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Review
Page:  He Never Liked Rednecks
Reviewer:  Robert Brooks
Reviewed on:  October 28, 1999

Introduction

I had the pleasure of reviewing this site on August 8, 1999; the first review for He Never Liked Rednecks.  I would consider this one of Kurt's weaknesses, however it is a statement that can be found through his lyrics of the "stereotypical" macho man.  The main thing I know that has changed about the site is the layout.  Although the layout is similar to the proceeding, it has switched some things around, and I that is worthy to consider "a layout change."  Did the site change more than that?

Connectivity Test

  • Modem:  US Robotics 56K Winmodem

  • Connected at 32k bps

  • "Welcome" pages is not part of the test.

On the main page of the site, there are a total of six  images, consisting of 247,209 bytes.

Image Download Information
Total images: 9 / Total bytes: 217,237
Image loading will take about:
133.02
seconds @ 14.4
  66.51 seconds @ 28.8
 
34.24
seconds @ 56K

Netscape Navigator downloaded the page completely in about 130 seconds, while Internet Explorer downloaded the page completely in about 70 seconds.

Explanation:  The page takes longer to download than most normal pages, and although I have loosened up by importance of fast download (perhaps I'm just becoming more patient), for a lot of people, speed is important.  217,237 is quite a bit for just one page -- especially a Nirvana page.

Suggestions:  Try to cut some slack on some of the images.  Get rid of the ones that are not necessary, try changing the format, whatever you can do to get the total bytes of the images at least to 150,000 bytes.  However the connection isn't all too bad.

Interface

The page certainly looks "normal" by all means.  It has a logo at the top, and below that are the sections.  Nothing fancy.  There is a black background with the text dominantly being white.  The page is divided by horizontal lines.  To the direct right of the picture are the sections listed (which is an improvement), and below that are other things, which could use some work..

 My Suggestions:  Nothing that I haven't mentioned before (see Connection suggestions).  You may just want to spice up things a little, but it's not totally necessary.  Don't make text bigger than they really need to be, try to make things well-knit together (with some space of course).  If you're still dying to use the image that is part of your site, I suggest making a "welcome" page, then the visitor can click on the image to enter into the main part of the site, with the image in a much smaller, compact form.

The Site's Content

Not too many changes here, perhaps there are some updates:

  • Seattle pictures - Original pictures taken in Seattle, specifically around the Cobains' former house, including: a park bench, a park sign, and three pictures of Kurt's house.  Very nice.

  • Acid Core website - Acid Core is the band the webmaster of the site is in.  This has been updated, looks pretty intresante (Spanish), or in English, interesting.  It makes the author of the site more realistic because you know more about him then just from the Nirvana site.

  • Message Board

  • Suicide note - Includes a cover of Newsweek, the text version of the note, and a picture taken from the exterior of the greenhouse where Kurt's body was found.

  • Links - A few, minor changes.  Mostly the same old stuff.

  • Sound files - Files in '.wav' format, 25 in all.  

  • My Plateau - Information about the author of the site, be careful ladies. 

  • Tour dates - For the Foo Fighters and Sweet75.

  • Guitar tabs - Courtesy of Smiley's Nirvana page 

  • Guestbook

  • Reviews - A new section indeed.  Nope, it's not reviews of Nirvana sites, but of Nirvana books, which is a very fantastic idea.  

  • Kurt: The Good Years:  Not necessarily "good" because of his parents' divorce (probably referring before that).  Here you will find some great pictures of Kurt as a youngster.  

Conclusion

The building is still under construction, however you can see the foundation, and some of the walls -- which are still expanding and being renovated.  Don't worry about the layout until you can do some more stuff with the content.  The reviews and the Kurt idea were a start.  Just add some interesting things, things that makes the visitor come away with something different than from another site.  Is it possible?  Yes.

Visit:  He Never Liked Rednecks
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