September 24, 1991 - Nevermind

A week after my last release and over two years since their debut album "Bleach", Nirvana released their second album "Nevermind" on September 24, 1991. Nirvana's debut was very raw and unpolished and while "Nevermind" is still plenty grunge-y, it's sound quality is much better and the songs are much more radio-friendly. This led to Nirvana exploding in popularity as they went from a relatively unknown grunge band from Seattle to the #1 band on the charts! "Nevermind" would spawn several wildly popular singles and is credited with bringing grunge into the mainstream. There's also a change at drummer as Chad Channing is replaced by the hard-hitting Dave Grohl after Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic were impressed by his work with the punk band Scream. The songs on "Nevermind" were generally more pop-y and simple, attracting new listeners, but still having that low and dirty grunge sound. Let's check out the latest from Nirvana!

The album begins with Nirvana's most famous song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and it would become so immensely popular that several years later Cobain ended up hating it! Kurt plays the undeniably catchy guitar riff that is now instantly recognizable and after one quick go unplugged Grohl enters with some loud drums and the guitar shifts to a nice heavy tone playing the same riff. They jam it out a few times before the guitar almost completely falls away for the verse. Kurt just plays two notes and holds the last one and repeats those two notes; it's Novoselic keeping the pace with a nice bass riff as Kurt begins to sing in his one of a kind, awesomely grunge-y voice. Kurt follows the verse with a bridge of "hello, hello, hello, how low" a few times before they kick into the loud and catchy chorus. Cobain's vocals sound great as he yells with lots of passion and even though the second half of the chorus it's hard to understand what he's saying, things still sound good and they end the chorus very nicely with some nice drums from Grohl and cool guitar by Kurt. They slow it down for another verse, start to ramp up in the bridge and after another loud chorus Cobain plays a guitar solo that is quite slow, but it fits the mood of the song perfectly and is pretty catchy. The last note fades into a final verse, bridge and chorus and Kurt ends the song by shouting "a denial" several times and things come to a nice heavy finish. Up next is "In Bloom" and they kick right into a pretty sweet riff with some heavy guitars and Grohl playing some epic drum fills. It's another catchy riff with that grunge-y sound to it and once again Novoselic carries the verse with a great bass riff while Cobain sings in a cleaner, quieter voice. The guitar starts to come back towards the end of the verse and Grohl's long drum roll signals a shift to the chorus. The opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff and Cobain yells raspily overtop the heavy music to nice effect and Grohl closes out the chorus with some more epic drum fills. After another short verse and long chorus Cobain breaks out for a guitar solo with a ton of Distortion that sounds pretty sweet. This solo is way better than last song's as Kurt's guitar sounds really epic and it rolls right into a final chorus to end it. Track 3 was also a succesful single, titled "Come As You Are" and Kurt carries this song with a lighter than usual guitar riff that seems to have some sort of echo effect that makes it unique and interesting. Novoselic and Grohl play a light rhythm section to match and Kurt sings a solid verse where he holds some long, grunge-y notes. They play two verses before Grohl's heavier drums signal the shift to the chorus and the guitars are heavier here as well as Kurt sings a raspy chorus and swears he doesn't have a gun. Similar to "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the guitar solo is fairly slow, but it fits the mood perfectly and sounds like a heavier version of the main riff. They pick it up halfway through the verse and then play a final chorus before Kurt slowly finishes off the song. The next song is called "Breed" and Novoselic plays a pretty sweet bouncing bass riff while Kurt plays the same riff on guitar with a dirty and grunge-y sound. Kurt yells a repetitive verse overtop this fast-paced main riff and they segue nicely into another catchy chorus and I like the lyric "we could plant a house, we could build a tree, I don't even care". There's a lot of repetitive lyrics in this song that sounds more like their debut album than any of the songs far. After another verse and chorus Kurt plays a pretty fast solo but it's very distorted and sounds in the background. They go from the solo right into a final chorus and then this short song is over. Track 5 is another wildly popular single titled "Lithium" and Kurt leads the way with a quiet but nice guitar riff as he sings lightly but still grunge-y overtop. Everything sounds much louder in the chorus as Novoselic joins in and Cobain and Grohl both play some heavier stuff that sounds good. The main lyric in the chorus is "yeah" sung several times over, but Kurt puts a different twist on every long-held "yeah" and despite the lack of actual lyrics things still sound good and the easy to remember chorus is pretty catchy. They play another quiet verse and loud chorus and then move into a new part with a few lines that end in "I'm not gonna crack" as Kurt's one of a kind voice can lead the way no matter what he's singing. Novoselic plays a short cool bass part afterwards and then they finish off the song with a final verse, chorus and end it with another "I'm not gonna crack" part. Not their best song by far but I see why it was a succesful single. Up next is "Polly" and this whole song is just Kurt Cobain; he plays acoustic guitar throughout the whole song and sings pretty softly for him, but things sound a little epic with no bass and drums and Kurt flying solo. The acoustic is actually quite catchy and Kurt sounds great singing a bit stronger in the chorus. He doesn't stray from this basic verse and chorus but I like this glimpse into a softer side of Nirvana, showing they can do more than just jam out a quick grunge banger. Novoselic joins in on acoustic bass for the final verse and chorus but things sound pretty similar, not that that's a bad thing. Track 7 is a short song called "Territorial Pissings" and it begins with Novoselic speaking in a strange tone saying a short couple lines before things kick into high gear for