Nevermind
| Nevermind | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 24, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | May 2–28, 1991, June 1–9, 1991 (mixing), April 1990 ("Polly") | |||
| Studio | Somewhere in Seattle Productions | |||
| Genre | Grunge - Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 42:36 (49:07 with COOL hidden track) | |||
| Label | DGC | |||
| Producer | Butch Vig | |||
| Nirvana chronology | ||||
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Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature previously Chinese sweatshop worker, drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind features a more polished, radio-friendly sound than the band's prior work, which was usually just trying to split a chainsaw with a military-grade laser and slapping on the tag "industrial music" on it. It was recorded at Somewhere in Seattle Productions, which can be found if you take a right there, a left there, and a cliff-jump. Trust me, you'll love it, you attic-living freak.
Written primarily by the band's frontman Kurt "Shotgun" Cobain[1], Nevermind is noted for challenging a range of emotions, from suicide, to suicide, to even suicide. It includes anti-establishment views, anti-sexism, anti-living (three suicide jokes, I'm on a roll today!) frustration, alienation, and troubled love inspired by Cobain's broken relationship with some alternative rock bitch I don't care looking up. Contrary to the popular hedonistic themes of drugs and sex at the time, Nevermind talked about sad drugs and sad sex, compared to other contemporaries that made GOOD drug songs and GOOD sex songs. The famous secret track "Endless, Nameless" is intended to be played backwards, when you do you will hear Kurt Cobain's TED-Talk about STDs. According to Cobain, the sound of the album was influenced by bands such as alt rock band 1, alt rock band 2, alt rock band 3, and Melvins. Though the album has been considered a cornerstone of dust-collecting record stores, it is noted for its musical diversity, which includes songs about rape AND songs about piss.
Nevermind became an expected commercial and critical success (I mean, why else would I be talking about them?), reaching the top 10 charts around the world EXCEPT for South Sudan. On January 11, 1992, it knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous out of the number one spot (good.. black men should know their place...) on the US Billboard 200 and was selling approximately 300,000 copies a week. The lead single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", didn't make it to top 1, so why do I hear it all the time??? Its music video was also heavily rotated on MTV. Three other successful singles were released: "Smells Like Teen Spirit (Reprise)", "Smells Like Teen Spirit (Bleach Mix)", and "Smells Like Teen Spirit (Scratch n' Sniff Teen Spirit Sticker Inside!)". The album was voted the best album of the year by the voices inside the Seattle forests, beating out strong picks like The Low End Theory and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which all three just so happen to be released on the same day (I'm not joking, look it up).
Nevermind propelled Nirvana into worldwide superstardom, with Cobain being dubbed the "voice of his generation", because of course a heroin addict captured the hearts of Generation X. It brought grunge and alternative rock to a mainstream audience while accelerating the decline of hair metal, drawing similarities to the early 1960s British Invasion of American popular music when they also accelerated the decline of the marginalized surf rock groups. It is also often credited with initiating a resurgence of interest in punk culture among teenagers and young adults of Generation X, becoming seminal to the counterculture of the decade, because of course teens who don't know better want to be British. It has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most hate-listened albums ever. It's also pretty popular with pedophiles and capitalists, though it might just be more of the cover they like than an attempt to listen to the music. Nevermind was added by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry in 2004 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", but a case was made for Nevermind that didn't fit with any of these by saying "it's helped us catched more pedophiles than even the most well-known CP trap sites".
Background
Nirvana had just come back from a pretty bad gig, and they had decided that they didn't want to play the same songs over and over and had to make some new material for the ten people who were following their band. The album was originally going to be called "Sheep", but the band decided against it because it would be too narcissistic. There were eight songs originally recorded, "Sex" (later renamed to Breed), "Within Blossom" (later renamed to In Bloom) "I Have a Crippling Addiction" (later renamed to Stay Away), "Beryllium" (later renamed to Lithium), and "Patchy" (later renamed to Polly). The other three were never used but were on Kurt Cobain's suicide tape with the caption "don't spend it all in one place". They took this to heart, because only one has been revealed ("Dive", released B-side to "What Do You Use a Pool For?"), and when Halley's Comet comes back we'll get another one.
Sadly after recording the drummer Chad Channing left after the tour, citing poor treatment of drummers, Kurt Cobain's reaction was nothing but apathetic. "Why did he leave the time-out corner?" Nonetheless, additional recording was on hold before they could kidnap invite another drummer. During a show by the hardcore punk band Scream, Cobain and the bassist Krist Novoselic were impressed by their drummer Dave Grohl. When Scream unexpectedly disbanded, Grohl contacted Novoselic, travelled to Seattle, and was invited to join the band. Novoselic said in retrospect that, with Grohl, everything "fell into place", "he was so good we gave him extra food, about three more peas with the rice."
