Probably the best thing about Nirvana, in my humble opinion, is the joke that circled around a few years after Kurt Cobain's death:


<b>Hip and Witty Individual:</b> <i>Hey, have you heard the new Nirvana Greatest Hits album? It's stylin'.</i>

<b>Unsuspecting Setup Guy, of course slightly confused at the notion of a greatest hits album, seeing as Cobain has long since ceased to be:</b> <i>Um... no, what's on it?</i>

<b>HaWI:</b> <i>A gunshot and sixty minutes of silence.</i>


Admissibly a low blow. But regardless, i consider Nirvana to be one of those bands more memorable in concept and effect than execution. They wrote albums worth of instant pop singles, which is undeniably impressive, but i think i vomit a little in my mouth every time i hear the average Nirvana classic these days. The less radio-friendly portions of <i>In Utero</i> have their moments.

By now, the directly "post-Nirvana" musical strains are tired and uninspired. Regardless of the band's importance, i think some acts - and maybe entire genres - need the reminder that Kurt is pretty dead.