Top 50 by Nirvana (Kurt Cobain's Top 50 Albums circa 1993)

(Note: I found the image below, a Spotify playlist and all of the text below at this link here: "Top 50 by Nirvana" )

Kurt Cobain listed these as his Top 50 albums in his journal, probably sometime in 1993.



Iggy & the Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)
The Breeders – Pod (1990)
The Vaselines – Dying for It (1988, listed as Pink EP)
The Shaggs – Philosophy of the World (1969)
Fang – Landshark (1982)
MDC – Millions of Dead Cops (1981)
Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid (1984, listed as 1st EP)
Saccharine Trust – Paganicons (1981, listed as 1st EP)
Butthole Surfers – Pee Pee the Sailor (1983)
Black Flag – My War (1984)
Bad Brains – Rock for Light (1983)
Gang of Four – Entertainment! (1979)
Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)
The Frogs – It’s Only Right and Natural (1989)
PJ Harvey – Dry (1992)
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
The Knack – Get the Knack (1979)
The Saints – Know Your Product (1978)
Kleenex – “anything by:” (1978-1983, possibly referring to 1993′s Kleenex/LiLiPUT compilation)
The Raincoats – The Raincoats (1979)
Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth (1980)
Aerosmith – Rocks (1976)
Various Artists – What Is It. (1982, erroneously listed as What Is This?)
R.E.M. – Green (1988)
Shonen Knife – Burning Farm (K Records version, 1985)
The Slits – Typical Girls (1979)
The Clash – Combat Rock (1982)
The Faith/Void – The Faith/Void (1982)
Rites of Spring – Rites of Spring (1985)
Beat Happening – Jamboree (1988)
Tales of Terror – Tales of Terror (1984)
Leadbelly – Leadbelly’s Last Sessions Volume One (1953)
Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
Daniel Johnston – Yip/Jump Music (1983)
Flipper – Album – Generic Flipper (1982)
The Beatles – Meet the Beatles! (1964)
Half Japanese – We Are They Who Ache with Amorous Love (1990)
Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician (1987)
Black Flag – Damaged (1981)
Fear – The Record (1982)
Public Image Ltd – The Flowers of Romance (1981)
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Marine Girls – Beach Party (1982)
David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
Wipers – Is This Real? (1980)
Wipers – Youth of America (1981)
Wipers – Over the Edge (1983)
Mazzy Star – She Hangs Brightly (1990)
Swans – Young God (1984, erroneously listed as Raping a Slave)

 

Surprisingly no album(s) of the Meat Puppets....

 

He was a genuine music fan, Kurt. He was also an admirer of Trout Mask Replica, though it's not on the list.

 

Bump... because I'm pretty sure other music fans on this forum will also find this interesting. And hey, there's even a Beatles album on Kurt's list - the American version no less. Lots of interesting stuff, folks. A few pleasant surprises too.

 

Interesting list, but it goes a long way toward explaining why I'm just a casual (radio friendly unit shifting) fan of Nirvana.

 

I thought King Crimson's Red was one of his fave albums... must be at #51

 

Odd that he wrote "By Nirvana"- did he ask the other members of the band what their favorite albums were? I mean if this is just Kurt's opinion why did he put the band name on the list?

 

I thought he liked The Beatles. And only one album by R.E.M. Nothing by the Meat Puppets?

 

For those saying "I'm surprised (album) or (group/artist) wasn't on the list" it's probably just that they didn't come to his mind when he was making the list up, that's all.

Remember, he liked a lot of different albums and groups/artists.

 

If its really a mix tape list from 'probably' 1993 (who knows?) that's well into or past Nirvana's rise to fame. He liked the Poppy Family a lot. That was before 1993.

 

And that REM album is GREEN?!?!

His list of definitely not my list.

But if be happy to buy his record collection for resale.

 

This seems like the kind of thing Kurt would have put together in the earlier days of the band (1987/1988/1989) when he had more free time as opposed to 1993 when he was busier touring, recording, writing songs, and dealing with his marriage and Francis.

 

The first three Wipers albums, that's nice to see in there.

 

ha ha FANG! ha ha ha ha!

I saw them....met the guy who did their artwork

 

Nirvana played Fang's "The Money Will Roll Right In" a lot in 1992.

 

I have to say I can see why I do not care for Nirvana, Especially seeing Curt Kobain's taste in music.

 

I'd like to think that Kurt would have posted here under an alias since he was a fan of not only music in general but The Beatles specifically.

 

Well good for you! It's helpful to know that you have such impeccable taste in music. And you spelled his name wrong.

 

To be fair, Kurt often spelled his own name wrong on purpose.

 

You'd hate mine too because I have just about every one of those albums. How many of these have you actually listened to?

 

Cool choices on the list, PJ Harvey, Mazzy Star etc.

Kurt Cobain cited ‘Dry’, PJ Harvey’s first record, as one of his top twenty favourite albums of all time.


July 9, 1993 - Seattle, WA
Kurt Cobain attends a PJ Harvey concert at Under the Rail.
"It was during the Rid Of Me tour, and the place was half-full. Kurt was nervous about the concert because he liked her so much. She was so great. He wanted to ask her to go on tour with Nirvana.
So after the show, we went backstage and I know it took a lot for him to ask her. She was polite, but she turned him down. I think that made him love her even more." - Cali DeWitt.

 

Aerosmith - Rocks? Yeah!

 

I don't think the Pixies' Surfer Rosa has aged very well. Albini's famous slam of it has proven kinda correct. Neither has Pod really grown a lot from that initial fan-enthusiasm. Although, I did listen to the first side of Kim Deal's The Amps album last night. It rocks.
Also, R.E.M. did not come out unscathed from their long, but profitable, super-contract. I don't think he would have appreciated their later work as much. Interesting to see the list as a time capsule from that time. It's an endearing list from a real music fan.

 

Well, PJ Harvey's Dry wasn't released until 1992.

 

The singer served some time for manslaughter I recall.