Check out Kurt Cobain’s 50 Most Popular Albums of All Time

rock legend Kurt Cobain will forever be known as one of the most influential musicians of his time. The lead singer and guitarist of nirvanaHe lived a turbulent but exciting life until his death at the age of 27, which left fans – and the world – devastated.

A collection of his diaries, published in 2002, sheds light on the musician, including a list of his 50 favorite albums of all time. Check it out below.

A collection of Kurt Cobain diaries published back in 2002 contains a handwritten list of his top 50 albums of all time. Check it out below.

Titled Diaries of Kurt Cobainthe 2002 collection was published by Riverhead Books, and contained personal writings and drawings. The book received mixed reactions, with fans divided over privacy concerns and the ethics surrounding the decision to publish his personal opinions and thoughts.

One of the inclusions in the book, however, is a handwritten list of Cobain’s top 50 albums of all time, accompanied by some deeper reflections on the bands and their influence on Cobain’s own artistic insight.

Specifically, he writes about his admiration for the band The Vaseline.

“I just have this feeling, Eugene [Kelly] and Franz [McKee] had a really cool relationship. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I think it’s a really amazing thing when a couple get together and write some of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.” described to Cobain. “They kind of share their lives with people. Eugene and Frances are the Captain & Tennille of the underground.”

Apparently, in a 1992 interview with triple j, Kurt Cobain described her as “Definitely our number one favorite band.”

Some of the choices on the list come as no surprise, including mud honey And airforge. But we also get a glimpse of what he might have heard on a slower day.

Check out Cobain’s handwritten original list below, as well as a Spotify playlist made up of his top records.

Kurt Cobain’s 50 Best Albums:

1. Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
2. Pixies – Pink Surfer (1988)
3. The Breeders – Pod (1990)
4. The Vaselines – Dying for It (1988, listed as Pink EP)
5. The Shaggs – Philosophy of the World (1969)
6. Catch – land shark! (1982)
7. MDC – Millions of Dead Cops (1981)
8. Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid (1984, listed as 1st EP)
9. Saccharine Trust – Paganicons (1981, listed as 1st EP)
10. Butthole Surfers – Pee Pee the Sailor (1983)
11. Black Flag – My War (1984)
12. Bad Brains – Rock for Light (1983)
13. Gang of Four – Entertainment! (1979)
14. Sex Pistols – Don’t bother with the bollocks, here are the Sex Pistols (1977)
15. The Frogs – It’s Only Right and Natural (1989)
16. PJ Harvey – Dry (1992)
17. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
18. The Knack – Get the Knack (1979)
19. The Saints – Know Your Product (1978)
20. Kleenex – “everything from:” (1978–1983 collected in the 1993 Kleenex/LiLiPUT anthology)
21. The Raincoats – The Raincoats (1979)
22. Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth (1980)
23. Aerosmith – Rock (1976)
24. Various Artists – What’s that? (1982, incorrectly listed as What Is This?)
25. R.E.M. – Green (1988)
26. Shonen Knife – Burning Farm (K Records version, 1985)
27. The Slits – Cut (1979, listed as Typical Girls)
28. The Clash – Combat Rock (1982)
29. The Faith/The Void – The Faith/The Void (1982)
30. Spring Rites – Spring Rites (1985)
31. Beat Happening – Jamboree (1988)
32. Tales of Terror – Tales of Terror (1984)
33. Leadbelly – Leadbelly’s Last Sessions Volume One (1953)
34. Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
35. Daniel Johnston – Yip/Jump Music (1983)
36. Flipper – Album – Generic Flipper (1982)
37. The Beatles – Meet the Beatles! (1964)
38. Half Japanese – We Are Them That Ache With Amorous Love (1990)
39. Butthole Surfers – Grasshopper Abortion Technicians (1987)
40. Black Flag – Damaged (1981)
41. Fear – The Record (1982)
42. Public Image Ltd – The Flowers of Romance (1981)
43. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
44. Marine Girls – Beach Party (1981)
45. David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
46. Windscreen wipers – is that real? (1980)
47. Windshield Wipers – Youth of America (1981)
48. Windshield Wipers – Over the Edge (1983)
49. Mazzy Star – She Hangs Bright (1990)
50. Swans – Young God (1984, incorrectly credited as Raping a Slave)