NIRVANA — Nevermind (review)

NIRVANA — Nevermind album cover Album · 1991 · Heavy Alternative Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Nevermind" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US hard rock/alternative rock act Nirvana. The album was released through DGC Records (a sub label to Universal Music Group) in September 1991. Alledgedly the label expected that "Nevermind" would sell around 200.000 - 250.000 copies if it became successful, but because of the success of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which received heavy rotation on MTV, "Nevermind" soon sold so many copies that the label´s sales stragedy for the album became completely useless. At the hight of the album´s success it sold around 300.000 copies a week. "Nevermind" has sold around 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums ever. There are probably a number of reasons why the album became this successful including a fatique, among fans of harder edged rock music, over the eighties glam rock/metal scene that had dominated the last decade. In the end it was probably the combination of the right timing, a good album that touched people and excellent promotion.

"Bleach (1989)" had provided the band with some minor success but main songwriter Kurt Cobain felt the need to write more melodic material and at the same time Nirvana opted to leave the Sub Pop label and sign to a major label. Producer Butch Vig gave the band´s sound enough polish for even the most hard edged punked material to have mainstream appeal. I guess "Territorial Pissings" might be the exception, but even that track, which is the most noisy track on the album is pretty sweet on the ears except the the ending of the track where Kurt Cobain screams his lungs out. The four single tracks from the album "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Come as You Are", "Lithium" and "In Bloom" are probably the most known songs from "Nevermind" but most tracks are actually pretty noteworthy and memorable.

The songs are pretty simple vers/chorus structured, typically with subdued verses and more energetic and loud choruses, making good use of dynamics for effect. "Nevermind" is an album that successfully alternates between mellow almost drowsy sounding sections and bursts of aggressive energy. It´s also an album with a nice flow. It´s the kind of album where all the pieces seem to fit in the right places.

...after not having listened to "Nevermind" for many years, I was pretty amazed to learn that I could remember each track, vocal line and melody to perfection and I had a great time listening to the album while doing all that remembering. Often it´s only the truly great albums where you feel right at home, when putting them on and such is certainly the case with "Nevermind". It´s still an album that stands out from the crowd and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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