Issue 2: Classic Album Review: Nevermind by Nirvana
This week I will be reviewing Nirvana's classic album Nevermind.
Background information:
Nevermind is no doubt one of the most famous albums of all time. It’s likely because of its incredible track list and iconic album cover. Since its release on the 26th September 1991, Nevermind has sold over 30 million copies worldwide alongside being certified diamond by the RIAA (Montgomery, 2011). The expansion of digital music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music has not stopped Nevermind’s success at all with the album having over 5.155 billion streams on Spotify alone (as of 24th February 2024) - an insane number. This is especially impressive since the album was only hoping to gain 200,000 sales by recording studio Geffen Records. Within 9 weeks, Nevermind was certified platinum (for the sale of 1 million units) (Montgomery, 2011).
There were many interesting business relations to Nevermind. The most intriguing of all is the acquisition of Mennen, the manufacturers of Teens Spirit (an American deodorant) by Colgate-Palmolive for $670 million in 1992, 6 months after the release of the single ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ (Montgomery, 2011). The success of Nevermind is even more incredible since it was made with a budget of only $65,000 (Wikipedia, 2024) - a figure the band probably make daily from royalties and streams of the album.
Much of Nevermind’s continued success is likely to come from singer Kurt Cobain’s legacy. Cobain was tragically found dead in his house in Seattle aged 27 by his electrician (History, 2021). However, his death still remains a mystery to this day. Cobain’s cause of death was identified as suicide as it was believed he shot himself with a shotgun lying next to his body along with heroin found in his bloodstream (Unsolved Mysteries, 2017). But, many believe that it could have been a homicide - but like many deaths in music - the truth is unlikely to ever be found. Following Cobain’s death Nirvana split up with Dave Grohl ending up being one of the founders of Foo Fighters whilst the other member Krist Novoselic has been part of the band Giants in the Trees among other roles.
Tracklist Ratings:
Smells Like Teen Spirit - a timeless classic. The aspect of the song that I am always drawn to is the iconic guitar riff, with it giving the song lots of energy. Cobain’s vocals are incredible as well with the raw tone he has, which complements the high-energy from the guitars and drums perfectly. Even after listening to this song hundreds of times, this track never gets old for me, which is a sign of an excellent song. Probably among some of the best opening tracks of an album of all time. 91
In Bloom - a very interesting song with the message poking fun at Nirvana fans going to concerts after the release of Nirvana’s first album Bleach and so not knowing the true meaning of the band. Cobain’s vocal performance is very good with a softer tone being used for the verses and more raw during the choruses which just shows how talented he was. A very solid song with the only problem being my loss of interest whilst listening to it since it is very repetitive but not as catchy as other tracks on the album. 74
Come As You Are - another anthem from the album. The lyrics are very interesting with many of them contradicting each other - especially when hearing the first verse. Out of everything, I am particularly drawn to the drums in the song since they give the most energy. The guitar solo is also fantastic. I would class this track in the perfect category because not only is it an iconic song but also an incredible one as well. It is one I regularly revisit because of its high-energy and catchy lyrics. 86
Breed - all aspects of the song are very good in the track. The song highlights a lot of Nirvana’s strengths with the catchy lyrics, Cobain’s unique voice and the brilliant drums and guitar. I also really like the don’t-care attitude Cobain has in the song from his lyrics which is why I revisit the song often. A bit too repetitive at times which is probably why it doesn’t quite make the perfect category. 83
Lithium - the best part of the song is simply the way the energy of the track changes between verses and choruses. The verses are very soft especially when hearing the drums and guitars but when the chorus comes along - they seem to roar into action. From a message standpoint, the message is quite a sad one with the song telling a narrative of a guy who turned to religion after losing his special someone and how he is dealing with the loss. Lithium just about makes the perfect category as I think it is catchy without being annoying and I am especially a fan of Cobain’s more mellow-sounding parts. 85
Polly - one of my favourite songs on the album. I enjoy the more chill tone which is created from the use of an acoustic guitar. The track has very good track list placement by being after 5 very high-energy songs and acting as a sort of come-down from them. The message behind the song is very haunting though as it talks about the kidnapping of a girl and her trying to escape from her kidnapper. I do enjoy how Cobain uses bird references throughout the track, especially the name of the track ‘Polly’ which is a notorious bird name. I am a big fan of story-telling in songs along with a mellow sound, which is probably why I enjoy the track so much and why I put it up as one of the best songs on the album. 89
