Doug’s Album Flashback: Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’

This week I’m looking back at a group that will go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, the Seattle based grunge band Nirvana and their sophomore album ‘Never mind’

When the album was released in late 1991, no one from the band to its record label ever expected the commercial success it received right from its first single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ which catapulted the album to the top of the Billboard 200 where it knock off the king of pop Michael Jackson’s ‘Dangerous’

Three more singles followed with ‘Come as You Are’, ‘Lithium’, and ‘In Bloom’ certifying it Diamond (over 10 million copies sold) with 30 million worldwide, not too bad for a bunch of guys from Aberdeen, Washington.

Although Nirvana’s first single ‘Love Buzz’ was released in 1988 making them eligible for induction, the success of ‘Nevermind’ solidified the bands induction on the first try.

My Quote: ‘I loved every song on this album; the music was haunting at times with bursts of pure rock’.

Rolling Stone magazine commented on ‘Nevermind’   "No album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation—a nation of teens suddenly turned punk—and such a catastrophic effect on its main creator."

All songs written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.
1.    "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic) – 5:01
2.    "In Bloom" – 4:14
3.    "Come as You Are" – 3:39
4.    "Breed" – 3:03
5.    "Lithium" – 4:17
6.    "Polly" – 2:57
7.    "Territorial Pissings" – 2:22
8.    "Drain You" – 3:43
9.    "Lounge Act" – 2:36
10.    "Stay Away" – 3:32
11.    "On a Plain" – 3:16
12.    "Something in the Way" – 3:51
On certain pressings, "Endless, Nameless" begins as a hidden track at the 13:51 mark, making track 12's length 20:35.

Nirvana
•    Kurt Cobain (credited for the "Monkey Photo" as Kurdt Kobain) – lead and backing vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar on "Polly" and "Something in the Way", photography
•    Krist Novoselic (credited as Chris Novoselic) – bass, voice on intro of "Territorial Pissings"
•    Dave Grohl – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians
•    Chad Channing – cymbals on "Polly", drums on the "Smart Studio Sessions" (Deluxe Edition)
•    Kirk Canning – cello on "Something in the Way"