Customer Reviews

Cobain (Rolling Stone)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

i bought this book a couple months back thinking, "this is just gonna be another brief book about kurt's life. the same material every other book has." i didn't think that i'd actually get through the whole thing, cos i had heard his story over and over again anyways. i thought it'd be boring. man was i wrong! i couldn't put it down. halfway through the book, i realized this wasn't just any plain biography; this was a big colage of kurt's life: his music, his family, his drug abuse, and his sad death. some people think that kurt was just another junky-musician. but this book proves far beyond a doubt that he was so much more. he was a creative and influential person to all of us (even though some people choose to deny it). after reading this book, i came to the conclusion that i didn't need to buy any other books about kurt cobain, or nirvana, because all the imformation i needed was right in my hands.

Ironic that the best of many books released in the months after Cobain's death would be a collection from Rolling Stone, alleged promoters of the "corporate rock" he battled against. The editors of this collection of RS articles wisely chose to make it a true memorial, remembering the past, the good and the bad, while not pontificating uselessly on the meaning of Cobain's suicide. Many have tried in vain to be artfully profound in the wake of Kurt's death, magazine writers and newspapermen. This kind of purple prose is luckily absent from COBAIN, and the majority of the articles are very well written. Also included are many wonderful photographs; Kurt with his daughter, the infamous bridge from "Something in the Way", Kurt with a kitten perched on his shoulder, the beautiful cover, Kurt surrounded by Stargazers during Nirvana's Unplugged performance. In the rush to publish something in the summer of 1994, the market was saturated with books on Nirvana and Cobain. This one was the best and still is. It leaves questions unanswered, as well it should.

This isn't a book totally directed at him. It's a book directed towards the ground breaking music that he made. It's a combination of past aricles that appeared in previous issues of Rolling Stone and statements that present and former writers and editors wrote about him. It's a great book. It's a new insite into Kurt's strange world. It also gives you a better understanding to where this man was standing in the world when he blew our minds with his incredible music. It's a must for anyone who likes him, his band or 90's music in general. I assure you that it would be a pitty for you to pass this book by.

The best thing about Rolling Stone's compilation their coverage of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain is that it is one stop shopping. You can get just about everything published in RS abour Kurt and the band up until Kurt's death. Convienent? Yes. Informative? Well, considering Kurt rarely told the truth in interviews (for whatever reason) this book isn't going to give you alot you don't already know. The pictures are pretty lame - most of them were highly published during Nirvana's reign as the biggest band in the world. So, what makes Rolling Stone's collection so special? Because it's from Rolling Stone, the musical authority. If anything it's more of a coffee table book, especially with the dark, flattering picture of Cobain on the cover. Unfortunately, this is another way for corporate America to take advantage of a great artist, a great person who left this life too soon...

You'd be better off with something other than this book.

This is a fabulous book. I'm a Kurt Cobain/Nirvana fanatic, and I've read quite a few books and seen quite a few pictures. This is THE BEST I've seen. Has a section on just about everything you could possibly imagine. If you want to know ANYthing about Kurt, get this book, and that's all you need. Has some interesting drawings on it, sections on Courtney Love and Frances Bean. It's a wonderful book.

I definetly thought this book was very good. A compilation of interviews with Kurt, Courtney, and their close friends, "Cobains" was a timeline of Kurt's life and the circumstances leading to, eventually, his suicide. However, the book states things very arbitrarily and doesn't really delve into or analyze the facts. It just sort of coldly, without emotion, talks about his life and death. Personally, being a lover of both Kurt and his music, I would have preferred to see something writen by someone who was more personally connected to him and at least could feel the sorrow and emotion that his music evoked and his suicide caused.

There's a slew of Cobain bios floating around. This is one of the better ones. Lots of gorgeous pictures, great articles, and it's just a unique book. Buy it before it goes out of stock.

What impressed me most about this colorful book was that even though the articles were written at different times, they never were repetitive. Unlike most of the other books that have been written about this hero, this one was actually well written. I also felt that the writers actually interviewed the goup, instead of just writting about all the rumors and cliches that went along with this award winning band. I loved the drawings and photographs that accompanied the text. It really complimented the nature of the book. The artwork in the book left you questioning just like most of their contemporary songs did for an entire generation. I definately enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who idolizes Kurt the way that I do. But i dont recommend it to anyone who thinks that Courtney killed Kurt.

I love Kurt Cobain and have for a while now. The book by Rolling Stones show the greatest pictures of Kurt Cobain. He was a good singer and they showed how wonderful Kurt was. The facts are wonderful and for those who want to learn about him this is a great book to offer. He was a good man who will always live in my heart. He brought a new type of grunge music into this world that was like no other music out there. He changed music forever. He was a great man and this book shows how wonderful he was. He will never fade away. Kurt Cobain may you rest in peace. Katelyn

Kurt Cobain may very well have been the first and last significant musicain of the 1990's. Kurt posessed a talent that few hope for, and what few will have. That talent is the ability to make us feel. NO matter who you are if you've listened to, seen, or read extensively about Kurt and Nirvana you will realise that there is at least one thing that he's done, writen, said, or sung that's made you feel. I, being a musician myself looked up to Kurt and was able to see the underlying emotion to the writing. Kurt always said that he never had any underlying meaning to his songs that they were just songs. If you are a musician you know that when you write a song you write it from your heart, what's inside. A song is a reflection of what is on the inside of the musician. Kurt's songs were not a reflection of death or suicide, or even blatant drug abuse. As an opinion of my own Kurt's songs reflect sorrow, disgust, depression and frustration. While others depict love and joy, (Turn Around) and some just utter senslesness. (Beeswax, Hairspray Queen, Mexican Seafood) Kurt gave us all something to think about. Let's give him something back: REMEMBRANCE. Cobain, by Woodard, is a prime example of journalism at it's best. Woodard does a splendid job of drawing the reader in and keeping their attention. In reading this book I would have to say, "It saved me a lot of money trying to find back issues of 'Rolling Stone' magazine for some of the poeces that was in this book." Also, I think that it was entirely informative and it made me want to keep reading. Scott Carroll