REVIEWS:
Regarded as the most influential band in the 90s, Nirvana definitely ushered in a new chapter in the music mainstream - grunge rock. This genre was not a new development, as bands like the Pixies, the Melvins and Big Black were already proficient at it, but it was Nirvana who really woke up the establishment with their sound - direct three chord punkish riffs (which are simplistic on the surface but are instantly memorable), angsty Kurt Cobain vocals, great melodies, a terrific rhythm section of and confusing lyrics which are usually almost unintelligible in the songs but on paper they read like fascinating poetry. The end result is quite fascinating, chaotic beauty.
At the time, the mainstream was getting somewhat stale, considering the overdose of 'hair metal' bands who you'd be hard pressed to tell one from the other, and the careers of those bands were effectively ended or very much slowed down (although there were a few misunderstood and unjustly ignored such acts). Nirvana's ultimate legacy was to usher in a new emotionally resonant expressive voice for a new generation - convincing songs that the youth of the 90s could relate to. They did do their part rather successfully, until Cobain's unfortunate suicide in 1994, and quite a few of their songs are deserved rock classics, but yet I still feel like I'm missing something here.
Sometimes the band's weaknesses were a bit too apparent - Cobain's vocals aren't anything pleasant, and he tended to overscream rather than actually sing (which he's not really able to do), and the band's worst tunes are often built on melodyless distortion and come off as horribly unfocused. Plus, for most of their career, like U2, the band's albums were for the most part very inconsistent - the best songs (usually hit singles) stood out significantly more than the other sometimes poor and half-hearted numbers (check out the B-sides and rarities collection Incesticide for the best example of what I mean).
COMMENTS
I think most the people who listen to nirvana dont even know what the songs ment to Kurt Cobin.You can juge a song buy the way it sounds if you whant, but the meaning of the song is what matters.If you live where ther is a block buster you should check out the movie Kurt and Cortny, most the movie sucks but you can get a good idea of why and for whom Kurt made his songs.Im only 18 but love all kinds of music every thing from slayer to queen to the misfits to zeppelin well every thing but rap and RandB. to the people that nirvana was sloppy and undeveloped that was what grunge was it wasent ment to sound like every thing else. nirvana did start out sounding diffrent then it did in the end but what bands cds sound the same on every one. listen to zeppelin early days and later days youll see what i mean. some one said the song Something In The Way sounded dull well thats because the song is about kurt liveing under a bridge after he was kiked out of his home and doing heroin he ment for it to sound dull and depressing. well what im trying to say is some of you people not all of you but most need to realy look into the meanings of his songs because i love nirvana but even more sence i took the time to look into the meanings of the songs and kurts life. (and rating bands is bull shit)
Nirvana's debut is pretty impressive for an indie debut recorded for just $600, but that's not saying too much - it's noisy, punkish, often bizarre, incoherent, and unfocused, and it offers only a little bit of a glimpse of Nirvana's future as one of the biggest impact bands in music history. Kurt Cobain first shows his potential as a gifted songwriter here, with the band's first bonafide classic "About A Girl" (though it wasn't until being recorded live as the opening cut on the Unplugged In New York album), which has it all - excellent melody, highly memorable riff and a straightforward solo. "Negative Creep" and "Mr. Moustache" are a couple of the band's more chaotic earlier numbers, with furious indie live energy, as is the classic closing cut "Downer", which has a frantic two note bassline and a defiant lyrical delivery. The rest of the songs don't sound quite as developed - the riffs and melody aren't that worthwhile, the lyrics are a tad too simplistic and confused (especially on tracks such as "Big Cheese", "School", and "Swap Meet") the vocals are mostly weak and overly nasally, and Chad Channing's drumming is extremely sloppy. This mistake would of course be corrected with the addition of Dave Grohl on the following album, one of the more talented rock drummers in the 90s. More often than not, this first album is simply too erratic to make any bigstatement. The next album, however, would be a massive statement - a surprising shot heard around the music world.
