26 Years ago, this album dropped and changed the course of music

26 years (and one day) ago, this album dropped and along with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and everything grunge, changed the course of music seemingly overnight.

I, like many others at the time, hated this new sound, look and attitude. It took some time, but I got over it and came to like alot of the bands of the era (except Pearl Jam. F**k those guys) In hindsight, the change was inevitable. The over-the-top sound and imagery of the 80's was done to death and become a stale parody of itself. Just like the punk era of the 70's wiping the slate clean, grunge did the same thing in the 90's.

As for Nirvana and this album in particular, neither are a favorite of mine, but I do enjoy them from time-to-time. If I had to pick a favorite from Nirvana, I'd go with their unplugged album.

What do you think, HoMers? Did Nirvana kill the 80's? Did grunge? Alternative music?

My sister was a huge nirvana fan. I dig some of their tracks but never felt the urge to acquire any of their albums.

I am glad this wave vanished and good old metal is alive and kicking again!

Gilbert wrote:

My sister was a huge nirvana fan. I dig some of their tracks but never felt the urge to acquire any of their albums.

I am glad this wave vanished and good old metal is alive and kicking again!

MetalGuy71 wrote:

In hindsight, the change was inevitable. The over-the-top sound and imagery of the 80's was done to death and become a stale parody of itself. Just like the punk era of the 70's wiping the slate clean, grunge did the same thing in the 90's.



What do you think, HoMers? Did Nirvana kill the 80's? Did grunge? Alternative music?

I think you stated exactly what killed the 80s. It was a combo of those happenings.

As for Nevermind, I liked it when it came out and still do. I have no time nor patience for anything else out of that genre/time except for Alice In Chains(and maybe Pearl Jam's 10).

Badass record. I liked it then, I still like it now. Tho nowadays I tend to prefer Nirvana's debut Bleach, cuz most of Nevermind got overplayed to death (pun not intended)

The people who claim this band/album "killed" metal crack me up. Metal was already doing a great job of disappearing up its own ass by the time Nevermind came out.

So many of the "old guard" bands were losing key members, going on hiatus, or putting out sub par records and coasting by on their past glories. They were leaving an opening that grunge rock was more than happy to fill. If it hadn't been Nirvana, it would've been somebody else.

I actually liked some grunge before this album even came out. I already had Bleach by them, as well as two from Soundgarden & a few Melvins albums. In no way did I ever think that sound would blow up the way it did.

Never got into Nirvana but felt like a lot of what was called grunge was just a marketing ploy. AiC was heavy 70's inspired rock etc.

Dark Horseman wrote:

Never got into Nirvana but felt like a lot of what was called grunge was just a marketing ploy. AiC was heavy 70's inspired rock etc.

I think in hindsight, alot of "grunge" was just 70's inspired rock (as you said) with some punk mixed in. But it was so radically different than what was being presented at the time, the media didn't know what to call it. The grunge-tag was just as inspired by the fashion associated with it (flannel, cargo shorts, Doc Martens, etc) as much as the music. Just like associating spandex and Aquanet with "hair-metal". It's not completely accurate, but you know what to expect when you hear the term.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Badass record. I liked it then, I still like it now. Tho nowadays I tend to prefer Nirvana's debut Bleach, cuz most of Nevermind got overplayed to death (pun not intended)

The people who claim this band/album "killed" metal crack me up. Metal was already doing a great job of disappearing up its own ass by the time Nevermind came out.

So many of the "old guard" bands were losing key members, going on hiatus, or putting out sub par records and coasting by on their past glories. They were leaving an opening that grunge rock was more than happy to fill. If it hadn't been Nirvana, it would've been somebody else.

This, this, and this.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Dark Horseman wrote:

Never got into Nirvana but felt like a lot of what was called grunge was just a marketing ploy. AiC was heavy 70's inspired rock etc.

I think in hindsight, alot of "grunge" was just 70's inspired rock (as you said) with some punk mixed in. But it was so radically different than what was being presented at the time, the media didn't know what to call it. The grunge-tag was just as inspired by the fashion associated with it (flannel, cargo shorts, Doc Martens, etc) as much as the music. Just like associating spandex and Aquanet with "hair-metal". It's not completely accurate, but you know what to expect when you hear the term.

And this and this.

Awaiting the GRUNGE IS THE GATE OF LUCIFER'S ASS haters on this thread's horizon.

(1) I own all Nirvana CDs, (2) I have heard all of them, and (3) like none of them. Absolutely none of them. Really not something I enjoy at all.

Thank the wife for the first two (she brought them with when we moved together), and my sorely outdated tastes in music for the last part.

