The thing about Nevermind is listening to it with fresh ears now takes it out of context, it's an album of its time. Since its release you've had 30 years of bands being inspired by and to a certain extent try to emulate the sound of, it doesn't sound new any more, it's been copied a million times. When this album originally dropped though, it was a breath of fresh air, we had just come out of the eighties, overproduced music with unrelatable lyrics talking about the excesses of the rock n roll lifestyle, mega rich lifestyles. As a 16-year-old kid who didn't have 2 pennies to rub together that meant nothing to me. Nirvana came along, and they spoke to a whole generation, it was new, it was angry with the world, it was grungy and real, and they got us, and we got them. That is the only way to listen to this album, listen to it while imagining yourself as a disgruntled teen, it's you against the world. It makes sense then.
Yeah, @purplegurl76 that's just what happened to me as well. I was maybe 16 years old at the time, living in this smaller Finnish district. I'd say we most of other of my friends at that time didn't even have MTV there at the time, but our building had a satellite TV system where I could see both Europe and US MTV (they were different channels). I remember one of my friends saying wait until you this Nirvana video Smells Like Teen Spirit. My friends and me also were listening to some metal stuff, "hair rock" and also music stuff at the time. It was just some years until I got access to Internet through university. I was totally blown on that album, for me everyone single song in that album is great. It seemed like some total new and fresh sound at that time and age. So yeah, I think it was a very powerful thing for many people of our age. Then next years I saw other bands getting lots of influence from them.
I love Lounge Act so much! Also Endless, Nameless was originally a hidden track that's meant to be play if you've left the album running for a while on accident but I wish it was the actual closer to the album because the song is awesome lmao
For some reason it was uncool to have a hit album and your preference is your own..but nevermind is the best album, most certainly the strongest and it changed the face of music
Fun fact about endless nameless that you may or may not already know lol, it was actually the result of some technical difficulties when they were recording lithium. Kurt was frustrated and just started this jam with the other two members out of nowhere and near the end you can hear him smash his guitar lol. They would usually close with that track live while smashing all the gear and stuff
It was also a “hidden track” on the CD. So you would hear the last drone of ‘Something In The Way’ and just be chilling… then a few minutes later ‘Endless Nameless’ would start up out of nowhere and make you shicho pants 😂
I'm surprised no one mentioned this. Polly is a song about an actual girl named Polly, who was kidnapped and raped, and the lyrics are from the point of view of her attacker. Kurt meant for this to be an anti-rape song, yet it sparked a lot of controversy. Edit: You should definitely check out their other albums!
Nirvana is one of my favorite bands of all time! About the Smells like Teen Spirit lyrics, like somebody’s else said it’s collection of phrases meant to give the feeling of being rebellious but also awkward teenager. However I do know the backstory behind some of the lines. During the chorus when he yells “He we are now entertain us” that’s what Kurt used to say when he entered parties or hangouts to break the ice so he didn’t feel awkward. Also the title of the song comes the brand Deodorant that his First girlfriend Tobi Vail used to wear. It was called Teen Spirit Deodorant. Somebody made some graffiti that said “Kurt smells like teen spirit” to poke fun at him and Tobi.
This is awesome - this album just hits and hits and hits...I hope you get to the Nirvana Unplugged - Kurt is a musical force - of the big 4 grunge groups Kurt is on his own plane - you'll hear some cool harmonizing with Dave and Kurt - Dave's drumming is nuts back then. Kurt was an experimental and just turn it up and blow it out with some of the best writing and a unique intensity. Kind of amazing to be in High School right when these grunge bands hit big - I was more into Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains UNTIL I heard the Unplugged - now I go back and appreciate them all for the snapshot of Seattle in the early 90's - very Gen X and kept rock alive as hip hop and electronica were emerging like forces of nature - that movement was such a necessary injection into alt-rock. A 3 piece band can be the most forceful when they pull it off right - safe to say Nirvana are an example for all of time. You're putting in some nice work n some great stuff - thanks as always.
Thank you Drew, was so worthwhile checking out this project and diving into the grunge space, for me this was a new sound completely so I truly appreciated the craftsmanship and raw energy that this album is filled with, thank you for continuing to follow me as I take this journey!
Butch Vig is what made this album. He made them pop it and his production is amazing! All his albums are great but he forced them to write and go this way.