Update: I like this one better than I used to - it's sloppy, it's badly produced, but that's part of its' charm. As with the rest of this page and others, rewrites will be coming.
Nirvana's major label debut and second album Nevermind was a phenomenal breakthrough, virtually ushering in the era of Generation X. Whether or not that's good or bad can be decided for yourself, but from the legendary opening riff and 'with the lights out, it's less dangerous' chorus of the classic opener "Smells Like Teen Spirit", huge change was ahead. The song is certainly an enigma lyrically, which adds to the passion of it - the emotional level is quite timeless, and the performance is heavily energetic and forceful. The other singles are no slouches either, with "In Bloom" and "Come As You Are" both having distinctive basslines (as simplistic as the instrumental ability of this band might be, there's little doubt the respective parts to their best songs are unforgettable) with similarly intriguing, powerfully played energetic choruses, showing Cobain's ability for lyrical wit and intrigue, which was indeed one of his greatest assets. It's "Lithium" which is the best of these singles, however, bringing all of Nirvana's strengths together without hinting at their limitations.
However, the rest of the album in my opinion doesn't come close to living up to its' classic status, with the exception of the clever and well-arranged "On A Plain". The acoustic numbers, "Polly" and "Something In The Way", have well-written lyrics but are performed in such a dull fashion that they're not really that worthwhile, especially when compared to the singles (although the punked up version of the former found on Incesticide is priceless and far superior), while "Lounge Act", "Stay Away" and "Drain You" just seem like afterthoughts after the absolute passion exhibited earlier. Meanwhile, the most uncontrollably furious song, "Territorial Pissings", is entertaining enough, but a little too insignificant and juvenile, while "Breed" has excellent drum work but lacks any kind of good melody to be listenable. These tracks, along with the overpolished production, make Nevermind a bit of an overrated product in terms of quality songs, but it's still a worthwhile listen - it's just not that great.
Update: Another 'overrated' classic I was way too hard on originally, as early 90's grunge albums like these sound SO much better as compared to what's out now. Wait for a rewrite of this one.
Here I am reviewing what is thought by many in the music industry as "the defining moment of grunge". Granted, I do not own a single "real" grunge album (other than Nirvana), but if this is the best the genre has to offer, then it becomes clear in my mind that the 'grunge invasion' was lucky to last as long as it did. Now, I like to think that I am not one to let my prejudices of a band outweigh my objectivity, but I really never really cared much for Nirvana to begin with. Sure, I blasted "Teen Spirit" at obscene volumes like every other acne-laden teenager in the year of 1991, but dammit, it really annoys me when critics give perfect ratings for albums (See Mark Prindle and Allmusic) just because the album in question influenced a generation. And most often, these "defining" albums are not all that great. So what the hell does an album have to do to get a great rating in my book? It has to be consistent, dammit. And this album is not.
Just about every song on side A has been overplayed to death, and most of the tracks were never that great to begin with. Now, I'm not trashing the band or their songs, on the contrary, I might still like some of the tracks on the first side to this day if I didn't hear one of them EVERY FIVE FUCKING MINUTES on the radio. Songs like "In Bloom" "Come As you Are" and "Breed" are good, but not great, little tracks, but totally undeserving of the constant bombardment they make on pop radio. They are simply NOT exceptional compositions. But let me say it again for all you hormonally dominated Cobain worshipers, they are GOOD songs and I am NOT saying I hate them. I do, however, hate "Lithium". How the hell that song ever became a hit is beyond me. Dumb Lyrics, predictable chord sequences (not that any Cobain guitar lines aren't).
