The Music Of Grunge Music

Although they only had seven years together as a band, Nirvana is thought of as one of the most influential bands of all time. Before Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, the band only recorded three studio albums, Bleach, Nevermind, and In Utereo. Combined, their estimated total record sales are over 75 million worldwide, with Nevermind and In Utereo reaching Diamond status. Nirvana solidified their place in rock history by bringing alternative rock to the mainstream, expressing raw emotion in their music that had never been heard before and probably not since. (“Nirvana

In Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987 Kurt Cobain and his friend Chris Novoselic decided to started a band. They went through several names until they settled on Nirvana. When asked about the name in later years Kurt said, “I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk name like the Angry Samoans.” The band also went through quite a few drummers when they were just starting out. In 1988 the Seattle independent label Sub Pop signed Nirvana and released their first singles, “Love Buzz” and “Big Cheese”. The following year they released their debut album, “Bleach”. It sold 35,000 copies-which in quite notable for an indie-rock label release.

Kurt Cobain; one of the most famous and influential musicians in the history of rock and roll - more specifically, Grunge. Being a member of Nirvana, the most prominent band in the history of the genre isn’t the only accomplishment of the late, great musician though as he also won many awards. Kurt Cobain had an interesting upbringing, successful musical career, and a life that ended with a sudden death.

“You’ve got to listen to the heavens, you got to try to understand. The greatness of their movement is just as small as it is grand.” Most young adults of my generation do not know who The Grateful Dead are, but they unknowingly dawn the apparels and slang created in the counterculture of the bands following the Deadheads. The band, The Grateful Dead, became popular in the 60s and carried out wide spread recognition and fame into the 80s. Their calming, peace-promoting music became popular because it ‘transported’ people, it took them away from whatever they were going through in their life and set them on a new path. Fans of the band

Their single Smells Like Teen Spirit made Nevermind the first alternative rock album to acquire worldwide fame (“Kurt Cobain”). Cobain’s talent was record smashing and innovative, because he took a whole music genre to a never before seen worldwide level. This type of accomplishment was not because of some strange luck, but a result of Cobain’s creative approach to the sound of alternative rock. As a result of their breakthrough, many powerful companies started to publicize them like when Time announced, “‘It also launched the commercial vogue for grunge and made Seattle famous for something other than cappuccino, rain, and bad professional sports,’” (Latson, 1). Kurt Cobain’s success was remarkable because not only did the music industry change, but a whole unique business and trend was opened up. The fact that Kurt managed to leave a long lasting imprint in the constantly changing fashion industry displayed how successful he was. In the music industry Cobain changed the direction of contemporary rock and was compared to legends like Bob Dylan and John Lennon (Hilburn). People thought of Kurt as one of the rock legends because of his raw talent that made him extremely relatable and mighty. This was a huge deal, to be compared to other rock legends and to have changed the entire sound of a music genre. Talent, a strong work ethic, and a relatable character took Kurt Cobain to the top and

When the 1980s rolled around I was finishing university. I was still sad that my high school years were behind me and nostalgic about the music I enjoyed while growing up. During this time in Los Angeles, California started a new musical trend known as “glam rock”. It blew in with bands such as Motley Crue performing in the clubs around the city. Pretty much this kind of music was either you liked it or you didn’t care for it. However a band changed all that by showing a different side to his music that was a tender side.

Nirvana created a new genre of rock, which was grunge rock. Nirvana released their album, Nevermind in 1991. “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” (Rolling Stone 86-87). This means that the album impacted teens all over the nation. The album changed the lives of many teenagers all over the world, especially the ones who lived in America. Green Day released Dookie in 1994, it had influential songs, which made it a great album. “Even so, the first thing to note about Dookie is that it’s a remarkably good record. Go back and listen again. It’s undeniable” (Romano 5th paragraph). Their record Dookie was one of their

Nevermind, the second studio album by Nirvana, was released on September 24, 1991. Controversial frontman Kurt Cobain eschewed the “Seattle grunge scene” and sought set Nirvana apart from its confines. Using such techniques as Pixies’ "loud/quiet" dynamic, the album went on to be named number one on the Billboard’s 100 in 1992.

It was messy, careless, and loud. Thankfully, all of the rebellious teens learned to love it. With this, Nirvana made their most famous album, Nevermind. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” made it big, and is still considered a grunge anthem. By this time, grunge and underground rock was huge. People began wearing the ripped jeans and tattered flannels with Doctor Martins and chokers. Cobain was still doing a significant amount of drugs. He was addicted to heroin and often performed and/or interviewed high. In fact, he showed up to his last show (Live at Reading 1992) in a hospital gown and wheelchair as a joke because of the comments he was getting on his drug addiction. This show went down in rock history as one of the most legendary shows. “We’d rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn’t good,” (Goodman, Dave Grohl on Nirvana’s “Disastrous” Reading Gig) said Grohl in a later interview. The show was a sensory overload with lights, a random person dancing on the stage, and the stage presence only true performers can accomplish for almost two hours straight. Kurt Cobain is the revolutionary of grunge music because he made grunge music and underground rock more prominent in the music scene, defined a generation with his songwriting alone,

Kurt Cobain was a talented yet troubled musician. He was known for his band, Nirvana, as well as being one of the most famous musicians to commit suicide. Nirvana's most well known album, Nevermind, and song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit,"became the definition of grunge when they were released. Yet, while his musical career ended up highly successful, he ultimately took his own life. This was most likely due to personal struggles and drug abuse. Although Kurt Cobain died young, his music inspired and greatly influenced many.

“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.” Kurt Cobain was widely known as being the lead singer and guitarist of the world famous punk band Nirvana. Not only was his band remarkably successful in their musical endeavors but they were also a big innovator in the punk rock scene. Kurt had early ambitions of becoming a huge success but personally did not expect to become so widely known, so when they quickly blew up Kurt didn’t know how to handle all of the attention(Montage of Heck). In their time, Nirvana released three primary albums called In Utero, Nevermind, and Bleach. Kurt put in mass amounts of time into the music he wrote and the image he put out. He wanted everyone to see him a certain way and didn’t take

One of my favourite bands of all time is Nirvana, because this was the first rock band I started listening to at the age of twelve and this established my taste of music until nowadays. However, they had a big influence on their contemporary pop-rock musical industry in the early nineties, as well. Despite the fact that they released only three studio albums in seven years, Nirvana is often regarded as one of the most influential, effective and remarkable rock bands of the century.

Anyone familiarized with grunge music can agree that the genre skyrocketed in popularity in the 90’s, due to bands such as Radiohead, Nirvana, and most importantly Pearl Jam. From the beginning of Seattle’s early grunge scene rose a band that would go on to make multi-platinum albums, tour the world, and use their platform to express their own beliefs. Pearl Jam, in spite of their fame, prefer to use their art to reflect their values and use their platform to convey their activist beliefs. Starting in Seattle’s grunge scene, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament started work on a demo tape after their band, Mother Love Bone, split after the tragic death of lead singer Andrew Wood. They recorded most of the tape without vocals, in hopes for finding

Then there was Nirvana standing alone. When other bands were singing about partying and how great life was, Nirvana was singing about what goes on in the head of a person suffering from depression, being poor, and having no self-worth. This was a reality for a major portion of society at the time. According to Forbes Magazine unemployment rates in the early 90’s reached 7.8% the stock market was down, and the country was in the grips of a recession. Nirvana gave people affected by the recession a voice, it was now acceptable to have problems; people could relate to not living the high life. People seemed to let go of their social constrictions. No longer were high dollar clothes a necessity. Designer clothing and a prim and proper persona gave way to flannel shirts, jeans with holes, and a I don’t care what you think of me attitude. The 90’s saw some rough times and Nirvana was there to help make the pill a little less difficult to swallow, and for that I think it is safe to say the youth of my generation owe Nirvana and Kurt Cobain a huge dept. of

The societal influence was one of “rebellion” or so that 's how many of the day felt. This style subconsciously lead us to question our own beliefs and thoughts During this time rock music was going through a transition from a fad, to a source of art, and