The Nirvana Rebellion: Impact on Rock 'n' Roll Essay

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

Nirvana’s impact on culture and society extended more than just the grunge movement and shirts that have “Smells Like Teen Spirit” stamped across them at high-end retail stores. Nirvana’s controversial lyrics also opened up the floodgates on taboo subjects. One subject that Kurt Cobain was passionate about was ‘women’s issues’ which included rape and sexual assault. The first attempt to drawl attention to the topic was 1991 “Polly”. According to “The Story Behind ‘Polly’ Nirvana”, Kurt Cobain wrote the song after reading the newspaper about a 14-year-old girl that went missing after a rock concert.

Cobain decided that he would leave the house. He packed up his stuff and occasionally stayed with his friends or on the streets. He eventually found an apartment that he rented, and while occupying the building he went to many rock concerts. Around this time, he met Krist Novoselic who he eventually befriended and started a band with. Together, they created “Nirvana”. The first few years of the band were hard as they had trouble gathering crowds to watch their shows. They released one album in 1989 entitled “Bleach” with drummer Chad

Kurt Cobain had a troubled youth, especially in his adolescent years. Born Kurt Donald Cobain on February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen Washington. “Growing up in a small logging town, Cobain showed an interest in art and music, he excelled in drawing and he enjoyed playing with a kiddie drum set” (Kurt Cobain’s Biography). Starting in kindergarten his parents and teachers could tell that Kurt had excelled far more in arts and music rather than anything else. Cobain learned to play the piano by himself, additionally he enjoyed spending his time learning how to play the drums with the kiddie drum

Kurt Cobain is the frontman of the 90’s rock band Nirvana. He was married to Courtney Love for two years before he died in 1994. The Seattle Police Department say that he had committed suicide but conspiracy theorists say otherwise. Some say that the police are wrong and he did not commit suicide but was, in fact, murdered. They say that Courtney Love was behind it. After a documentary called Soaked In Bleach was released in

Kurt Cobain was the singer and guitarist for Nirvana. He was born in Hoquiam (population 9,000) and after six months of life moved to Aberdeen (pop. 16,500), an old lumber town at the eastern-most point of Grays Harbor. The town is about four miles wide and three miles long. On the northern and eastern sides of town are steep hills where the richer families live in Victorian-style houses. At the foot of the

The Grateful Dead, the most popular so called underground band of all time. This band has underwent many changes, some good and others bad throughout their thirty or so years of performing. I plan to prove that a band that has remained together for thirty plus years isn’t as easy as many would assume. In fact I would have to say the “down” times in the band almost equal the outrageously great time they had. Despite all the down times the amazing music of the Grateful Dead always made it possible to bring smiles to empty faces anytime anywhere. Even now that the bands figure head (Jerry Garcia) has passed on, the family that he created (Deadheads) and left behind will never forget him or his music.

“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

Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of the Seattle based grunge rock band Nirvana. As Nirvana's lead songwriter, guitarist, and singer, Cobain took the music industry by surprise and is considered the godfather of the grunge rock movement. Cobain and his band had a prevalent influence on young teenagers of the 1990s and were considered idols by numerous individuals. Nirvana took the popular music industry by storm when they were able to revamp the genre of grunge rock and cause a dramatic shift in music, away from the dominant genres of the 1980s. The success of Kurt Cobain was overshadowed by numerous of his psychological problems including drug addiction, his unstable marriage to music celebrity Courtney Love, and constant pressure from the

The grunge music of the 90’s might be a product of the times and changing of opinions, it still has a strong presence and legacy in the modern age. Music critics can argue about whether grunge music’s effects on rock music were positive or negative but the main point is that it did affect the music, fashion, and cultural world in a huge way. The grunge movement affected not only the music world and but the overall society of the 90’s and every decade that followed. Grunge emerged from Seattle in the late 1980s. This genre of rock and roll helped create a bridge between mainstream 1980s heavy metal–hard rock and post-punk alternative rock. Eventually, grunge faded—partly because of the death in 1994 of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who had become a generational spokesman. Some people say that “grunge music ruined rock and roll” when in reality it gave way to new forms of the genre and helped bring harder rock songs to the mainstream audiences of the time.

One band some may know that was a popular grunge band in the 90’s was Nirvana, which consisted of lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl, and bassist Krist Novoselic. This band was most popular for their hit album “Nevermind”. “One of their most popular songs on this album, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, has been and always will be a rebellion anthem for adolescents, empowering them. This message and it’s meaning make this one of the most popular songs by this band to date.”

This trio from Seattle appeared in the public consciousness in 1991 with their single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” full with pure, raw emotions which was new that time. Nirvana was formed by Kurt Cobain singer/guitarist and Krist Novoselic bassist in Aberdeen,

The grunge scene also emerged in the mid-1980s and eventually went mainstream in the 1990s originating in the Seattle area of Washington State. Inspired by hardcore punk and heavy metal, this subgenre of rock was so-called because of its messy, sludgy, distorted guitar sound, the disheveled appearance of its pioneers, and the disaffected nature of the artists. Initially achieving limited success with Seattle band Soundgarden, Seattle independent label Sub Pop became more prominent when it signed another local band, Nirvana.

As a child, Cobain’s main influence was Evel Knievel, and he was determined to be reckless and fearless like his hero. As Cobain grew older, however, his influences became primarily musical, and included Neil Young, nicknamed the “Godfather of Grunge,” the Beatles, and various alternative bands (DeRogatis, para. 8). His major accomplishments were his recordings, as Cobain was known as a lyricist more than a musician, despite his short-lived career.

He would use quite a lot of compression on Kurt Cobain’s vocals so that he could control