Nirvana - Nevermind (1991) [VINYL] {Universal Japan 200 gram}
Nirvana
"Nevermind"
1991
DGC Records
Universal Japan reissue
**This is the recent Universal Japan reissue, and worth every penny. The original pressings, both vinyl and CD, are flat and lacking a bottom end. Even the MFSL CD sounds thin and baseless. Uni Japan really did a nice job on this one. The sound quality of their recent reissue series has been variable, some good some bad, but they hit one out of the park with this one. Can't recommend it enough. I've held onto my original US pressing as a collectible, but I have no plans to ever spin it again.
Side 1:
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. In Bloom
3. Come As You Are
4. Breed
5. Lithium
6. Polly
Side 2:
1. Territorial Pissings
2. Drain You
3. Lounge Act
4. Stay Away
5. On A Plain
6. Something In The Way
Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar)
Kris Novoselic (bass)
Dave Grohl (drums)
Nirvana's second album turned out to be the place where alternative rock crashed into the mainstream. This wasn't entirely an accident, either, since Nirvana did sign with a major label, and they did release a record with a shiny surface, no matter how humongous the guitars sounded. And, yes, Nevermind is probably a little shinier than it should be, positively glistening with echo and fuzz-box distortion, especially when compared with the black-and-white murk of Bleach. This doesn't discount the record, since it's not only much harder than any mainstream rock of 1991, its character isn't on the surface, it's in the exhilaratingly raw music and haunting songs. Nirvana's personal problems and subsequent suicidenaturally deepens the dark undercurrents, but no matter how much anguish there is on' it's bracing because he exorcises those demons through his evocative wordplay and mangled screams - and because the band has a tremendous, unbridled power that transcends the pain, turning into pure catharsis. And, that's as key to the record's success as Kurt Cobain's songwriting, since and help turn this music that is gripping, powerful, and even fun (and, really , there's no other way to characterize Territorial Pissings or the surging Breed).
In retrospect, may seem a little too unassuming for its mythic status - it's simply a great modern punk record - but even though it may no longer seem life-changing, it is certainly life-affriming, which may just be better.
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