On this day 20-years ago, Nirvana released seminal Grunge album ‘Nevermind’, forever changing the face and culture of Alternative-Rock music.
To mark this anniversary, ‘Nevermind’ has been be re-mastered and re-released by Universal, bringing the iconic sound of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Come As You Are’ to a whole new generation in the highest possible quality.
Recorded by drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic, and vocalist/guitarist Kurt Cobain, the original ‘Nevermind’ already had a clean sound, much to Cobain’s annoyance. He wanted the album to sound “rougher”, in keeping with the ‘garage’ sound common among Seattle Grunge bands of the era.
Grunge was traditionally associated with aggression and angst, but Nirvana integrated prominent melodies and influences from wider Rock music, such as The Pixies experimentation with loud/soft dynamics, and in doing so realized the genre’s full potential.
Grohl and Novoselic met with the album’s producer Butch Vig early last week to reminisce about the album that changed their lives and the face of music forever. When asked if ‘Nevermind’ could have been recorded today, Grohl responded: “We could have been one of those bands who recorded it by ourselves in a garage and uploaded it to YouTube… If Krist and I went in that booth right now and recorded on that board, we could sound exactly the same. That’s how simple the whole thing was”
Grohl has always commented on the simplicity of Nirvana’s music, likening it to “children’s music”. The band always aimed to make its songs as simple as possible. Many believe that’s what made the album so relatable – Just laying everything out bare as simply as possible and letting the listener take away whatever they feel at that moment.
The album was a resounding success commercially. After expecting to sell only 250,000 copies, ‘Nevermind’ went on to sell over 30-million copies worldwide, thrusting the band into a stardom that would begin a tragic downward spiral for frontman Cobain which ended with his suicide in 1994.
Speaking of Cobain, Novoselic told The AP: “It was shocking to be famous. I bought a house to deal with it. Then, of course, there was Kurt, who was thrust into being the spokesman of a generation. That was hard for him.”
The later influence Cobain, Nirvana, and the ‘Nevermind’ album, which is widely regarded to be “One of the best rock albums ever made”, cannot be understated.
The re-release will come in three editions – A basic version, remastered but otherwise identical to the original release. A 2-CD edition featuring the original Nevermind album along with a number of unreleased b-sides and live recordings. If that’s not enough for you, there is also a ‘Deluxe’ 4-CD/DVD edition featuring a range of obscure recordings from previously unreleased material to random recordings from a boombox that happened to be in the studio, alongside a number of exclusive videos.
The newly remastered ‘Nevermind’ will be released on Monday, September 26 in the UK, and Tuesday, September 27 in the US.
Watch a video of Nirvana performing Territorial Pissings live, which is included on the ‘Nevermind’ Deluxe version DVD, below:
