Discuss.

Both are gratuitously posthumously overhyped.

stupid ass duplicate posts

i agree, elliott lived longer.

Different dudes, different styles, both tortured and brilliant. Cobain gets all the press. Both stood on the precipice of their respective conglomerate (early-90's grunge vs. late-90's introverted singer-songwriter) and both jumped off first...everyone else followed.

I call it a tie.

and neither commited suicide.
discuss.

If you look at it minus any musical aspects, I give the edge to Elliott. He didn't leave a wife and child behind. Plus, Kurt took a gunshot. That's a pretty solid, easy way out. Stabbing yourself in the chest takes something special.

i may agree with this.

i really don't get the whole eliot smith thing. i find him completely boring except for 2 or 3 songs.

Elliot Smith.
He is a tremendous songwriter whose only real hype came from his soundtrack work for Good Will Hunting.
Cobain was fairly mediocre all around and his success is owed to David Geffen and the hype that surrounded "Grunge" and The Seattle scene. He was essentially just a poster boy for the masses
Cobain could have been saved if the people banking off of him had actually made an effort to clean him up.
Elliot Smith had previously attempted suicide and despite several interventions by close friends, was inevitably going to burn out rather than fade away.
To me Elliot Smith will sound fresh for years to come, Cobain is so dated now.

i feel elliott smith is about as good as a lot of similar singer-songwriter types, while cobain blast a music scene open. lyrically and musically, no advantage, but kurt's passion stabs smith.

HEATMISER

I could possibly buy into this, especially with Elliott Smith. I mean who thrusts a knife into their chest to off themself?

van gogh

Courtney Love did it.

too bad it didn't take

He shot himself, no?

She's Death?

juliet

really? i think there was a sense that elliott smith had peaked before he killed himself. i liked figure 8 and everything but it didn't come close to his earlier work. i seem to remember lots of hipster types writing him off around the time of figure 8. or maybe it was just that his music didn't speak to me as much once i ceased to be a mopey teen.

and anyway, for my money:

chris bell > elliott smith

he has the whole heartbreaking failure thing going for him--elliott smith was still well liked and had a cushy major label deal.

Anyone who thinks that Elliot Smith is better than Kurt Cobain deserves the same fate as both of those artists.

this thread sucks

Damn that's harsh.
I'm sorry if I don't believe a guy who was recently made into an action figure is better than Elliot Smith. I just always think of that Family Guy episode where they show what might have happened if Kurt Cobain got clean, Courtney Love is a nobody and Kurt Cobain is essentially an adult contemporary star.
I can understand how someone might argue they aren't comparable. Elliot Smith is a solo artist who must be judged solely by his work and impact, whereas Cobain was a member of a band. One can argue Cobain was more relevant and famous than his band, but without them he never becomes a pop idol.

i suppose I can see what you're saying except I can't possibly fathom how to compare the two other than the fact that they were both people and both made music.



I thought that was more because he was having concerts and showing up late or being so drunk and out of his mind that he couldn't remember lyrics, was stopping songs halfway through and blaming it on things like jet lag, etc.