Nirvana
The Beat of a Different Drummer: 10 Albums Where a New Drummer Put a Spring in the Band’s Step
The drummer is the job in a rock band with the highest turnover rate — a cliché lampooned memorably in This is Spinal Tap. And if it takes a few albums for a group’s definitive lineup to click into place, the drummer is often the final piece of the puzzle to arrive. But it’s often that change behind the drum set that makes a good band great, thanks to the addition of faster, louder, or more complex rhythms. Sometimes a versatile percussionist can even expand the band’s sonic palette and contribute to the songwriting. Here are 10 albums where the arrival of a new drummer marked an important transitional moment in an artist’s catalog. Nirvana – Nevermind (Dave Grohl) [embedded content][embedded content] Nirvana let go of early drummer Chad Channing in 1990 before they had a permanent replace...
Bill Maher Tells Nevermind Baby to ‘Stop Being Such a Fucking Baby’
Bill Maher is the latest person to address the Nevermind baby lawsuit, and unsurprisingly he didn’t mince words. “The words ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’ have traveled a long way from their original usage,” Maher said during his show Real Time with Bill Maher. “The baby from the Nirvana album says he’s a victim. He’s suing Nirvana for lifelong damages. I never thought I’d have to say this to a baby, but stop being such a fucking baby. You’re not a victim. There’s no reason you can’t have a normal, happy life just because people look at you and think, ‘baby penis.’” Watch the segment below. [embedded content][embedded content] Over the summer, Spencer Elden aka the Nevermind baby filed a lawsuit against Nirvana for alleged child pornography. The filing claims Elden “has ...
Dave Grohl on Altering Nevermind Cover Art: ‘I Have Many Ideas’
The groundbreaking Nirvana record Nevermind celebrated its 30th birthday last month. Along with the buzz from commemorating the record, other news surrounding the notorious naked baby cover continued to arise. In August, Spencer Elden, a.k.a. the naked baby, sued Nirvana’s surviving members, Kurt Cobain’s estate, album-cover photographer Kirk Weddle, and the labels involved in the album’s release, alleging sexual exploitation and that the cover is child pornography. Dave Grohl recently discussed that Nevermind reissues could possibly bear new art, in light of the lawsuit. “I have many ideas of how we should alter that cover, but we’ll see what happens,” Grohl told The Times Magazine. “We’ll let you know. I’m sure we’ll come up with something good … I think that there’s much more to look fo...
“Nirvana Reimagined As House & Techno” Album Highlights Kurt Cobain’s Support for LGBTQ+ Causes
Previously, imagining what Nirvana would sound like as a dance music act was only a pie-in-the-sky thought, but today producers Jonathan Hay, Cain McKnight, and 41X have made the concept a reality. Their collaborative album, Nirvana Reimagined As House & Techno is not only a musical tribute to Kurt Cobain’s musical legacy, but also a tribute to his social and cultural impact. The inspiration for this seemingly outlandish idea is rooted in the artists’ desire to highlight Cobain’s fervent advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. Given the vital role the queer community played in facilitating the rise of dance music culture, the producers felt that reimagining the musical world of Nirvana in an electronic music context would be an engaging way to highlight this infrequentl...
September 24, 1991: A Banner Release Day for Musical Masterworks
I walked into Rhino Records in New Paltz, New York on September 24, 1991, with one mission in mind: copping the new cassette by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After months of reading about the band working on the follow-up to their 1989 breakthrough LP Mother’s Milk with Rick Rubin, the time was finally nigh. Heading into the store after school, the metallic gray Rock and Roll Over-evoking cover art for Blood Sugar Sex Magick was staring right at me from the new releases shelf. I snatched up the cassette, along with Ceremony, the new Cult album, which had come out that day as well. I lumbered over to the counter and was greeted with a side-eye from the store manager as he surveyed my purchase choices. “So you’re not getting Nevermind?” he asked. “Huh?” “The new Nirvana album,” he s...
Classic Reviews: Nirvana, Nevermind
This article originally appeared in the December 1991 issue of SPIN. In honor of Nevermind’s 30th anniversary, we’re republishing our original review here. After a most fine lunch on a bright, sunny New York day, Nevermind is blasting through the little box on my desk and the finance department here at the lovely SPIN offices are probably going ballistic. … But so what. Forget the new Guns N’ Roses double overkill. Forget Rush’s Roll the Bones. Nirvana has built this one for speed—that would be speed with a capital S—and it sure is fun to drive. A little bit punk, a little bit metal, a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. What the hell more do you want? Nevermind’s got a full-out rock assault on “Territorial Pissings,” and a beautifully harmonic “On a Plain,” and a really ...
