"In Bloom" by Nirvana
Today, September 24th, is the anniversary of the release date of Nirvana's Nevermind album. It came out in 1991 (seventeen years ago!!).
Is it cliché to say that Nevermind is one of the best albums of all time? Perhaps. But it is. (certainly in the top 20)
Is it cliché to say that Nirvana shaped the 90s (for better or for worse) musically into what they were? Perhaps. But they did.
Is it weird that even though I consider it a fantastic album that I could listen to many many times [and have in the past when I owned it] that I don't have a copy now? ...Actually, that is kinda weird. I should rebuy it next time I get some spare moolah.
I would go on about other Nirvana/Nevermind stories I have, but, you know, nevermind. Instead, I open it to the P@riots out there. Please share your Nirvana related opinions/stories/feelings/memories. Everyone's got something to say about that band and/or album. Let's hear it.
5 comments:
It is cliche but I had to fill out a survey the other day on my top twenty albums. I listed ten and then wrote, you can fill in the rest with albums like nevermind rumors and ok computer, i guess.
This also sounds totally cliché, but I remember the first time I heard/saw "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on MTV. And I remember thinking "whoa" and how music seemed totally different after that point in time. I mean, really.
Also, remember when MTV played videos?
Also, remember Teen Spirit? (Uh, do they still make Teen Spirit?) I remember thinking that, when I became a teenager, I would be, like, legally obligated to start using that stuff. It's made for teens!!
I remember the album (I already owned Bleach) coming out. I certainly remember the 1st time I saw that video and was all "woah,".
As much as we could say that Nirvana shaped the 90s, I never really felt like they did. They were one of those bands whose sound was so uniquely raw and aggressive that it wasn't really adaptable to other bands, I mean, when I think about the radio play for the 90s, I don't think "wow, a lot of those songs sounded like Nirvana". Except maybe for a couple of Foo Fighters songs.
So no, sir, I must disagree. Nirvana changed the landscape of the 90s, but I don't think they "shaped the 90s musically"
They certainlty made it possible for more varied "underground" acts to come to the foreground, and they were certainly responsible for the quick pop turnover- when MTV was simultaneously airing Firehouse and Soundgarden, and GnR were still gods as hair metal faded, but who were this apathetic losers in plaid? I think it was more what they did to mainstream music, to the widespread visibility- yeah, MTV changed, and yeah, the radios changed, but the music was Already There, is my point, and the bands that followed TRYING to be Nirvana didn't ever register as a pulse. The undergroudn was still there, and it always has been/will be. The mainstream is changed, slightly, with each mega-success, but in the long run it doesn't really change anything, shape anything, or leave any marks other than on the NEXT generation of musicians. So, in theory, we should be hearing bands today that are influenced by Nirvana. We might be, but I don't listen to the radio or pay attention...
I mean, I'm trying to think of the popular music that followed Nirvana and I'm scratching my head to come up with what influence they would have left... Gangster rap was getting huge, Madonna still had clout, ska had a brief rise and a briefer fall, pop-punk showed up, so did nu-metal... but the garage/grunge sound, after that quick "oh these bands are all from Seattle!" craze subsided, everyone realised all those bands sounded different from each other anyways... except for STP, who sounded like Alice In Chains except when they tried to sound like Soundgarden.
Still, Nevermind is totally a great album, legendary even, so don't get me wrong, but it stands alone as a great album, without launching any ships or world storms.
"except for STP, who sounded like Alice In Chains except when they tried to sound like Soundgarden."
Christ, I've never read anything so true.
I never thought it was a great album, actually. I loved Smells Like Teen Spirit (not knowing, at the time, what the hell Teen Spirit was) and On a Plain. But most of the rest, Come as You Are, Lithium, et al did very little for me. I still think the Hole albums are better than the Nirvana albums. But me & Jenny might be the only ones who think that. Still, no denying the influential aspect, or the sense that, like the Sex Pistols, they came around at exactly the right time. And Cobain always seemed one of the more genuine people in rock at that time. And the songs I loved, like the two mentioned above, hold up extremely well.
-Kirk
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