Genius and influential are words often used to describe albums, and more often than not the terms are brandished with loose abandon.However, these two words could have been created purely to describe the second album by grunge innovators Nirvana.
Nevermind, the Seattle band’s second studio album, is 20-years-old this week and a number of the industry’s most influential movers and shakers have been queuing up to tell how the seminal release affected their lives.
MTV, which during Nirvana’s height in the early 1990s was the home of music videos, has chosen to launch a week-long celebration of the album that defined a generation.
Now the home of cheesy reality TV shows like Jersey Shore and My Super Sweet 16, the channel is to revisit archival footage of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
Among the clips are interviews shot during the days after the album’s release, before the trio realised how popular they were to become.
One clip, which aired on September 30th 1991, six days after Nevermind hit record shop shelves, sees bassist Novoselic describe Nirvana as “just this crazy rock album”.
The effect that Nevermind and Nirvana had on the rock scene and music in general is immeasurable.
Bands such as Sonic Youth, which Cobain often cited as his inspiration, saw Nevermind’s success pave the way for them to penetrate the mainstream.
However, the album had a wider appeal and even Lil Wayne, the Louisiana rap star, credits the album with helping him get to grips with a troubled youth.
The Young Money star told MTV’s Sway that despite rock music not being much of a part of his young life, Smells Like Teen Spirit, arguably the biggest hit of the 1990s, was just one of those songs you couldn’t ignore.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit was one of the only rock songs that would come on, and you’ll be like ‘That one is OK, I can deal with that one’,” he said.
“I was young and I actually listened to the lyrics, and I probably felt at that time that I was rebelling and I could associate myself with that and relate to the things [Kurt Cobain] was talking about and speaking about in the song. I probably couldn’t, but I thought I could,” he added.