Which song do you enjoy the most from this album?? Also here is my reaction to their previous album Bleach ua-cam.com/video/IF5yABDpsjw/v-deo.html Thanks so much for watching!
Lithium is my favourite! Please give a listen to Nylon Curtain by Billy Joel - it's his masterpiece, and as a pianist I think you might really like it.
The last track is shown as a regular song on spotify, but in the original CD it was a hidden track which started playing after a long period of silence after something in the way. My dad bought this album in 91 and told me he played it in his headphones whilst laid in bed and drifted off after something in the way, only to be woken up confused by the noise of endless, nameless - and that is exactly what that track was intended to do, it was an easter egg to freak ppl out who left the album running after something in the way. I personally enjoy it (once in a while) its just them releasing their frustration and going crazy basically, just noise music, not supposed to be melodic or be danced to really, just an expression of chaos.
Yep! It was basically Kurt's take on the infamous groove loop at the end of Sgt. Pepper's. But at least the groove loop was tacked on at the end of A Day in the Life and kept discreet.
Endless, nameless was a hidden track. Just a jam really where Kurt got so frustrated at trying to record Lithium he just lost it and started playing this. That cacophony at the end is him smashing his guitar.
For context, Endless Nameless was a hidden track after Something in the Way so it's fair that you didn't like it, hahaha. It was a jam and entirely improvised. Honestly you could've skiped that song, but I understand the confusion since Spotify lists it as the last track of the album for some reason.
Also it didn't start playing until 10 minutes of silence after the real last song. Also Caroline is young enough that she isn't as familiar with the culture of hidden tracks in general it's definitely a generational thing to go into hidden tracks. it takes some explaining if you know what I mean.
This album started the change in a huge way, but Ten by Pearl Jam, and Badmotorfinger, as well as Blood Sugar Sex Magic, also completed the shift from glam garbage like Cherry Pie by Warrant to artistically brilliant mainstream rock music.
Make sure you listen to their live Unplugged album. I think you'll love it since its all stripped down acoustic numbers, and really shows off their musicianship. A bunch of the songs are covers, and in many cases I actually prefer Nirvana's versions to the originals. Also, Endless Nameless was a hidden track that came on 10 minutes after Something in the Way, and if memory serves, it was mostly an improv/jam they did because they were pissed off in the studio. I also hated it at first, but after listening to it a bunch of times, I started to like it. I guess my brain was eventually able to tame the chaos and find the song hidden in there.
Another thing about Unplugged is that most bands played their greatest hits on their unplugged sessions. Not Nirvana. Six covers, three of which Kurt invited the original musicians (The Meat Puppets) onstage with him. He also mostly did deep cuts, songs that weren’t the radio hits. And it was awesome.
The thing is Kurt was incredibly melodic. I've listed to Nevermind a lot over the years and underneath the drumming, bass and crashing guitars are amazing melodies.
@@yannsa1994the chorus to in bloom, all of come as you are, and the chorus to lounge act really stand out to me as far as beatles influence goes. They’re sooo catchy haha
It's very liberating to acknowledge that some art that speaks to others is not for us. I find myself more open than I used to be to learning about others through their appreciation of things outside my tastes.
0:27 Smells Like Teen Spirit 2:51 In Bloom 4:41 Come As You Are 6:37 Breed 8:29 Lithium 10:09 Polly 11:32 Territorial Pissings 13:06 Drain You 14:45 Lounge Act 15:55 Stay Away (Side note, Pay to Play is better) 17:13 On A Plain 18:41 Something In The Way 20:10 Endless Nameless
In the song "Drain You," those sound effects you liked during that middle bit included Kurt squeezing squeaky mouse and rubber duck toys, to which the sound engineer, Andy Wallace, added delay effects to make them sound "trippy." Other sounds in that interlude included Kurt spraying an aerosol can to get that "steam" sound and somebody clanking around some chains. According to producer Butch Vig, that section was meant to be a Sonic Youth style "freakout."
Os Mutantes did the aerosol thing in their first album from 1968 (in the cover song "Le premier bonheur du jour"). Kurt Cobain was a declared fan of Os Mutantes, which warms my Brazilian heart. I'm not sure if he was influenced by them at the time of Nevermind but it could be that he already knew them.
About the harmonies. Part of it is that this is the first album with drummer Dave Grohl (Bleach had a revolving door of drummers). Dave was also a very competent vocalist, and you can see in their live sets that he often was doing backup vocals while drumming! I would say that having Dave as a drummer is comparable to what happened to The Beatles when they got Ringo as their drummer; both went from being a good band to a great band, and the drummer made all the difference. Kurt has even been quoted as saying that even if he could bring John Bonham (Led Zeppelin’s drummer) back from the dead, he’d never replace Dave Grohl with any other drummer. Dave Grohl, for those unaware, would move on to success post-Nirvana as the frontman for The Foo Fighters. Currently there’s a very long list of other projects he’s sang, guitared, and drummer for. But it’s amazing how he went from being the drummer of one successful band to the frontman of another.
Nirvana has an interesting drum history in the pre-Grohl era. Bob McFadden for the first few reharsals, then Aaron Burkhard was the original drummer, he did not take the band seriously enough and was dismissed after getting a DUI from borrowing Kurts car and missing rehearsal. Dale Crover from Melvins filled in for a short time then Dave Foster was next, a very solid drummer for a period of three to four months. There is only one recording with Foster on drums and they had not had studio time before he left due to an inability to make rehearsals. From people that were around back then they said Foster really took the band to the next level. Danny Peters from Mudhoney would play a show before the band settled on Chad Channing, Nirvana's most underrated member. Chad recorded most of the tracks on Bleach, Dale Crover also played on the record. Chad Channing made the trip with the band to Butch Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin in the summer of 1990 to record what would be the first incarnation of the Nevermind record. Dave Grohl even credited Chad for developing the iconic drum part to In Bloom during the Rock Hall Induction speech.
Now let me be a grandparent for a moment: back in my day, music on the radio and on MTV from 1986-1990 or so was SO saturated with light pop metal...just the antithesis of anything that's great. We just kind of had to accept it. I wasn't aware of the underground music bubbling up on college radio stations. Imagine that at one point, even a band like R.E.M. seemed "edgy." This came out when I was 19. It was a real Plato / Allegory of the Cave situation. I had NO IDEA that something could sound as great as this did when it came out. My first impression was that it was somehow a cross between the Beatles and Black Sabbath. It's not a great analogy, but that's all I had to work with at the time. The lyrics were all a mystery - still kind of are - but the power of his voice was undeniable. It's not what he said, but how he said it - and how it sounded - that contained any kind of meaning. My favorite songs have always been "On A Plain," "Breed," "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Drain You." But the entire album is great. "Endless, Nameless" isn't my cup of tea, either. As others have mentioned, this song came after a ridiculous amount of silence, so it was easy to skip. And the thrust of so much great music from 1991-1994 ended when he ended his life.