Side B seems better than Side A to me, possibly because anything that has not be broadcasted 24/7 from this album sounds refreshing. I love "Drain You" which IS a great song, and yet got relatively no airplay compared to the lousy "Lithium". "Territorial Pissings" has a cool riff, and "On A Plain" is an interesting little song. I also loathe "Polly". Lyrics even dumber than "Lithium" and even less-interesting guitar lines. In conclusion, I have decided that Nirvana was in fact even more overrated as a group than U2, who are pretty high up there. At least the Edge varied his guitar phrasings half the time. And at least Bono can sing. Bear in mind that a LOT of Nirvana freaks are out there, probably waiting to burn my house to the ground, so there must be SOMETHING I am missing here. Well, maybe not. Hanson sold 8 million records, and the Backstreet Boys are ruling MTV. No one ever said there's quality in numbers.
This album, as you most likely know, is very very widely regarded as the finest 1990s release, and extremely close to the top of lists of the best albums of all time. I mean seriously, has anyone ever noticed how high Nevermind ranks in all of those "professional" best albums lists? Not just VH1's either. I saw this big old top 1000 list at Music-Lovers.com that had Nevermind listed as number 4 of all time, the only album on the top five that was not by the Beatles. Let's face it, all of this popularity is due to the first five songs on the album, none of which are actually all that great (except maybe "Come as You Are"). "Smells Like Teen Spirit" never did anything for me. It's such a dumb song, with such a terrible guitar solo. That solo is just the verses played on the guitar with nothing new added. How stupid does it get? What's the point of a guitar solo if it adds absolutely nothing new? They should've gone right into the third verse so the song could end sooner. That would have certainly been an improvement.
You probably know the next four too. I hate "Lithium" and "Breed," but "In Bloom" is good, and "Come as You Are" is even better for no real reason at all. It just strikes me as a stronger song. Then there's the rest which are mostly bad, with a couple exceptions. I like "Polly" and "Something in the Way" a little. Nothing too great, of course. The others are nothing even worth mentioning. Of course, the entire grunge thing grew out of this, and so it may have been the last album to have such a large revolutionary effect on rock music, but it just goes to show how bad revolutionary albums can be. And I dont think the long-term effects were for the best. If I understand all of the history correctly, grunge contributed greatly to the death classic metal and eventually gave us the genre of "Alternative Metal," or as I prefer to call it, newmetal (other people prefer everything from simply "new metal" to "new-metal" to "nu-metal," and there are many other names people give this genre, so take your pick). I honestly don't understand why everyone thinks this album is so great. It's not great, it isn't even good for that matter.
Update (12/28/02): I finally get it.
YOU both are fucking morons. Nirvana's Nevermind deserves a perfect rating. The first side is one of the best sides of music ever heard. Learn to write GOOD reviews, not this shit.
what is with this? Nevermind is average? They are good reviews but I don't know why this isnt a 10. All of these songs are very good, most of them are great. The production is fantastic. Listen to "Come as You Are", when the drums kick in it has this great fluid production. "On a Plain" and "Polly" are two great songs you sometimes here on the radio. "Lithium", "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "In Bloom" are the other big hits, they are all great too, this has to get a 10. It is overated of course it's not one of the 10 best albums ever, but then again, what is?
[email protected] (Rod Kelman)
Reading the third review, now, for Nirvana's Nevermind, I had to put the CD in just to remind myself how very much this thing rocks. A five? I can understand Nick giving it a 7, maybe, 'cause I don't expect everyone to click on the same album every time, but anything less than 7 is just wrong. I'm an old fuck (nearly 42), and think nearly everything in the '90s was pretty much non-rocking crap. But it is the likes of Nirvana and maybe Green Day that make the '90s so much better than the '80s.
I'd give Nevermind a 9, probably. I don't own any other Nirvana, but like what I've heard of In Utero, and reserve a 10 in case it might be better. It's on my list.
[email protected] (Rich Bunnell)
About the guitar solo in "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- yeah, it's just a repetition of the verse melody, but it sounds really cool coming from a mixture of tubas, kazoos and a guy gurgling water in his mouth. I'm of course referring to the solo in the godlike Weird Al parody "Smells Like Nirvana" and not the one in the actual song itself.