the rest of the song. Grohl is playing a nice fast drum beat and Kurt and Krist both play some fast guitars in this headbanger. The music is similar in the verse and chorus but Kurt goes from singing in the verse to full on yelling for the chorus and I love the rawness of his yells. You hear his voice crack sometimes, but it's not supposed to be a polished singing voice and I love the energy and feeling of Kurt just telling his lungs out. The guitar falls away briefly as Kurt sings "just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" in a cool lyric and then they proceed to jam out the chorus as Kurt devolves into just primal screams and I love every second of it! This song is probably not high on most people's lists, but I thought it was a banger of a song! The next song is "Drain You" and Kurt immediately starts singing a catchy verse while also leading the way with a simple but nice and heavy-sounding guitar riff. The chorus is perhaps even simpler than the verse as they alternate between a low and high note on guitar and bass as Kurt almost mumbles his way through this chorus. It's not bad by any means, but I think the verse has a lot more to offer and Grohl segues nicely back into it with a drum roll. After another verse and chorus Novoselic and Grohl set up a slow and epic rhythm section and Cobain plays some fast guitar that ends with a short but pretty sweet guitar solo! The end of the solo slams right back into the main riff and they play a final verse and chorus to finish off another solid tune. Track 9 is "Lounge Act" and Novoselic starts it off with a catchy bass riff and Cobain plays a nice complimentary guitar riff while Grohl keeps a solid pace. Kurt sings a light but decent verse overtop and it carries right into a similar chorus with Kurt leading the way on vocals and guitar. They play another light verse and chorus and then they play the same verse but heavier with Kurt yelling the lyrics this time. I of course like this version much better and they nicely rock out this final verse and chorus with Kurt sounding awesome. Up next is "Stay Away" and Grohl plays some quick snare drum while Novoselic plays a nice bass riff and eventually Cobain plays the same thing on guitar for another loud and grunge-y riff. In the verse Kurt sings a line followed by a raspy "I don't know why" and he plays some nice guitar each time as well as he continues to follow up every sung line with a raspy one. The opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff and Kurt simply yells the name of the song over and over, but once again I love the edginess to his voice as each "stay awaaaay" sounds a little different. After another quick verse and chorus they briefly return to the opening part with no guitar as Krist leads the way again, but it's not long before it's back to the chorus. They jam out a few more verses and choruses in this pretty repetitive song, but they do end it nicely as Grohl's drums slowly break down and the music becomes very dark. Track 11 is "On A Plain" and after a short and strange opening they kick into another nice grunge-y main riff with Kurt leading the way on guitar and vocals. I like Kurt's raised voice as he sings "I love myself better than you" in the verse and the music flows right into a similar chorus. In the chorus Kurt sings "I'm on a plain, I can't complain" and Krist and Dave sing some oohing backing vocals inbetween each line in a pretty catchy chorus. They continue to nicely play another verse and chorus before nicely moving into a new part where Grohl plays some cool drums. Kurt sings a brief new verse before Novoseloc nicely connects things back to the main riff and they play a final verse. They jam out the chorus to end the song but the music slowly fades out until we're left with just the backing vocals to finish it off. The final song on the album is "Something In The Way" and it's running time is technically over twenty minutes! This is a very slow song for Nirvana and once again it's just Kurt playing an acoustic guitar and singing. The guitar sounds pretty dark and depressing and Cobain sings in a bit of a hushed voice that just adds to the eerie epicness of this verse. I like the line "it's okay to eat fish 'cause they don't have any feelings" and then the rest of the band comes in for the chorus, along with a cello! Novoselic is on acoustic bass and Grohl's drums are very light and the cello sounds great, making things sound even more depressing than before, but dark and gloomy in a good way! Kurt just sings the name of the song followed by either a hum or a "yeah" and everything sounds pretty great as Nirvana show they are great musicians in more than just a fast-paced rock setting. It's back to just Kurt for another verse and then everyone's back as they slowly jam out the chorus a few times to finish with the cello sounding pretty cool I thought. The song is really just under four minutes and then there is over ten minutes of silence before we finally reach the hidden track "Endless, Nameless". Novoselic's bass sounds very heavy and distorted and Kurt plays some distorted guitar as well while he also screams in a high voice. A lot of people might not like the "noise" that is this hidden track but I love the chaos and I love Kurt's wails and screams. They break into a much softer bit that sounds like calm lounge music, but then they fire right back into the loud chaos with more great screams and lots of distorted guitar and bass. They do one more short lounge break followed by another long crazy chaotic bit that just keeps chugging and chugging along. I bet that a lot of people just skip this song when they listen to the album, but I think the madness is pretty awesome and it's just another great song on a pretty great album.

That is the end of "Nevermind" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album that kept you interested the whole way through. Most of the songs are faster rock songs that are undeniably catchy and even the few slower songs were decent so even when you weren't headbanging it was still an enjoyable experience. Nirvana perfectly blends their grunge beginnings with some extremely accessible and catchy music and lyrics (and the addition of Dave Grohl on drums was a great move as well) and it's no wonder this propelled Nirvana into superstardom. Their debut "Bleach" is much dirtier and grunge-y and I love it for that but "Nevermind" is easily their best album so far. After historically bringing grunge into the mainstream, where will Nirvana go next? I can't wait to see!