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Nirvana

Nirvana

Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing was ... Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing was ever quite the same, for better and for worse. Nirvana popularized punk, post-punk, and indie rock, unintentionally bringing them into the American mainstream like no other band to date. While their sound was equal parts Black Sabbath (as learned by fellow Washington underground rockers the Melvins) and Cheap Trick, Nirvana's aesthetics were strictly indie rock. They covered Vaselines songs, they revived new wave cuts by Devo, and leader Kurt Cobain relentlessly pushed his favorite bands -- whether it was the art punk of the Raincoats or the country-fried hardcore of the Meat Puppets -- as if his favorite records were always more important than his own music.

While Nirvana's ideology was indie rock and their melodies were pop, the sonic rush of their records and live shows merged post-industrial white noise with heavy metal grind. And that's what made the group an unprecedented multi-platinum sensation. Jane's Addiction and Soundgarden may have proven to the vast American heavy metal audience that alternative could rock, and the Pixies may have merged pop sensibilities with indie rock white noise, but Nirvana pulled at all together, creating a sound that was both fiery and melodic. Since Nirvana were rooted in the indie aesthetic but loved pop music, they fought their stardom while courting it, becoming some of the most notorious anti-rock stars in history. The result was a conscious attempt to shed their audience with the abrasive In Utero, which only partially fulfilled the band's goal. But by that point, the fate of the band and Kurt Cobain had been sealed. Suffering from drug addiction and manic depression, Cobain had become destructive and suicidal, though his management and label were able to hide the extent of his problems from the public until April 8, 1994, when he was found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound. Cobain may not have been able to weather Nirvana's success, but the band's legacy stands as one of the most influential in rock & roll history.
Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar) met Chris Novoselic (born Krist Novoselic) (bass) in 1985 in Aberdeen, Washington, a small logging town 100 miles away from Seattle. While Novoselic came from a relatively stable background, Cobain's childhood had been thrown into turmoil when his parents divorced when he was eight. Following the divorce, he lived at the homes of various relatives, developing a love for the Beatles and then heavy metal in the process. Eventually, American hardcore punk worked its way into dominating his listening habits and he met the Melvins, an Olympia-based underground heavy punk band. Cobain began playing in punk bands like Fecal Matter, often with the Melvins' bassist, Dale Crover. Through the Melvins' leader, Buzz Osborne, Cobain met Novoselic, who also had an intense interest in punk, which meant that he, like Cobain, felt alienated from the macho, redneck population of Aberdeen. The duo decided to form a band called the Stiff Woodies, with Cobain on drums, Novoselic on bass, and a rotating cast of guitarists and vocalists. The group went through name changes as quickly as guitarists, before deciding that Cobain would play guitar and sing. Renamed Skid Row, the new trio featured drummer Aaron Burkhart, who left the band by the end of 1986 and was replaced by Chad Channing. By 1987, the band was called Nirvana.

Nirvana began playing parties in Olympia, gaining a cult following. During 1987, the band made ten demos with producer Jack Endino, who played the recordings to Jonathan Poneman, one of the founders of the Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop. Poneman signed Nirvana, and in December of 1988, the band released its first single, a cover of Shocking Blue's "Love Buzz." Sub Pop orchestrated an effective marketing scheme, which painted the band as backwoods, logging-town hicks, which irritated Cobain and Novoselic. While "Love Buzz" was fairly well-received, the band's debut album, Bleach, was what got the ball rolling. Recorded for just over $600 and released in the spring of 1989, Bleach slowly became a hit on college radio, due to the group's consistent touring. Though Jason Everman was credited as a second guitarist on the sleeve of Bleach, he didn't appear on the record; he only toured in support of the album before leaving the band at the end of the year to join Soundgarden and then Mindfunk. Bleach sold 35,000 copies and Nirvana became favorites of college radio, the British weekly music press, and Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, and Dinosaur Jr., which was enough to attract the attention of major labels.