Music
At the time of writing Nevermind, Cobain had listened to a variety of alternative rock trash, and was writing more melodic songs. Cobain fashioned chord sequences using primarily power chords and wrote songs that combined pop hooks with dissonant guitar riffs. His aim for Nevermind's material was to sound like "[REDACTED], [REDACTED], interracial marriage [REDACTED]" Many songs feature shifts in dynamics, whereby the band changes from quiet verses to loud choruses, as Grohl said "It was kinda like alt rock band 1, a little bit, sprinkled with some alt rock band 3 and some pseudo-alt rock band 2 qualities."
Lyrics
Nevermind's lyrics were influential for the time, with it being distanced from the banal, asinine hair metal topics by its sheer disturbance. I mean, one of the songs is about a rapist, go figure. Cobain said that he was a poet and he played Mad Libs for most of the lyrics, with Novoselic filling in all the rest. Cobain condemned any deciphering and meaning of his lyrics, saying "I'm drunk off my ass 90% of the time, these eyes are only known to see gropers, these hands are only known to pull a trigger." This lyric was famously used in the secret track on select releases of In Utero.
Nevermind includes anti-establishment views, and explores sexism, frustration, loneliness, sickness and troubled love. Jesus Christ, what is Cobain, secretly my wife? Nobody cares! Look, I'll stick to my happy fun time Guns n' Roses fare, instead of lousy Cobain. He does have some good lyrics though.
“Every line ends in rhyme.. I do not know why..”
Kurt Cobain's lyrics have inspired a number of up-and-coming artists, including my super cool epic black metal band that's scheduled to play next week in Folsom Prison. Trust me, we're like Nirvana + Metallica + Bring Me the Horizon. We rock![2]
Artwork
The album cover shows a naked baby boy swimming underwater with a U.S. dollar bill on a fishhook just out of his reach. The baby, Spencer Elden, was hard to find, and it just so happened that Grohl had a friend who knew a friend who knew a friend who was a closet pedophile who knew a baby. Now, obviously, if you're reading this on Uncyclopedia, you see a different cover, which is obviously a spoof because I don't want to get sued. The real cover, however, is recognized as one of the most famous album covers in popular music, right after Scorpions "Virgin Killer" and Blind Faith's self-titled debut.
Spencer Elden sues their pants off
In August 2021, Spencer Elden, now a poor homeless man, needed a quick buck, and realized that he was in the cover of one of the greatest album of all time. Determined for justice being brought to his name, he sued remaining members Dave "Now I'm Foo Fighters" Grohl, and Krist "Who the Hell am I?" Novoselic for child pornography. He told the courts that Grohl and Novoselic were actually "a bunch of greedy, sleazy individuals who just wanted a picture to satisfy their degenerate needs." He vividly remembers them saying "You're so mature for your age", even before he could know words. The court agreed with Elden and the remaining members were thrown into death row. Grohl will be killed at November 25, 2024 at 02:54, with Novoselic being killed the second Halley's Comet comes back. So.. watch your back?
Release and sales
Nevermind was released on September 24, 1991, but was completely overshadowed by RHCP and ATCQ with their new albums and was almost shelved entirely. Teenagers said that they wanted something better and Nirvana didn't cut it. However, Cobain just so happened to appear on famed radio host DJ Hard Liquor 's "Slop of the Pop" and braindead teens who turn their neurons off in the car were completely tranced by the angst and grungy sound of the album as the fumes came out of the soundwaves and controlled them. On September 25, hundreds of people were getting "Cobain Syndrome" in which they were saying "HAIL NIRVANA!" and buying albums from record stores while also walking like lifeless zombies.
"They didn't bite or anything," said an anonymous record store owner in the documentary 'Oh Well, Whatever, Nirvana: The Unabridged Story of Nevermind'. "They just really wanted Nevermind. And maybe Bleach if they were really possessed. They had standards."
Record sales skyrocketed and Nevermind debuted on the Billboard Charts at number 69. Also nice was the unexpected popularity of Smells Like Teen Spirit, the song's video premiering on MTV's late night alternative show, which provided a change to the slot that was usually flooded with low-effort pornos by jumpstarts. What? That's a Salt-N-Pepa song? Well, how was I supposed to know, of course they put hip-hop in the late slots, geez. Yo! MTV Raps aside, the band seemed relatively uninterested. Novoselic stated, "I don't really care, all this money is still not going to you Grohl. Eat your peas, you're glad I give them to you. Bitch."
