#Nirvana nevermind cover explained how to

Nirvana came along and delivered the goods. It had been building up through the years, from REM to Hüsker Dü to Black Flag. Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore: 'It was what people were waiting for - the best of metal meets the best of REM. Listen to Nevermind today and it sounds every bit as majestic as it did the first time around. It was what people were waiting for - the best of metal meets the best of REM Thurston MooreĪ quarter of a century on, and sandwiched between the swampy riffs of Bleach and the primal scream of In Utero, Nevermind remains the band's bold pop statement, the record that dragged 'alternative' rock out of the indie ghetto, and perhaps most importantly, the record that continues to motivate so many kids across the globe to pick up guitars and step on distortion pedals. While Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic's command of their respective instruments is beyond question, Cobain is still a hugely contentious figure who polarises opinion on online forums across the breadth of the web.Ĭobain's utilitarian, white-knuckle approach to playing the guitar must still incense the diligent students who spend so many hours developing their legato technique and pursuing an in-depth knowledge of modes.Ī key element of Cobain's central allure is in the way he was a mess of contradictions, in love with pop music, seeing punk rock as freedom, but battling the restraints imposed by punk dogma. It's easy to see why guitarists of a certain mindset still resent Cobain's impact on guitar culture. Once you know the power chord, you don't need to know anything else.'

#Nirvana nevermind cover explained how to

Indeed, Kurt's schooling in the art of all things guitar was rudimentary at best: 'I took lessons for a week, I learned how to play Back In Black by AC/DC, and it's pretty much the Louie Louie chords, so that's all I needed to know. I'm the first to admit that I'm no virtuoso.' Kurt CobainĪt times displaying a mixture of childlike naivety and fascination with sheer joy of noise in his approach to the instrument, Cobain's statement that 'less than you could possibly imagine' went through his mind when it came to 'cutting loose' onstage was in direct opposition to most of the late-eighties musical mainstream, and even to those groups considered to be Nirvana's peers such as Pearl Jam, whose guitarists undoubtedly display a more conventional rock approach. The flip side of that is that Segovia could probably never have played like me.' I'm the first to admit that I'm no virtuoso. Instead, he regarded his own ability with self-deprecating humility, telling Fender's Frontline magazine in 1994: 'The battle is the pleasure. Vig's original 'Devonshire' mixes on the Super Deluxe edition of the Nevermind reissue reveal that while Wallace's work on some tracks was fairly subtle, others benefited from a major overhaul.Ĭobain's 'anti-macho' mindset would inform his instinctive approach to the guitar: he was a player with an exceptional ear for both emotive melody, and for riffs that set moshpits alight.įor Kurt, the instrument wasn't a phallic totem of notes-per-second prowess.

Wallace used digital reverb and equalisation to improve the sound from the room mics, and blended samples behind the snare and kick drum sounds to beef them up. Both Vig and the band were present during a mixing process that saw Wallace expend much of his energy doctoring a drum sound that, despite Grohl's hammer-blows, band and producer felt to be lacking. 'If it had only sold 50,000 copies, probably wouldn't have had any comments on whether it was too slick, or not slick enough.' Butch VigĬobain favoured Wallace for his work on Slayer's 1990 album Seasons In The Abyss. What was Kurt singing about? Characteristically enigmatic, he told the NME in 1991: 'It's about, hey brother, especially sister, throw away the fruit and eat all the rind.' For millions of teenagers, it would be the sound of a musical revolution.īutch Vig had originally been assigned the job of producing and mixing the album, but with the sessions going way beyond their original schedule, Nirvana's label and management suggested that a fresh pair of ears was brought in for the mixing process.Īndy Wallace has since mixed a succession of highly acclaimed rock records including Jeff Buckley's Grace and At The Drive-In's Relationship Of Command, but at the time he was near the bottom of a list that included REM collaborator Scott Litt, who would later be called in to remix the singles on In Utero and produce Nirvana's MTV Unplugged show.