During the summer of 1990, Nirvana released "Sliver"/"Dive," which was recorded with Mudhoney's Dan Peters on drums and produced by Butch Vig. The band also made a six-song demo with Vig, which was shopped to major labels, who soon began competing to sign the group. In August, they hit the road with Sonic Youth's Goo tour (including Crover on drums). By the end of the summer, Dave Grohl, formerly of the D.C.-based hardcore band Scream, had become Nirvana's drummer and the band signed with DGC for $287,000. Nirvana recorded their second album with Vig, completing the record in June of 1991. Nevermind was released in September, supported by a quick American tour. While DGC was expecting a moderately successful release, in the neighborhood of 100,000 copies, Nevermind immediately became a smash hit, quickly selling out its initial shipment of 50,000 copies and creating a shortage across America. What helped the record become a success was "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a blistering four-chord rocker that was accompanied by a video that shot into heavy MTV rotation. By the beginning of 1992, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" had climbed into the American Top Ten and Nevermind bumped Michael Jackson's much-touted comeback album Dangerous off the top of the album charts; it reached the British Top Ten shortly afterward. By February, the album had been certified triple platinum.
Nirvana's success took the music industry by surprise, Nirvana included. It soon become apparent that the band wasn't quite sure how to handle its success. Around the time of Nevermind's release, the band was into baiting its audience -- Cobain appeared on MTV's Headbangers Ball in drag, the group mocked the tradition of miming on the BBC's Top of the Pops by Novoselic constantly throwing his bass into the air and Cobain singing his live vocals in the style of Ian Curtis, and their traditional live destruction of instruments was immortalized on a Saturday Night Live performance that ended with Novoselic and Grohl sharing a kiss -- but by the spring, questions had begun to arise about the band's stability. Cobain married Courtney Love, the leader of the indie rock/foxcore band Hole, in February of 1992, announcing that the couple was expecting a child in the fall. Shortly after the marriage, rumors that Cobain and Love were heavy heroin users began to circulate and the strength of the rumors only increased when Nirvana canceled several summer concerts and refused to mount a full-scale American tour during the summer. Cobain complained that he was suffering from chronic stomach troubles, which seemed to be confirmed when he was admitted to a Belfast hospital after a June concert. But heroin rumors continued to surface, especially in the form of a late-summer Vanity Fair article implying that Love was using during her pregnancy. Both Love and Cobain denied the article's allegations, and publicly harassed and threatened the article's author. Love delivered Frances Bean Cobain, a healthy baby girl, on August 18, 1992, but the couple soon battled with Los Angeles' children's services, who claimed they were unfit parents on the basis of the Vanity Fair article. The couple was granted custody of the child by the beginning of 1993.

Since Cobain was going through such well-documented personal problems, Nirvana were unable to record a follow-up to Nevermind until the spring of 1993. In the meantime, DGC released the odds-and-ends compilation Incesticide late in 1992; the album reached number 39 in the U.S. and number 14 U.K. As Nirvana prepared to make their third album, they released "Oh, the Guilt" as a split single with the Jesus Lizard on Touch & Go Records. Choosing Steve Albini (Pixies, the Breeders, Big Black, the Jesus Lizard) as their producer, they recorded their third album, In Utero, in two weeks during the spring of 1993. Following its completion, controversy began to surround Nirvana again. Cobain suffered a heroin overdose on May 2, but the event was hidden from the press. The following month, Love called police to their Seattle home after Cobain locked himself in the bathroom, threatening suicide. Prior to debuting In Utero material during the New Music Seminar at New York's Roseland Ballroom in July, Cobain had another covered-up overdose. By that time, reports began to circulate, including an article in Newsweek, that DGC was unhappy with the forthcoming album, and making accusations that the band deliberately made an uncommercial record. Both the band and the label denied such allegations. Deciding that Albini's production was too flat, Nirvana decided to remaster the album with R.E.M.'s producer, Scott Litt.
In Utero was released in September of 1993 to positive reviews and strong initial sales, debuting at the top of the U.S. and U.K. charts. Nirvana supported it with a fall American tour, hiring former Germs member Pat Smear as an auxiliary guitarist. While the album and the tour were both successful, sales weren't quite as strong as expected, with several shows not selling out until the week of the concert. As a result, the group agreed to play MTV's acoustic Unplugged show at the end of the year, and sales of In Utero picked up after its December airing. After wrapping up the U.S. tour on January 8, 1994, with a show at Center Arena in Seattle, Nirvana embarked on a European tour in February. Following a concert in Munich on February 29, Cobain stayed in Rome to vacation with Love. On March 4, she awakened to find that Cobain had attempted suicide by overdosing on the tranquilizer Rohypnol and drinking champagne. While the attempt was initially reported as an accidental overdose, it was known within the Nirvana camp that the vocalist had left behind a suicide note.
