Nirvana - Nevermind
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.97 You Save: $4.01 (29%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $1.98 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Nevermind
Free Music Review: The Sound of a Generation
Hit: 5 Stars
Countless people have written countless reviews and opinions about this album, but until you hear it and listen over and over to it, you can not feel the power and rage packed into this Seattle classic. Nirvana constructed a masterpiece of alternative rock that is still widely talked about almost 17 years after its release. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" alone rocked a nation of youth that finally had a band truly representing them. Although I was much too young at the time this album was released to fully appreciate it, I heard it in its entirety a few years later and the music just seems to express any feelings of angst or depravity you might be feeling all wrapped up in pulse-pounding punk/alternative rage that just never quits. This album will live on as one of the greatest albums ever recorded.Free Music Review: One of the Best Albums of All Time!
Hit: 5 Stars
I've already started seeing on more recent best of albums lists compiled by renowned music critics where this album is among the top 10 albums of all time along with albums by the Stones and the Beatles and I for one am not surprised. This album is synonymous with an entire genre that it helped to create and with Kurt Cobain's demise, the demise of grunge was quick to follow. The man despite his attempts at escaping the fact was a musical genius. Many musicians, myself included, would have loved to have his great sense of melody and intuitive knowledge of how best to use dynamics i.e. the alternation of loud and harsh with slow and soft to create maximum aural impact. Kurt had a great songwriting gift and he was able to put all the angst and frustrations he felt so eloquently down on track after track on this album.
This version of the album is a treat for fans as it comes in a mini-lp replica sleeve a.k.a. mlps design which although isn't the best I've seen however contains a bizarre mini 2008 calendar covering just the months of March and April, an inner sleeve that faithfully represents the original lp design and a booklet of 12 pages containing all the lyrics in both English and Japanese. Most importantly, the sound quality is very good as well and there is a bit of a surprise on the last track which is actually more than 20 minutes long as after a long pause at the end of "Something in the Way" we get a few minutes of outtakes with Kurt going even more mental than anything you've heard on any of the earlier tracks which I thought was interesting.
This is a must have album for any self respecting music lover's cd library and is destined to become consistently recognised as an all-time classic album.
Very highly recommended.
Free Music Review: "Here we are now/ Entertain us..."
Hit: 4 Stars
I could probably write a review based entirely on influence; After Nevermind stormed the charts in 1991, it kinda sorta changed the way people thought about rock music. Or about how it was packaged, anyway; suddenly, "indie" referred to an aesthetic rather than a commercial status, punk and alt-rock were no longer defined by their existence outside of the mainstream, and pop was no longer the only sound that could sell a billion records per artist. In a way, Nirvana re-legitimized rock 'n' roll as a commercially viable artform with this album. Nevermind showed the world that music doesn't need to be shiny, polished, or squeaky clean to sell. You could scream, curse, and moan your way to the top of the charts if you wanted to, and even dethrone Michael Jackson in the process. Of course, lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, and resident genius Kurt Cobain still saw this album as an overly polished sellout and his success as a sham. Nonetheless, Nirvana went on to become one of the most influential acts of the post-punk era, and this album is still the ultimate symbol of that fact.
Sound-wise, it's a an all-inclusive synthesis of indie, underground, and post-punk ideals from throughout the latter quarter of the 20th century. Using three-chord punk as a starting point, the group mixes in chunks of sludgy heavy metal, screeching noise rock, acoustic rumination, skewed pop hooks, and apocalyptic, almost gothic, dynamics. The unifying element behind the whole thing was the group's deep affection and understanding for every element of their sound, their unique ability to combine ideas and aesthetics into a cohesive whole, and Cobain's distinctive songwriting voice. The overall sound is far more expansive and complex than the grunge scene into which Nirvana is most commonly pigeonholed. To be sure, there are elements of grunge the group's slowed-down-punk approach, but there was far more to it than that.
Anyway, the music. That's what you're here to find out about, right? Well, here's the thing: Nevermind's influence has been so vast and so seismic, so instrumental in defining the sound of everything that came after it, that the actual musical qualities of the album are often overshadowed. To be sure, it's a fantastic listen: I'm rather fond of bemused anthems "On A Plain" and "Lounge Act," as well as the spine-tingling "Polly." Then there are those four gigantic hits, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "In Bloom," "Lithium," and "Come As You Are," all of which have a done a damn good deal to define the present generation. Although everyone goes for "Teen Spirit," I much prefer the tense paranoia of "Lithium." In general, it's a fantastic album to listen to, full of quiet/loud dynamics and darkly poetic lyrics and fiery guitar riffs. But it's also not a masterpiece. Not in my opinion, anyway. See, as good as these songs are, they start to wear down on the listener. Cobain's banshee holler is cathartic, but at times it can be a bit too cathartic. And then the hooks all start to sound the same, the sludgy rhythms start to drag, and the whole thing loses its distinctive feel. And then there's the fact that "Stay Away" and "Breed" simply aren't up to par with the rest of the record. "Territorial Pissings" is sorta hit-or-miss as well.
But it's still a wonderful album and a stunning historical artifact. An easy 90s classic.
Free Music Review: Wonderful music
Hit: 5 Stars
This music has passed the test of time; it just gets better the more you listen.Free Music Review: Overrated
Hit: 3 Stars
This was a great album! You know...back when I was an angry teenager who hated the world. But people grow up and realize that teenage perceptions of life isn't representative of life at all, but rather a bunch of self-indulgent BS.
Of course, that doesn't make this a bad album. It's good and I have some liking for grunge, despite my revulsion of the musical forms it spawned. But it's terribly overrated, too. The playing isn't near where it should be, though I suppose that would have gone against the band's image. And because Kurt killed himself when they were on top, people always assume that they would have stayed on top...forever.
Nah. I reserve that assumption for artists with considerably more talent.
But if you like some variety, and want something less upbeat, this will do. Personally, I prefer Alice in Chains to fill that slot.