First time I heard it was in the movie and it was used to effectively throughout the film ! Makes me exited for where they go next with this version of the Batman
Just came across your reaction. Very interesting. I was in my 20s when Nevermind dropped and it is not an understatement to say it changed the rock music scene literally overnight. One story that has always stuck with me is from a show called "Classic Albums". I think it was on MTV or VH1 and they broke down this album in one of their episodes. During the show they interviewed various well known music artists of the time. I can't remember which hair metal band they were talking to but those guys said when Nevermind dropped they all said to each other "Wthat the F*CK are we going to do now???". LOL
I discovered nirvana when I was 13, in 2000. They were my fave rock band in my teens, still in at least my top 3 now. Nirvana's music catelogue was life changing at the time. I'd suggest watching their MTV live and loud videos aswell. The full concert isn't on yt you have to watch each song separately. Also other albums to listen to if you haven't already - basically the albums I grew up on In Utero nirvana Unplugged in new York nirvana Californication rhcp By the way rhcp Smashing pumpkins rotten apples (their greatest hits) Green day American idiot The kooks inside in the inside out The killers hot fuzz Arctic monkeys 1st album Snow patrol final straw,
You were in the right ball park with Polly - it's written about a 14 year old girl in Tacoma who was kidnapped, raped, and tortured, but not by Cobain himself. We don't actually know the girl's name, but the abductor was a man named Gerald Friend. The girl escaped and Friend is now in prison.
I also got to see Foo Fighters in Geelong. They were so good! I was lucky enough to see Nirvana at the first Big Day out in 1992 packed into the Hordern Pavillion in Sydney. It was nuts and I was only 15 at the time
I know you've got a bunch of ppl suggesting albums all over the place in these comments, but to throw my two cents in as a huge Radiohead fan, I am also obsessed with Wilco and I think you'd really dig them. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born are two of their best imo
Please in utero next. In my opinion its way better. More emotional, heavier, more melancholic and just better Songs. Also Scentless Apprentice is my favourite song of all time.
Nevermind made them the biggest band in the world, sold 30 million copies worldwide and remains the best selling grunge album of all time...In Utero did none of those things...
@@simondickinson5578 watevs, in utero imo is better then nevermind, it didn't sell as much cuz it wasn't as commercial, its more artistic. Its v out there. Money doesn't equal greatness.
I'm going to try to frame this succintly..I became obsessed with music by age 4..throughout my life, I immersed myself in it as much as I could and by what was available to me..I came up as a kid in the 80s and teen in the nineties, when music became even more intense and important to me..I was constantly looking for new things to stimulate me..metal was a thing of elementary school and my youth but as a teen, I was seeking out things that sounded different from that formula..MTV was huge at the time and where most people got spoon fed their music..so when "smells like teen spirit" hit, it hit hard like a ton of bricks over your head and in your face..it hit big and hard..like wtf is this new sound coming out of seattle?? Kurt represented everything our generation was sick of, presented ideas that helped shape who we were..it helped other great bands from that time come to the forefront, like Alice in chains, pearl jam, soundgarden, etc.. All bands and voices that helped define a generation..Kurt represented for us, pro-feminism, anti-establishment, tolerance and anti - hate..Polly is an extremely dark song that expresses this and your instincts captured the basics of it..another funny tidbit is how the name for smells like teen spirit litererally came from a drunken night he had with another musician friend(her name escapes me at the moment) who while drunk, wrote on kurt's bedroom wall in big red letters, "Kurt smells like teen spirit." A couple of months later, he called her and asked permission to use it in some song lyrics and she said yes (obviously lol) anhway, I really only listen to nirvana a anymore from time to time for nostalgia reasons, as when music evolves, I like to evolve with it..but the magic of it is you can listen to any given song that affected you from your past, for good or ill, and be taken right back to that moment in time..and when I go back to nirvana, I realize just how much he helped shape me musically..I mean I dated a guy in high school who looked like Kurt and was in a band and later married him (though he was no Kurt and eventually divorced him) ok, I said I wouldn't be long winded, however, I have one more interesting tidbit of a thought..I think if Kurt would have lived, his sound would have changed as well, and that's the tragedy about losing an icon so young..years of potential amazing music we missed out on..we saw radiohead make the change from the grunge sound to...something else..radiohead is definitely a band I can keep on permanent rotation without ever getting sick of and I think if Kurt had lived just a few more years until the release of ok compjter, he would have loved it.I recently watched an old interview with Kurt where he was asked about the grunge bands coming out, if he liked anything he was hearing and the only band he mentioned was radiohead, as if he caught a glimpse of their genius from one musical genius to another..so yeah, I had a couple opinions about this and if anyone is still reading, thank you and I appreciate it..also, nirvana live unplugged is insanely good.. and from their discograpy, "Aneurism" is my favorite song if you are so inclined to listen..xo
Thank you so much for sharing your love for this band in the comment Kimber, music is so powerful and its awesome that we can share how these albums make us feel. Hoping to listen to more Nirvana in the new year!
