Kurt Cobain ‘Montage of Heck’ Documentary Will Change Your Opinion About Nirvana (Review)
After watching the Kurt Cobain documentary "Montage of Heck", which premiered on HBO this week, I'm now convinced that Kurt got exactly what he wanted. Sure, he pretended to be a reluctant rock star, but he wasn't. He spent his entire life dreaming of stardom. When the media anointed him as the unofficial spokesman for Generation X, he fed into the myth. He didn't fall into the trappings of fame, he leaped in headfirst.
I was a sophomore in high school when Nevermind came out. I witnessed, first hand, the cultural impact it had. Almost overnight, the cool kids traded in their Hammer pants for ripped up jeans and flannel shirts. The grunge trend influenced fashion as much as it did music. But that wasn't built to last and neither was Kurt.
The documentary demonstrates that, while Cobain was prepared for that moment, he wasn't capable of leading a movement as a person or an artist. In retrospect, he was born to lose and he embraced it. Drugs and media scrutiny only made it worse. Yes, he was a prophet, but he was a false prophet.
For years, I've defended Cobain from others that might question his influence. And I always will. Nirvana was historically significant. They brought the fringe to the mainstream for the first time since the 60's. But Cobain was not the voice of my generation. The real voices of Gen X were artists like Chris Cornell, Trent Reznor, Tom Morrello, Maynard James Keenan, Eddie Vedder, Perry Ferrell, Dave Grohl and countless others...guys who were painting outside the lines, but were driven to achieve their potential. Cobain was driven to be a martyr and he got his wish