Territorial Pissings - a very high-energy song. Unlike many of the other songs which flick between different energies - Territorial Pissings carries the energy throughout almost the whole track time. A critique I have of the song is that it lacks substance relative to other tracks of the album. The screechy-sounding lyrics towards the end of the track from Cobain are also pretty off-putting. 66
Drain You - a solid song. Has a decent catchy hook. I particularly enjoy the non-lyrical section in the middle of the song with the crescendos leading up to the final part of the track. I find it quite amusing that it is a love song which is not something common for Nirvana to do with their songs. 74
Lounge Act - a very different sound from the rest of the album. A lot of this is likely to come from the guitar which makes it sound like lounge music - hence the title of the track. This aspect of the track is what I mostly enjoy from the song with the vocals from Cobain being solid as well. 82
Stay Away - another one of the big hits of the album. However, in my view, I wouldn’t say it is as good as Smells like Teen Spirit or Something in the Way. Most of this is because I just find it too repetitive and although a lot of Nirvana’s music is repetitive and probably why it is so successful - I find it gets to a point where it gets annoying on the track. The verses sound dreary as well which also ruins the song slightly for me. The guitar and drums are very good on the song though and I like how it draws on the lounge sound from the previous track with the bass. 75
On A Plain - an underrated song in my opinion. I really enjoy the chorus and all the verses are also strong. The only issue with the song is that it lacks the same excitement value as the other songs on the album 78
Something In The Way - like Polly - Something in the Way delivers a very different sound from the rest of the album. The way that Cobain’s vocals blend with the slowly-paced guitar and drums is beautiful. The lyrics themselves are very strange but don’t take away from the stunning sound of the song. I am a fan of Nirvana’s slower-placed tracks which is likely why I have rated it as the best song on Nevermind. 93
Endless, Nameless - technically an extra track on the album since it appeared on the B side of the album (Genius, 2024). I feel like the album would have been stronger without it since I don’t think it quite works compared to the rest of the tracks. It seems like the band were trying to go down a more punk and lounge route through the transitions of Cobain screaming to the more laid-back lounge part where Cobain is saying ‘No mas’. The song is also far too long in my opinion and could’ve easily stopped at about 4 minutes long with the rest of the song just sounding a bit pointless. 39
Personal reflections:
Nevermind is one of my favourite albums of all time simply because the track list is so good. Pretty much all the songs are hits and are ones that I revisit very often. Endless, Nameless is the only weak point of the album which you would probably expect as it wasn’t featured on the album officially since it was a hidden track. I haven’t actually listened to the entire Nirvana discography which I probably should do as it will be interesting to see how Nevermind is different from Bleach and In Utero. I have listened to parts of In Utero and from what I’ve heard there are many similarities between the sound of Nevermind and itself. I think it would also be useful for me to hear other grunge projects to see how Nevermind is different in this aspect and why the band has reached the iconic status it has.
You can certainly hear Cobain’s thought process throughout the whole of the album and very much reflects what he was going through with depression and other mental health issues. Themes of depression, homicide and suicide are all prominent within the album and are pretty much mentioned one way or another on every track. This is also likely to stem from the punk influences of Nirvana’s grunge sound. As mentioned before, grunge isn’t a genre I’ve explored too much of with Nevermind being my introduction to the genre. One of the aspects I enjoy most about Nirvana is how they combine Cobain’s incredible voice with heavy-sounding guitar riffs but I am unsure whether this is a distinctive feature of the grunge genre.
Coupled with the track list, the sound of the album is another thing that really draws me to the album time and time again because Nirvana’s sound is just so unique. Most of this comes from Cobain’s vocals with his extraordinary vocal range especially when you contrast songs like Something in the Way to Smells Like Teen Spirit where Cobain’s vocals are incredibly different. The guitar and drums also captivate me throughout the album especially some of the guitar riffs on songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit especially. For me, Something In The Way is the best song though and when reviewing this album - the songs that seem to connect more with me are the more mellow tracks like Something In the Way and Polly. One reason for this could be because they are slightly different from the rest of the other tracks which feature heavy sounds and more screeching vocals from Cobain. This is opposed to these tracks where Cobain sounds softer and more melodic.