As good as this album is. Pop in its soundscape yet under the surface a raw intensity. I feel its not "In utero" In utero is for me and many fans THE nirvana album. Kurts ideas of sound and the way he wanted nevermind to be. In a way nevermind is the gateway album to the others.
"In Utero" was a decent album but it will never compare to "Nevermind"....they became the biggest band in the world on the back of Nevermind and it went onto become the best selling grunge album of all time...
Hi Jack, I discovered your channel recently and I really LOVE IT ! Could you upload the uncut versions of your reactions to have the full songs and your full reaction. No editing, just the album playing and you, it would cool !
Hi Milan, Thanks for checking out the channel, really glad have you apart of the community. Hoping one day to be able to upload unedited uncut versions of these vids.
there’s no overall theme to SLTS but it juggles a bunch of ideas like the struggles of generation X, feeling of discontent, self-deprecation, uses some narco-slang in the chorus, etc. this song just happened to capture the zeitgeist of that time period. -- Polly is a dark song indeed. based on a true story of a 14 year old girl getting kidnapped & tortured by some old dude. she was able to escape him luckily. it’s written from the kidnapper’s point of view. but not in a good way, Kurt was against rape & supported women. just a dark song, and if I recall correctly this particular case shocked him and that’s why he decided to write this song. I hope you check out their debut album Bleach and their third/last one In Utero. they’re a lot more raw and not as accessible as Nevermind.
Great write up- Thank you for the added insight on both those songs. I had a feeling Polly had some correlation to a kidnapping, such a heavy song! I do hope that I can check out both albums at some point, ideally on the channel1
8:11 "i can wear those nirvana shirts now!" 😭😭 i was just thinking about that cause i always used to dislike people wearing bands they dont know, and it sucked because i didnt listen to nirvana but i wanted to wear a nirvana shirt so bad. But i didnt wanna be one of those losers. But now as an adult i just got into nirvana actually and now i get to wear the shirts without shame 😎👌🏾
Nirvana had the energy and pose but it was Soundgarden and Pearl Jam who brought the musical skills. Super unknown and Ten respectively are great starting points for them.
I'd love if you check out the band Bring Me The Horizon one day if you haven't, they go super hard and experiment so much with their music! They're more on the alt metal side, but an album you should totally check out from them is That's The Spirit!
Actually have them on the list! Have been wanting to check them out for quite some time! Good to know that there would be some interest on a reaction for the channel too. Thank you for the reccomnendation
@@thefan1629 That's the Spirit and Sempiternal are the two perfect intros to new BMTH, and then Post Human is like the perfect summary of all of their sounds ugh what a perfect album trio
@@cavemanjack Be warned, it'd be the heaviest music you've covered on the channel so far, since it's metal and hard rock, not grunge or alt or just simply rock. But then in some songs, straight up radio pop! They might be difficult to listen to without a decent knowledge of thrash metal, nu metal, uk techno/house sounds, but then on the other hand, they might be the perfect intro to those new sounds haha! If you struggle with whichever album you choose first, maybe go back to some genre classics (which I'm assuming you're already getting requests for!) before the next and the context will really help the sound become palatable and you'll love it 1000x more
Can you also do more Linkin Park next? All their albums are 10 out of 10s, you should check them out in order they came out since you've already done Hybrid Theory. Looking forward to it!
Im very keen to dive back into the world of linkin park soon, Still listening to Hybrid Theory on the regular and am very keen for the follow up Meteora soon!
do in utero. much better album, in terms of representing kurt's genius clearly. nevermind is very studio, very over-produced. in utero sounds more like them as a live band.
