Music Review by Bill Rendall

Nevermind - Nirvana

In the late seventies Neil Young sang "Hey hey, my my, rock and roll can never die." By the end of the eighties I had my doubts. However, salvation came in the nineties with the Nevermind album by Nirvana. This album is a return to the rawness and vitality of earlier rock and roll. Nevermind really does smell of teen spirit.

Kurt Cobain became a rock star by offering an alternative to the reigning rock stardom formula. Nirvana's breakthrough hit song 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' flouts convention for radio play as the song title has no direct relationship to the song lyrics. Fortunately the record buying public had finally tired of the slick synthetic music that dominated the eighties and were ready for some real music again. Nirvana were there at the right time.

Nevermind has attained a position of unwavering veneration and Cobain has become the deity of Generation X. Despite this I dare to suggest the album is not perfect in every way.

Cobain points out his attitude to lyric writing in his own self deprecatory style in 'On a Plain'. He certainly is economical with his lyrics on Nevermind. The first verse of many songs is repeated. The chorus of 'Lithium' is just "yeah." I don't like the random way Cobain has put his lyrics together. I didn't like it years earlier when David Bowie and Jon Anderson were doing it either. A disturbing theme that comes through in Cobain's lyrics is guns and death.

Cobain's voice contains just the right amount of raw edge to express his angst. His vocal style has since been frequently imitated.

I recommend Nevermind with some reservation. There are some great songs on the album but not a lot of variation in song structure or sound. Apparently Cobain was aware of this limitation and before his untimely death he was looking to expand his song writing ambitions. It is a shame we will never hear what he was really capable of. Nevermind marks an important turning point in the history of rock and is a must have for any serious rock music collector.

The musical style that Nirvana made popular was labelled grunge. Call it what you will, to me it was a return to good old dirty guitar-driven rock. "My, my, hey, hey, rock and roll is here to stay."