![]() ![]() “I haven’t listened to it since we put it out. ![]() ![]() He was traumatised at the idea that “yuppie scum in BMWs” were listening to Nevermind, and disowned its glossy production. But the quadruple-platinum success of “Nevermind” was a nightmare for his punk-rock ethics. ![]() Reluctant ambition (Image credit: AP)Ĭobain was ambitious, his diaries filled with intricate plans, ruthlessly firing drummers until they found the perfect fit in Dave Grohl (now of the Foo Fighters). “It was the album that made hard rock obsolete - the rock that was popular at the time: superficial, misogynistic, less intense,” Charlotte Blum, author of a recent book about the grunge movement, told AFP. In doing so, Nirvana made all the permed-hair, spandex-wearing posturing of 1980s rock look ridiculous. “It was very pop but very honest and very authentic of the whole American punk rock ethic.” “It’s been building up through the years… Nirvana came along and delivered the goods,” said Thurston Moore, of fellow grunge outfit Sonic Youth, at the time. Nevermind united musical tribes that had been largely separate - punk, indie, metal - and added a pop element that made them accessible to everyone else. He was pictured naked, swimming after a dollar bill on a fish hook, in an image that became another iconic aspect of an album whose lead track “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was ubiquitous across MTV and radio stations around the world.Īt the heart of the album’s success were the strange contradictions of Cobain, who was torn between apathy and rebellion, sweetness and rage. (Image credit: Robert Fisher & Kirk Weddle) Nevermind, however, was back in the news last month when the man who was photographed when he was a baby for the cover sued the band for sexual exploitation. Ranked the most influential band of all time by US magazine Spin last year, Nirvana’s ethos continues to reverberate in artists as varied as Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey and Frank Turner. Released 30 years ago this week, Nevermind was a generation-defining milestone that sold 30 million copies and made a tragic icon of Kurt Cobain. ![]()
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