I didn’t enjoy Bleach but maybe that’s because I listened to it after already listening to the other two. Same with when I listened to Hole’s first album Pretty On the Inside.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is one of those songs that you remember where you were when you first heard it, even 34 years later when you're an old fart with grown kids who are right now learning to play it in their band.
Hey Liz, I just found your Substack and I’m glad I did. This piece is very closely related to my take on what happened when us latchkey kids inherited the world thanks to angry music and nonchalant (I’m being kind) parenting in a book I just wrote. Thanks for sharing this.
Ah yes, my cousin gave me Nevermind for Christmas the year it came out, love the alternative sound from those days. Blasting through the T-Tops on Saturday night.
Thanks for sharing this! I'm one of the few among our family and friends who still has a visceral attraction to 90's grunge. The summer of '91 was one of my favorite periods in my life.
I'd just returned from serving nearly a year in the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Music from Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and others dominated the radio and MTV.
The energy was contagious and led me to joining my first band. I felt so intensely alive that summer.
To this day, 90's alternative is my go-to tool to help with deep focus - especially the soundtrack from Singles.
I resisted Nirvana at first but then In Utero came out and my mind was blown and I became a fan just in time to experience the loss of Cobain, a moment I remember vividly. His/their music got me through a strange, disconnected time in my early 20s living and working in NYC which was still a rough place, listening to Nirvana, Throwing Muses, Bob Mould, Morphine, PJ Harvey, etc. Now my son listens to and loves Nirvana, the circle is complete, and I look back on that time with deep nostalgia. Great article.
Their music is rooted in both punk & classic hard rock. Grunge wasn’t a thing when Nirvana began—because they helped create it. This is why Nevermind was so transformative & powerful. Along with other bands of the time, they ushered in a new sound, a new genre dubbed “grunge”.
Older Gen X loved all the music videos you mentioned and when Smells Like was world premiered we turned off the channel. We could go to bars by then so there was no need to watch unless it was 120 minutes on a hungover Sunday night.
I remember that I had heard the album Bleach and then when Nevermind came out I initially wasn't sure if that was the same band.
I didn’t enjoy Bleach but maybe that’s because I listened to it after already listening to the other two. Same with when I listened to Hole’s first album Pretty On the Inside.
God I am so fcking old
🤣
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is one of those songs that you remember where you were when you first heard it, even 34 years later when you're an old fart with grown kids who are right now learning to play it in their band.
Hey Liz, I just found your Substack and I’m glad I did. This piece is very closely related to my take on what happened when us latchkey kids inherited the world thanks to angry music and nonchalant (I’m being kind) parenting in a book I just wrote. Thanks for sharing this.
Ah yes, my cousin gave me Nevermind for Christmas the year it came out, love the alternative sound from those days. Blasting through the T-Tops on Saturday night.
1990’s Greatest Decade EVER !!!!!
Thanks for sharing this! I'm one of the few among our family and friends who still has a visceral attraction to 90's grunge. The summer of '91 was one of my favorite periods in my life.
I'd just returned from serving nearly a year in the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Music from Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and others dominated the radio and MTV.
The energy was contagious and led me to joining my first band. I felt so intensely alive that summer.
To this day, 90's alternative is my go-to tool to help with deep focus - especially the soundtrack from Singles.
I resisted Nirvana at first but then In Utero came out and my mind was blown and I became a fan just in time to experience the loss of Cobain, a moment I remember vividly. His/their music got me through a strange, disconnected time in my early 20s living and working in NYC which was still a rough place, listening to Nirvana, Throwing Muses, Bob Mould, Morphine, PJ Harvey, etc. Now my son listens to and loves Nirvana, the circle is complete, and I look back on that time with deep nostalgia. Great article.
Thank you! And good job with your son ❤️
My husband Terry lived in NYC for a decade, he moved there in ‘94.
Nirvana was a punk band and would probably describe themselves as such. "Grunge" wasn't even really a thing.
Their music is rooted in both punk & classic hard rock. Grunge wasn’t a thing when Nirvana began—because they helped create it. This is why Nevermind was so transformative & powerful. Along with other bands of the time, they ushered in a new sound, a new genre dubbed “grunge”.
Older Gen X loved all the music videos you mentioned and when Smells Like was world premiered we turned off the channel. We could go to bars by then so there was no need to watch unless it was 120 minutes on a hungover Sunday night.