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better than Tori Amos
when you think about it, those barre chords played in that rhythm accompanied by the perfect thunderous backing drums for that song changed music...it's pretty incredible that something so simple, properly executed, did all that.
a testament to his love of R.E.M. & The Beatles distilled into his pure love of the guitar?
Cobain's style resonates with me completely. We are basically of the same generation, & I naturally compose much like he does. People that hear me always associate my playing with either Neil Young or him. There's just as much Sonic Youth & Jimi Hendrix influence as well, but people don't pick that out as readily. I learned guitar by Robert Johnson (who I'll never be able to reproduce, but he was a great teacher nonetheless) first & then Kurt Cobain (who I ape perfectly). Thurston & Lee and Lou & Sterling, John & George, Mick Ronson & Keith Richards are my other biggest guitar-hero inspirations. Not many people get this, but as much as I love & respect Jimmy Page, I do assert that Keith Richards is even better. Keith is less of a lead guy, of course, but he has more irreproducible soul. I'd love to be able to create music more like Mick Taylor or Jimi Hendrix, but I'm more of a creative chord progession & riff-guy ultimately than a scale master with timeless spirit. I only went just so far with the lessons I learned from Jimi; sadly or perhaps not, I only learned just enough from him to be able to do my thing. Contrary to what one might think, learning a masterful Jimi Hendrix solo is easier than a seemingly simple John Lennon rhythm guitar part, & I write this even though I'm naturally more of a rhythm player than a lead player; John Lennon is the greatest musical genius of all time & I include Hendrix & Coltrane & the classical greats in this estimation (he's also my favorite vocalist ever). His own favorite artists were Dylan, Hendrix, Nilsson & Berry. I can learn Lennon rhythms, but it's still ridiculously difficult to really duplicate & do them justice. My hat is off to professional The Beatles cover bands.
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