For most people the appeal of rock is as performance art.  That’s not an important aspect to me, but Cobain almost made me a believer. He was undeniable to all in his authenticity, whatever your background.   I remember very well how Nirvana took my college campus by storm.  There was a transcendent quality to their appeal.   But you can only take the world by storm once, and the moment passes.  Kurt surely felt this quite keenly, and I believe it was the source of great anxiety to him.  What would be his second act?  If you listen closely to Nevermind, there is a snippet of parody when Kurt sings the chorus to Come on people now smile on your brother in a grotesquely sardonic manner.  It sounds maniacal, and it's not the least bit funny.  I think that would clear up quickly any delusions anyone would have about how Kurt felt about politics.  So, he was not destined to be an iconic musician-prophet like Neil Young, Michael Stipe, Bono, and Thom Yorke.  Nor would he want to head down the track of mediocrity exemplified by bands like Foo Fighters.  One wonders what Nirvana would be without the performance art aspect.  I think it would have been pretty lame, eventually.  Maybe he had another album in him, but that seems unlikely.  Why do I say that?  I think we can look to his musical peers for comparison.  Radiohead is essentially a two album band (The Bends and OK Computer), with other subsequent output that is also very good.  REM peaked early too (Murmur, Reckoning, Life’s Rich Pageant), also with very good work to follow.  The difference there was these two groups relied far less on the mystique and charisma that Nirvana did, and they were more collaborative efforts.  Kurt was on top, but he was facing quite a daunting task as a second act.