Nirvana – Nevermind
hello all! this week, our record is Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind!
its a fascinating experience listening a Critically Acclaimed album for the first time. for an album that is A Part of Music History in like, a groundbreaking and pivotal way.
ive had that experience with Classics before. i remember listening to Rumors for the first time and realizing i basically knew the whole record for the first time. even recently, i discovered that Dookie Really Was That Good, and that American Idiot Was Not.
but yeah. Nevermind is The Nirvana album. its the one that took them from being a grunge band to The Grunge Band. so its neat to dig in! its discographies like this that make me glad to listen to things chronologically too – i feel like my understanding of this one is better BECAUSE i listened to Bleach first. i saw it mentioned all over discussions of Bleach that it was rawer, rougher, harder, and that Nevermind has a poppier bend to it, and i dont know that i would have appreciated that without doing it in order (and it does make me very excited for what ive heard about In Utero).
i, like everyone else, am familiar with Smells Like Teen Spirit, from covers to Guitar Hero to Memes and Parodies. its catchy, the riffs are good, it goes hard. i can absolutely see how this song became infectious.
the other big single from the record, Come As You Are, is probably my fave on the record, but its a narrow lead.
and like, the SLAMMED the front of this record with great tracks. In Bloom and Breed are more personal tracks, allegedly directed at specific people in Cobain’s life (though the bit ive read online feels a bit mixed on In Bloom being about a real person – the reading can also be about an anonymized fan), but also just less about broad topics and more songs about a person, or a kind of person. theyve both good killer hooks, with some really great lyrics throughout. i also really really like Dave Grohl’s drumming on In Bloom.
the middle of the record has some tracks that im personally a bit more on the fence about. Lithium’s verses really do feel like your mood is being stabilized, contrasting really sharply with the choruses – p good. Polly is a more challenging track for sure, though its interesting that Cobain has talked about the fact that Polly gets away in the end. Territorial Pissing’s intro makes sense in context but definitely doesnt warm me up to the song, which i otherwise really like the garage rockier vibes to. its punkier and its a solid sound. and Drain You’s p good! Cobain had talked about it being his version of a more romantic song, which is v interesting, haha.
i really appreciate the pacing going into the back segment of the record, especially as it approaches On a Plain, which fittingly feels like a crest, with the closer Something In the Way functioning as a bit of closure. i think they both REALLY WORK in that position on the record, and On a Plain is a fitting high point. of the two tracks leading up, im just okay on Lounge Act but Stay Away is an energetic smash before On a Plain that i really really like. some killer bass there.
rounding things out on the digital version of the record is Endless, Nameless, which would have been a hidden track on the CD. i dont like it. it also brings up an interesting question i always come to with record that had hidden tracks on streaming or listed digitally. maybe ill have to write about that separately. lemme know if you wanna hear about my thoughts on that!
but yeah. i can absolutely see how this record would blast open doors when it came out. im living in a post-Nevermind world and im still incredibly impressed by it. good shit. ive heard In Utero takes a different path in a reaction to the fame this record garnered, so im interested to check that out next week.
faves – Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are, Breed, Drain You, Stay Away, On a Plain
dislikes –
Nevermind – 9/10
previous: Bleach | next: In Utero
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