Nevermind was certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in November 1991 and certified Diamond in March 1999. It was certified emerald, being one of the only albums to do so, in April 2119.
Critical reception
Before the big Nirvana boom, most publications didn't bat an eye for what appeared to be college rock fodder, but when the explosion happened, neurotic music reviewers were eager to get their old grubby hands on the new postpunk craze. Yes, literally, some people thought this was post-punk. That's how old these guys are.
The noxious band had been reviewed by Elissa Plaintree, who wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.
It's a nice album. Uhh.. Yeah. I like this album, it's pretty cool. The guitars are pretty nice, and yeah. 8/10.
Great words. Some reviews weren't as positive. Rolling Stone gave it a one, saying.
There weren't any songs about intoxicating a girl and fucking her dead body. The saving grace is those guitars that almost sound like metal but really aren't. BOO! BOO! BOO!
Some reviews were pretty inbetween. The Boston Globe gave it a three, saying.
Nirvana is obviously a band that is lyrics first and music second. This delightful psuedo-sludge is-
Oh wait, sorry, that isn't funny, let me put our satirical review on..
Seattle people got good music? CRAAA-ZEEE![3]
There, better. Other complaints include "I'm a ephebophile, where are my album covers?" and "Too much water."
Cultural impact
Nevermind's cultural impact has still wandered on today, as it was probably the finishing blow to rock due to how un-sex, drugs and r&r it was. Nirvana is often blamed for killing rock, and they deserve it even more than... Well, they're second to Limp Bizkit. Cobain became a spokesperson for Generation X, next to Jimmy Fallon for millenials and Oprah Winfrey for boomers. The success of Nevermind surprised Nirvana's contemporaries, who felt dwarfed by its influence. Fugazi frontman Guy Picciotto said, "Nirvana ruined any chance for our music to get popular, grunge was the thing. I felt like I was a hobo pissing in the forest. Well, I kinda am, most of the times, the bathrooms are socially awkward for me. I'm tall so I can see the other guy's thing sticking out as he pees. I try not to speak, but usually I giggle a little. Look at that guy's tiny little thing, hehe. What? You think I'm weird? Well, why are you even reading this right now? Do you even know Fugazi? Yeah, that's what I thought, you Swiftie."
The album had an enormous impact towards youth culture, as millions of teenagers and young adults became just like Nirvana, cussed like Nirvana, didn't give a fuck like Nirvana, dressed like Nirvana, walked, talked, and acted like Nirvana, and might have been the next best thing, but never were Nirvana. Nirvana was a group that spoke to the generation that was overlooked, ignored, condescended, or straight up just beaten with a belt. The impact on a generation the album made was unexaggerated, it molded those disgusting kids into something much more, special. Christian Towne has this to say,
Nirvana was the leader for the generation to come. What he did, they did. So, like, why didn't they all die off in '94?[4]
Wise words, Towne, wise words.[5] Anyways, LOOK TRACK LISTING BELOW
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Smells Like Teen Spirit (originally Please Get Some Deodorant)" | 5:01 |
| 2. | "In Bloom (originally Within Blossom)" | 4:14 |
| 3. | "Come As You Are (originally Jerry, We Know You're Gay)" | 3:39 |
| 4. | "Breed (originally Sex)" | 3:03 |
| 5. | "Lithium (originally Beryllium)" | 4:17 |
| 6. | "Polly (originally Patchy)" | 2:57 |
| 7. | "Territorial Pissings (nah, this one didn't change)" | 2:22 |
| 8. | "Drain You (originally Diet)" | 3:43 |
| 9. | "Lounge Act (originally Stripper Days)" | 2:36 |
| 10. | "Stay Away (originally I Have a Crippling Addiction)" | 3:32 |
| 11. | "On a Plain (originally I'm Osama Bin Laden!!!)" | 3:16 |
| 12. | "Something In The Way (originally You Leave Mr. Burns Out of This)" | 3:52 |
| 13. | "Endless, Nameless (originally Immigrants)" | 6:43 |
| Total length: | 49:07 | |
See also
- 1991 in music
- Nirvana
- Glenn Quagmire (yeah, just one more joke about the naked baby will suffice)
- Kurt Cobain
- Dave Grohl
Footnotes