Technicall, I guess it's her CDs, but she doesn't listen to CDs anymore, so I'm storing them with mine, flipping through the booklets, and looking after them. I asked if I can sell them, she said nope, unless I sell all my Cinderella CDs too.

So I hold on to them.

I liked it when it first came out, and to a degree, still do. It was fresh at the time, and much needed to break up the stale, boring corporate glam rock crap. By 1990, those bands had run their coarse and music needed something new that was still heavy, but more back to basics Sabbath inspired rock.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

26 years (and one day) ago, this album dropped and along with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and everything grunge, changed the course of music seemingly overnight.

I, like many others at the time, hated this new sound, look and attitude. It took some time, but I got over it and came to like alot of the bands of the era (except Pearl Jam. F**k those guys) In hindsight, the change was inevitable. The over-the-top sound and imagery of the 80's was done to death and become a stale parody of itself. Just like the punk era of the 70's wiping the slate clean, grunge did the same thing in the 90's.

As for Nirvana and this album in particular, neither are a favorite of mine, but I do enjoy them from time-to-time. If I had to pick a favorite from Nirvana, I'd go with their unplugged album.

What do you think, HoMers? Did Nirvana kill the 80's? Did grunge? Alternative music?

No Nirvana didnt kill the 80s, Unskinny Bop did (as stated in someones sig)

mc666 wrote:

I actually liked some grunge before this album even came out. I already had Bleach by them, as well as two from Soundgarden & a few Melvins albums. In no way did I ever think that sound would blow up the way it did.

I perfer Bleach over Nevermind most days

Nevermind was and still is a great record. Very overplayed to me. It was a breath of fresh air to the hair metal stuff that had became so formulaic.

I never liked Nirvana at all. Did like the first 3 Pearl Jam records and AIC though.

Loved it when it first came out. I've grown bored of it over the yrs. Still love AIC, and Sound garden; though.

I think for me, I play Bleach and Unplugged more than any other Nirvana album. Then it would be Insecticide and then Nevermind and then In Utero

I remember getting on board with "Nevermind" because it was a new sound, heavy, and everybody and their mother seemed to enjoy it. The album never had the sustainability factor that other metal albums had and much of that probably had to do with it simply was too accessible. Everyone owned it and every radio station was playing certain tracks off the album, along with MTV playing the bands videos in heavy rotation. The album is what it is, which is groundbreaking for that particular sound, which was emanating from the Pacific Northwest. I much preferred Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and early Pearl Jam. Regarding Nirvana albums, I rank "Nevermind" behind both "Bleach" and "In Utero"

Dark Horseman wrote:

Never got into Nirvana but felt like a lot of what was called grunge was just a marketing ploy. AiC was heavy 70's inspired rock etc.

The "big four" of Seattle grunge (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains (I exclude Stone Temple Pilots because even though they are grunge, they weren't from Seattle like the other four) were all totally different in sound from each other.

Also, am I the only one who refers to most "post-grunge" as grunge? Most of it 100% would have been considered grunge had it come out in the early 1990s instead of afterward.

mc666 wrote:

I actually liked some grunge before this album even came out. I already had Bleach by them, as well as two from Soundgarden & a few Melvins albums. In no way did I ever think that sound would blow up the way it did.

Same here. I owned Bleach and was a huge Tad fan. Loved Green River and Gruntruck and Skin Yard.

To be honest, when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" first blew up, I hated it. Or thought I did. Somehow I confused it with an awful Jesus Jones song. Never could understand how the band went from Bleach to that crap! Haha.

Nevermind is a fantastic album, though. A classic. Simple songs, but great ones. Most of it was waaaaaay overplayed, though. It'll never be my go-to Nirvana record because of that. =(

This song came up on shuffle during my drive into work this morning...


There just wasn't enough Dick Van Patten in music videos back in the day.

Well if your ever in Aberdeen, WA, you can visit this cool ass Star Wars store and in the back they have a nirvana section. You can buy a jar of dirt taken from under the bridge where Kurt used to sleep.

http://sucherandsonsstarwarsshop.com

I don't much care for grunge. I liked the first two Soundgarden cds, Bleach was okay, but nothing special. Hate Pearl Jam and AiC. Gruntruck is pretty good, but they had more of a metal vibe than grunge.

I would probably like Pearl Jam better if they weren't so overplayed back in the 90's and even today. Sad thing is, I saw them once in concert thanks to free tickets I won on the radio, and they had some good songs. The crap the radio played to death were garbage compared to some of the other live show nags they played. I would alas have liked them better if I drive dint live in Seattle at the height of their popularity. Talk about overkill!