[email protected] (Andrew McQuillan)
One of the most damn consistent albums I've ever heard (and I'm not just saying that since they're my favourite band, but Jesus.). Pretty much every song could've been a hit (well not Endless, Nameless, obviously, even though I fucking love that too.). Bloody consistent. A 10.
nevermind should be a ten
I think you should do the same thing cobain did , commit suicide, Nevermind is the second GREATEST ROCK ALBUM IN HISTORY according to a poll on Vh1. EVERY SONG ON NEVERMIND IS AT LEAST A 7/0 , WITH THE MAJORITY OF THEM OVER 8.
Smells like Teen Spirit- 4TH BEST ROCK SONG EVER (once again, vh1)
In Bloom - Great Bass line, Catchy toon, just overall good song
Come as you Are - Original bass line and a fluid melody
Breed - Perhaps the best Chorus on the cd, great lyrics
Lithium- whoever said this is bad , does more heroin then cobin himself, great Chord progression and good on key screaming during "yeah"
Polly - A great song, helps mellow out the mood, catchy riff, great lyrics (if you accualy know what there about )
terretorial pissings - Good song, not great , speeds up the mood a little
Drain you- Super Catchy , amazing lyrics, Just plain good
Lounge act- Good intricate Bass line, Good drumming and again super-catchy
Stay Away - dont like it very much but, good heavy song
On a plain - Catchy Catchy Catchy , good fast song, great guitar line
Something in the way - Great way to close out a heavy cd, a good , deep, slow song
* Hidden Track * - in case you didnt know like 11 min. after number 12 a horrible song will come on
[email protected] (Alan Downton)
i used to love this album. but for fucks sake its over rated. what can i say. there are so much better more talented bands out there which arent as popular because nirvana get all the airplay.you people should explore bands like alice in chains and janes addiction. Dirt, facelift and Ritual de lo habitual are all way better. andim sure nick karn agrees with me. a guy who actually knows something about music . not just a trend follower who needs a catchy simplistic riff to get hooked on a band.damn i seem like an ass kisser but i agree with you reviews dude
I love the cd Nevermind i think the best song is ''Lithium'' its awsome but i also like ''smells like teen spirit'' and ''come as you are'' overall the cd is great i love it
The success of Nevermind caught Nirvana by surprise, so in order to hold fans over until the release of their next proper studio album, they released Incesticide, a collection of B-sides, rarities, and cover versions (which they have quite a lot of, somewhat more than the 45 minutes collected here). If this release proves anything, it proves that even the band's best unreleased material is easily as memorable and well-written as the studio counterparts, and the first half without a doubt proves it. "Been A Son" and "Stain" are Bleach-like numbers that actually far surpass most of the material from that album in terms of melody and energy, while "Sliver" is an intriguing short single that plays out like Kurt's visit to his grandma's house (which from hearing the song, it apparently didn't turn out so great). The bass-heavy opener "Dive" is also very intense not to mention catchy, while "(New Wave) Polly" is an incredible punky version of the dull Nevermind acoustic song. Showcasing another side of themselves, "Son Of A Gun" and "Molly's Lips" are early proof that Nirvana were truly one of the greatest cover bands around (before Unplugged made that fact even more obvious).
If judged on the brilliant first half alone, Incesticide would easily be the best Nirvana money could buy, but unfortunately, there's another half to be heard here, and to be perfectly clear, a good amount of it is completely horrid. "Hairspray Queen" and "Big Long Now" are the most painful examples - the former having unbelievably annoying vocals and a laughably bad melody, and the latter being much too long, dirgey, and slower than hell - it seems like it's much longer than its' 5 minute length, while "Beeswax" and "Mexican Seafood" hardly even pass as demo quality, sounding like they were made up on the spot in one take. "Aero Zeppelin" really isn't much better (and no, it doesn't combine the best aspects of Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, not even close). The only two good tracks here, however, are complete classics, but one of them, "Downer", already appeared as the closing track on Bleach, so discounting that, only the ambitious, wild ride of the closing "Aneurysm" is truly worthwhile, and believe me when I say that - it could be the greatest Nirvana song ever written, what with the priceless screams and dramatic intro. So even with this collection's weak spots (which are indeed very weak), there are still a great deal of tracks that rank as the band's best, and that's really something for a "B-sides" quality collection.
