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10 Nirvana Songs Written by Kurt Cobain That Never Got the Attention They Deserved

Posted in Essays, Lists with tags Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana on 10/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

We all know Nirvana’s hit songs. “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” “Come as You Are.” “Heart-Shaped Box.” “All Apologies.” “Lithium.” “In Bloom.” Those tunes — which, fun fact, appear to be the last-released songs that are played on classic-rock radio — are imprinted indelibly on the minds of not just rock fans but American culture in general. But, as is always the case with any rock band, their hit songs only tell a small part of the group’s story. Another extremely critical aspect of Nirvana’s legacy is that they created at least a couple dozen high-quality tunes that never got their due.

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‘Don’t Have a Gun’: A Definitive Account of Nirvana’s Hit Song ‘Come as You Are”

Posted in Essays with tags Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana on 10/06/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Last time around, we rolled out a rather comprehensive history of Nirvana’s biggest hit song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” This time, we trace the lineage of the second single from Nirvana’s Nevermind – an aquatic, forlorn song that incorporates guns and early video special effects.

With a dreary mood that put even most major grunge songs to shame, “Come as You Are” is a downbeat tune that doesn’t exactly qualify musically as a ballad but had the sad thematic content to make it one of sorts. Like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” before it, “Come as You Are” also contains unsavory references, some of which are downright eerie decades after Kurt Cobain used a gun to commit suicide.

At the time of his death, Cobain apparently had heroin in his system; bleach, which is used in the injection process of the drug, also makes a (perhaps prescient) appearance in the words he sang on this tune.

Read The Bad Penny‘s full reflection on the song courtesy of AllMusic.

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Queens of the Stone Age’s and Foo Fighters’ New Albums Are Abysmal. The Only Question Is Which One Sucks More.

Posted in Album Reviews, Essays, Reviews with tags Dave Grohl, DAve Gtohl, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, the Jesus Lizard on 09/19/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Breaking the third wall here a bit, if there still is one …

Over the course of my 30 years as a music journalist, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters are among the top five bands about which I’ve written the most. I still rank QOTSA as my third-favorite band of all time (Nirvana and the Jesus Lizard will probably forever occupy those #1 and #2 spots, respectively). And I continue to regard Dave Grohl as my ultimate rock idol, it gives me no pleasure to report that the new QOTSA record, Perfecth (due October 30), is – from the few spins I’ve given it thus far – not just the worst record in the band’s catalog, by a long shot, it’s utterly perplexing that the band would even put its name on it.

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Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme Owes His Fame, in Part, to His Heavy-Rock Amigos

Posted in Features, Interviews with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Kyuss, Nick Oliveri, Nirvana, QOTSA, Queens of the Stone Age on 06/11/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

As the only remaining original member of Queens of the Stone Age, Josh Homme is synonymous with the band that boasts substantial critical repute, commercial success, and peer respect. But as QOTSA proceeds deeper into their 30th year, they’re preparing for two of their highest-profile tours yet this summer, with Foo Fighters in the U.S. and System of a Down in Europe, respectively. Since QOTSA’s inception, fans of heavy rock have always regarded Homme as the leader of the group, due to his authorship of the vast majority of its songs and his role as the project’s mainstay member as its cast rotated routinely over the years.

Indeed, Homme’s imposing presence and distinct appearance as a 6’4” red-haired front man adds to his band’s singularly striking presence in the rock universe. But not only are there well-founded doubts that QOTSA may not have lasted as long as it were it not for the other musicians who have membership in the band on their resumes, Homme’s ever-growing list of collaborations with the creme de la creme of mainstream music has boosted his prominence even higher than his often unconventional take on rock music alone would have accomplished.

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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Could’ve Parodied Lots More Nirvana Songs After Spoofing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’

Posted in Comedy, Features, Videos with tags Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Weird Al, Weird Al Yankovic on 06/03/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, The Police, R.E.M. and dozens more artists (except Coolio) were cool with, and sometimes even flattered by, “Weird Al” Yankovic parodying their songs. But perhaps no musician was more delighted by the comical accordion player and singer parodying one of his songs than Kurt Cobain.

