Bleach, their debut, is famously the smartest $600 ever spent; that was the cost of the entire recording. The album came out in Spring, 1989, and was supported by extensive touring, often with the support of Jason Everman on guitar. Everman would later join Soundgarden.
Bleach is a murky album ($600 can only buy just so much) and it isn't quite an across-the-board classic. But its best moments are great indeed; Cobain was still developing as a songwriter and vocalist, but songs like "About A Girl" and "Negative Creep" are major entries to the Nirvana songbook, and "Blew" is dense and aggressive. The band's sound, however murky the recording, is the real story here; it's post-punk alternarock with shades of powerpop and the backwater charm Sup Pop exploited, and it really was a sound all their own. Eventually, Nirvana would be labeled "grunge" but the term diminishes them; Nirvana never really set out to break new ground musically; they did by simply being who they were.
Sales of Bleach were slow but steady, and Nirvana began to gain a number of influential champions, among them Sonic Youth and Mudhoney. They were discovered by college radio, which latched on to the album, and the British music press began to tout them in England. In the end, Bleach sold tens of thousands of copies, which qualified it as a major hit in the indie world.
![Sonic Youth/Nirvana/Stone Temple Pilots [Concert Poster] (1991)](http://img205.exs.cx/img205/8798/sonicnirvana8wm.jpg)
This was enough for the major labels to take notice; during the summer of 1989 the band was scouted by A&R reps, as it played some of the finest shows of its career. A new single was recorded with producer Butch Vig, "Sliver", featuring Dan Peters of Mudhoney behind the drums. As competition heated up among the labels courting Nirvana, a permanent drummer was finally found in Dave Grohl (ex-Scream). This trio clicked well, and ultimately signed with David Geffen's DGC label, which had been following the indie scene with interest, having just signed Sonic Youth.
Nevermind broke out beyond anyone's, including DGC and the band's, wildest expectations. An initial pressing of 50,000 was sold out quickly, and a European tour with Sonic Youth solidified their following overseas. The album's leadoff single "Sounds Like Teen Spirit" was one of the most aggressive songs to reach the top-10 in many a moon; it went into heavy rotation on MTV. Nevermind ultimately reached #1 in America and sold over 3,000,000 copies and reached the British top-10; never before had a former indie band come even close to such across-the-board numbers.
If Bleach was muddy, Nevermind is its polar opposite; Vig gets a crystalline sound from the band; every nuance is audible. While there are those who dislike this clarity (apparently including the band themselves), in retrospect it's a good thing it exists, given the short body of work available. The titles need no introduction to anyone reading this; the now prophetic "Come As You Are", the paranoid "Lithium", the morose "Polly", and the resigned "On A Plain" showcase excellent songwriting from Cobain, and equally impressive playing from the entire trio. Their power is undeniable; even with the clean production, this is as heavy as any music released in the early 90's. It's also very tuneful.
Article comments
1 - lono
Kurt Cobain was overrated. Obviously, Nevermind is a masterpiece. However, if dude hadn't killed himself there wouldn't be another mention of him at all.
For example. The Smashing Pumpkins were (and remain) a better band. They had a better draw, sold more discs (pre-mordem) and played more shows. If it weren't for Kurt killing himself, I think history would have judged the Pumpkins (or Pearl Jam) the winners of the grunge/ alternative movement.
2 - jason
Pearl Jam sucks and the Pumpkins don't "remain" anything; they are defunt.
Anyway, this post was excellent.
3 - Mark Sahm
I would agree with many of the points on Cobain's talent... but I think it was unfair of the media to label him a "genius".
I think if people would have just let him be and free to make music instead trying to christen him the next "John Lennon-esque songwriting genius", then we'd still be hearing tunes from him today.
Like Nirvana, the Pumpkins and Pearl Jam had their impact on future musical generations as well, but to say who is better or more influential will be a question forever unanswered.
4 - uao
Nirvana is nothing if not controversial; I expected to hear from both sides of the fence.
I'm not a Nirvana fanatic, but I certainly got off on their music a lot; Nevermind blew me away when it appeared, like magic one day.
Pearl Jam moved me just as much when I heard "Even Flow" come on the radio during the L.A. riots of '92. I knew we'd still be talking about them far into the future.
And Smashing Pumpkins!! I was living in Japan in '93, leading a fairly decadent, drunken, club-oriented life. I was lusting for a 90's band that would have 70's referents, but be modern-sounding enough that club deejays would play 'em too. Siamese Dream accompanied me everywhere in 1993.
Cobain is overrated only in that some people continue to project unrealistic expectations on him, even after he's been dead for 11 years. He's also very underrated; merely calling Nirvana a grunge band underrates them. They were more than grunge; they were also punk and metal and indie and hillbilly and roots and even power pop, in their own grungy way.
Among rock casualties, he'll never be considered a loss on the scale of Jimi Hendrix. But he was as indispensible to rock as, say, Janis Joplin, to name another self-destructive act with real talent from a rural area who rose up from a local label. Probably a lot more so.
And it's hard not to pity the poor guy; whatever one can say about him, one thing is for certain: he really was honest all along. We just never knew how honest he was until he made good on what he'd been promising all along.