COMMENTS
I think that you did a VERY GOOD EXPLANATION OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE ALBUM, but, you completely screwed the rest. I think that you are completely wrong. I think that this album is very creative, and creative is my thing. What I mean is that the only album anyone ever listens to is Nevermind. I mean come on. Everyone says that it is their best album, why, becvause it's the only songs they've ever heard. This reveals Kurts true thoughts. I think that you are too slow,(in the head) to relize this. So start telling people to get out their and try new things, I did.
This album was meant to be a return to the noisy roots of Bleach, but while there are similarities between the two albums, the songwriting is much more focused, with the melodies, lyrics and memorable riffs being in top form for the band. What really makes In Utero a treat, though, is that it is the best showcase of how Nirvana was meant to be heard in the studio - cranked up live, loud, and furious, while still maintaining their beautifully chaotic melodic integrity (kudos to the raw production values of Steve Albini). Of course, it was tragically their last full length studio album in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death, which ended the band, so who knows what this trio may have been able to produce in the future? Still, the band's potential is almost completely realized here, with many of the songs being little noisy, passionate gems of their own, with the smoking fury of "Serve The Servants" being captured especially well on tape, as that opener really sets the tone for the rest of this release.
"Scentless Apprentice" continues in this vein, with booming drum work and an untamed 'GO AWAY' scream in the chorus that sticks in my mind as one of the most memorable moments of Nirvana's career. Another highly memorable moment follows in the disturbingly melodic "Heart Shaped Box", which features arguably the most profound lyrics Cobain ever put on paper, and with that melody, it stands as a timeless classic. The more controversial "Rape Me" has yet another unparalleled scream in its' ending section, and it's one of the most lyrically misunderstood songs of all time - the song is actually against rape and has even been dismissed as a "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ripoff in its' main riff, but I don't really see it. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" is even more powerful, one of their most musically and lyrically complex numbers, and it's a true keeper, maybe the song that best captures everything that was ever great about the band.
"Dumb" and "Very Ape" are the next two brief, but highly infectious and lyrically stunning, songs - the former features beautiful cello work to add to the mood and has powerful self-loathing emotion, while the latter is about as witty and challenging as a punk rock styled song can possibly get. "Milk It" puts the profound lyrics, drama of the music and intense vocal screams back to the forefront as one of the most explosive tracks, while "Pennyroyal Tea" is a poignant singalong that was improved on even more in its' unplugged version. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter", however, halts the momentum as the only filler tune on the album - mostly directionless noise if you ask me. "tourette's", however, makes up for that misstep with Cobain's beast-like screaming coming through in the raw environment again very successfully in an amazing 1:35, while the last studio song of the band's career, "All Apologies", is a chilling way to go out - it feels like Cobain's singing his last words, and it leaves quite a mark, not unlike most of these tracks that compose this album, which in my opinion is easily the band's finest hour.
And here we have a first class indication of the hypocrisy of the average Nirvanahead. This album is light-years ahead of Nevermind in songwriting and overall feel (save a couple of exceptions) and got very little airplay (except for all-apologies). In fact, I might even say I ENJOYED most of this album. Instead of that weak-ass angst crap off the last album, in which Kurt just seemed to be whining, we get 12 tracks of moodiness, and sometimes genuine anger.
