 5.0

Isn't Scott Weiland kind of a tool too?

Album Rating: 4.0

Maybe, who knows?

Album Rating: 5.0

Is grunge a genre? The eternal debate continues.

Album Rating: 5.0

Does rocks float on lava?

According to Dante's Peak, yes they do

Album Rating: 5.0

I think Larkinhill and claygurnz get the gist of what I'm trying to say. I definitely was not trying to argue that Nirvana were in any way more "metal" than Soundgarden or AIC, just that their sound, specifically in the In Utero era, was very abrasive and noisy and very much HEAVY for rock music at that time and even what people expected from Nirvana who were already considered a more "heavy" band than certainly almost every other popular rock band before them of that era, which were mostly shit hair metal bands like Winger. I'm not saying Nirvana were heavier than "Jesus Christ Pose" or something, I'm just saying they were definitely considered HEAVY for that time and frankly a lot of their work still is heavy for that time or any. I don't see any kind of pop commercial appeal to a song like Negative Creep. That's just angry guitars and screaming and noise. And it's beautiful.



Hard disagree with Allergist saying STP were heavier than Nirvana. Not even close. And I love STP. They never produced anything remotely as dissonant and angry as the shit on Bleach and In Utero.

Album Rating: 5.0

"According to Dante's Peak, yes they do"



God, that scene with the grandma pushing the boat out into the water while getting boiled alive scarred me as a child.