Nevermind

Twenty years ago today Nirvana's second studio album, Nevermind, was released to modest acclaim. Since then it has sold 30 million copies and is considered to be one of the best rock and roll records of all time. I don't think a better rock record has been recorded since.

Though Nirvana has become one of the bands most associated with the Seattle grunge scene, Nevermind was an attempt by its songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Kurt Cobain, to break free of the grunge template. Upon listening to it again, it struck me as heavy metal without the preening, and punk without the safety pins. Upon doing a little research I was amused by Cobain's summation, with which I fully agree, when he called it "Bay City Rollers getting molested by Black Flag."

Produced impeccably by Butch Vig (although Cobain didn't like the polished result, saying it sounded more like a Motley Crue record than punk). the album contains 12 songs. In the days when I would buy fifty or so albums a year I was happy if one had two or three good songs; Nevermind didn't have a turkey in the bunch. Almost all of them were full of snarling, distorted guitars and fierce drumming by Dave Grohl. Even at the advanced age of 50, listening to it makes me want to move.

The album begins with the most iconic song of the era, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It was this song, and the video directed by Samuel Bayer, that launched the group into the mainstream. At the time they, as well as all of the Seattle scene, was characterized as "alternative" rock, which was only played on MTV during their late-night program 120 Minutes. But the song and video became so popular that the network played it during the day, and "alternative" wasn't alternative anymore. Nevermind was the gateway that transformed the rock landscape for good.

Geffen Records expected to sell 250,000 units, but the album hit number one in January, 1992, knocking Michael Jackson off the top spot. I was interested to learn, though, that it's not the best-selling album of the Seattle grunge movement--Pearl Jam's Ten is.

There's so much to like on Nevermind. From the majesty of the opening cut and the magnificent opening chords, which are to 1991 what the opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night" is to 1964, the songs come at you with a ferocity that is nonetheless poignant. Cobain's guitar is terrific, as is Grohl's drumming, exemplified on "Breed" and "Territorial Pissings."

Cobain emphasized the melodies and the lyrics were almost afterthoughts. Very few could understand what he was singing, anyway. "A mosquito, my libido" really can't mean anything. There are a few exceptions--"Polly," a sinister song about a torturer of a girl is clearly heard: "Polly wants a cracker/I think I should get off her first/I think she wants some water/To put out the blow torch." "Something in the Way,"  the other downbeat song on the record, contains some tortured adolescent lines like, "It's okay to eat fish, 'cause they don't have any feelings."

Of course, Cobain was destroyed by his own demons, leaving Nirvana's legacy a brief but powerful one in rock history. They made three studio albums, and one of the best live albums I've ever heard, MTV Unplugged. Cobain has joined the list of rock legends who will be forever young, like Buddy Holly, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. They never got the chance to tour to graying fans, or surrender the rebellion of their youth. On the inside of Nevermind's CD booklet, Cobain gives the camera the finger, which he's still doing, twenty years later.