“On A Plain” to me is their most Beatles-like song. I could definitely hear a sarcastic John singing this one with cleaner guitars, Paul on harmonies, a Ringo backbeat with a tambourine, a jangly George solo. “Hard Day’s Night” or “For Sale” era.
I think many of their songs are pretty Beatles-like, tbh. Kurt was a master of finding a simple melody to sing over a weird chord progression. To me, this one of the best qualities of the Beatles too -- especially John's songs.
@@End-Result One of those chicken and egg situations. Yes In Utero is a far superior record but without Nevermind, would it have existed? Would the record company allowed it without the success of Nevermind?
The guitar sound in Come as You Are sounds like a chorus, Phaser, or flange pedal. They're magic little boxes between the guitar and amp that do weird things to the sound. You'll probably know about a wah-wah pedal. These are like that. It's like the spinning amp sound the Beatles used on Tomorrow Never Knows.
I love the chorus sound on the guitar in that song. It gives the song a "watery" sound if that makes sense and really ties it in the with bluish and watery video that they had for the song.
A lot of rock singers can get that distortion in their voice in a healthy way by using their false folds, employing some sort of supported vocal fry, buzzing the sound off their soft palette, or some other technique that doesn't do damage to the vocal cords. Other rock singers just yell and squeeze and push that sound out of their throat, doing damage that eventually destroys their ability to sing. Kurt, who was self-taught and had no formal music training of any kind, was in that second group. Had he lived, I don't think he would've been able to maintain his voice very far into the future. According to Nirvana's drummer, Dave Grohl, during the recording of "Nevermind," they were only able to record one song per day as Kurt would blow his voice out at the end of each session. Kurt was getting annoyed with this, so he went to see a vocal coach. When he came back, Grohl asked him how it went. Kurt said, "Check this out," and put in a cassette tape of warm-ups the vocal coach wanted him to do. Grohl says, "It was like, 'Me me me me me me me! Boy boy boy boy boy!' And we sat and we laughed like hell as we listened to it, and then threw the cassette away."
I don't know man... Frank Black from the Pixies is still screaming 35 years after debuting. But Kurt wasn't long for this world. Boy never took care of himself. Sad, really.
0:27 Smells Like Teen Spirit 2:51 In Bloom 4:41 Come As You Are 6:37 Breed 8:29 Lithium 10:09 Polly 11:32 Territorial Pissings 13:06 Drain You 14:45 Lounge Act 15:55 Stay Away 17:13 On A Plain 18:41 Something In The Way 20:10 Endless Nameless
Endless Nameless is not actually an album track. It wasn't listed on the album at all. The last song listed was Something in the Way. But when you bought the CD (or tape or vinyl), after Something in the Way finished there were 15 minutes of silence, then Endless Nameless came on out of nowhere. I don't think Nirvana even considered it a song per se, it was just sort of this way to mess with the fans. Spotify makes it seem like it's just another album track, but that's not the case. It actually started a trend of bands putting secret songs on their albums (see Green Day Dookie or Tool's first couple of albums).
It never even appeared on my copy of the album. The first time I heard it was on the VHS they released a few years later & I just thought it was some random jam session.
I was 33 when this album came out. I'd really become bored with most mainstream Rock music by that point. I liked R.E.M. and a few other bands, but kept going back to classics of the late 60's and 70's for most of my musical enjoyment. I remember being in the car with my son in the back in his car seat when I heard "Teen Spirit" for the first time. It was such a breath of fresh air to me. I actually felt gratified when Nirvana bumped Michael Jackson out of the number 1 album spot. At that point Michael Jackson was endemic in the music world and you couldn't not be exposed to him constantly. Within the next year I soaked up everything "Nirvana". My Wife couldn't stand them (She was listening to The Judds and Ricky Skaggs a lot then. lol!)
"Lounge Act" does a couple of things that I like in songs. First, it repeats the first verse as the third verse, but does it in a way that contrasts the first run (in this case, being an octave higher and therefore more intense). Second, the last chorus is changed, specifically it's extended so that the first three lines are still the first three lines, and the last line is still the last line, but there are four new lines in there, adding one last detail to the story.
Pleaseeee don't skip incesticide! It's an "outakes" album, BUT IT'S SUCH A GOOD ALBUM! I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Also, I feel like if you made an attempt to get into endless nameless I feel like you could jam to it, but after getting emotionally vunerable in something in the way it's definetly more rough to get into, haha
I think in my opinion a more accessible Endless Nameless is the live version from Live at the paramount. It's 🎃 Halloween and they play it as the secret Halloween track at the end.. to me it's a little more palatable than the studio version.. the verse Bass and guitar is more melodic and it's a pitch up. You will see. I mean don't get me wrong. The chorus is very much still a cacophony lol but In the best way possible! ;) 🤘🔥🤘🔥🤘🔥
Interesting reaction. I was a very introvert kid, very good hearted but with loads of rage waiting to explode. This album was an obsession for a long time. It was the only thing I could listen to. Some music speak to some people more than others.
The first time I heard this album in 1991, I was completely blown away. It was so infectious in the melodies, and so raw at the same time. I knew right away it was like the "Star Wars" of rock albums, every track was special, and the production was solid, the musicians were inventive, and Kurt was mesmerizing in his voice, songs and guitar playing. It's still painful to this day he killed himself. I know he would have given so much more if he could have found a way to live.
You should definitely react to their complication album Incesticide, has some of my favorite Nirvana riffs, and their 1993 album In Utero. Edit: Kurt actually almost blew his voice out at the end of Territorial Pissings, you can hear it. He actually did blow his voice out quite a bit on this album, but Territorial Pissings is the only song you can hear it on. Endless Nameless came about when they were recording a take for Lithium and couldn't get it right, Kurt, in a fit of rage, threw his guitar out of tune and went crazy, and the band followed. At the end, he started smashing his guitar on the floor, that's what you were hearing. Definitely one of my favorite songs by them, unironically.
The story I heard about "On a Plain" was that Kurt Cobain lost the lyric sheet and couldn't remember the words, so he hurriedly jotted down some new ones during a plane trip. "Endless, Nameless" was, I believe, a "hidden track" on the first edition of the CD that was not included on later pressings.
It was actually the very first batch of Nevermind that didn't have Endless, Nameless. Someone notified the band that the song was missing, and they had to call the mastering engineer and chew him out to make sure that the track was included on subsequent pressings. The first copy of the album I bought back in the day didn't have it on there, so I had to go buy another copy. 😂
I bought a brand new copy today and it had the track. I was kind of scared it wouldn't be but my CD player kept going after Something in the Way so I was super relieved
As a metal fan who hated grunge even I have to admit this album is terriffic and really signaled the end of Metal being the dominant music form and Nevermind became this huge cultural thing. It was the right album at the right time when at the beginning 90's which after the 80's was the decade that said time to pay up after the fun times in the 80's
It's really interesting to see someone coming at Nevermind with fresh ears. I was 13 when this came out and it was the first album that really felt like it was 'mine'. I loved it to bits and in those pre internet days listened to it over and over. Now I find it quite hard to listen to because of how much I over played it at the time. Endless Nameless wasn't actually on the vinyl version. It was a hidden track on the CD version. I had to wait till it appeared on the b-side of either Come As You Are or Lithium to get it.
