I was at Club Dredd Timog, in the summer of 1992, when a friend, Ramon Ceballos Jr., who was also there at the legendary club that night, told me that there was a new band that was about to explode in the mainstream so I should buy the album right away. A few months after that, the band he told me about was all over the map of Rock music, leading the pack that included Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. That band was Nirvana, which is now a common name in the household of every Alternative Rock enthusiast.
Formed in 1987, in Aberdeen, Washington, USA, Nirvana consisted of Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar), Krist Novoselic (bass), and Dave Grohl (drums). In its troubled but highly influential existence, it unleashed three studio albums—Bleach (1989), Nevermind (1991), and In Utero (1993). In 1994, at the height of its popularity, Cobain committed suicide, permanently dissolving the band.
Released in 1991, Nevermind catapulted Nirvana into international fame. A catalyst to the angst-ridden subgenre of Alternative Rock that became known as Grunge, it best characterized Nirvana’s music—quiet-loud dynamics of distorted power chords, low-note riffs, and discordant yet melodic guitar interludes; steady bass playing; intense but controlled pounding; and alternating hushed and screamed vocal delivery.
Recommended tracks are “Smells like Teen Spirit,” “Come as You Are,” and “Something in the Way.”