Overall, Nevermind is a masterpiece. When you think of great albums, Nevermind is always up there simply because of the number of hits in the track list. Given it’s been released for over 30 years now, it already is standing the test of time and I feel like it will be one that will still be played for decades to come. Upon this review, it might be worth looking at Foo Fighters as well - a band I haven’t listened to much, to see if Dave Grohl carries some of his Nirvana roots as influences for the band.
Album Ratings
Songs: 78 - it’s a shame Endless, Nameless has to be included for this since without it the overall song rating would be far higher. However, I do think that the rating does reflect the overall sound of the songs on the album and it is still a very strong rating.
Overall Vibe: 91 - the vibe of the album is excellent. I love that the sound changes all the way through the album whether it is heavy guitar riffs, gentle acoustic guitar sequences or even lounge influences. I also think Cobain’s voice also has a lot to do with giving the album a very good overall vibe since his voice is just incredible in my opinion.
Creativity: 74 - this is probably the most lacking element of the album since many of the songs sound very similar. Several songs start the same way with the opening drum crescendo, although this could be argued to be the equivalent of a producer tag in today’s music. Many songs also have similar vocal sounds where verses have a softer tone compared to the choruses where the sound is a lot heavier. The lyricism of the songs are also not incredible with many tracks being very repetitive. However, it could also be said that Nirvana aren’t notorious for their lyricism and it is hard to expect incredible lyricism from their songs.
Cohesiveness: 92 - all songs have a sound to them which is iconic for Nevermind. I also feel like the track list and the ordering of it runs very smoothly as well. There are 5 heavy-hitting, guitar-fuelled anthems to start off the album until you get to Polly, which I said before acts almost as a come-down for the next 2 songs which continue the trend of high-energy tracks. Then Lounge Act comes along to deliver a completely different sound to the album yet the song still features the heavy guitars which is a big feature of the album. I do like how the bassy lounge sound is continued into Stay Away. Then there is an almost diminuendo in sound from On A Plain to Something In A Way which was the closing track for the original album. Endless, Nameless kind of changes this ending when entering it into the fray but if you do consider it I like how the punk influences of it reflect those of Smells Like Teen Spirit which gives an almost circular sound to the album. Although I said the similarity in sound of Nevermind tracks lacks creativity, this makes the album far more cohesive - which is why I’ve scored the category very high.
Replayability: 96 - an album that I will listen to numerous times each year. Many of the songs from Nevermind are in my regular rotation as well so Nevermind scores very highly with replayability.
Overall Score: 86 - PERFECT
Want to share your thoughts on Nevermind? Got an album you want me to review? Don’t hesitate to contact me at thetunesreview@gmail.com
Explanation of ratings
For those who haven’t read a Tune Reviews newsletter before, in a typical song or album review I will provide a numerical score between 0 and 100 with each interval meaning something different. This is observed below:
85-100 - Perfect Song/Album
70-84 - Very Good Song/Album
55-69 - Good Song/Album
40 - 54 - Mid Song/Album (something that I don’t like nor dislike)
25-39 - Bad Song/Album
25 and less - Very Poor Song/Album
With albums, I will provide an additional rating scheme where I will analyse various parts making up the album. These factors include; songs (where I will simply find the average of the song ratings I have scored), overall sound (what I think of the overall sound and vibe of the album), creativity (how creative and different the album is from other projects from the artist and other projects at the time the album was released), cohesiveness (how well the project flows and the songs go together) and replayability (how likely I will revisit this album in the future). All of the above factors will also be considered when coming up with a score for the songs as well.
References:
Genius, 2024. Endless, Nameless [Online]. Available at: https://genius.com/Nirvana-endless-nameless-lyrics
History, 2021. Grunge rock icon Kurt Cobain dies by suicide [Online]. Available at: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kurt-cobain-commits-suicide
Montgomery, J. , 2011. Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind,’ By The Numbers [Online]. Available at: https://www.mtv.com/news/wuxmlg/nevermind-nirvana-album
Wikipedia, 2024. Nevermind [Online]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevermind
Unsolved Mysteries, 2017. Kurt Cobain [Online]. Available at: https://unsolved.com/gallery/kurt-cobain/