Cobain returned to Seattle within a week of his hospitalization and his mental illness began to grow. On March 18, the police had to again talk the singer out of suicide after he locked himself in a room threatening to kill himself. Love and Nirvana's management organized an intervention program that resulted in Cobain's admission to the Exodus Recovery Center in L.A. on March 30, but he escaped from the clinic on April 1, returning to Seattle. His mother filed a missing persons report on April 4. The following day, Cobain shot himself in the head at his Seattle home. His body wasn't discovered until April 8, when an electrician contracted to install an alarm system at the Cobain house stumbled upon the body. After his death, Kurt Cobain was quickly anointed as a spokesman for Generation X, as well as a symbol of its tortured angst.

Novoselic and Grohl planned to release a double-disc live album at the end of 1994, but sorting through the tapes proved to be too painful, so MTV Unplugged in New York appeared in its place. The album debuted at the top of the British and American charts, as a home video comprised of live performances and interviews from the band's Nevermind era, titled Live! Tonight! Sold Out!, was issued at the same time (the project began prior to Cobain's passing and was completed by surviving bandmembers). In 1996, MTV Unplugged in New York's electric counterpart, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, was released, debuting at the top of the U.S. charts. Following Cobain's death, Grohl formed the Foo Fighters (early rumors that Novoselic would also be a member of the band ultimately proved to be false), releasing their self-titled debut album in 1995, followed by The Colour and the Shape in 1997 and There Is Nothing Left to Lose in 1999. Novoselic formed the trio Sweet 75, releasing their debut in the spring of 1997, and also appeared along with former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra and former Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil on the 2000 live set Live From the Battle in Seattle under the name the No W.T.O. Combo.
By the late '90s, research began by Novoselic for a proposed box set of previously unreleased songs from throughout Nirvana's career. The project was supposed to surface in the fall of 2001 (to coincide with the tenth anniversary release of Nevermind), but legal problems began to surface. In 1997, Grohl and Novoselic formed the Nirvana L.L.C. partnership with Courtney Love (who manages Cobain's estate); Nirvana L.L.C. required a unanimous vote by all three regarding future albums, photos, and anything else Nirvana-related. When the three couldn't agree on the songs to be included in the box set, the matter was taken to court as Love attempted to dissolve the partnership. The project was ultimately shelved indefinitely as any legal decision was tied up in court.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
AllMusic.com
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tapes
Tape	Songs	Comments	Author
indie ROCK	11	6	guyswithrecordcollections
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs A nice selection of my favorite songs.	173	7	JohnnyLurg
Underrated Love Songs	30	1	JohnnyLurg
Unspoken Words In My Life. (stuff I wish I could have said) They most likly won't see this. Everyone can relate to atleast one of these songs	25	5	SultanOfSwing
"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." A list of songs mentioned in one of my favorite books, "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower."	20	4	XNeverMind
health food Self-pity! Self-loathing! General discontent!	25	5	artslut
Viva la Grunge! The best of the best of Grunge... and some others. Enjoy!	15	5	TKirby
Some of my favourite songs	45	0	Nerio
Meaningful. These are the songs that really moved me emotionally, for one reason or another.	12	3	NeverXMind
I chose an eternity of this I met him at a party and he told me how to drive him home. He said he'd like to do it backwards. I said that's just fine with me. That way w...	23	0	Enooby
All That Was Left Were Ashes I had a long relationship end(was engaged to be married)I went to the store after an argument and came home to find that she took her son an...	12	2	MrBinet
