Nirvana - Nevermind
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Free Music Notes for Nevermind
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: Hm...
Hit: 4 Stars
Doubtlessly the most famous and influential album of the '90s. If you honestly don't know the story behind it, here's how it goes: Nirvana kicked around for a while under several different names in the late '80s, going through several personnel changes before deciding on a lineup of Kurt Cobain (guitar/vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Chad Channing (drums) getting signed on a minor label in 1988 and putting out their debut album, Bleach (famously recorded for $600) in 1989. Most people don't own it.
Somewhere in the interim, Nirvana picked up Dave Grohl, signed with Geffen records, and enlisted producer Butch Vig to work on their second album, Nevermind. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released as the lead-off single, meant to get Nirvana across to the coveted college radio market. The hope was that the follow-up single "Come As You Are" would cross Nirvana over to a mainstream audience. Maybe, just maybe, they would be a moderately popular group.
Next thing the group knew, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a worldwide smash, Nevermind was riding high on the charts and taking home all kinds of critical acclaim, and hair metal was dying out. Suddenly, the world of rock would never be the same again. If it weren't for this, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, and pretty much every other popular American rock group from the era you could name probably wouldn't have anywhere near the success they enjoy now. Cobain was a celebrity, and Butch Vig became huge in his own right - he went on to produce another '90s milestone, Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream.
So I just spent three paragraphs giving history. You're probably wondering what the album's like. Well, on a whole it's good. The singles are fantastic: "Teen Spirit"'s wall of loud, distorted, but melodic guitars, dynamic shifts, and massive chorus have made it an anthem for children of the '90s such as me; "Come As You Are" matches a watery bass riff with intelligent lyrics about stardom; "In Bloom" is a biting criticism of brain-dead rock fans with a brilliant video and pounding drums; and my favorite, "Lithium", cross-breeds a surprisingly jazzy rhythm, disturbing lyrics, and a giant emotional release in the refrain. And it's not just the singles, either. There's a string of fine rockers - "Breed", "Drain You", "Lounge Act", "On a Plain" - a stark, controversial sex abuse protest, "Polly" (creepiest lyric: "Polly says her back hurts, and she's just as bored as me"), and my friend's favorite, the mesmeric, gently swaying ballad "Something in the Way". Plus the pure mayhem of the hidden track, "Endless Nameless" (with Kurt giving us such insightful proclamations as "YEEAREARH!!!" and "BLAAARGH!") is awesome. Dave and Krist provide steady backing and really step up to the plate on tracks like "In Bloom" (Dave), "Lounge Act" (Krist), and "Lithium" (both of 'em). And Kurt's sense of melody never deserts him. But some of it is weak. Sure, when I'm in the mood I can relate to the pure anger of "Stay Away" (with a frightening chorus), but other times it just bores me. And I don't like "Territorial P***ings" at all. It's bad, just about unlistenable in fact.
Virtually everyone knows what happened next: Nirvana put out one album (In Utero, which in my opinion is the group's masterpiece), then Kurt killed himself. Which is a shame, because I would've loved to have met him. I read an interview with him, and he struck me as a caring, down-to-earth guy genuinely interested in music, rather than money. He actually detested this album because of its production, which he thought was too commercial. Plus he didn't want racists, sexists or homophobes buying his records, which kicks total butt in my mind, especially when you consider how many rock stars are racists, sexists or homophobes themselves (or all three, in the case of that wonderful, gentlemanly philanthropist Axl Rose).
In conclusion, Nevermind is a fine album - Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and Poison combined couldn't make anything a fraction as good. But there are better in the Nirvana catalog. This is probably the most accessible of their albums, but I'd recommend you get In Utero as well, since as I said I think it's a far better album, though it's also REALLY harsh and noisy. Unplugged in New York is also a classic, tied with Bob Marley's Babylon By Bus as my favorite live album of all time. So while Nevermind isn't a bad purchase by any means, you could do much better. If you like this album's sound, I'd also point you towards Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Bandmotorfinger and Superunknown, Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, Stone Temple Pilots' Core and Purple, Alice in Chains' Dirt, and several others I can't think of right now. The early '90s were a great era for rock music, probably better than anything but the classic 1965-1975 epoch, and while this is the definitive album of the time period, it's pretty far from the best.
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.