Artist: Nirvana
Album: Nevermind
Released: September 1991
Label: SubPop Records
Genre: grunge / alternative rock
Purchase date: 15 March 2010
Source: Angry Mom Records
Format: CD (used)
I picked up a used copy of Nevermind on CD at the local used record store for a buck. I'd been planning to buy the MP3 of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from iTunes for a 90's playlist, and now I had the whole album for the same price.
What can I say about this groundbreaking record that hasn't been said before? It came out in 1991, my senior year in college. My roommate at the time had a copy, and, honestly, I wasn't sure of what to make of it when I heard it. I heard the anger and violence of punk, the depth of sound of hard rock, and the rough edges of a garage band, but through it all was the emotional pull of Kurt Cobain's lyrics and his haunting voice. Cobain could snarl, growl, and shout like punk icons Iggy Pop or John Lydon, but then could deliver heartbreaking vocals on slow tracks. This was music that defied categorization, but was impossible to ignore. I dubbed a cassette copy from my roommate's CD, but it never entered high rotation-- I was in my Progressive Rock phase at the time. Later that year, the bottom-of-the-line car stereo in my beat-up Dodge Omni ate my cassette copy, and that was that.
So, it had been close to 20 years since I'd listened to Nevermind as an album, and now I understand why it was so groundbreaking. Looking back, I really let a major trend in music just pass me by.
Rating: A-
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