Looking back on Nirvana's seminal album 'Nevermind' on its 25th anniversary
A FEW years before he formed the band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was drinking with a friend in his parentâs house. At one point, his friend picked up a can of paint and sprayed the words âKurt smells like teen spiritâ on a nearby wall.
It was years before Cobain discovered that she was in fact referring to a deodorant and by then the opening track from the bandâs seminal album had become an anthem.
Nevermind was released on September 24, 1991, 25 years ago tomorrow. It hit the shops a few weeks after a European tour support slot with Sonic Youth that included gigs in Cork and Dublin, and was the bandâs second album of three. It was by far their most successful, and has sold over 24m copies, regularly featuring on lists of all-time greats.
The 13-track album (thereâs a ghost track) was recorded over a period of 21 days under the watchful eye of producer Butch Vig in Los Angeles. Although a new deal with Geffen Records meant the bandâs budget far exceeded that of their $600 debut, Bleach, the sessions were not without their problems. Cobain was already suffering from those debilitating stomach cramps that would become the physical manifestation of the singerâs angst-ridden persona.
SENSITIVE SOUL
According to Vig, Cobain âwas very sensitive to certain foodsâ which meant that sessions sometimes came to halt.
âSometimes weâd eat dinner and heâd get sick half an hour later,â said Vig in an interview given to Burnt Out. âHeâd end up spending 45 minutes in the bathroom. He was constantly taking Pepto-Bismol to relieve some of his pain.â
The deal with Geffen also meant that for the first time, the members of Nirvana had some cash. There was the occasional late night which sometimes resulted in late starts in the studio. But as Vig recalled it, âthey were there to work, there was no partying in studioâ.
And what a work it turned out to be. Apart from its famous opener âSmells like Teen Spiritâ, Nevermind produced the hits âIn Bloomâ, âCome as You Areâ, and âLithiumâ, as well as the eerie acoustic âPollyâ and the anarchic âTerritorial Pissingsâ with its infamous lyric, âJust because youâre paranoid, Donât mean theyâre not after you.â
The impact of the album was enormous and took the band from underground curiosities to superstardom, knocking Michael Jacksonâs album Dangerous off top spot on the US Billboard 100 in January 1992.
âAnybody that I knew at the time either adored them or hated them,â recalls 2FM DJ Dan Hegarty. âIt was an axis change for a lot of people. You donât realise it at the time but these donât come along very often. But when they do, they change the way you listen to music.
âNevermind had a huge impact on me. That big guitar sound, the attitude, everything was different to me. The only thing that I could reference it to was Pixies, but this was altogether bigger.â
RETURN OF THE AXE
As Hegarty alludes to, the success of Nirvanaâs album opened up a whole new world of guitar music for generations of people who had become disillusioned with the cheese of pop and the superficiality of hair metal.
âIt gave other bands more exposure,â says Joe Donnelly of TXFM. âSonic Youth, Mudhoney, the Pixies â they had been around for a while but they werenât as well known I think and it got them more exposure. When Cobain sat down to write âSmells Like Teen Spiritâ he said he was trying to write a Pixies song. So when it came out it was a distillation of the best bits of a movement that had in fact been around for quite a while.
âI think it changed peopleâs appreciation of music. I think itâs dangerous to underestimate how smart and intelligent the music consumer is at 15 years old. I think that the lyrics, even though they were written over on the west coast of the USA, they resonated with teenagers here as well; that sort of apathy and dissatisfaction, social awkwardness and feeling alienated. There was a depth to the lyrics and a knowledge whereas Motley Crue, Poison were really quite shallow.â
AMONG THE GREATEST
Rolling Stone rated Nevermind as the 17th greatest album in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, writing that âno album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation â a nation of teens suddenly turned punk â and such a catastrophic effect on its main creatorâ.
While the former contention is arguable, there is little doubt about the latter. Cobain found life in the spotlight hard to handle. His anxiety was not helped by his heroin addiction which would contribute to his suicide in 1994.
In the aftermath of his death, Cobainâs legacy and his importance to youth culture was perhaps overblown. It has thankfully calmed somewhat and from the haze of gushing and hype, one monument stands to his undoubted creativity.
âAs an album it sounds great these days,â says Hegarty. âIt has aged a bit, but thereâs nothing wrong with that. I think that the songwriting, the playing, and the production from Butch Vig still influences people today if you listen to great bands like Fangclub and Otherkin.
âPut on âLithiumâ or âIn Bloomâ or the stunning âSomething In The Wayâ, and youâll be humbled by their brilliance.â
Three tracks that stand the test of time
The only song on the album that is credited to all three members of the band. When Cobain brought to a session, the song was only part-formed. It was down to bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl to add the layers that give the fairly simple chord sequence its impact.
A rocking track that introduces the âsecondâ heavier side of the album. A tonne of feedback, chunky guitars, Grohlâs crazy drumming and Cobainâs desperate screaming all go into the mix here to make for a wild two-minutes of pure insanity.
According to Cobain, this song was written about when he was sleeping under a bridge when homeless. It now appears this was never the case. Real or imaginary, it turned out to be a beautifully morbid way to finish the album. What a wonderful cello.
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