Oh well, but Nevermind....

Nirvana will forever be remembered because of Kurt Cobain. Cobain was perhaps the most controversial rock star of this decade. At the peak of his fame, he apparently shot himself, leaving behind his wife (who, of course is Courtney Love), daughter, band members and millions of fans. Even at this point in time, we still ocassionally hear Kurt Cobain's name being mentioned in the paper (his name was most recently mentioned when his diary was sold). What I am trying to say here is that we have seen that Cobain has had such an influence on the 1990s, that it is hard to ignore him (even if you don't like him, it's impossible to not be somewhat interested in his sad but controversial life).

Being interested in so many types of music, it probably would not surprise the majority of you guys that I went to buy Nevermind at my local CD store. I already heard some of the songs on the album and I have been told by many people that this album is one of the best albums in the 1990s. I have to say after listening to this album, it is hard to disprove this point. The juggernaut trio of Cobain (on guitar and vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Dave Grohl (drums, and yes, he's the Foo Fighters guy) created music that was heavy yet catchy, and this new type of music (known as grunge) singlehandedly sent heavy metal crashing down to earth.

This album contains 12 songs and they are:

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. In Bloom
3. Come As You Are
4. Breed
5. Lithium
6. Polly
7. Territorial P*ssings
8. Drain You
9. Lounge Act
10. Stay Away
11. On A Plain
12. Something in the Way (10 minutes into this track is another song called Endless Nameless)

In my opinion, I feel that Nirvana will be remembered for their musicianship. Throughout most of the songs, they remain quite tight. For example, in Smells Like Teen Spirit, the band do very well in contrasting soft and loud dynamics. The verse uses a simple bass line and an even simpler guitar part plus Kurt is singing (the drums have an extremely minor part here), and it changes to full blown guitar power chords, while the bass and drums provide a very powerful, heavy rhythm with Kurt screaming over all the instruments. These dynamic changes would make them famous and is present in other songs, most notably In Bloom, Come As You Are and Lithium.

Then there are the songs which do not have this contrast and either remain soft or remain loud throughout. One song that remains soft throughout is the last song of the album, Something in the Way. The song's acoustic guitar riff is mellow, but at the same time, haunting. The song's haunting feel is mainly caused by the chord changes from the guitar throughout the song. Once the bass and cello (yes, believe it or not, cello!) enter into the chorus, it adds more to the song's haunting, "minor key" feel. Although the dissonance may be unpleasant to some, this is a great song and is perhaps the mellowest song Nirvana has ever produced (this is only according to the limited knowledge I have of the band). This greatly contrasts to the heaviness in songs like Breed and Territorial P*ssings. The distorted guitar part, distorted bass line and the drums' fiery presence mesh together in these songs and create heavily distorted pieces of music, which greatly contrast to the mellow "acoustic guitar-dominated" pieces like Something in the Way or Polly.

Kurt Cobain also has many guitar solos in this album, most notably in the first 3 songs of this album: Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom and Come As You Are. The solos in each of these songs are simple but catchy. The latter quality is hard to achieve in many guitar solos. Even guitar solos such as the ones from The Eagles' Hotel California, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven and Rage Against the Machine's Bulls on Parade are nowhere near as catchy and recognizable as Cobain's guitar solos are, and these solos are testament to Cobain's ability as a guitar soloist.

However, not only is Cobain's talent recognizable in this album, but also the talents of Novoselic (the bassist) and Grohl (the drummer). Novoselic's best bass work can be heard in one of Nirvana's less popular tracks, Lounge Act. The melodic bass line pushes the whole song and controls the song's tempo and the song's overall feel. The song, Stay Away, also contains some excellent bass work from Novoselic. On the other hand, Grohl's best drum work can be heard in Stay Away. His drumming in this song ranges from the snare drum roll at the beginning to the quiet bass/snare drum work during the verses of the song to the mixture of cymbal and snare drum work during the song's interlude part, which is essential in the song, since the drums' fast tempo pulls the song through. The drum solo at the end shows that Dave Grohl is not only an excellent guitar player (he is the lead guitarist and singer of the Foo Fighters), but a great drummer as well.

Cobain's voice is just as catchy as his guitar riffs are. In my opinion, I do not think anyone will ever be able to emulate Cobain's singing style. Cobain is one of the few people who are able to sing and scream incredibly well (the screaming might irritate some).

If there is one bad thing about this album, it might well have to be the negative feeling throughout the album. The song's are each based around negative concepts. For example, Smells Like Teen Spirit is all about rebellious teenagers, while Lithium talks about religion in a negative light. The lyrics to Come As You Are are haunting, since Cobain says, "no, I don't have a gun", throughout the song, which is ironic since 3 years later, Cobain killed himself with a shotgun. Could these words have been a taste of things to come? We'll never know.

Anyway, if you are into the alternative rock, particularly grunge, and have NEVER heard this album, you don't know what you're missing out on! Get this album, and be prepared to be absolutely addicted to this album!

As always, I'd like to thank you for reading this review.