Smells Like...A Great Record!

Nirvana is a wonderful band that set the pace for modern day hard rock/punk rock/indie/whatever. I’m sure a lot of people say this, but I would just like to re enforce it: Nirvana was far ahead of their time. At that time in the 90s, there were only rock bands such as Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, and Pearl Jam and after hearing them and then hearing Nirvana, I would like to say that Nirvana was revolutionary. Instead of the thrash, messy instrumental playing that the 90s were made up of Nirvana, was totally into the melodic guitar play, humble bass, and killer drums. When I listen to some bands now, they sound the same as Nirvana. Nirvana had great lyrics, great music, and was revolutionary. When my (our) band becomes popular, the first thing that I’m going to put into my thank-you’s is that “I would like to thank Nirvana for inspiring me” because they did. They inspired a lot of bands. They did the impossible. They made it big in the few short years that they formed, surpassing Michael Jackson and Aerosmith and kicking them in the dust.

The way that I got into Nirvana, was definitely my brother. He used to be hooked on them and had a ton of their pictures, and acted exactly like Kurt Cobain (he even wrote on each of his shirts “preppie”), so I grew up my whole life listening to them. I felt that, if my brother (the coolest person at the time and still the coolest person) liked them, I would like them, too. I listened to them a lot anyway since my bro would have the Super Nintendo in his room so I would listen to them a lot. I think, years later when I look back, that I understand the band more now. Now that I know more about instruments and now that I have read more into the band. They are unique.

THE BAND

Kurt Cobain—Vocals, Guitar
Krist Novoselic—Bass/Back Up Vocals
Dave Grohl—Drums

Kurt Cobain is by far, one of the best pop/rock vocalists of all time. Even when he’s screaming, he keeps the melody and smoothness. His voice is calming and full of teen angst. His guitar work isn’t the best I’ve ever heard, but for that time, it was friggin’ awesome and it still is awesome to listen to. There are only a couple of songs that sound the same (guitar-wise) on Nevermind, but the songs that do sound different, have killer drumbeats. Dave Grohl was a great drummer and Nirvana got him started in the music. He did work in “Scream” before he went to Nirvana and the change between Scream and Nirvana was a huge change.

Just a little side note—The song, “You Know You’re Right” was recently released after a long battle involving Grohl, Novoselic, and Kurdt’s (as he always liked to be called) ex-wife, Hole band member, Courtney Love (She’s a B!tch). The band wanted to release a 45-track set of unreleased Nirvana songs, live concerts, and different versions, but I guess she didn’t want to do it. It’s good though that they released “You Know You’re Right”, though.

For all of you people who don’t know, Kurt Cobain is now deceased (his death was on April 4, 1994) after long battles with heroine and the struggle of being famous—which he didn’t want. It was a deeply sad thing at the time. My brother had cut out newspaper clippings of the funeral and everything. R.E.M. (also a big band at the time) did a tribute concert. Everyone was crying and everything. The thing that really boggles me about his death is that he was found in his greenhouse (??? I have heard a lot of things like he was found in his kitchen, garage, or bathroom, but I really don’t know) with a bullet in his head. The thing that just makes me wonder is how was the wound made? The bullet entered into his head at a specific distance that was longer than his arms, so he couldn’t have shot himself with his hands—but the gun was in his hands when he was found and he had shoes on, so he couldn’t have pulled the trigger with his feet. A lot of people speculated about whether Courtney Love might of assisted him in his suicide, and to tell you the truth, I believe she did it. Sorry for this wide sidetrack. Back to the review!

THE SONGS

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit 10/10
2. In Bloom 10/10
3. Come As You Are 10/10
4. Breed 10/10
5. Lithium 10/10
6. Polly 10/10
7. Territorial Pi**ings 10/10
8. Drain You 10/10
9. Lounge Act 10/10
10. Stay Away 10/10
11. On A Plain 10/10
12. Something In The Way 10/10

*******Just a small side note: This is the only album I’ve reviewed with this new format that has gotten 10 out of 10 on all the songs. This album is THAT GOOD!*******

“Something In The Way”

It begins with amazing acoustic strings and then the bass comes in and totally interacts and mixes with the guitar. I swear I can hear violins, but I’m not sure. Also, the drums are mellow and sound fantastic. They are mellow and catchy and sound awesome. The chorus is great and catchy. It’s basically “Something In The Way” and then he hums and it sounds great. Compared to the other songs on the record, this one’s really slow, but still great.

Rating) 10/10

“Come As You Are”

This song is really great and one of Nirvana’s signature songs that they will always be remembered for. Not only is the song extremely catchy and terrific, the bass is wonderful and sound sort of like water dropping through filters (it reminds me of it, anyway). Halfway through the song, Kurt does a friggin’ awesome guitar solo full of feedback that sounds sensational and amazing. The song is slow and really is sad if you absorb the lyrics. One lyric that really gets my heartstrings is the line, “And I swear that I don’t have a gun” even though that in the end he did have a gun…

Rating) 10/10

Regardless of what you may think, you should definitely check out Nirvana because they were mainly the ones who shaped the rock world. They are brilliant and awesome. Chances are that if you like every rock band now, then you should catch some nostalgia and buy a Nirvana record. In case you are wondering about the rest of the members of the band, Dave Grohl is in the Foo Fighters and he plays the guitar and does vocals (Foo Fighters is amazing, check them out by reading my reviews on their music). Krist, however, I don’t know about. I could have SWORN that he is currently starting a band. Thanks for reading my review, LISTEN TO NIRVANA AND YOU WILL BE IN NIRVANA.

JiggyJay