In a new interview with our good friend Mitch Lafon, former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven talked about the late-’80s demise of hair metal and the rise of Nirvana.
He said (transcribed by UG):
“From my perception, it wasn’t just Seattle that killed it all. I think that there was an excessive amount of substandard formula applied.
“There were bands that I think took the intelligence and the cool out of rock ‘n’ roll, and I think there are one or two people who might agree with me. I think people got sick of pretty pop ballads, which a lot of bands fell into.”
Further, Mitch asked about Nirvana, saying:
I’ve had these debates on Twitter where people say, ‘Nirvana killed hair metal and heavy rock,’ and I go, ‘No, heavy rock killed heavy rock because they started putting out these ballads’… Rock fans want to rock – Nirvana killed nothing, these rock bands killed themselves.
To which Alan responded:
“Cobain was really interesting…”
Mitch: He was a talentless f*ck!
Alan responded, saying:
“No, I’m gonna disagree with you. I think he was a really interesting singer/songwriter, but I will say that I think Nirvana is actually overrated.”
Completely overrated! “Definitely, they’re good, but they’re not that good.”
The two most overrated bands ever – Nirvana and the Sex Pistols.
“Ehhhh… We could talk about the Sex Pistols for a little bit, but you know, the only thing before we move away, while we’re using this terminology, the other thing that comes to mind, especially looking over this older material is that it’s also a very clear indication that Great White were, quote-unquote, ‘not a f*cking hair band.’
“They were – if you were going to categorize them, they were closer to an early-’70s British blues rock band than anything else. To me, hair bands, I see Warrant, I see Poison, White Lion, and on and on and on.”