”If it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!” – Kurt Cobain
In 1987, Two men met up in Aberdeen, Washington to form a band. A band which led a generation in the 1980’s and 1990’s. A band which created a genre and revolutionized the rock scene. Those two men were Kurt Cobain and Chris Novoselic. And the band was Nirvana, a name that still blazes across the rock pantheon today as it did in it’s prime.
Long live Nirvana
In the 1980’s, the music scene and the airwaves were flooded by everything Thrash Metal, ruled by The ”Big Four” Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. At that time, alternative rock was nothing more than a foot note. It was an irrelevant genre mostly consigned to the underground rock scene. The band on the frontline of the “Alternative” genre was The Melvins, One of the Forefathers of grunge and center of the indie scene.
At that time, Kurt and Chris originaly went with Chad Channing as drummer. After a small revolving door of drummers, they went with Dave Grohl, the last piece of the puzzle that would make the music click. And what a click it would be. Nirvana would unwillingly bring punk, indie rock and Grunge to heights that are still unsurmounted by any other band to date.
Music fans loved Nirvana’s catchy mix of Black Sabbath instrumentation, dark (sometimes ironic lyrics) Dave Grohls machine like pounding, Chric Nosovelic’s thundering bass and Kurt Cobain’s trademark screeches and wails. As a result, Grunge became a dominant force in the airwaves and music television, providing a much more acceptable sound to Thrash Metal. Other Seattle bands began to emerge, such as Pearl Jam, Sound Garden and Alice in Chains.
Then in Nirvana broke all the barriers of mainstream with their landmark album, ”Nevermind”. ”Smells Like Teen Spirit” broke through in 1991 and became Omnipresent in the airwaves. Their next album, ”Incesticide” was released in 1992 but gained less popularity than ‘Nevermind”. ”In Utero” followed in 1993, which had a more raw sound than the previous albums. Their first major tour in the U.S followed, with touring guitarist Pat Smear.
Nirvana appeared in their famous lperformance MTV’s ‘‘Unplugged” in their final months.
It all seemed fine until Kurt Cobains Drug (Heroin) addiction was discovered. This all culminated on April 8, 1994, with the suicide of Kurt Cobain. This left a wife (Courtney Love) a daughter (Frances Bean Cobain), A broken band, and a legendary legacy.
“I’d rather be hated for hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”
numbmusique 