I have been listening to this album since it came out 30 years ago and I still don't understand a good 90% of the vocals and couldn't really tell you what any of the songs are about. This album just sounds so good that they lyrics never mattered so much. I do want to mention that this album was a really huge deal when it came out. I was working in a record store at the time and before this album came out, the popular music was all dance music, and rap. This album came out and changed the entire music scene. All the alternative and punk bands that got famous in the 90s can thank this album. I don't know of any other album after the Beatles that had such a huge impact on music.
I'm not sure if it was commented on but the last song, Endless Nameless, was a hidden track. It was the first of which became a common trend for many other bands in the 90's (also a possible precursor to Marvel including end-credit scenes?). The story supposedly goes that Kurt originally made a tape for someone and hid a song after a long gap of silence, as an element of surprise. It worked on his friend and so Kurt used that idea on the Nevermind album. There original release of 50,000 copies of the album didn't include it as it was forgotten to be included by the cd manufacture. For a long time I never heard it (nor knew what people were talking about) as my original copy didn't have it. Years later I picked up another copy I listened with headphones and fell asleep, being loudly awaked to the hidden song. It worked.
Kurt would roll over in his grave if he knew Something In the Way is popular now because it was in a movie. It was the last song on Nevermind and he knew it was a “pretty” song but did not want it played in music stores, et cetera. So he put a 20 minutes gap after Something In the Way and tacked on Endless, Nameless specifically so SITW could not be put in rotation straight from the cd. I have been to the bridge SITW was written about. You would not be surprised to know it is a living shrine.
21:56 LOL you definitely have to be in the right mood to listen to that final song. I skip it sometimes when I'm listening to the album (kinda like Revolution 9 on the White Album). I find all the other songs on Nevermind to be amazing though.
The song I enjoy the most is Come As You Are (that guitar riff is one of the earliest riffs I learned to play on guitar when I was 12 years old. Good times!)
Unlike Revolution 9 it is at the end of the album after a bunch of silence. I don't know if the CD I had didn't have the track or I just always turned it off before it came on, but I don't think I have ever listened to the song
So excited to see your reaction! This album is definitely the album along with Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation that I played a lot in high school, my fav song off of this album is Territorial Pissing and as a bassist, I love Lounge Act. Also, I'd definitely recommend giving the MTV unplugged a listen after you're done with In Utero!
I admire that you went through Endless Nameless like a trooper! It was an hidden track on Nevermind, 10 minutes of silence after Something in the Way then boom the song started.
Probably 200 people have said this already but for the "come as you are" sound he uses a chorus pedal with a clean guitar sound with the bottom humbuckers (guitar mic) and for the solo he adds in a distortion pedal. It's also the same sound as you can hear in the teen spirit solo
Love your analysis. My fave song on the record is probably Territorial Pissings, or maybe Something In The Way, depends on my mood that day. I was born in '82 and have an older sibling who was a teen when this record was released, so this record and Nirvana had a massive impact on my tastes growing up, I probably didn't listen to Nirvana for a good 7-8 years in my 20's but came back to the band in my 30's and totally got it all over again. Along with Metallica and especially Faith No More, Nirvana were a massive gateway band for me into all sorts of aggressive music.
Kurt used a guitar effect pedal called a Small Clone to help achieve that “watery” guitar tone on Come As You Are. He also tuned to E flat tuning, half a step down
A couple things. We drummers get a lot of help from the rebound of the sticks. So if you hold the stick as loosely as possible without dropping it, and you keep your hands nice and relaxed, when you hit the drum, the force will send the stick back up. You can basicly get 2 strokes for the price of 1. The addition of harmonies was from Dave Grohl. He was the new drummer on this record and of course, as evidenced by the Foo Fighters, has a fantastic voice of his own and he and Curt's voices were just magical together. Love how they sound on In Bloom.
Kurt's song writing for me is so amazing and complex. His writing will always weird you out but that's just how he is. He can blabber nonsense and for some reason it will make it good.
The chorus effect on the guitar could potentially have been added in post through an effects loop but some amps come with such effects built in and there's also the possibility it could be guitar pedal. I use a boss super chorus and it is a really great effect. It can be subtle and barely noticeable and just add a hint of texture to a guitar or it can dialed all the way up to that cascading watery sound. Easy to misuse too though but this song really does it well. Not subtle at all but super distinctive and atmospheric. Really sounds good on a clean guitar. I think it works by sort of doubling the notes you're playing but very slightly out of tune, so you get that bigger choral sound, kind of imitating the way a bunch of human voices in a choir are never going to be totally 100% in tune with each other.
it's pretty well known that Kurt used an electro-harmonics mini (or micro) Clone pedal, a small version of their clone theory chorus. The only amp with effects at the time was the Rolland Jazz Chorus amp, but it's much cleaner than Nirvana sound, more Joni Mitchell or Police.
If you aren't already familiar with their stuff, it would be wonderful to see you react to some Radiohead. No complaints about this reaction, or the Beatles reactions (of course)...in fact, I love these videos, they're wonderful, and your positivity and energy help me appreciate the music anew.
Great video Caroline! Endless, Nameless was the improvised product of pent-up frustration during the sessions for Lithium, which took a long time to perfect. Originally it was only a hidden track on the CD, and isn’t on most vinyl issues. So I don’t blame anyone who isn’t that into it, even though I happen to love it (and Revolution 9). 😂
chorus effect pedal on in bloom guitar. guitar > pedalboard > amp etc. ya effects can be added later on computer programs now but most guitarists prefer to still use actual pedal boards. related note: adding distortion to a midi piano keyboard can also simulate an electric guitar kinda.
So... About the "polarizing lyrics" in Lithium... The song is very much about experiencing extreme highs and lows... in the medical field, it would be classified as bipolar disorder, which is treated by administering doses of lithium...
From my understanding, that loud chorus quiet verse structure you talked about during In Bloom was popularized by Nirvana and then was subsequently everywhere while grunge and alt rock was still popular. One of their biggest influences, the Pixies, really leaned into this and are often credited with inspiring Nirvana in this way and many others.
5:30 guitarists typically create their sounds through their choice of amps and then their choice of effect pedals which you can daisy chain together into the amp.
One of my favorite albums of all time, but certainly not a relaxing, feel good record. I can still understand why some listeners may not care for all of it, but it was earth shaking to me. When this came out a lot of music was very redundant and this was a completely different sound. One of my favorite memories when this came out is that my girlfriend at the time heard it before me and she was so excited to bring it to my attention because everyone always expected me to discover new sounds. It was special for both of us.
Please listen to the album ‘California’ by Mr.Bungle. Musically, instrumentally, and creatively it is something special. I really believe anyone who is musically inclined would appreciate this album.
I feel bad for this generation music wise. There are still good musicians out there but they have little support and the mainstream is trash. It's one thing to listen to Nevermind it's another thing to have been able to see them live.