Ahhh, memories. How about Sophomore year on the bus with this disc. Cranked it damn loud thanks to the excellent (and later to be found, very delicate) Sony MDR-84 headphones. Listening to this album for 3 months straight morning and night. This disc is not as great as my listening time indicates; rather, it was the loudest thing I had in my CD collection at the time, and it did a satisfactory job of blocking out the taunts on the seniors (those bitterly w/o cars!). But still, it is far more consistent that Nevermind, and I like it more.
"Serve the Servants" was probably my favorite. Catchy song. "Scentless Apprentice" may seem dumb, but I love the shriaking chorus. And man, does Kurt shriek on that one. "Rape Me" was my number 2 song, although what might have been a decent anti-rape song becomes confused and meaningless when Kurt's 'poetry' takes a turn for the worse. You've all heard "Heart Shaped Box", which despite all of its airplay, remains a favorite of mine. I like the distorted cascading guitar at the chorus. "Dumb" is cool, too. Finally, I also think "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" is a pretty cool song, but Nirvana did it better live. The other tracks- "Tourettes" "Frances Farmer", "Milk It" are boring. And finally, "All Apologies" was never all that great a song. Its Ok, but I think "Serve the Servants" should have gotten more airplay than "Apologies".
COMMENTS
[in response to the second review:]
what how could you call frances farmer boring its like the best song on the whole album!
Although In Utero was the last studio album, this stripped down live outing recorded for MTV (one of the band's last live performances before Kurt Cobain's death) is the real final chapter of the Nirvana legacy. It may or may not be one of the best shows of the series (which isn't too impressive), but that's beside the point. The best moments here aren't the performance of such important classic tracks as "Dumb", "Come As You Are", and "On A Plain", as those are weak and insignificant compared to the studio versions (I could do without the already acoustic "Something In The Way" and "Polly" too). The real highlights are the cover versions, which are perfectly suited for the band and are excellently performed. Even though the rendition of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World" sounds like it's being played on an electric guitar (which I believe is cheating), it's still impressive, as is the intimate "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam" (The Vaselines), and three songs from the Meat Puppets second record (an album rather forgettable due to horrid production and lifeless performance) are improved on convincingly with Kurt's hopeless emotional vocals ("Oh Me", "Lake Of Fire", and the great "Plateau"). Kurt's solo performance of "Pennyroyal Tea" with just his vocals and an acoustic guitar is in particular a heavily moving improvement over the original version, and the final lines of the closing cover of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" is one of the most chilling moments in rock history. Even though I'm not a fan of live albums, and this one certainly isn't the greatest, this is certainly an essential recording of an important concert that you need if you care about the band at all.
COMMENTS
omg what the hell is your problem? unplugged is perfection. If there are any mistakes or errors or weakness in that performance, it's because they were meant to be there. To be able to take as many songs as they did and be able to play them without electical instruments is a feat within itself. And no that wasnt an electric guitar in man who sold the world. It was a Cello. Try and take one of your favorite bands now and see if they can play an UNPLUGGED performance? ok maybe 3 or 5 songs but not what Nirvana did. You should give up doing reviews and just LISTEN to music instead of CRITISIZING IT BECAUSE YOU DONT UNDERSTAND IT!
A collection of live concert peformances spanning the band's entire career compiled by the surviving members - bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, and it pretty much effectively realizes Nirvana's legacy as not only a band that kickstarted an entire musical generation but first and foremost, as a powerful live act. Many of their best known songs are featured here, and almost all of them that aren't are featured on the Unplugged concert. No revelations here - although it is low on listenability, this is definitely just an album to just kick back and listen to straight through, as close as it can possibly come to actually being there watching the band perform. A few of them even surpass or at least come close to the studio versions: among them - "Lithium", "Polly" (at least the acoustic version), "tourette's", and "Been A Son". The only real disappointment is the version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which is nowhere near as explosive as the original. It's certainly best to go with the studio albums, so this isn't an essential, but it is a decent buy, and it also includes a concert version of "Spank Thru", the first song the band ever wrote, and it's quite ambitious and unpredictable for a first try.