Tag Archives: Nirvana

Album Review: Nevermind by Nirvana

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During the 1990s, alternative rock (especially Seattle’s grunge scene) exploded to the forefront of mainstream culture. At the head of this explosion was Nirvana’s sophomore album, Nevermind. Released in 1991, it unexpectedly became a massive album that would go on to define the 90s.

The album cover of Nevermind

Nevermind is the quintessential grunge, the sort of hard, alternative rock that came out of Seattle, album. It primarily features harder-edged songs such as the iconic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that make good use of loud-quiet-loud dynamics, something Nirvana picked up on from the Pixies, another alternative rock band. My personal favorite songs off of the album have to be “In Bloom.”

“In Bloom” starts off with an explosion of sound but then quiets down to the point where Kurt Cobain is singing a tad bit above a whisper. The song becomes loud once again, as it goes with a large number of Nirvana songs. While this song is one of the band’s most popular songs, it makes fun of the sort of people who sing Nirvana songs but don’t understand their meaning.

When Nevermind was originally released, it was not expected to become the decade-defining hit it become. Nevertheless, it did. Nevermind is a classic and for good reason. I give it a 10/10. You have to check it out!

Nevermind by Nirvana is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Album Review: Bleach by Nirvana

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Nirvana has to be one of the most influential bands of all time, changing music forever with their breakout album Nevermind. Nevermind wasn’t the trio’s first work, with Bleach being their freshman album. I love Nirvana so I naturally had to check out their debut album.

The album cover of Bleach

First of all, Bleach is a much different album than Nevermind and In Utero (Nirvana’s final studio album). It’s much more sludgy and metallic with it being comparable to the music of The Melvins, another grunge band from Nirvana’s neck of the woods. The best track off the album, in my opinion, is “Downer” which perfectly captures the vibe of Bleach.

If you listened to “Downer” and “Lithium” back to back, you’d think that Kurt Cobain had some sort of Temple of Dog-esque deal with the former track having different musicians than the latter (David Grohl didn’t play on Bleach but the guitar and bass are where some of the largest sonic differences come from). The song is on the faster side and has more in common with metal than the alternative rock of the 90s. Cobain has a strong vocal delivery and Krist Novoselic has an incredible bass line.


Kurt Cobain said not many people own Bleach while on MTV’s Unplugged program. His statement mostly holds up after his death, with Bleach being Nirvana’s least streamed album on Spotify. I personally think it’s the album’s weakest but it’s still a decent album in its own right. I give it a 7/10. You should definitely check it out when you have a moment.