Nirvana~Nevermind	13	11	Orionya
It's Easier for Me to Sing the Words I Want to Sing to You Cliché: To the One that Got Away	11	0	eloquent
favorites songs i love	21	5	writersblock
High School Reminiscing This is sure to show my age lol. As the title suggests, this is to be a list of songs that remind me of my high school days (years 7-12). ...	26	3	0phelia
Tainted love There's a club, if you'd like to go. You could meet someone who really loves you. So you go and you stand on your own and you leave on your ...	20	1	Enooby
sad songs songs i listen to when i am sad	13	0	writersblock
music bank you'll see by the name that aic will feature here, but nods also go to nirvana, green day, pearl jam, foo fighters, suondgarden, rhcp, smash...	35	1	feminist92
My favorites, volume 1. A fairly good collection of grunge/punk/alt-rock (my favorites, of course).	30	1	XNeverMind
Heart Songs Greatest Songs Ever Written	27	0	stuntmannorm
Some last ones for the road! Notta thing	20	7	ALWAYSYOURS4EVER
Grunge/post-grunge madness. The most amazing grunge and post-grunge songs of the late 80's and 90's. (Not in order of best to worst)	30	1	NeverXMind
my life and life in general in my own ways a mix about how i am and my feelings towards my life and life in general.music is really important in my life and is probably my only real f...	27	0	nikytann
You Know You're Right Best Nirvana mix tape ever...Oh yes, it is the best	23	3	KyleMartin
Thinking songs Songs that make you think, Songs with a deeper meaning than being in love or being sad	25	1	Ladysphinx
tape	11	1	darkashestree
GRUNGE: Relaxing My favorite genre is Grunge, and I like the different TYPES of it. This playlist is for the more "relaxing" and "soothing" songs in Grunge, ...	8	3	NoPride
rock compilation cd	20	8	alterEgo
Go 90's Or Go Home (biotch) Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, Green Day, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, The Offspring & Smashing Pump...	25	3	KyleMartin
vampires ...and those who invite them in.	21	2	artslut
My mixtape. A mix of songs that I enjoy.	29	2	NeverXMind
90's Compilation EP Longview - Green Day Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana Everlong - Foo Fighters Hello Time Bomb - Matthew Good Band Jeremy - Pear...	10	2	KyleMartin
My Personal Mix Volume One Anytime I need to just calm down or think I always turn to my music collection. These are just some tunes when I need to take a step back an...	10	0	PickSlide
>^^< silver surfing...& some beach reggae! & grungy howl growl nights...	30	3	moonshadowbird396
Feeling Gloomy I created a playlist for a club night called Feeling Gloomy. So pretty much every song on here has a negative or sullen mood. Mostly 80's st...	30	1	blinkxme
live, laugh, love The feeling of growing and developing through out my teen years, these are songs that have stuck with me through those hard years.	4	0	mismatchedeyes
tape	25	0	rlreid
Awesome As F**k This mixtape is awesome as fuck, full of rockin' tunes!	19	0	KyleMartin
theColdestWinter These are some of my favorite songs at the moment. That is all.	27	5	dan8seven
My Favs	30	0	Put2
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 3	30	2	JohnnyLurg
summer/fall 2010 Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved country music. Then she grew up and discovered rock. Now she knows what good music really...	9	0	Johannahlee
life now live on the radio...	30	0	moonshadowbird396
Wallpaper The soundtrack to getting rid of that 20-year-old wallpaper behind the mirrored wardrobes.	28	3	WannabePunkEmoKid
Punk Comp Various Punk songs I slam to....	30	2	ReligionIsFear
Bipolarity	5	1	TheCrazyDon
Behind the Sky The empty's response to why : The only would he fly	16	0	nomshybrides
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 23	30	1	JohnnyLurg
Chewy Music It's a tasty combination of all of the music I like.	30	0	invaderzim7695
Spring 2011 - Dreaming Away... Every season I burn a cd for my girlfriend full of songs on my mind that flow together in some way. This spring I wanted to give her one th...	19	2	Austini
dumdumdum songs for my friend	12	0	corntastic
Songs for the Agro Whenever i'm pissed off, these songs pretty much match the mood i'm in.	13	0	GishDream95
