
Nevermind, The Souds that Defined a Generation
This is a contribution by my friend Paul Earle, who is no stranger to the pulse of cultural innovation. As a business creative in branding and innovation, he blends the familiar with the bold to create something unforgettable, just like Nirvana. Paul’s work embodies the same spirit of creative disruption that made Nevermind a cultural landmark.
Perspectives on “Nevermind,” by Nirvana
Contribution by Paul Earle
Let’s plug in and get things started. Did you hear a little feedback on the speaker? Good.
Now imagine the intense strumming of an electric guitar, whose urgency catches your attention on its own, and further torques you as you sense that it is tuned down juuuust enough to be menacing, and set to a level of distortion that is thrillingly dirty. Soon enough, the drums come in, each beat sounding like an explosion. The drums! The drums the drums the drums the drums: Ba DA dum, Ba DA dum, Ba DA dum, Ba DA dum.
I remember exactly, to the singular square foot, where I was when I first heard the song referenced above: Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Isn’t music extraordinary in its ability to link to a time and a place in minute detail? In this instance, I was jammed into a crowded hallway near a room at the end of the second floor of a party house at Hamilton College.
I proceeded to enter that room, because I felt I had to. I had to get closer to the source, experience the sound more deeply. And, frankly, inquire: what the f--k is this? How is this music making us feel like we’re hooked up to jumper cables? What was loudly pumping out of the comically large floor speakers* was perhaps most exciting sound I had ever experienced, in addition to perhaps the most novel, at the time.
Nirvana’s album “Nevermind” opens with the breakthrough “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” further shocks the system with “In Bloom” right on its heels, and follows with eleven other tracks ranging from pitch black brooding, to manically hyper paroxysms, and lots of places in between. It was released in 1991, and hasn’t relented at all.
One of many interesting historical notes about this album is that “Nevermind” landed with relatively little fanfare when it first dropped. And then came 1992: a stressful, emotionally-charged election year, a time of economic uncertainty, and bumpy cultural skirmishes (sound familiar?). With storms in the zeitgeist, first thousands, then millions of music fans flipped off Rick Astley and other saccharine icons of the synth pop music scene back then, and changed gears to these three guys from Seattle who were sonically nuking concert halls everywhere, and then the airwaves.
Nirvana became very famous, very quickly, and so did many other “grunge” acts who were drafting off of them (Pearl Jam, being one). Music rediscovered its bite, and went a half measure further to a delicious, infectious growl. Quite a Rick Roll, indeed.
Given that my friend Moises is the editor of this great series, I am assuming that more than a few innovation professionals are reading along. For you all: Nirvana’s “Nevermind” presents a case that fits recognizable patterns.
Many populist ideas that land with a blockbuster kaboom are simply mainstreamed expressions of less widely popular ideas preceding them, timed perfectly, and executed with an extremely high-fidelity signal.
Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain, when asked about Nirvana’s origins, said they were deeply inspired by The Pixies, Hüsker Dü, and other bands of that ilk. These bands were beloved, but not by a particularly large audience (on its own, a lesson of starting points; Gladwell’s “Law of the Few” comes to mind). Kurt, along with his bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, combined what they were digging as fans with a layering of their own unique style and expression.
Whether intended or not,** this new fusion did appeal to a mass audience, striking a nerve just as people at scale were ready to be stricken, and just when they needed it the most. I see similar progressions manifesting in consumer products from time to time, including one particular endeavor of which I am a cofounder.
Rolling Stone recently ranked “Nevermind” as the 17th greatest album in rock and roll history. Whether or not you agree with that ranking***, certainly “Nevermind” was and remains one of the most consequential albums of all time. The work grew to become the standard bearer for a giant new genre of music, which in turn sparked untold other sub-genres and outcroppings. How many bands pined to be Nirvana, and who followed them? Nirvana triggered a true inflection point, and the music is still reverberating.
“Nevermind” was also a standard bearer of Generation X, my generation, a coming-of-age crutch and indulgence and retreat that almost served as a form of medicine to us twentysomethings back then, teeming with all the anxieties and ambitions and questions that are now well-documented, but certainly weren’t at the time. In a way, “Nevermind” was a mirror into unresolved conflict, and perhaps even a way out… or through.
Don’t we all want to populate the world with works people can feel? That matter? Few albums bring the pure wattage—and enduring relevance— of Nirvana’s “Nevermind.”
Ba DA dum, Ba DA dum, Ba DA dum, Ba DA dum. Air drum with me. And, in the grimy smoky jam-packed sweaty music club in your mind,**** turn it up.
* As it pertained to residential (non-professional) sound systems, even back then, the bigger the physical size of the speaker, the lower the quality. The market figured this out and right-sized, literally, about 20 years later.
** Some bands set out with the express intention of becoming extremely rich and famous, and through boundless creativity and relentless effort, achieved their goal. The Beatles are an example. Whether or not Nirvana had the same founding ambition is… murky. What is not murky is that Kurt and Dave did enjoy earning sufficient income from touring and album sales to finally be able to afford an upgrade to the rat-infested dump of an apartment that they shared in the early days. (This is well-documented in Grohl’s excellent autobiography, “Storyteller,” and other sources).
***Wait you don’t agree with that ranking? That’s just what Rolling Stone wants! Discuss.
****One of my deepest regrets as a music fan and as a denizen of popular culture is that I never got to see Nirvana play live. Because… their run ended too soon, tragically. But I know a few who did see them live. In their Seattle home turf no less, where fan energy hit its supernova peak. They’re still talking about it. I won’t say “I can’t imagine,” because I do.
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