Nirvana’s Nevermind continues to age well as it comes upon its 25th anniversary later in the year. The iconic album ushered in a change for the musical landscape of the ’90s, where hair metal’s popularity was inevitably given over to a new genre of rock music, that the members of Nirvana (whether they wanted to be or not) were the poster boys for: grunge.
Speaking to Rolling Stone about the album and band’s everlasting impact, bassist Krist Novoselic said that he revisited some of the songs on the album and was struck by how the release still holds up. “It’s a great record. It changed my life, that’s for sure,” Novoselic said.
The now political activist (and occasional rocker) also reflects on the musical and political differences between the ’90s and now:
“[When Nevermind came out] it seemed like things shifted… With Nirvana, people wanted something different musically. In 1991, there was no Number One rock record the whole year before Nevermind. It’s, like, was rock dead? But rock wasn’t dead. It just got reinvented into grunge or alternative, heavy metal, hard rock and punk, art rock – this mishmash of influences. It all came together to make a lot of different music. But the thing is there was a different sensibility, or a realignment. Maybe we’re due for that again.”
Who knows when the next Nirvana moment will happen again (and if we would even be ready for such a thing in this day and age), but it’s nice to see Novoselic offering so much insight on this album that people continue to enjoy and care about.
(Via Rolling Stone)
