{"id":995365,"date":"2026-05-31T00:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/995365\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T00:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:23:19","slug":"the-greatest-albums-of-the-1980s-according-to-kurt-cobain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/995365\/","title":{"rendered":"The greatest albums of the 1980s, according to Kurt Cobain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nirvana<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n

Sat 30 May 2026 22:51, UK <\/p>\n

Although Bleach made a significant dent across the US in 1989, Nirvana truly arrived when they released the follow-up, Nevermind, in 1991. <\/p>\n

Kurt Cobain<\/a> and his troupe were by no means the first grunge band in Seattle\u2019s thriving scene, but they were the most accessible and alluring, with smash hits like \u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019, \u2018Come As You Are\u2019 and \u2018Something in the Way\u2019 in their weighty arsenal. Those hits were important too, shouldering in on a stuffy mainstream with alternative edge. <\/p>\n

As the Nirvana name circled the globe, fans lauded their innovation while a small contingent of detractors described their sound as somewhat derivative. Cobain would be the first to admit where his sound came from, and when the mass media began to swarm at his door, he threw a bit of bait out to keep them happy. This little chunk of bait arrived in the form of a list of Cobain\u2019s favourite albums to date, from Leadbelly\u2019s 1953 album Leadbelly\u2019s Last Sessions Volume One to PJ Harvey\u2019s 1992 debut album, Dry. <\/p>\n

As a late-1960s baby, Cobain reached his impressionable teen years in the 1980s. Accordingly, the vast majority of his favourite albums arrived in this diverse decade in musical history. Many around the world remember the 1980s as the era of synth-pop: the heady years of The Human League, OMD and Gary Numan. Guitars remained in the charts thanks to artists like U2 and The Smiths, but Cobain had more of an appetite for underground post-punk groups<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Among Cobain\u2019s favourite bands as a teen were hardcore punk groups like Black Flag, Bad Brains, Fear and Tales of Terror, all of whom feature in the top albums list. Accompanying such selections were more established, accessible acts like R.E.M. and Pixies. Nirvana\u2019s unflinchingly derivative sound could be seen as a compliment or an insult to those cited. <\/p>\n

Above all, each of these acts embodied a sense of creative freedom that the blonde singer always admired. He even invented his own definition of punk to encapsulate this appetite. \u201cPunk is musical freedom,\u201c he said. \u201cIt\u2019s saying, doing and playing what you want. In Webster\u2019s terms, \u2018nirvana\u2019 means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that\u2019s pretty close to my definition of punk rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to Pixies, Cobain may have cut a little close to the bone.\u00a0On several occasions over the past few decades, Cobain\u2019s Pixies counterpart, Black Francis, has accused Nirvana of \u201cripping\u201d off their sound. Following the success of Nevermind and its lead single, \u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019, Nirvana admitted to fearing that they had borrowed too much from Pixies\u2019 associative loud-quiet-loud approach.<\/p>\n

\"Pixies<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Discogs<\/p>\n

Discussing \u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019, in a 1994 conversation with Rolling Stone, Cobain admitted to borrowing the Pixies\u2019 method. \u201cI was trying to write the ultimate pop song,\u201d he said. \u201cI was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it [smiles]. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band \u2013 or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an interview in 2013, nearly 20 years after Cobain\u2019s death, Reuters asked Francis to pick out his greatest contribution to rock. Francis replied sarcastically: \u201cBeing original, influencing Nirvana so they could rip a song. I\u2019ll admit it \u2013 if Kurt Cobain\u2019s fessed up to it, fuck it, I\u2019ll agree with it, you ripped us off.\u201d At least Cobain praised the legendary Boston band by including their classic debut, Surfer Rosa<\/a>, on his list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michael Stipe, the frontman of R.E.M., was a little more welcoming of Cobain\u2019s sonic tribute, supposedly because the parallels between the two bands were a little less direct. Cobain was enamoured with R.E.M.\u2019s energetic, weighty approach to country rock ever since the 1983 debut Murmur but was most impressed by the band\u2019s sixth studio album, Green. The record featured the classic hits \u2018Orange Crush\u2019 and \u2018Stand\u2019. After catching wind of Cobain\u2019s high praise, Stipe became acquainted with the Nirvana frontman. <\/p>\n

In 1993, at around the time Nirvana released their third album, In Utero<\/a>, the Atlanta singer saw that his friend was in a tough spot and tried to extend a branch in choppy waters. Sadly, his efforts were in vain, and in 1994, Stipe wrote the Monster cut \u2018Let Me In\u2019 in reflection. \u201cThere were a lot of phone calls before that imagined one,\u201d Stipe told Radio X\u2018s John Kennedy in 2019. \u201c[I was] really trying to pull him out of a very, very dark place. We all knew it, and we were doing everything we could to help \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t enough. I wrote the lyrics in five minutes and recorded it in as much time. It was our \u2013 my \u2013 plea to Kurt. Too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Cobain\u2019s list of 1980s albums, he honoured a few leftfield British artists, including the Welsh post-punk group Young Marble Giants, who released their only album, Colossal Youth, in 1980. Cobain also noted Scottish duo The Vaselines as one of his favourite bands. \u201cI just have this feeling Eugene [Kelly] and Frances [McKee] had a really cool relationship,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s true or not, but I think it\u2019s a really amazing thing when a couple can get on together and write some of the most beautiful songs I\u2019ve ever heard. They\u2019re kind of sharing their life with people. Eugene and Frances are the Captain & Tennille of the underground.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many, it is an era dismissed as awash with snyths and commercialism, but that mainstream stranglehold actually forced a vital underground scene to fight back. From Marine Girls to Flipper and even Daniel Johnston, that fightback was tenfold more profound than anything in a Marvel movie, with the decade now largely defined by the groups that failed to break into the charts when they emerged. <\/p>\n

To some extent, you get the impression that that\u2019s almost how Cobain wished things had unfurled with Nirvana. They blew up, however, and his silent wish never came to fruition, but he left plenty of great recommendations behind to point fans in the right direction, such as the cracking assortment below. <\/p>\n

Kurt Cobain\u2019s favourite albums of the 1980s:<\/p>\n