41 Artists Reflect on Nirvana’s Nevermind Turning 30
The world changed 30 years ago today. Though it took a few months before the proverbial train left the station, the rumblings from the underground completely blew up when college rock and punk blended to form alternative rock, with Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl serving as the conductors. Nevermind’s legacy is firmly and safely entrenched in music history. It’s been discussed so many times before, but here’s the CliffsNotes version. All of these years later — even though Nirvana burned out instead of fading away — Nevermind continues to resonate. Cobain’s powerful lyrics are still influencing people of all generations (maybe not Boomers, but Gen X and beyond) and their musical tastes. It still serves as the gateway to rock for countless fans. When SPIN spoke with Nov...
Nirvana’s Nevermind Is Being Reissued for Its 30th Anniversary
Nirvana’s classic sophomore album turns 30 tomorrow (stay tuned to the site tomorrow to see what’s to come on that front). Nevermind’s legacy is pretty damn safe at this point, that much we know. But, there’s even more to be unearthed from the band’s archive than what the 20th anniversary set revealed. Nevermind will be getting another massive reissue featuring a ton of goodies, including 70 previously unreleased tunes culled from four classic live shows. Those shows include Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands (recorded and filmed on November 25, 1991 at Club Paradiso), the much-bootlegged Live in Del Mar, California (recorded on December 28, 1991 at the Pat O’Brien Pavilion at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, which was part of the iconic tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam that we ...
Nirvana Sued by Nevermind Baby for Alleged Child Pornography
Next month, Nirvana’s Nevermind is set to turn 30. This month, however, the baby whose image was used on the Nirvana album’s now-iconic cover sued the surviving bandmembers, Kurt Cobain’s estate, photographer Kirk Weddle, DGC Records and more, claiming that the band violated federal child pornography statutes and says that the cover is child sexual exploitation. In the suit that was filed on Tuesday in federal court in the Central District of California, Spencer Elden alleges that as a four-month-old baby, he could not give permission for his image to be used on the cover and that his legal guardians didn’t give consent for its use either. Elden claims that he “has suffered and will continue to suffer lifelong damages” as a result of the cover. He also alleges that the defendants...
The 40 Greatest Music Video Artists
Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since the launch of MTV 40 years ago this week, a select few recording artists have helped raise music videos to an art form — sometimes by accident, and sometimes by carefully curating the work of brilliant directors like Mark Romanek, Hype Williams, and Spike Jonze. Here are 40 artists from the last four decades that helped video kill the radio star. 40. Lil Kim [embedded content] Although earlier female MCs like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah used music videos to help launch th...
Kurt Cobain’s Childhood Home Is A Landmark, With An Exhibit Coming Soon
Kurt Cobain’s childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington has long been the ultimate pilgrimage destination for Nirvana fans. But as of last week, it became official. Washington’s Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation included the late singer’s home to the state’s Heritage Register as a culturally important building. And soon, fans will get to walk in and experience it as Cobain did during the time in his life when he was learning to play guitar and developing his love for music. Cobain lived in the one-and-a-half-story house from 1968 to 1984. According to the property’s current owner, Lee Bacon, plans to restore the home and recreate it at “90 to 95 percent complete,” per Rolling Stone. “Our goal is to make the house a tribute project to Kurt’s early life and career, with museum ...
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Daniel Kohn, SPIN’s Editorial Director
Name Daniel Kohn Best known for Taking a photo of Prince Harry and Afrika Bambaataa backstage at Wireless Festival in 2009 (and SPIN’s Editorial Director). Current city San Fernando Valley. Really want to be in Tokyo – name a cooler city, I dare you. Excited about Being able to go to live shows again. My current music collection has a lot of Out of print CDs and extremely rare vinyl pressings. Been on a huge singer-songwriter kick as well. And a little bit of Live albums (actually, a lot of). Listening to a live album — even not in its purest of form — gives you the true essence of what an artist sounds like without the bells and whistles of the studio. Don’t judge me for Loving Van Hagar. If loving them is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. And yes, I was made fun of a lot during elementary a...
