All posts tagged "Nirvana"

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's seminal album Nevermind. The record had a tremendous impact on teenagers across the country, including myself, because it was not only a great record but because it was a peek into another world, a hip urban underground where being a feminist could actually be cool.  So I have a piece up in The Daily Beast about just that, how Nirvana was so pro-feminist and how this subversion has effects that are more far-reaching than their actual sound turned out to be. In the years since Cobain's death, I feel like dudely rock fans have laid claim to Nirvana's legacy in a way that doesn't comport with how Nirvana actually was.  I hope this article can be a corrective.  Sadly, hostile dudes who want to cast Cobain in their own sexist image are already showing up in comments, so if you feel a need to keep up the corrective, feel free to pop into comments.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/hTWKbfoikeg expand=1]

I was 16 when Kurt Cobain offed himself. My initial reaction was smiling that I knew first. Then despair for his pain. Then I cried a lot. And I listened to a lot of Nirvana. To this day, I still think their best song is "Drain You", and I'm glad Rock Band picked it up. It's the breakdown in the song that's brilliant.