If Music Could Talk

Nirvana is a pretty stupid name given the kind of music they played. It doesn't even work as stereotypical Xer irony. Generally speaking, grunge didn't produce many good band names, but Nirvana is especially tepid.

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 9:20am

Nirvana is a pretty stupid name given the kind of music they played. It doesn't even work as stereotypical Xer irony. Generally speaking, grunge didn't produce many good band names, but Nirvana is especially tepid.

I don't feel particularly strongly about the name Nirvana, but what I hated was the grunge/post-grunge insistence on monosyllabic names - Hole, Bush, Live, Paw, Sponge, Creed.

matedog wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 12:07pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 9:20am

Nirvana is a pretty stupid name given the kind of music they played. It doesn't even work as stereotypical Xer irony. Generally speaking, grunge didn't produce many good band names, but Nirvana is especially tepid.

I don't feel particularly strongly about the name Nirvana, but what I hated was the grunge/post-grunge insistence on monosyllabic names - Hole, Bush, Live, Paw, Sponge, Creed.

Out of that list, I’ve always thought “Live” was a particularly weak name. Is it Live, rhymes with jive? Or Live, rhymes with Viv? I don’t even know to be honest. Is it just a lame joke for a marquee sign?: “Tonight – Come and See Live Live at 8pm”. Way too limited a joke to use it as a band name. And “Paw” is too simple. It needs something else, something like Monkey Paw, or Bad Dog & the Muddy Paws, or Paws Off, or Raw Paw Tato (named after a fictional heavyweight boxer).

Also, I agree with Doc that "Nirvana" doesn't really fit the music, and tepid is a good description. It's not especially awful as a name, but maybe just a poor fit for the band.

Title always reminds me of this band name:


Not saying it's a terrible band name, I actually vacillate between it's good/terrible.

Kimmelweck wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 12:38pm

Out of that list, I’ve always thought “Live” was a particularly weak name. Is it Live, rhymes with jive? Or Live, rhymes with Viv? I don’t even know to be honest. Is it just a lame joke for a marquee sign?: “Tonight – Come and See Live Live at 8pm”. Way too limited a joke to use it as a band name.

Somewhat akin to The Who. Yeah, okay, kind of amusing the first few times, but then working the gag over and over in album names. Just stop it or you'll slowly kill your rhythm section, 'kay?

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

15 Jan 2023, 9:03am

Marky Dread wrote: ↑

15 Jan 2023, 7:23am

Jimmy the Hoover. That name really sucks.

Hooverphonic is a pretty lame effort.

They got fucked out of their original name because of copyright issues, I think. The original ("Hoover," as you might imagine) wasn't good either.

Kory wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 3:13pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

15 Jan 2023, 9:03am

Marky Dread wrote: ↑

15 Jan 2023, 7:23am

Jimmy the Hoover. That name really sucks.

Hooverphonic is a pretty lame effort.

They got fucked out of their original name because of copyright issues, I think. The original ("Hoover," as you might imagine) wasn't good either.

Ah, like Kleenex.

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 2:30pm

Kimmelweck wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 12:38pm

Out of that list, I’ve always thought “Live” was a particularly weak name. Is it Live, rhymes with jive? Or Live, rhymes with Viv? I don’t even know to be honest. Is it just a lame joke for a marquee sign?: “Tonight – Come and See Live Live at 8pm”. Way too limited a joke to use it as a band name.

Somewhat akin to The Who. Yeah, okay, kind of amusing the first few times, but then working the gag over and over in album names. Just stop it or you'll slowly kill your rhythm section, 'kay?

I much prefer the band that played Al Bundy's high school reunion, The Why?

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 2:30pm

Kimmelweck wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 12:38pm

Out of that list, I’ve always thought “Live” was a particularly weak name. Is it Live, rhymes with jive? Or Live, rhymes with Viv? I don’t even know to be honest. Is it just a lame joke for a marquee sign?: “Tonight – Come and See Live Live at 8pm”. Way too limited a joke to use it as a band name.

Somewhat akin to The Who. Yeah, okay, kind of amusing the first few times, but then working the gag over and over in album names. Just stop it or you'll slowly kill your rhythm section, 'kay?

How about The Guess Who?

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

18 Jan 2023, 1:56pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 2:30pm

Kimmelweck wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 12:38pm

Out of that list, I’ve always thought “Live” was a particularly weak name. Is it Live, rhymes with jive? Or Live, rhymes with Viv? I don’t even know to be honest. Is it just a lame joke for a marquee sign?: “Tonight – Come and See Live Live at 8pm”. Way too limited a joke to use it as a band name.

Somewhat akin to The Who. Yeah, okay, kind of amusing the first few times, but then working the gag over and over in album names. Just stop it or you'll slowly kill your rhythm section, 'kay?

How about The Guess Who?

Even worse because they worked the same joke even after it should have been over.

matedog wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 12:07pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

17 Jan 2023, 9:20am

Nirvana is a pretty stupid name given the kind of music they played. It doesn't even work as stereotypical Xer irony. Generally speaking, grunge didn't produce many good band names, but Nirvana is especially tepid.

I don't feel particularly strongly about the name Nirvana, but what I hated was the grunge/post-grunge insistence on monosyllabic names - Hole, Bush, Live, Paw, Sponge, Creed.

I quite liked that Sponge song, "Wax Ecstatic."

NoFX