Depending on your age. It is quite astonishing to never have heard some of these songs.. I can understand if you are fairly young. Having been born late 90s or early 00s then I suppose it's possible. For people our age though Nirvana was everywhere you looked. Especially Nevermind and Teen Spirit.. so for people our age there is really no excuses!! 😂😆
@@RonyFish Much of the mainstream has been trash since forever. It was mostly trash in the 90s, and it is still mostly trash today. There are some songs from the 90s that I can’t believe I ever enjoyed.
@@guitarraman1237 Sure some songs were trash back then too. But you fail to realise how many great act were actualy able to gain recognition through the 90s which is definetly not the case today. I know this industry in and out, so I could tell what has changed but I feel lazy right now.
Breed "We can plant a house, we can build a tree. I don't even care, we don't have to breed" is one of my lyrics. Territorial Pissings "Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" is another gem.
Nirvana was sued for Come as You Are because the riff was basically a slowed down version of Killing Joke's Eighties. Which itself sounds suspiciously similar to The Damned's Life Goes On.
I think Come as you are was supposed to be the first track on the album but Kurt was scared it was to similar to the songs you mentioned so it wasn't the first track.
Found you on your Beatles Odyssey and I'm loving your reactions. I, like a lot of others, will never forget the first time I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit. I pulled my car over to listen to it properly, like "Wtf is *this*?"
Music is one of those "You had to be there." Type things to really truly grasp its full impact. When I ask people what concerts have they ever been to, I always preface it with "Did you see them in concert in their heyday?" Because it matters.
I recommend other bands like The Sonics, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Fugazi, The Stone Roses, Golden Earring, The Foo Fighters, The Stooges, Blur, U2 (the Post-Puk era, I Will Follow and New Year's Day etc.), Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Interpol especially their song Evil, Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP and others.
@@danbam3411 that sucks bro! Those are the best ones, most easy ones are mid to low! Like I love Nirvana and Beatles, but exploring stuff is great too!
Umm ok this is very odd. I will just kindly leave the twitter thread here and you can make up your own mind...very confused how my reply was crass :/ Thought it was kind to let him know I didn't intend on reacting to the Rolling stones instead of ignoring him. I guess you can't please everyone! Time to block Dan the man I think twitter.com/cazza_music/status/1490603379391090691
@@CallMeCaroline is it the same guy that replied to me about twitter too? Because I was gonna say who hurt that boy lol. Just ignore weird people Caroline and feel free to react to whatever you like, it is your channel after all.
Great reaction! To answer your questions: Kurt uses a flange guitar effect pedal on Come As You Are...yes the lyrics are very much secondary, as Kurt famously wrote half the lyrics of this album while riding the bus to the recording studio....Endless Nameless was like a hidden song (it wasn't listed on the back of the album or the sleeve), and you had to let the CD play for like 10 minutes of silence before the song would come on (and it's also the song they would usually play right before they smashed their instruments to end the show). I saw them in 94 in Vancouver just a few months before Kurt died....one of my favorite teenaged memories.
Caroline, while I'm always glad to see your reaction videos, Nirvana is one of those bands I could never get into. I blame it on my downstairs neighbor who would listen to their albums turned up to 11 for hours on end. Any time I hear a Nirvana song I think back to hearing that music shaking my walls. Like the band or not, there's no denying their legacy as the godfather of grunge music.
the high pitched sound effect that you were wondering about in the song Drain You is Kurt squeezing a rubber ducky into the microphone followed by steam sounds that he made by hissing. What you probably missed on this album since you stopped for every song is how beautifully the songs bleed into one another. Go back and take a listen.
12:15 " omg sounds like its hurting his voice " try listening to scentless apprentice on the album In utero, Incredible song but my voice starting hurting just hearing it, he's singing in the soprano register while SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS. great but terrifying
That guitar sound on Come As You Are can be attained using a single coil electric guitar (neck pickup) playing through a chorus pedal with a high depth and low repeat rate, coupled with added reverb (which can be done in post-production)
The LOUD QUIET LOUD was first made effective by Boston alt rockers THE PIXIES in the late 1980s. Kurt Cobain even cites “ripping them off” in several interviews. The Pixies had a huge following in Europe, more so than in their native country in the USA.
There is a video on youtube, you should check out the producer Butch Vig talking about who difficult was to record something in the way and how it was a mess and out of tempo and tune.
For On a Plain, supposedly the lyrics were "written" on the spot during recording. I put written in quotes because the lyrics come from journals of his, not so much in any message/story or order, but just what fit the melody of the song. It keeps all the songs somewhat mysterious as there isn't a lot of intentional meaning.
This album is a masterpiece. At the time it was a complete different sound in rock music. Definitely one of my favorites. The last song was not even mentioned in the tracks list on the original CD it was a hidden track.
I love that you react to entire albums on your channel. I always appreciate your analysis and honest reactions, good or bad. I'd love to see you react to some Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall) or Led Zeppelin (III and IV are my favorites). But there are a ton of great older artists and I really enjoy watching you explore them, whatever you choose next.
Smells like Teen Spirit likely my fav song. I recommend watching the music video, giving much of the vibe from that MTV era. There is a fabulous parody of the song by Weird Al Yankovic - being highly appreciated by Nirvana - that is musically on par with the original (typical for Weird Al). It would be a pity if you missed out on those things, imo.
I like "Something In The Way". I remember when this album came out, I was working at Tower Records and playing gigs all the time....and EVERYWHERE you went, you heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (and also "Lithium" and one or two others). I wasn't a huge fan at the time or anything; musically it was very much in the style of Husker Du and other bands from the 80s that I like better.....but he definitely had the hooks. Years later, I bought the studio monitors they recorded "Nevermind" on (allegedly, lol).
@@notimportant3686 I was referring to the front 4 as the best voices of the 90s. I don't think it's up for debate that Layne and Chris were the top 2 of the 90s. Kurt would be your personal taste. Kurt was good in studio, as was Chris, but they didn't deliver as well live. Layne actually delivered better live than in studio. I think Chris sounded better in studio than anyone in the 90s because of how technical he was.
@@Footsoldier1234 i actually don't like chris's voice AT ALL, the actual tone... layne is a great singer but the pitch of his voice is not as good as kurt's, and you are right IT IS a matter of taste, and therefore you are wrong... it is COMPLETELY up for debate... or to make it easier for you... my taste is right and your taste is wrong
@@notimportant3686 as far as what you like it's up for debate. But as far as how you are actually supposed to sing, Kurt was terrible. He blew his voice out all the time. Layne and Chris have perfect breath control, vibrato, positioning of the mouth and tongue, ect. No vocal coach in the world that is unbiased will tell you Kurt is a better singer than Layne and Chris. I'm not really interested in arguing with you, I really don't have to. I like them all. You can call Kurt number 1 all you want. But Layne and Chris were trained singers. Kurt took his teen angst, stomach pain, and frustrations with his parent's divorce, put it down on paper, and screamed it using words and phrases that don't make sense. That is what made him special. But it was not his vocal talent. But I love Kurt just as much as the other guys. He's just not on their level. But believe what you wish. In the end people believe what they want to believe.