Come As You Are: Nirvana compilation	14	1	KyleMartin
Reminding, Rewinding Pretty, moving songs if you're feeling vulnerable.	10	0	elyse69
number two	19	2	dirtymagic
My favorites, volume 2.	30	1	XNeverMind
USA vs UK: The ultimate Smackdown! Both countries' music have influenced and changed each other. This is the smackdown between these two brilliant music nations. Who is the be...	12	1	willc93
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 2 A sequel to the longest mixtape in SongMeanings history.	30	1	JohnnyLurg
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 6	30	1	JohnnyLurg
Random Mixtape Random songs I'm into or that I just really like the lyrics of.	6	1	kayleescee
shizznit music that gets you thinking	6	0	marrs666
grungy pain and relentlessness	9	1	gravepaint
Songs I like - most of the time :D	4	0	iulia
Mini Mixtape - 3	10	0	helenfordsdale
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 4	30	0	JohnnyLurg
Dire the world maaaaaan	1	2	powerwordcow
folder	3	5	missjSwister
The Best of Dave Grohl! Vol.1 Nirvana - Foo Fighters Vol.1 featuring tracks from: Nevermind, In Utero, Incesticide & Unplugged	12	0	KyleMartin
Nummer Vier The mix I am planning to give my girlie friend as part of my Christmas/"one year" gift to her. Please note "Black History Month" by DFA is a...	17	8	TtotheJ279
Favorites.	31	0	Regina1833
Nevermind Nirvana...	6	2	moonshadowbird396
Down and Out A (mostly) grunge mixtape, some post grunge songs, made for when your feeling like crap? -Not sure, but of coarse there could be a million s...	17	0	runtuffmarine
Thoughts of a Dying Dog	12	2	skagandbone
I'mHigh Life	5	2	NirvanaOfBodom
The Year Punk Broke My fave songs of the before mentioned, groundbreaking year, 1991.	27	0	feminist92
Nirvana oh where would pink floyd be without Syd Barrett??? & Nirvana......The Doors...	30	0	moonshadowbird396
The Best of Nirvana Nirvana	16	1	GreenBayFTW
♥	22	0	Orionya
The ArtDeviant My first mixtape on SongMeanings, just seeing how everything works on here. Enjoy!	13	1	deviant5
listen to this music Volume 1 A continuation of the music I think people should at least know about. Please listen to it, it'll change your life.	30	8	iforgetwhat8wasfor
NIRVANA Nirvana...right?? well believe it or not, i hate courtney love. (she's a real bitch) Nirvana was In Bloom...Grunge Music...R.I.P. Kurt Coba...	22	8	moonshadowbird396
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 30	30	1	JohnnyLurg
don't even trip stuff I wanna say to Josh...after.	5	0	surrendadadopeMr
Born this way I kissed a girl and I liked it.	24	1	Enooby
T.V.S Nothing Really.	5	0	TheVailOfSilsence
LYRICS	10	1	francescangeli
to be added Volume 1 songs to add to my collection	16	0	sierrakristine
number one Includes the '69 Woodstock improv solo from Jimi Hendrix, between the Zeppelin and Floyd songs.	15	0	dirtymagic
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 34	30	1	JohnnyLurg
Nirvana Punk is musical freedom. It's saying, doing and playing what you want. In Webster's terms, 'nirvana' means freedom from pain, suffering and ...	8	3	guyswithrecordcollections
Awsome Guitar	7	1	driftingdreamer
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. All songs referenced in the novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky..	21	1	floatingswans
young lust http://www.polyvore.com/young_lust/group.show?id=149162	3	1	sailbones
Contemplating Religion and God Bearing in mind I'm actually an atheist.	17	0	manic4manics
Favorites	25	0	alphapeyt
My iTunes shuffle Just put it on shuffle and see what comes up.	15	1	FFNSDBTCV
"There's no aspect, no facet, no moment in life that can't be improved with pizza." A soundtrack to the 1997-2002 MTV cartoon Daria.	34	0	JohnnyLurg
good guitar rifts	7	2	alayna
Lyrical Brilliance - A Living,, Dynamic Companion Guide to Listening Sociolinguistics is a word that neatly sums up exact what you'll be studying if you were to take that course, as did Carrie Brownstein of Sl...	4	0	kroakerst
My Music Taste is Better Than Yours Just a jumble of songs that prove my taste is perfect.	103	2	AndyWood
This is a test tape. I will delete this.	95	0	brunobr

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