5 - George
I don't know who you could say that Kurt Cobain was overrated. I do admit "Smells like teen spirit" is overrated, but thats about it. They put out Incesticide to get rid of the "Nevermind fans" with Incesticide they carried heavy punk. If they put out a shot at the career's like that, I can't see how they or he could be overrated. And why doesn't any news articles bring of the chance of murder. There are so many clues that they let pass. I mean here is what they found
1.No finger prints found the shotgun.
2.3x's the lethal amount of Heroin in Kurt's blood stream. It would be impossoble to pull that trigger, let alone put away the syringe back into carrying case.
3.Kurts credit card was used after he was he was dead.:not after he was found"
4.Found in Courtney's back pack; writings trying to imitate Kurt's writing.
5.Isn't it kind of obvious.
Well thats my opinion on everything. I know a lot of people will look at that and laugh. Thats what I feel.
6 - sue
i think all of nirvana music is great and i think his band would have been a big hit today if he was alive i no its been 11 years since is death but he still a big hit today as he was in the early 90s i am still a big fan i also belive he did not commit suicide if he never met coutney love i think he would be around today plus i think if any body as not got nothing nice to say about him or his music dont bother at all it just goes to say how ignorant you are.rest in peace kurt cobain
7 - Bill niel
Anyone who tries to trivulize nirvana has no real concept of music. The fucking guy was only twenty 27 and two months old, had hundreds of great orginal songs. Probably the best creative force to ever play in a pop/punk/rock band ever
8 - Edward Ichoho
thers different theories to how kurt died. i mean, some say he drowned!! we cant b 100% sure to how kurt died but the fact remains that he IS dead and we should carry on. these links have alot about kurts death but its up 2 u 2 decide how he died:
http://www.sshep.com/FastVersion/kurtnew.htm
http://justiceforkurt.com/
9 - Taylor Welling
Kurt was like the Jesus Christ of rock. Nirvana shaped the music scene, and are still a revolutionary band. The impact they had will go on as long as music does. Without them you wouldn't be hearing about all the alternative bands, etc. Nirvana pretty much created what was and still is today called grunge. I mean, if you look at the music scene today it's not really anything interesting, and there aren't really any GOOD bands out there, or at least in my opinion. The 90's had incredible music. You don't see such true lyrics today like Nirvana's. Alot of it;s just crap. I really don't know how Kurt died. No one knows for sure. I pretty much believe he was murdered. He wouldn't have just left his child like that, he wasn't that type of person. There's also alot more evidence to make it clear that he probably was in fact murdered, by Courtney. But all in all, Nirvana deserves a great amount of respect. When Kurt died music died.
10 - justice for kurt
nirvana were and are a exelent band and they were very important to the creation of music how we now it today,the guy was a genius , his songs , his kind of be, and his honesty were greats and provably it wont be a band like nirvana any more. i think that he dont kill himself , he loved his child and he said that it was the best drog of the world.and if the drug he take were 3 time sufitient to kill him why and how( he woul be death in seconds) he give a shot on his own head? it seems it is a big conspiracy relativly to this case. the police had ignore to much proves ...
11 - fe
i just dont fuckin get it why the police dont re open the case ... if there are so many proves of murder...
they dont care with this ...te police just want money and the rest they dont fucking care ,they are a hypocrits,..
forever kurt cobain..
12 - mrbenning
I'm not a Nirvana fanatic, but I have no problem admitting that they ushered in the 90's. Once "smells like teen spirit" popped on the radio, rock had itself figured out again.
13 - probot
dave grohl is amazing. he brought so much to nirvana and continues to influence today's rock music scene without relying on past fame. whenever someone says "nirvana" the only thing people think of is kurt cobain. it wasn't just kurt. it was a band. i think sometimes some people forget that.
14 - Tan The Man
I used to respect Kurt, but then I read about a story about him. In it, before Nirvana got famous, Kurt agreed to split the royalties evenly by the three of them, even though he wrote most, if not all, of the songs. Then they became famous, and Kurt demanded that he receive 75% of the royalties and Dave and Aaron spliting 25%. Why renege on a previous agreement?
15 - mad mads
I just think that nirvana rocked! It is sooo stupid saying the pumpkins would have been more recognied if cobain hadt killed himself because what happend happened and it sucks but there is nothing any1 can do about it.
16 - Edward Ichoho
"I used to respect Kurt, but then I read about a story about him. In it, before Nirvana got famous, Kurt agreed to split the royalties evenly by the three of them, even though he wrote most, if not all, of the songs. Then they became famous, and Kurt demanded that he receive 75% of the royalties and Dave and Aaron spliting 25%. Why renege on a previous agreement?"
Kurt demanded the royalties cos of Courtney. she forced him. he succumbed to her eventually
17 - Abe(the babe)
Alrighty people I would have to say that Nirvana might be one of the most influential bands of all time. I'm not saying they're the most talented dudes though. I mean Kurt could bust out some riffs here and there but he was no Jimmi Hendrix, Novelselic probably is the most talented of the group. Now I would have to say that they are probably one of the best bands of all time because of their message and the time that they came in, it was right person, right time, right place. Kurt was something different something that the world had never seen.
18 - DJRadiohead
And now Courtney has insulted Nirvana fans one more time by releasing a "Best of the Box" collection with three previously unreleased cuts to gouge the faithful one more time.
Yes, I will buy it. And I will curse the widow Cobain all the way there.
19 - jonny
just in case u didnt know there's a hidden track on nevermind