@@Footsoldier1234 "how to sing" and the audible singing that you produce are completely different concepts... the fact is there are amazing singers like maynard from whom i hear false notes live ALL THE TIME, kurt was able to go to the limit of his voice and BEYOND IT and still sing in tune... he was able to get closer to his limit than layne by a HUGE margin and still stay in tune... these are facts
So crazy to think I was about your age when this album came out. I remember sitting in the back of the car with a car load full of friends and saying "Play this cd! Play this! They are going to be bigger than the Beatles even!" They all thought I was crazy. Honestly though this album was EPIC. Just HUGE. Changed everything at the time.
17:00 part of it is moving your hands quickly and getting that dexterity going. But a big part of it is using your index finger as a folcrum point, using the springieness of your drum head, and using your other fingers behind your index finger as "triggers" to also hit the drum head. So you can get multiple hits in with a single stroke of your arm, and then as you improve your hand speed as well you can make them even faster.
Kurt acknowledged that their “loud, quiet, loud” approach was very much influenced by The Pixies… who influenced an entire generation of musicians… including much bigger names in music like David Bowie and U2. My favorite track on “Nevermind” is “Lounge Act”. p.s… Kurt’s singing style did take a harsh physical toll on his body. Bleeding from his diaphragm was common for him.
Which song do you enjoy the most from this album??
Also here is my reaction to their previous album Bleach
ua-cam.com/video/IF5yABDpsjw/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for watching!
It’s between lounge act and lithium for me :)
Lithium, In Bloom, Lounge Act, On a plain, I like all of them really
Drain You
The whole album is a masterpiece
Lithium is my favourite! Please give a listen to Nylon Curtain by Billy Joel - it's his masterpiece, and as a pianist I think you might really like it.
The last track is shown as a regular song on spotify, but in the original CD it was a hidden track which started playing after a long period of silence after something in the way. My dad bought this album in 91 and told me he played it in his headphones whilst laid in bed and drifted off after something in the way, only to be woken up confused by the noise of endless, nameless - and that is exactly what that track was intended to do, it was an easter egg to freak ppl out who left the album running after something in the way. I personally enjoy it (once in a while) its just them releasing their frustration and going crazy basically, just noise music, not supposed to be melodic or be danced to really, just an expression of chaos.
If you bought the cassette or LP vinyl, it didn't include the track and the first CDs didn't actually list the song in the track listing.
Yep! It was basically Kurt's take on the infamous groove loop at the end of Sgt. Pepper's. But at least the groove loop was tacked on at the end of A Day in the Life and kept discreet.
I was playing with my ninja turtles when I discovered it
I actually deliberately looked for it because you can see the ten minute silent gap on the surface of the CD.
It wasn’t even available on all cd releases! It was a limited release,only on certain cd’s
Endless, nameless was a hidden track. Just a jam really where Kurt got so frustrated at trying to record Lithium he just lost it and started playing this. That cacophony at the end is him smashing his guitar.
The MTV acoustic album might be more your cup of tea. It highlights how good the songs are when stripped back.
Good call..."Nirvana Unplugged" is fantastic.
For context, Endless Nameless was a hidden track after Something in the Way so it's fair that you didn't like it, hahaha. It was a jam and entirely improvised. Honestly you could've skiped that song, but I understand the confusion since Spotify lists it as the last track of the album for some reason.
Yeah, something in the way is real ending of the album
To make it more like the album, Spotify should place it in the same track as Something in the way, after a few minutes of silence.
UA-cam music does the same thing. It's not even in the track listing for the original CD.
I don't even remember that last track 😁
Also it didn't start playing until 10 minutes of silence after the real last song.
Also Caroline is young enough that she isn't as familiar with the culture of hidden tracks in general it's definitely a generational thing to go into hidden tracks. it takes some explaining if you know what I mean.
30 years in September. Sounds as fresh today as it did then. It slays.
I can NOT believe THIS is a 30 year-old album. UNfathomable.
This album changed the World, there's a clear divide in music that came out before it and music that came out after it. It defined a generation.
This album started the change in a huge way, but Ten by Pearl Jam, and Badmotorfinger, as well as Blood Sugar Sex Magic, also completed the shift from glam garbage like Cherry Pie by Warrant to artistically brilliant mainstream rock music.
Not in music. Just in pop.
Make sure you listen to their live Unplugged album. I think you'll love it since its all stripped down acoustic numbers, and really shows off their musicianship. A bunch of the songs are covers, and in many cases I actually prefer Nirvana's versions to the originals. Also, Endless Nameless was a hidden track that came on 10 minutes after Something in the Way, and if memory serves, it was mostly an improv/jam they did because they were pissed off in the studio. I also hated it at first, but after listening to it a bunch of times, I started to like it. I guess my brain was eventually able to tame the chaos and find the song hidden in there.
Another thing about Unplugged is that most bands played their greatest hits on their unplugged sessions. Not Nirvana. Six covers, three of which Kurt invited the original musicians (The Meat Puppets) onstage with him. He also mostly did deep cuts, songs that weren’t the radio hits. And it was awesome.
The guitar sound from the song “Come as you are” was made with a guitar pedal! Kurt used a chorus effect and the name of the pedal was “Small Clone” 😊
The thing is Kurt was incredibly melodic. I've listed to Nevermind a lot over the years and underneath the drumming, bass and crashing guitars are amazing melodies.
And interesting chords, as a teacher in musicology pointed out to me.
Beatles influence at its finest
@@yannsa1994the chorus to in bloom, all of come as you are, and the chorus to lounge act really stand out to me as far as beatles influence goes. They’re sooo catchy haha
It's very liberating to acknowledge that some art that speaks to others is not for us. I find myself more open than I used to be to learning about others through their appreciation of things outside my tastes.
0:27 Smells Like Teen Spirit
2:51 In Bloom
4:41 Come As You Are
6:37 Breed
8:29 Lithium
10:09 Polly
11:32 Territorial Pissings
13:06 Drain You
14:45 Lounge Act
15:55 Stay Away (Side note, Pay to Play is better)
17:13 On A Plain
18:41 Something In The Way
20:10 Endless Nameless
Ty so much 🙏
Thanks
Pay to play is not better imo
we dont need this bro we already know the songs sequence
@@faqugang4527 actually some aren't on the video chapters so
In the song "Drain You," those sound effects you liked during that middle bit included Kurt squeezing squeaky mouse and rubber duck toys, to which the sound engineer, Andy Wallace, added delay effects to make them sound "trippy." Other sounds in that interlude included Kurt spraying an aerosol can to get that "steam" sound and somebody clanking around some chains. According to producer Butch Vig, that section was meant to be a Sonic Youth style "freakout."
That aerosol Can worked hahah I always imagine steam
Os Mutantes did the aerosol thing in their first album from 1968 (in the cover song "Le premier bonheur du jour"). Kurt Cobain was a declared fan of Os Mutantes, which warms my Brazilian heart. I'm not sure if he was influenced by them at the time of Nevermind but it could be that he already knew them.
