Nirvana…

Can you hear it?

The sound chanting…

Tinkling bells…

The sound of,

Peace…

Well I hate to inform you my friend, but if that’s what you hear then you’re reading the wrong webzine! The only connotations that Nirvana carries in here are that of one of the most influential grunge bands to ever distort the face of the earth! Reining for 7 short, bitter/sweet years (1987 to 1994) they brought on a revolution in their own right that will be imprinted in the warped minds of many, for generations to come…

“Grunge, isn’t that some gross shade of greenish orange?” – Kurt

Both Cobain and Novoselic were fans of the Melvins and used to haunt the band’s practice space which is how they happened to meet in 1985. Following this, a few failed attempts and some bumps along the road in 1987 Nirvana was finally born. Kurt chose the name Nirvana because – “I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk rock name…” In his own beautiful mind he wanted to create an obvious paradox between the band’s name and its music which is exactly what the name did. The line up consisted of Cobain on vocals and guitar, Novoselic on bass and Chad Channing on drums. Channing however, did not last very long. The band released it’s first single later that year titled ‘Love Buzz’ which was Nirvana’s grunge-ification of the psychedelic rock song by the band ‘Shocking Blue’.

“We were the chosen rejects; we were the ones who weren’t picked for the sports teams and the ones who liked to smoke cigarettes and listen to rock.”- Kurt

In 1989 Nirvana released their first album titled ‘Bleach’ produced by Jack Endino and financed by Jason Everman it was certainly something different to whatever else was on air at the time. It was influenced by The Melvins, 1980’s punk rock, Mudhoney, The Pixies and Black Sabbath. ‘About a girl’ and ‘Blew’ were two of the more notable singles from the album and gained a lot of airplay on collage radio stations subtly hinting at what was to develop in the near future for the band…

“If you guys throw one more shoe or one more coin, I’m just going to leave my guitar next to my amp and there’s going to be massive feedback for an hour.” – Kurt (at a concert.)

In 1990 while working on the follow up album with Smart Studios there were continuous conflicts between Channing and the rest of the band and so eventually the expected happened and Channing left. A month or so later Buzz Osborne of the Melvins introduced the band to David Grohl who soon became the drummer that would play with Nirvana till it’s bitter, unexpected end.

“I’m so happy cuz today I found my friends are in my head” – Lyric from ‘Lithium’

In the latter part of 1990 Nirvana decided to look for a deal with a more notable record label and so signed with DGC Records. They continued working on their second album with Butch Vig and hired mixer Andy Wallace to do the final mix. Andy also happened to be the mixer for notable thrash metal band ‘Slayer’ however; the band was not entirely pleased about the ‘polished’ sound that the record had gained after the mixing was done.

“I was driving and ‘Teen Spirit’ came on the radio, and I thought God, that really sounds like sh*t!’” – Dave Grohl

DGC Records did not expect ‘Nevermind’ to sell as many copies as it did, and by December 1991 it had reached number one on the Billboard Charts. This was mainly due to the popularity of what is undoubtedly their most famous single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ which gained tons of airplay. Of course following the success of that single there where many other’s that also had their fair share of fame on the album such as, ‘Lithium’, ‘In Bloom’, ‘Come As You Are’ and ‘Polly’.

“I just want you people to know that Courtney Love, lead singer of the sensational pop group Hole, is the best f*ck in the world.” – Kurt

1992 spelt the big ‘L’ for Kurt, and in case you’re still wondering I’m referring to its ‘love’. Kurt and Courtney decided to tie the knot that February in Hawaii- a romantic, clichéd setting…sure. But get this; instead of a tux Kurt wore pyjamas, Appalling? Disdainful? Audacious? Hell yeah but, that’s Kurt for you!

That following August, Frances Bean Cobain was born… ‘Bean’ brought in because Cobain thought she looked like a little kidney bean in her ultrasound scan. Cue the “awww’s” or the “how in hell could he give his daughter a middle name like ‘Bean’.” Soon after Nirvana headlined the oh so prestigious Reading festival in Britain and that turned out to be one of the highlights of their career.

“I am not gay, although I wish I were, just to piss off homophobes” – Kurt

Nirvana played at the MTV music awards; initially they had planned to sing ‘Rape Me’ however the executives misinterpreted the song and deemed it far too offensive to be played on television and thus forced the band to play ‘Lithium’ instead, but in true Cobain style he strummed the intro to ‘Rape Me’ just to piss them off before going into ‘Lithium’ and with their middle fingers raised high (metaphorically) trashed the stage – and themselves and left.

“I know that most of you out there like us, understand what we’re trying to say, but as for the rest of you, I F*CKING HATE YOU!!” – Kurt

In December 1992 Nirvana released an album titled ‘Incesticide’ which was a collection of covers and rarities, carried previously released singles and some material from the band’s sessions with the BBC. The album cover consisted of some weird and intriguing artwork done by Cobain himself.

“At this point I have a request for our fans. If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different colour, or women, please do this one favour for us – leave us the f*ck alone! Don’t come to our shows and don’t buy our records.” – Kurt

In 1993 they released the album ‘In Utero’ which contained some well-known tracks such as ‘Heart Shaped Box’ and ‘All Apologies.’ They went through several names for the album before settling with ‘In Utero’ some of which being ‘I Hate Myself And I Want To Die’ and ‘Verse Chorus Verse’. The album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 Chart and the mainstream success that it gained was not entirely expected due to the less- polished/ raw feel that the album was intentionally given.

“I don’t want to be a f#cking spokesperson.” – Kurt

Following the album Kurt had many issues with his drug consumption; his heroin intake was beginning to reach its peak causing a lot of anxiety among his close friends and family. Thus Love organised an intervention which led to Kurt eventually agreeing to check himself into rehab. However a few days after doing so Cobain scaled the six-foot-fence and left the facility. No one was really sure where he had gone to and so Love hired a private investigator to locate his whereabouts.

“My name is Kurt and I sing and play the guitar and I’m a walking, talking bacterial infection.” – Kurt

8th April 1994, Cobain’s body was found at his house in Washington, it was discovered by an electrician who had entered to set up a security system. Aside from the ruby liquid dripping out of his ear the man couldn’t see any other signs of trauma and automatically assumed Cobain was asleep until he saw the shotgun which was pointed at Cobain’s chin. Along with his body was a suicide note which may be seen and read here.

“Kurt would have been shocked by the lasting impact he’s made.” -Dave Grohl

Kurt’s sad, unexpected, lonesome end was one of such heightened poignancy that just reading the suicide note would be enough to get your emotions flowing time and time again. The effect Cobain had on so many areas related to music and otherwise will last throughout the ages and the rocky road to enlightenment that they followed was done in pure badass fashion from the start to the bitter end. Cobain must be saluted for staying true to himself and his beliefs right throughout the hectic ride and for distorting the face of mainstream music during his reign. The legacy that is ‘Nirvana’ will always have a place in music history, the smutty stain that they left behind will continue to be appreciated and admired. And to quote the great Neil Young as Kurt himself did.,

it is indeed better ‘to burn out than to fade away.’