Looking back at the early nineties, I see these two great bands which could have been greater if they had lasted a little longer together.


Concentrating on ONLY Nirvana and Guns N Roses, which of the two could have been better?

GNR by a billion miles.

Guns N' Roses by far. Appetite For Destruction & Use Your Illusions are 3 of the best CDs in rock. Their other 3 CDs ain't bad either.

But, but, but, GNR are still together, aren't they? Aren't they?

I voted for Nirvana, who showed more talent over three albums than most bands ever do. GNR had a handful of good songs and a lot of cheese, but Nirvana's music IMHO was far more "real" and rocked harder than GNR ever did.

I'm sorry but around that time you couldnt rock harder than Appetite for Destruction.

... All I'm sure about is that NIRVANA's Double Album after "In Utero" was gonna be FK'n Amazing...

Nirvana. Loved both bands, but Nirvana were WAY more spontaneous and thus more able to adapt easier to keep up with the times. Kurt was pretty varied in his tastes (pop, noise, acoustic, punk, metal). Axl was not (metal, acoustic, ballads).

GnR had too many cheesy ballads. Axl's too much of a perfectionist and a mental case. That's why it's taking over 10 years for "Chinese Democracy" to come out.

The poll should be for who was/is more insane, Axl or Kurt



I'd have to say Nirvana would have been greater, GnR were already on their way down and out. Although I did love them more than I ever loved Nirvana

I loved Appetite as much as anyone, but GnR jumped the shark with Use Your Illusion 1 and 2.

I think both reached their peaks and were on the way down at their respective demises.

I think you're all forgetting "The Spaghetti Incident"...

Nirvana... not that I didn't love GNR; but they had already lost the plot, and Nirvana went out with a bang. HO HO HO

If Axl would have kept his ego in check, G'nR would have ruled longer than Nirvana. There were too many characters in G'nR, and Nirvana only had two in Kurt and Chris. I think Guns would have survived the grunge movement and made some awesome music.

Still, I can't help thinking that Courtney would have derailed Nirvana after awhile or that Kurt might have quit the industry. He did go out while his band was on top, tho'.

appetite came out 4 years before nirvana's major debut. 2 years before their indie label debut. so yes, no hair metal band could rock as hard as gnr at that time, and they take the cake in that department.

Just curious...what cheesy ballads are some of you talking about with regards to GNR?

I still say Appetite rocked MUCH harder than anything Nirvana ever put out. I honestly dont think Nirvana would have had staying power. I think they would have went the way of the other Seattle bands at the time, like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. Great, great bands...but nowhere to be found today.

Its a shame both bands had extremely selfish lead singers.

The follow up to In Utero would have been amazing.

I don't think this is true. Foo Fighters are still going strong. Pearl Jam is doing fine for themselves also.

Possibly, Since I Don't Have You off of the Spaghetti Incident.

I'd say Nirvana. GNR was a decent hair band in the late 80's and early 90's but nothing after the Illusion discs was good. Nirvana continued to put out great music right up until Kurt's death. I also think Nirvana influenced a change in music in the early 90's, much more so than GNR ever did.

i'm not so sure... it's my understanding that while kurt cobain was very eccentric, he, dave, and kris were all great friends. especially he and kris.

the same can't be said for axl, who now fronts GNR without GNR....

or were you talking about something else?

Well I was actually talking about Kurt commiting suicide, which IMO is one of the most selfish things you can do. Especially to your family and friends.

I don't even consider that a *real* GNR album to be honest...which its not. Its a cover album.

Foo Fighters were not part of that Seattle explosion of the early 90's. Pearl Jam has lasted because they have amazing talent and didnt overexpose themself like others did.

Nirvana has always been, to me, one of the least talented bands to come from that Seattle grunge fad. Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, etc were much better musically. Nirvana came onto the scene at the right time. Their aggression was a huge welcome from the hair metal nonsense that was happening at that time. They made the hair metal bands all of a sudden look laughable and fake as hell. No offense to any Nirvana fans...just my humble opinion.

No they weren't, but they did carry on a lot of the success that Nirvana had. I think Pearl Jam lasted because their style of music has a lot of staying power. If anything they hurt their popularity by keeping low key.

Maybe Nirvana weren't the most talented musicans. Where they might have been lacking in talent, they more than made up in song writing. Nirvana's songs were much better than any of the bands you listed IMO. I love Pearl Jam but I would take Nirvana over them anytime.

cornell and staley are far better vocalists than cobain. alice and soungarden were musically sound, great guitarists and bassists. but nirvana was rising and gnr was fading.