About the harmonies. Part of it is that this is the first album with drummer Dave Grohl (Bleach had a revolving door of drummers). Dave was also a very competent vocalist, and you can see in their live sets that he often was doing backup vocals while drumming! I would say that having Dave as a drummer is comparable to what happened to The Beatles when they got Ringo as their drummer; both went from being a good band to a great band, and the drummer made all the difference. Kurt has even been quoted as saying that even if he could bring John Bonham (Led Zeppelin’s drummer) back from the dead, he’d never replace Dave Grohl with any other drummer.
Dave Grohl, for those unaware, would move on to success post-Nirvana as the frontman for The Foo Fighters. Currently there’s a very long list of other projects he’s sang, guitared, and drummer for. But it’s amazing how he went from being the drummer of one successful band to the frontman of another.
Maybe the greatest individual rock career ever.
Nirvana has an interesting drum history in the pre-Grohl era. Bob McFadden for the first few reharsals, then Aaron Burkhard was the original drummer, he did not take the band seriously enough and was dismissed after getting a DUI from borrowing Kurts car and missing rehearsal. Dale Crover from Melvins filled in for a short time then Dave Foster was next, a very solid drummer for a period of three to four months. There is only one recording with Foster on drums and they had not had studio time before he left due to an inability to make rehearsals. From people that were around back then they said Foster really took the band to the next level. Danny Peters from Mudhoney would play a show before the band settled on Chad Channing, Nirvana's most underrated member. Chad recorded most of the tracks on Bleach, Dale Crover also played on the record. Chad Channing made the trip with the band to Butch Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin in the summer of 1990 to record what would be the first incarnation of the Nevermind record. Dave Grohl even credited Chad for developing the iconic drum part to In Bloom during the Rock Hall Induction speech.
Right?
Now let me be a grandparent for a moment: back in my day, music on the radio and on MTV from 1986-1990 or so was SO saturated with light pop metal...just the antithesis of anything that's great. We just kind of had to accept it. I wasn't aware of the underground music bubbling up on college radio stations. Imagine that at one point, even a band like R.E.M. seemed "edgy."
This came out when I was 19. It was a real Plato / Allegory of the Cave situation. I had NO IDEA that something could sound as great as this did when it came out. My first impression was that it was somehow a cross between the Beatles and Black Sabbath. It's not a great analogy, but that's all I had to work with at the time.
The lyrics were all a mystery - still kind of are - but the power of his voice was undeniable. It's not what he said, but how he said it - and how it sounded - that contained any kind of meaning.
My favorite songs have always been "On A Plain," "Breed," "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Drain You." But the entire album is great. "Endless, Nameless" isn't my cup of tea, either. As others have mentioned, this song came after a ridiculous amount of silence, so it was easy to skip.
And the thrust of so much great music from 1991-1994 ended when he ended his life.
“On A Plain” to me is their most Beatles-like song. I could definitely hear a sarcastic John singing this one with cleaner guitars, Paul on harmonies, a Ringo backbeat with a tambourine, a jangly George solo. “Hard Day’s Night” or “For Sale” era.
I think In Bloom sounds the most like a Beatles song. It reminds me of Yer Blues
To me, their most Beatles-like (more Lennonesque, as Cobain was a great fan) song is Dumb. Just gives you these Lennon vibes.
Drain you in my opinion. ESPECIALLY the demo version.
I've always thought that About a Girl is their most Beatlesque song. Huge Merseybeat vibes on that one.
I think many of their songs are pretty Beatles-like, tbh. Kurt was a master of finding a simple melody to sing over a weird chord progression. To me, this one of the best qualities of the Beatles too -- especially John's songs.
One of the most important records of the past 40 years. Completely changed the musical landscape for the better.
I would say Is the most important record of the last 30 years in the rock
nah, In Utero was and still is way more important. Kurt loathed the production within weeks of hearing it.
@@End-Result One of those chicken and egg situations. Yes In Utero is a far superior record but without Nevermind, would it have existed? Would the record company allowed it without the success of Nevermind?
In Utero comes nowhere close to the impact Nevermind had on the musical landscape, regardless of how the band members felt about the two
@@End-Result He actually wanted the production this polished, he only hated it after feeling like he sold out
The guitar sound in Come as You Are sounds like a chorus, Phaser, or flange pedal. They're magic little boxes between the guitar and amp that do weird things to the sound. You'll probably know about a wah-wah pedal. These are like that. It's like the spinning amp sound the Beatles used on Tomorrow Never Knows.
pretty sure its chorus (primarily)
@@gpu213 Yes, an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone.
I love the chorus sound on the guitar in that song. It gives the song a "watery" sound if that makes sense and really ties it in the with bluish and watery video that they had for the song.
A lot of rock singers can get that distortion in their voice in a healthy way by using their false folds, employing some sort of supported vocal fry, buzzing the sound off their soft palette, or some other technique that doesn't do damage to the vocal cords. Other rock singers just yell and squeeze and push that sound out of their throat, doing damage that eventually destroys their ability to sing. Kurt, who was self-taught and had no formal music training of any kind, was in that second group. Had he lived, I don't think he would've been able to maintain his voice very far into the future.
According to Nirvana's drummer, Dave Grohl, during the recording of "Nevermind," they were only able to record one song per day as Kurt would blow his voice out at the end of each session. Kurt was getting annoyed with this, so he went to see a vocal coach. When he came back, Grohl asked him how it went. Kurt said, "Check this out," and put in a cassette tape of warm-ups the vocal coach wanted him to do. Grohl says, "It was like, 'Me me me me me me me! Boy boy boy boy boy!' And we sat and we laughed like hell as we listened to it, and then threw the cassette away."
I don't know man... Frank Black from the Pixies is still screaming 35 years after debuting. But Kurt wasn't long for this world. Boy never took care of himself. Sad, really.
0:27 Smells Like Teen Spirit
2:51 In Bloom
4:41 Come As You Are
6:37 Breed
8:29 Lithium
10:09 Polly
11:32 Territorial Pissings
13:06 Drain You
14:45 Lounge Act
15:55 Stay Away
17:13 On A Plain
18:41 Something In The Way
20:10 Endless Nameless
Endless Nameless is not actually an album track. It wasn't listed on the album at all. The last song listed was Something in the Way. But when you bought the CD (or tape or vinyl), after Something in the Way finished there were 15 minutes of silence, then Endless Nameless came on out of nowhere. I don't think Nirvana even considered it a song per se, it was just sort of this way to mess with the fans. Spotify makes it seem like it's just another album track, but that's not the case. It actually started a trend of bands putting secret songs on their albums (see Green Day Dookie or Tool's first couple of albums).
It never even appeared on my copy of the album. The first time I heard it was on the VHS they released a few years later & I just thought it was some random jam session.
