Nirvana (band)

:This article is about the 1980s-1990s grunge band Nirvana. See Nirvana (1960s band) for the British psychedelic rock band of the 1960s of the same name, or Nirvana (disambiguation) for other meanings.

Nevermind

Following repeated recommendation by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, David Geffen signed Nirvana to DGC Records in 1990 and the band began recording their first album for a major label. The result, Nevermind, is now widely regarded as a classic.

Related Topics:
Sonic Youth - Kim Gordon - David Geffen - DGC Records - 1990 - Label - Nevermind

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the album, the band decided to continue working with Vig. Rather than recording at Vig's Madison studio as they had in 1990, the band shifted to Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. For two months, the band worked through a variety of songs in their catalog. Some of the songs, including "In Bloom" and "Breed", had been in the band's repertoire for years, while others, including "On a Plain" and "Stay Away", lacked finished lyrics until mid-way through the recording process. {{ref|lyrics}}

Related Topics:
Madison - Los Angeles - In Bloom - Breed - On a Plain - Stay Away

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the recording sessions were completed, Vig and the band set out to mix the album. However, after a few days, both Vig and the band realized that they didn't like how the mixes were turning out. As a result, they decided to call in someone else to oversee the mixing, with DGC supplying a list of possible options. Cobain did not want to use mixers that had worked with other bands that he liked, given that he did not want to sound like them. He decided to call in the guy at the bottom of the list next to the name 'Slayer': Andy Wallace. (Wallace co-produced Slayer's 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss.)

Related Topics:
Slayer - Andy Wallace - Seasons in the Abyss

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Months after the album's release, Cobain complained in the press that Wallace made Nevermind sound too slick, even though Wallace had been his own choice and the band themselves had been involved in the mixing process.{{ref|mixing}} Even if the band were disappointed at the glossy sound of the album, Wallace successfully tempered the band's indie rock leanings and created a mainstream-ready rock sound that others would attempt to duplicate for the next decade.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Initially, Nevermind, wasn't expected to sell more than 500,000 copies. Instead, the album was certified triple-platinum (three million copies) in the US less than six months after its release. The highly infectious single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" received heavy airplay on MTV, inspiring a slew of imitators and bringing the grunge sound into the mainstream. The popularity of "alternative" rock, as well as the sidelining of hair metal, is often credited to Nevermind. In January of 1992, the album reached the top of the Billboard album charts, replacing Michael Jackson's album Dangerous, an act often considered the defining symbol of the rise of alternative music over pop. Citing exhaustion, the band decided not to undertake another US tour in support of Nevermind, instead opting to make a handful of performances later that year.

Related Topics:
Smells Like Teen Spirit - MTV - Alternative - Hair metal - January - 1992 - Billboard - Michael Jackson - Dangerous - Pop

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In February of 1992, following the band's Australian tour, Cobain married Courtney Love in Hawaii. Love gave birth to a daughter, Frances Bean the following August. Just days after Frances Bean's birth, Nirvana performed one of its best-known concerts, headlining at the Reading Festival. Cobain entered the stage in a wheelchair as a practical joke, then proceeded to get up and join the rest of the band in tearing through an assortment of old and new material. At one point in the show, Cobain related to the crowd the recent birth of his daughter, and succeeded in having the crowd chant "We love you, Courtney!" in unison. Dave Grohl related in 2005 on the radio program Loveline that the band were genuinely concerned beforehand that the show would be a complete disaster, given all that had happened during the year and that they hadn't rehearsed in six months. Instead, the performance ended up being one of the greatest of their career.

Related Topics:
February - 1992 - Courtney Love - Frances Bean - Reading Festival - Loveline

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Not quite two weeks later, Nirvana put on a memorable performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. MTV had wanted the band to play "Teen Spirit", but the band wanted to play a new song called "Rape Me". MTV was appalled at the idea of a song called "Rape Me", and eventually agreed that the band could play "Lithium" instead, the band's then-current single. When the band began their performance, Kurt strummed and sang the first few bars of "Rape Me", giving the MTV execs a solid shock before jumping into "Lithium". Near the end of the song, frustrated that his amp had stopped functioning, Novoselic decided to toss his bass into the air for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, he misjudged the landing, and the bass ended up bouncing off of his forehead, forcing him to stumble off the stage in a daze. As Cobain trashed their equipment, Grohl ran to the mic and began yelling "Hi, Axl!" repeatedly, referring to Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose, with whom the band and Courtney had had a bizarre encounter prior to the show.{{ref|axl}}

Related Topics:
MTV Video Music Awards - MTV - Rape Me - Lithium - Guns N' Roses - Axl Rose

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nirvana released Incesticide, a collection of B-sides and rarities, in December of 1992. Many of Nirvana's BBC radio sessions and unreleased early recordings were starting to circulate via trading circles and illegal bootlegs, so the album served to beat the bootleggers to the punch. The album contained such fan favorites as "Sliver", "Dive", "Been a Son", and "Aneurysm" as well as covers of songs by The Vaselines, a band that became more popular as a result of Nirvana's covers.

Related Topics:
Incesticide - December - 1992 - Sliver - Dive - Been a Son - Aneurysm - The Vaselines

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~