 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
  |
 |
 |
 |
Review
Page: Kurt Cobain Internet Shrine
Reviewer: Robert Brooks
Date: Feb. 05, 1999
IntroductionThere are plenty of pages out there that are dedicated to the lead singer of the band Nirvana. Kurt has been criticized not because of his musical talents, but because he had drug problems. It is nothing for us Nirvana fans to take pride in. We can take pride in the fact that he, as well as Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl, brought us great music for years to come. A lot of Nirvana fans are divided up in the Suicide/Murder theory. As Krist has said before, it is none of our business. This page is one of those pages that is dedicated to Kurt Cobain.
Graphics
With a domain name like this, or any page that has such a domain name, graphics are, just as content in their page, important. This page does that job well. On the left side you have a black table with the sections of the page, on the top of it is an animation that shows pictures of Kurt -- which fits perfectly with the outlook of the page. In the center or main table is a 'Welcome' to the site and a picture of Kurt from Incesticide (1992, Geffen Records) also. The attraction to this page is not the complexity of the graphics, but the simplicity and beauty of it. You need not fancy graphics for a great page, you just need simple things that add up.
As for those Netscape users out there, your visit should not be too bad also. The main problem is the hyperlinks. They do not highlight in Netscape, but it does in IE, which adds a neat feature to the page. The graphics are no different betweeen the two browsers to an expedient extent.
Information
This page, no doubt, has information about Kurt. This may not offer the most original information per se, but hopefully it should present it in an original and effective manner. The biography of Kurt is a pretty good section to read. The only correction that I think should be made was that Unplugged In N.Y. was on November 13, 1993.
As for the timeline, this not only relates to Kurt, but it does point out some Nirvana-related information such as special shows or what not. Some of the things need to be re-checked in this section also, because some of the dates may have a typo (although they are in order), such as the date the page said it signed with Geffen Records. The neatness is good, and that is one of the things I like about the page.
The next two sections deal with records: lyrics and discography. In the lyrics section, as in most lyrics sections, you have the album covers. The covers are neat, because they have a little shadow behind each one. It also gives the title of each album and the year of its release. When you click on the album cover, you get another page with all of the lyrics on it. On the top left hand corner, you have the album cover. Move a little more to the right and you have the tracks listed. You can click on that track and it will anchor down to that particular track. It may be a little convinent to add a 'Top' button though. As for the discography, you have more than just the albums. It does not offer a rare songs section, but it offers more than that. You also have the Limited Edition Box Set, or the singles box set. In addition to that, you have Live! Tonight! Sold Out! I have always wondered why it is listed that songs such as 'About A Girl' and 'Endless, Namless' (called Noise in the booklet that comes along with the video) was in 1992. When it was, infact, in 1991.
The information section seems to offer a lot of originality. I am not saying that it is original like some sections are, but it presented the information in a manner that makes it attractive.
Multimedia
As for the multimedia section, what it is in there is downloadable clips of songs. How can I tell? Well, the size of them are in kilobytes. Its a good thing that this page wants to play it safe with legal files. You have the option of downloading some clips from a few songs from each album: either in '.au' or 'MP2 files.' Ironically enough, the files themselves were from Geffen's Nirvana site. There are really no complaints here. It is just to say that this page does not offer the multimedia that everyone may want, but as thats the law as far as Geffen is concerned.
You can also purchase CD's online from CDNow.com, which the page gives a link to.
The pictures section is also original not because of the pictures themselves but because of the manner in which it is presented. You have several sections, including the number of pictures included:
Kurt Cobain - Twenty (20)
Kurt & Family - Six (06)
Nirvana - Six (06)
Nirvana Live - I'm not sure about this section, I just got something that said "Kurt Cobain Internet Shrine" and the address for it. It could be under construction or it may not be working.
Kurts Artwork - Same as the above pictures section.
Miscellaneous - Six (06)
Well as you can tell, there are not many pictures on this page. It does have something neat. That is the Java that is in the picture gallery. There is a horizontal list of each picture section in the current section you are in, when you move your cursor you get a little information or title of each section upon moving the cursor. The only problem that Netscape is that it hides that cursor movement a bit, but it still works fine. In addition, Netscape seems to download a lot slower that IE in the picture section.
Remembrance
In the Suicide section, you have information about Kurt's death. Particulary the webmaster gave some of his thoughts about the day of his death, including some pictures from a newspaper and from the greenhouse. It also offers a text and a picture scan of the note.
There is a poems section also. There is only one poem at the moment, but there should [hopefully] be more in the near future.
Other
There are some 'other' sections on this page as well, here's the run-down:
Forum - A regular looking forum that lets you post for free.
Chat Room - A regular looking chatroom...what more is there to say?
Guestbook - You can sign and view the page's guestbook.
Links - The page at the time of the review has twelve (12) links, you can add a link by filling out a form.
Connection
About the test:
Both browsers were closed before the test.
Internet Explorer was opened and tested, Netscape was tested after.
Address for the main page, or page that consists of contents, or the page that was viewed in the screenshot was pasted in the testing browser.
Time was ended when the icon in the top right hand corner stopped.
Internet Explorer: 23 seconds
Netscape Navigator: 7 secondsIt seems as though Netscape had an easier time opening the page in a quicker manner. Just because it opens well on the main page does not mean it will open like that in every page.
The connection test was done on a 56k Winmodem connected at 38,666 bps. Remember download times will vary depending on your modem speed, browser, server of the page, telephone line activity, and your internet service provide (ISP). This will not guarantee that the page will download at the same rate on your computer as it does mine, this is just an estimate.
Conclusion
Well, for those of you who want a page with the basic information, no more, no less. If you want a page that offers excellent graphics for Internet Explorer, as well as pretty good graphics for Netscape, this is definitely your page. If your looking for multimedia, this is probably not what your looking for. Hopefully the sections on this page will grow.
I recieved an e-mail from the webmaster of the page: "I just wanted to let you know before you review the site that I will be starting a free e-mail service where by visitors can sign up for a free yourname@kurt-cobain.com email address allowing them to log into it from anywhere in the world like hotmail from my site."
The Kurt Cobain Internet Shrine is authored by Michale Appleton.
Nirvana In Nirvana © 1998-1999