This
I was 33 when this album came out. I'd really become bored with most mainstream Rock music by that point. I liked R.E.M. and a few other bands, but kept going back to classics of the late 60's and 70's for most of my musical enjoyment. I remember being in the car with my son in the back in his car seat when I heard "Teen Spirit" for the first time. It was such a breath of fresh air to me. I actually felt gratified when Nirvana bumped Michael Jackson out of the number 1 album spot. At that point Michael Jackson was endemic in the music world and you couldn't not be exposed to him constantly. Within the next year I soaked up everything "Nirvana". My Wife couldn't stand them (She was listening to The Judds and Ricky Skaggs a lot then. lol!)
Cool story, James!
James you have any old t shirts kicking around from that era?
@@barrymoore7445 a few. Most wouldn't fit me now! I did have a cousin of mine take about 12 of them and make a quilt out of them.
"Lounge Act" does a couple of things that I like in songs. First, it repeats the first verse as the third verse, but does it in a way that contrasts the first run (in this case, being an octave higher and therefore more intense). Second, the last chorus is changed, specifically it's extended so that the first three lines are still the first three lines, and the last line is still the last line, but there are four new lines in there, adding one last detail to the story.
13:45 that's a rubber ducky that Kurt had brought into the studio, and the other noise is Kurt hissing and making it sound like steam.
Pleaseeee don't skip incesticide! It's an "outakes" album, BUT IT'S SUCH A GOOD ALBUM! I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Also, I feel like if you made an attempt to get into endless nameless I feel like you could jam to it, but after getting emotionally vunerable in something in the way it's definetly more rough to get into, haha
Aggel,
Thank you for mentioning Incesticide. The best work by Nirvana in my opinion. Cheers!
I think in my opinion a more accessible Endless Nameless is the live version from Live at the paramount. It's 🎃 Halloween and they play it as the secret Halloween track at the end.. to me it's a little more palatable than the studio version.. the verse Bass and guitar is more melodic and it's a pitch up. You will see. I mean don't get me wrong. The chorus is very much still a cacophony lol but In the best way possible! ;) 🤘🔥🤘🔥🤘🔥
@@kristopherguilbault5428 I agree! Endless Nameless live in Paramount is one of my favourite performances
...it was skipped
@@eyeless_hobo :(
Interesting reaction. I was a very introvert kid, very good hearted but with loads of rage waiting to explode. This album was an obsession for a long time. It was the only thing I could listen to. Some music speak to some people more than others.
At one point the only albums I owned were the nirvana collection and the downward spiral.
The first time I heard this album in 1991, I was completely blown away. It was so infectious in the melodies, and so raw at the same time. I knew right away it was like the "Star Wars" of rock albums, every track was special, and the production was solid, the musicians were inventive, and Kurt was mesmerizing in his voice, songs and guitar playing. It's still painful to this day he killed himself. I know he would have given so much more if he could have found a way to live.
But Star Wars is garbage and Kurt didn't kill himself.
You should definitely react to their complication album Incesticide, has some of my favorite Nirvana riffs, and their 1993 album In Utero.
Edit: Kurt actually almost blew his voice out at the end of Territorial Pissings, you can hear it. He actually did blow his voice out quite a bit on this album, but Territorial Pissings is the only song you can hear it on. Endless Nameless came about when they were recording a take for Lithium and couldn't get it right, Kurt, in a fit of rage, threw his guitar out of tune and went crazy, and the band followed. At the end, he started smashing his guitar on the floor, that's what you were hearing. Definitely one of my favorite songs by them, unironically.
The story I heard about "On a Plain" was that Kurt Cobain lost the lyric sheet and couldn't remember the words, so he hurriedly jotted down some new ones during a plane trip.
"Endless, Nameless" was, I believe, a "hidden track" on the first edition of the CD that was not included on later pressings.
Later burnings. Vinyl albums are "pressings"
It was actually the very first batch of Nevermind that didn't have Endless, Nameless. Someone notified the band that the song was missing, and they had to call the mastering engineer and chew him out to make sure that the track was included on subsequent pressings. The first copy of the album I bought back in the day didn't have it on there, so I had to go buy another copy. 😂
@@thingnumbertwo2 That seems odd, since the song wasn't on the copy that I bought new in 1994, but whatever, nevermind.
I bought a brand new copy today and it had the track. I was kind of scared it wouldn't be but my CD player kept going after Something in the Way so I was super relieved
As a metal fan who hated grunge even I have to admit this album is terriffic and really signaled the end of Metal being the dominant music form and Nevermind became this huge cultural thing.
It was the right album at the right time when at the beginning 90's which after the 80's was the decade that said time to pay up after the fun times in the 80's
It's really interesting to see someone coming at Nevermind with fresh ears. I was 13 when this came out and it was the first album that really felt like it was 'mine'. I loved it to bits and in those pre internet days listened to it over and over. Now I find it quite hard to listen to because of how much I over played it at the time.
Endless Nameless wasn't actually on the vinyl version. It was a hidden track on the CD version. I had to wait till it appeared on the b-side of either Come As You Are or Lithium to get it.
I have been listening to this album since it came out 30 years ago and I still don't understand a good 90% of the vocals and couldn't really tell you what any of the songs are about. This album just sounds so good that they lyrics never mattered so much. I do want to mention that this album was a really huge deal when it came out. I was working in a record store at the time and before this album came out, the popular music was all dance music, and rap. This album came out and changed the entire music scene. All the alternative and punk bands that got famous in the 90s can thank this album. I don't know of any other album after the Beatles that had such a huge impact on music.
SO cool, thanks for sharing that!
The lyrics are the best part
I'm not sure if it was commented on but the last song, Endless Nameless, was a hidden track. It was the first of which became a common trend for many other bands in the 90's (also a possible precursor to Marvel including end-credit scenes?). The story supposedly goes that Kurt originally made a tape for someone and hid a song after a long gap of silence, as an element of surprise. It worked on his friend and so Kurt used that idea on the Nevermind album. There original release of 50,000 copies of the album didn't include it as it was forgotten to be included by the cd manufacture. For a long time I never heard it (nor knew what people were talking about) as my original copy didn't have it. Years later I picked up another copy I listened with headphones and fell asleep, being loudly awaked to the hidden song. It worked.
Kurt would roll over in his grave if he knew Something In the Way is popular now because it was in a movie. It was the last song on Nevermind and he knew it was a “pretty” song but did not want it played in music stores, et cetera. So he put a 20 minutes gap after Something In the Way and tacked on Endless, Nameless specifically so SITW could not be put in rotation straight from the cd.
I have been to the bridge SITW was written about. You would not be surprised to know it is a living shrine.
So, "Something in the Way" and "Endless Nameless" are all on the same CD track? Decent!
@@farrellmcnulty909 yup. #12.
No he didn't
Kurt here, it's all true.
I think In Bloom is the best song on the album, what a melodic chorus, with great backing vocals, and drums
Sounds a little Oasish.
I like drain you or on a plain better
21:56 LOL you definitely have to be in the right mood to listen to that final song. I skip it sometimes when I'm listening to the album (kinda like Revolution 9 on the White Album). I find all the other songs on Nevermind to be amazing though.
The song I enjoy the most is Come As You Are (that guitar riff is one of the earliest riffs I learned to play on guitar when I was 12 years old. Good times!)
