Nirvana - Nevermind

It probably sounds silly to anyone who's not a music geek, but I find it weird that, like some form of reverse-contrarianism, I don't actually think Nirvana are 'overrated' at all. It's mostly because the IDEA of a band like Nirvana having such a legacy considering their career being cut short by their frontman's death which naturally causes a heap of over-romanticism, and the fact that the band is/was less 'technically' proficient than all the other 'classic' rock bands as famous as they are, and the fact that the drummer has since had massive success from fronting who are unquestionably the most overrated band of the past 20 years*. These things would naturally hardwire me in thinking their deserving of that great big O word. Yet, no matter how much I hear Nevermind in public or in private, I never actually get tired of the music on it, not even 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' (Although I definitely am tired of hearing it's historical narrative as told by dad rockers as 'the last time rock mattered' or whatever).

It's impossible to deny this record's significance as the biggest truly raw, noisy rock music got in influencing pop culture, the kinda stuff that's willingly rough-around-the-edges with dirty guitar tones, feedback, off-key notes, dissonance, howls, screams, grumbling basslines, and rhythms that hold together in spite of themselves. Quite remarkable given the contradictory fact that Butch Vig gives this record a big-budget production which helped it compete with the commercial rock of the day, yet his beefing up and treatment of the band's sound never detracts the scortched-earth feel of either Kurt's songwriting or the band's perforances, and in some ways amplifies it instead. Nirvana would move away from Vig's production for their follow-up to avoid losing their edge, but they'd done an impressive job of maintaining it on this compared to nearly every major-label rock record in existence.

*I know that word is a pain in the arse to a lot of people, and is often used in a malicious way, but I don't apply the term 'overrated' to music I dislike or don't think deserves attention (that word is 'bad), I genuinely like a lot of Foo Fighters material, but the appreciation of their music is bombastic in my opinion since they're a farily ordinary rock band if I'm being completely honest.
Last edited: 17.03.2015 09:43