Nirvana- The grunge scene by Brittany Kessler

     The rock scene during the 80's was dominated by bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Guns N' Roses, until Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic formed Nirvana in 1987, with Dave Grohl joining later in 1990. You could say that Nirvana turned rock all the way around and went back to its bare-bones. They were one of the few bands that really introduced the genre of grunge and all of the angst-filled lyrics that go along with it. Grunge music was also characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars and contrasting song dynamics, those of which weren’t used very often before the late 80’s.

     At the start of their career, Nirvana was far from popular and had few actual fans. "They may gatecrash the mainstream a couple of years later but at this point of time Nirvana are just another bunch of mad eyed hopefuls crammed into the back of a van looking for escape from their dull lives.” (John Robb) During many of their early performances the audience would leave halfway through the set. To spice up their performances that were quickly going downhill, they would destroy their instruments at the end of the shows. “The bass player shoves his bass guitar through the venue’s roof, the vocalist dives backwards through the drums, the kit collapses and the drummer looks nervous. The amps get pushed over and the guitars are mashed into the floor. It’s either a thrilling moment of pop art auto destruction or the instinctive act of a band that is genuinely walking along the edge.” (John Robb) This left no chance for an encore which was something they didn't enjoy anyways. 

     Their first album, 'Bleach', was released in June of 1989, though it was first recorded in December of 1988. The songwriter, Kurt Cobain, felt pressured while coming up with the songs for this album because he wanted to stick with the grunge style favored by his record company. The album did gather some press attention during their 1989 tour and a few people began to start getting interested by this up and coming band. “They were in that curious place where they were press hip but the people haven’t come yet.” (John Robb) Since not many people actually bought the album, it failed to chart in the U.S during its original release.

     Their debut single of 1988 was "Love Buzz", shown in the above video, which was actually a single by a Dutch Rock band know as Shocking Blue. Nirvana slightly mixed the song up in order to make it their own and have it on their 'Bleach' album. Another more popular song on the album was "About a Girl", which is in the video below. It was the third song on their 'Bleach' album and it was also the first song on MTV’s Unplugged in New York album during 1994. Kurt created the song after listening to the Beatles as a way to introduce some pop into Nirvana's generally grunge sound.

     A few years later in 1991, Nirvana finally started getting the recognition that they deserved. During this time they released their album 'Nevermind' which was their first release on DGC records. "This momentous recording happened to catch Nirvana at a high point: in the midst of a creative groundswell, somewhere between obscurity and superstardom." (Alan di Perna) It was a surprise hit among the people and produced four popular singles; Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Lithium, and In Bloom. A lot of people believe that 'Nevermind' was responsible for bringing alternative rock and grunge music to a larger mainstream audience, and many regarded it as one of the best albums by far. "Which is to say, Nevermind has attained classic status. It is one of those rare albums that will accompany its original fans on their journey through life, while continuing to attract new generations of listeners." (Alan di Perna)

     Kurt Cobain, the master behind Nirvana, once said in an interview, "I write poems for myself and I write poetry that gets torn apart and becomes songs. I have a lot of respect for words, the power of words." Cobain was a one of a kind musician who brought a lot of new techniques into play. He created chord sequences that were mainly power chords and his songs combined pop hooks with dissonant guitar rhythms. Many of his songs feature major shifts in dynamics in which it changes quickly from quiet verses to loud choruses. Kurt Cobain was truly an inspiration for many and his songs related to most young teens going through tough times. He once said that “If chasing cool is important to you, you're an idiot! What can you say about people who wait to be told what to like, what to do and how to do it? It's like apathy in action.”

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     Robb, John. "Nirvana Changed Rock Music Forever, an Eye Witness Account." Louder Than War. Louder Than War, 31 Dec. 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://louderthanwar.com/nirvana/>.
     Andrick, Frank. "Nirvana: Kurt Cobain." Artistwd.com. Joyzine, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.artistwd.com/joyzine/music/nirvana/nirvana>.
     Di Perna, Alan. "The Making of Nevermind." Burntout. Harris Publications, Inc, 1995. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.burntout.com/nirvana/articles/article5.html>.