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Maneka Marvels Over Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind,’ Polvo’s ‘Exploded Drawing,’ Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’

Posted in Interviews, Lists with tags Deerhoof, Deftones, Earl Sweatshirt, Fugazi, Maneka, Nirvana, Notorious B.I.G., Paraquat, Polvo, Prince on 05/27/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

Ever run into a stranger wearing a T-shirt of a band you like, strike up a conversation and realize how much you have in common? That maybe they’re your doppelgänger, even? And then, the deeper you get to know that person, it dawns on you that their taste in music is actually superior to yours? But at that point you’ve already exchanged phone numbers and promised they’ll be your +1 at an upcoming gig you both really wanna see and then you get so nervous about meeting up with them at the show because you know you’ll be distracted from the band’s performance and instead obsess over your inferiority complex to your new amigo to the point that you second-guess whether it was even worth attending said show because it’s induced more anxiety than excitement in the marrow of your bones?

Does that ever happen to you?

We had a hunch Maneka (a.k.a. Devin McKnight of Speedy Ortiz and Grass Is Green) was onto something cool way back in 2017, when we got our mitts on a copy of their debut, Is You Is. Admittedly, we gave it a listen after reading that a description that touted the release as “future-space alien-dream-post punk.” Five years later, Maneka dropped Dark Matters, in which the artist “deftly explored the anxieties of working as a Black man in majority white indie rock spaces,” according to his press materials.

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Dave Grohl’s Hardcore-Punk Bonafides Propelled Him – and Nirvana – to Enormous Mainstream Success

Posted in Essays, Features with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Lemmy, Nirvana, Scream on 05/08/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

When Nirvana signed to a major label in 1990, they had already established a strong fan base in their hometown of Seattle thanks to the underground success of Bleach, their debut album. But even though the band was just a trio, the consistency of its lineup was tested by a Spinal Tap-esque rotating cast of drummers (the last of which was Dave Grohl). When Nirvana inked a deal with the David Geffen-owned DGC Records, they also faced skepticism from a fan base suspect of artists tied to corporate entities. Whether deliberate or not, Kurt Cobain successfully diffused those concerns while simultaneously strengthening his three-piece by tapping Grohl, a drummer who had already established his punk-rock bona fides by the time he joined the band in his early 20s. Read my full feature on the topic courtesy of Collider.

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Happy Birthday, Dave Grohl!

Posted in Comedy with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Mondo Generator, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Scream, Sound City Players, Them Crooked Vultures on 01/14/2026 by Kurt Orzeck

“Don’t tell me how to make a record. I was in Nirvana. I was in the greatest rock and roll band of the ’90s. We changed the course of rock music. … Give me a carton of Marlboros. Fuck you, man, I was in Nirvana, you asshole. I’m on RCA, dammit. Don’t you know who I am? I’m a millionaire.”
–Dave Grohl of Nirvana (and Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age, and Them Crooked Vultures, and Mondo Generator, and Sound City Players, and Backbeat Band, and Scream).

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Porch Coffin Frontman and Bad Penny Geek Out Over Nirvana, From the Hits to the Rarities

Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Porch Coffin on 12/22/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

At a memorial ceremony for Kurt Cobain held April 12, 1994, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic delivered a brief eulogy that continues to resonate with great potency today.

“No band is special, no player royalty. But if you’ve got a guitar and a lot of soul, just bang something out and mean it. You’re the superstar,” he said. “Heck, use your guitar as a drum, just catch the groove and let it flow out of your heart.”

Not too many years after that, a kid named Evan Blaine in Daytona, Florida, was given his first CD, Nirvana’s In Utero, from his brother. Some of the songs were already familiar to him, as Blaine’s brother and father used a guitar tablature book to learn how to play tunes from Nirvana Unplugged in the family living room.

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