00:07It might be 20 years since their breakthrough album Nevermind came out, but Nirvana are as
00:13worshipped today as ever. More than just an incredible rock band, they led the charge on
00:18an alternative music revolution during their brief career, shape-shifting the top 40 and
00:23transforming popular culture along the way. This is the tragic but ultimately triumphant
00:28story of Nirvana, as told via the pages of NME. The band originated in 1985 when trailer-park-dwelling
00:36Kurt Cobain teamed up with Chris Novoselic, a friend he met through local Washington band
00:41The Melvins. Cobain and Novoselic played with various drummers while gigging and songwriting,
00:47originally under the moniker The Stiff Woodies. By 1987 they had settled on the name Nirvana.
00:53The embryonic band's debut album Bleach was recorded in 1988 for the not-so-princy son
00:58of $600. It was an underground success impressing college radio fans in the US and indie fans
01:05in the UK. Hurtling pop-punk tracks such as Love Buzz and Negative Creep helped the album
01:10shift 350,000 copies. 1990 was a significant year for the band. They found a new drummer
01:17in Dave Grohl, formerly a member of the DC punk band Scream. And thanks to the patronage of Sonic Youth,
01:23not to mention an impressive six-song demo they recorded with producer Butch Fig, the band signed
01:28to Geffen Records in the same year. They also released the one-off sub-pop single Sliver,
01:34which will go on to become one of their best-loved songs.
01:48Following a European tour with Sonic Youth, the trio decamped to Los Angeles Sound City Studios to
01:54record their next album. Nevermind was released on September 24, 1991. Geffen expected to sell
02:02250,000 copies. In the end, it sold a hundred times that amount. Nevermind was an instant hit,
02:10thanks in part to lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit, whose unforgettable video became a mainstay on MTV.
02:34In the States, Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top spot. Nirvana had arrived.
02:41The UK was starting to take notice too. Enemy Steve Lemack gave Nevermind an ecstatic 9 out of
02:4610 review, calling it the big American alternative record of the autumn. But it turned out to be
02:52bigger than that. The album was a monster smash, rewriting the lines between pop and alternative.
03:09Nirvana's sudden success sat uneasily with Cobain, who still felt like an outsider at heart.
03:14In an interview with Melody Maker at the time, he said,
03:17We're not proud of the fact that there are a bunch of Guns N' Roses kids who are into our
03:20music.
03:21I'm disgusted for having to deal with the commercial side of our band.
03:25Nirvana parodied their newfound fame in the video for In Bloom, which will then pay homage to Beatlemania.
03:30Look at Ryan Janice, we've eliminated Team Abby again.
03:39You can even apply to theigger, associating me to the whole band.
03:45We'll see you next year at the Urban Blog side.
03:45I'm Nadia, somebody and Kenzie Ortak and Nick finish up with his community.
03:47We'll see you next year.
03:47World of War Guide, the Black Lou, is a mom looking for the flavor of a woman.
03:47They're first fromŃ in the movie, including Mohammad Only Polynes,
03:52See you next year.
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