Nevermind was a breakthrough album on all fronts: the band Nirvana gained worldwide fame in one night, thanks to which MTV gained an additional audience among the very teen spirits, and Kurt Cobain gained the status of the “voice of a generation”. “Nevermind” became the premier teen album on which the ’80s and ’90s generation grew up, and took its place in history.

Tracklist

Smells Like Teen Spirit.
In Bloom
Come As You Are
Breed
Lithium
Polly
Territorial Pissings
Drain You
Lounge Act
Stay Away
On A Plain
Something In The Way
Endless, Nameless

All of the songs on Nevermind are absolute hits. Even Endless, Nameless encoded in the depths of the record.

So, let’s plunge for a while into the past where everything took place. The year before Nevermind the single Sliver was released, which marked the further development of the band and created a favorable pop ground for the new album.

But in 1990 Nirvana reached a turning point: the band had “mastered” the classic Seattle grunge and wanted to move on. There was only one way out: signing a contract with a major label and entering the big professional scene.

The guys took a risk and “the stars aligned.” They even managed to surpass the previous “prophet” – Michael Jackson with his new record Dangerous. Anyway, Nevermind sold more than 30 000 000 copies. It is even hard to imagine such a number of records, CDs and cassettes.

After its release, grunge came out of the underground and gained the status of pop music.

Creation History
Much has been written about this album and even more can be said about it than the songs themselves. However, it is worth devoting time to study it in detail and write another review. After all, the “key” rock album of the 90’s according to Rolling Stone magazine.

All the compositions are filled with such powerful dynamics that the fate of this album was predictable – it will become great.

And let’s have no illusions about Kurt Cobain’s talent and all that stuff. Nevermind is a well thought out musical pop product. It was originally designed for a mass audience, first of all for teenagers – children of the baby boomer generation who had been brought up on The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Also, in America in particular, harder drugs were gaining popularity than the harmless weed that had been prevalent in the 60s. They needed the right atmosphere and cultural environment to sell them. The emerging grunge and alternative in the late 80’s became the optimal platform for the realization of the interests of “mass culture”.

Besides, this record was the debut for drummer Dave Grohl, who replaced Chad Channing right after the release of the previous Bleach record. It is said that it was Dave’s appearance that filled in the missing elements in Nirvana.

As for tunes, it is known that Cobain was a big fan of The Beatles, so he drew on the melodic forms of the greats when writing songs. If you listen carefully, you can recognize the Lennon/McCartney mindset in the compositions – the songs are incredibly musical and memorable, despite their “heaviness”.

The album’s poetry
The poetry on Nevermind is worthy of a whole dissertation! It is known that while working on the album Kurt paid enormous attention to the musical component of the album, as he knew for sure that the album is oriented on the audience of many millions of people, so it should be made according to the standards of pop music. After all, a contract with an impressive fee was at stake, and the guys simply could not pump up! However, Cobain did not forget about his position: he edited the lyrics during the whole recording stage, up to the fact that he made changes literally before recording the vocals.

There are many opinions about the lyrics of Nevermind: some people say they are straightforward, others say they are fuzzy and glorify extremes, and still others try to unravel in the songs Kurt’s personal psychological problems in terms of a Freudian concept.

Forget them! Cobain made a breakthrough, and that’s what matters most! With his songs he got into the hearts of millions and lives in them to this day. His lyrics, in a sense, changed this world forever.

The sound of the album
The secret weapon of Nevermind’s massive success was the involvement of producer Butch Vig. He showed himself as a true musical gourmet and a great connoisseur of sound while working on the demo recordings.

The band met Vig through their first label Sub Pop. And after the move to Geffen Records and after other producers suggested by the new label, Nirvana still chose to continue working with Butch.

His key contribution was a layered, calibrated heavy sound. He knew how to achieve it, and Nevermind has since become a major production in his portfolio.

While preparing the album, the band unexpectedly stumbled upon a dynamic “silent/loud” technique that fit perfectly into their songwriting material and subsequently became their trademark. This piano/forte is used in the compositions Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium, Drain You and others.