…..From Albums That Changed Your Life: A Brief and All Over the Place Rant about Nirvana’s “Nevermind”

• Tweet

So, Nirvana’s super smash grunge-a-thon Nevermind got rereleased today. It’s remastered and brings with it a cluster of bonus features that are making a lot of people pretty damn excited.

I think I would be a little more excited if Geffen did things a little abnormal with this release. I think it would be awesome if they sold the bonus material separate and repackaged and rearranged the tracks on Nevermind to start with number 6- “Polly” and kept things in order from their.

Now of course, there’s no reason to scrap the first 5 songs, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “In Bloom,” “Come As You Are,” “Breed,” and “Lithium.” I mean, they can always be skipped, but honestly, haven’t we already memorized them (with the exception of the guilty by association, “Breed”) or had the lyrics to those radio mainstays forcibly tattooed on our eyelids since the album’s first go round? I’ve said it before and I don’t see it changing but I could go the rest of my life without hearing any of those songs (again, except “Breed”) and not be even the least bit upset. I’ve heard them, parts of them, or shitty covers of them more than I’ve heard all, parts, or shitty covers of any other song. Ever.

I started today with “Drain You” and kept on going until “Nevermind” finished and felt like I had just witnessed the reason the rest of the world went ape shit while I was wallflowering it up to Wreckx-n-Effect at 8^th grade dances. I never quite understood how radio never picked up on “Polly” or “Lounge Act” or my second favorite Nevermind song, “On a Plain,” never got the recognition they deserved. I guess I’m glad they didn’t.

But back to 8th grade dances for a second….

No bullshit, the first time I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” it was at a school dance and it played out just like when Marty McFly played “Johnny B Goode” in “Back to the Future.” We untucked our rayon from our Guess jeans and covered our ears in horror.

But soon after, that all changed. It was kind of funny to see the fashion shift from baggy urban clothes to Freddie Kreuger sweaters, light washed jeans and One Stars in such a short period of time. It didn’t take me long.

But all joking aside, while Nevermind had a huge impact on my musical evolution, mainstream radio turned me off to it. It was massive and influential but it was spoon fed to me in large doses. Kind of the way Soundgarden was and yeah, way less cool. Most of my Nirvana memories revolve around storming through the halls of my high school as a freshman with EVERY track of “Incesticide” wreaking havoc on my poor self-image and trading punches with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

Anyone else have thoughts or memories of Nevermind worth passing on? Please do….

And check a cover of my FAVORITE Nevermind track, “Drain You,” by Horse Feathers below!

Horse Feathers – Drain You (Nirvana Cover)