Nirvana: Reaction Paper
Introduction
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.
The band established itself as part of the Seattle music scene, releasing its first album Bleach for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the band’s lead single from its second album Nevermind (1991). Subsequently, Nirvana entered into the mainstream, bringing along with it a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge. As Nirvana’s frontman, Kurt Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the “spokesman of a generation,” with Nirvana being considered the “flagship band” of Generation X (Azerrad, 1992). Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention and placed his focus on the band’s music, believing Nirvana’s message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public. The third Nirvana studio album In Utero (1993), challenged the group’s audience, featuring an abrasive, less-mainstream sound.
Nirvana’s brief run ended following the death of Cobain in 1994, but the band’s influence and popularity endured in the years that followed. In 2002, “You Know You’re Right”, an unfinished demo from the band’s final recording session, topped radio playlists around the world. Since its debut, the band has sold over 25 million albums in the United States alone, and over 50 million worldwide (Armstrong, 2002; Top Selling Artists, 2008).
Nirvana Music Style and Lyrics
Cobain described the sound of Nirvana when it first started as “a Gang of Four and Scratch Acid ripoff” (Azerrad, 1992). When Nirvana recorded Bleach, Cobain felt he had to fit the expectations of the Sub Pop grunge sound to build a fanbase, and hence suppressed his arty and pop songwriting traits while crafting the record in favor of a more rocking sound (Azerrad, 1992). Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad argued, “Ironically, it was the restrictions of the Sub Pop sound helped the band find its musical identity”. Azerrad stated that by acknowledging that its members had grown up listening to Black Sabbath and Aerosmith, the band was able to move on from its derivative early sound ()Azerrad, 1992.
Cobain sought to mix heavy and pop musical sounds; he commented, “I wanted to be totally Led Zeppelin in a way and then be totally extreme punk rock and then do real wimpy pop songs”. When Cobain heard the Pixies’s 1988 album Surfer Rosa after recording Bleach, he felt it had the sound he wanted to achieve but until then was too imitated to try. The Pixies’ subsequent popularity encouraged Cobain to follow his instincts as a songwriter (Azerrad, 1992).
Nirvana utilized dynamic shifts that went from quiet to loud (Fricke, 1994). Like the Pixies, Nirvana moved between “spare bass-and-drum grooves and shill bursts of screaming guitar and vocals” (Kanter, 1992). Near the end of his life, Cobain noted the band had become bored by the formula, finding it limited, but expressed doubts that the band was skilled enough to try other dynamics (Fricke, 1994). Cobain’s rhythm guitar style, which relied on power chords, low-note riffs, and a loose right-hand technique, featured the key components to the band’s songs.
Everett True said in 1989, “Nirvana songs treat the banal and pedestrian with a unique slant.” (True, 1989). Cobain came up with the basic components of each song (usually writing them on an acoustic guitar), as well as the singing style and the lyrics. He emphasized that Novoselic and Grohl “have a big part in deciding on how long a song should be and how many parts it should have. So I don’t like to be considered the sole songwriter.”[94] When asked which part of the songs he would write first, Cobain responded, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I guess I start with the verse and then go into the chorus.” (Fricke, 1994)
Cobain usually wrote lyrics for songs minutes before recording them (de Perna, 1996). Cobain said, “When I write a song the lyrics are the least important subject. I can go through two or three different subjects in a song and the title can mean absolutely nothing at all” (Robb, 1989). Cobain told Spin in 1993 that he “didn’t give a flying fuck” what the lyrics on Bleach were about, figuring “Let’s just scream some negative lyrics and as long as they’re not sexist and don’t get too embarrassing it’ll be okay”, while the lyrics to Nevermind were taken from two years of poetry he had accumulated, which he cut up and chose lines he preferred from. In comparison, Cobain stated that the lyrics to In Utero were “more focused, they’re almost built on themes” (Darcey, 1993).
References
Armstrong, M. (2002). “Nirvana top 50 million marks worldwide sales, ‘Journals’ number one”. Yahoo! Music, Retrieved on 18th August, 2007, from Yahoo! Music website.
Azerrad, M. (1992). “Inside the heart and mind of Nirvana”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 31st January, 2011, from Rolling Stone website.
De Perna, A. “The making of nevermind”. Guitar World. FALL 1996.
Fricke, D. (1994). “Kurt Cobain: the rolling stone interview”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31st January, 2011.
Kanter, L. A. (1992). “Kurt Cobain’s well-tempered tantrums”. Guitar Player. Retrieved 31st January, 2011.
Recording industry association of America (2008). “Top selling artists”. Retrieved on 31st January, 2011.
Robb, J. (1989). “White heat”. Sounds. Retrieved 31st January, 2011.
Steinke, D. (1993). “Smashing their heads on that punk rock” Spin. Retrieved 31st January, 2011.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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