Unlike Revolution 9 it is at the end of the album after a bunch of silence. I don't know if the CD I had didn't have the track or I just always turned it off before it came on, but I don't think I have ever listened to the song
The guitar effect in Come as you are is a chorus pedal. Very effective.
So excited to see your reaction! This album is definitely the album along with Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation that I played a lot in high school, my fav song off of this album is Territorial Pissing and as a bassist, I love Lounge Act. Also, I'd definitely recommend giving the MTV unplugged a listen after you're done with In Utero!
I admire that you went through Endless Nameless like a trooper! It was an hidden track on Nevermind, 10 minutes of silence after Something in the Way then boom the song started.
Probably 200 people have said this already but for the "come as you are" sound he uses a chorus pedal with a clean guitar sound with the bottom humbuckers (guitar mic) and for the solo he adds in a distortion pedal. It's also the same sound as you can hear in the teen spirit solo
Love your analysis. My fave song on the record is probably Territorial Pissings, or maybe Something In The Way, depends on my mood that day. I was born in '82 and have an older sibling who was a teen when this record was released, so this record and Nirvana had a massive impact on my tastes growing up, I probably didn't listen to Nirvana for a good 7-8 years in my 20's but came back to the band in my 30's and totally got it all over again.
Along with Metallica and especially Faith No More, Nirvana were a massive gateway band for me into all sorts of aggressive music.
My personal fav is Lounge Act, but kudos to you
Kurt used a guitar effect pedal called a Small Clone to help achieve that “watery” guitar tone on Come As You Are. He also tuned to E flat tuning, half a step down
Btw, Nirvana learned their loud/soft/loud dynamic tricks from a band called the Pixies. Kurt Cobain was a huge fan of their music.
A couple things. We drummers get a lot of help from the rebound of the sticks. So if you hold the stick as loosely as possible without dropping it, and you keep your hands nice and relaxed, when you hit the drum, the force will send the stick back up. You can basicly get 2 strokes for the price of 1.
The addition of harmonies was from Dave Grohl. He was the new drummer on this record and of course, as evidenced by the Foo Fighters, has a fantastic voice of his own and he and Curt's voices were just magical together. Love how they sound on In Bloom.
Kurt's song writing for me is so amazing and complex. His writing will always weird you out but that's just how he is. He can blabber nonsense and for some reason it will make it good.
The chorus effect on the guitar could potentially have been added in post through an effects loop but some amps come with such effects built in and there's also the possibility it could be guitar pedal. I use a boss super chorus and it is a really great effect. It can be subtle and barely noticeable and just add a hint of texture to a guitar or it can dialed all the way up to that cascading watery sound. Easy to misuse too though but this song really does it well. Not subtle at all but super distinctive and atmospheric. Really sounds good on a clean guitar. I think it works by sort of doubling the notes you're playing but very slightly out of tune, so you get that bigger choral sound, kind of imitating the way a bunch of human voices in a choir are never going to be totally 100% in tune with each other.
it's pretty well known that Kurt used an electro-harmonics mini (or micro) Clone pedal, a small version of their clone theory chorus. The only amp with effects at the time was the Rolland Jazz Chorus amp, but it's much cleaner than Nirvana sound, more Joni Mitchell or Police.
If you aren't already familiar with their stuff, it would be wonderful to see you react to some Radiohead. No complaints about this reaction, or the Beatles reactions (of course)...in fact, I love these videos, they're wonderful, and your positivity and energy help me appreciate the music anew.
Great video Caroline! Endless, Nameless was the improvised product of pent-up frustration during the sessions for Lithium, which took a long time to perfect. Originally it was only a hidden track on the CD, and isn’t on most vinyl issues. So I don’t blame anyone who isn’t that into it, even though I happen to love it (and Revolution 9). 😂
Best rock album of all time. Changed my life
Nameless Endless is the 90’s version of Revolution 9
Lounge Act is such an underrated song
👉🏼 WHAT YOU SAID!
chorus effect pedal on in bloom guitar. guitar > pedalboard > amp etc. ya effects can be added later on computer programs now but most guitarists prefer to still use actual pedal boards. related note: adding distortion to a midi piano keyboard can also simulate an electric guitar kinda.
One of the best rock albums of all time.
You're a champion for Endless, Nameless. As said it was a secret song after 20 minutes of silence and it would scare you when it suddenly blasted out
Hey Caroline. It's good to see you back reviewing albums. I would definitely like to see more of this ilk if possible? Anyway, good stuff! Cheers.
So... About the "polarizing lyrics" in Lithium... The song is very much about experiencing extreme highs and lows... in the medical field, it would be classified as bipolar disorder, which is treated by administering doses of lithium...
From my understanding, that loud chorus quiet verse structure you talked about during In Bloom was popularized by Nirvana and then was subsequently everywhere while grunge and alt rock was still popular. One of their biggest influences, the Pixies, really leaned into this and are often credited with inspiring Nirvana in this way and many others.
Pixies started it, Kurt even said he ripped them off
5:30 guitarists typically create their sounds through their choice of amps and then their choice of effect pedals which you can daisy chain together into the amp.
One of my favorite albums of all time, but certainly not a relaxing, feel good record. I can still understand why some listeners may not care for all of it, but it was earth shaking to me. When this came out a lot of music was very redundant and this was a completely different sound. One of my favorite memories when this came out is that my girlfriend at the time heard it before me and she was so excited to bring it to my attention because everyone always expected me to discover new sounds. It was special for both of us.
This is a brilliant album. I love every track on here.
My favorite Nirvana Record!!!
Thanks for sharing, it's been a long time since I heard this whole album.
Please listen to the album ‘California’ by Mr.Bungle. Musically, instrumentally, and creatively it is something special. I really believe anyone who is musically inclined would appreciate this album.
Lol. You really think she’s going to make a video on mr bungle?
Kurt LOVED the chorus effect on a clean guitar tone.
I feel bad that she's never listened to one of the greatest albums of all time!
I feel bad for this generation music wise. There are still good musicians out there but they have little support and the mainstream is trash. It's one thing to listen to Nevermind it's another thing to have been able to see them live.
Depending on your age. It is quite astonishing to never have heard some of these songs.. I can understand if you are fairly young. Having been born late 90s or early 00s then I suppose it's possible. For people our age though Nirvana was everywhere you looked. Especially Nevermind and Teen Spirit.. so for people our age there is really no excuses!! 😂😆
Not one of the greatest albums of all time at all. Wouldn’t even call it a good album.
@@RonyFish Much of the mainstream has been trash since forever. It was mostly trash in the 90s, and it is still mostly trash today. There are some songs from the 90s that I can’t believe I ever enjoyed.
@@guitarraman1237 Sure some songs were trash back then too. But you fail to realise how many great act were actualy able to gain recognition through the 90s which is definetly not the case today. I know this industry in and out, so I could tell what has changed but I feel lazy right now.
The whole album is amazing, but Territorial Pissings is probably my favourite. Polly has a really good story in it,
Territorial Pissings is an amazing song, very underrated.
You have a strange definition of "good" mate. Interesting? Maybe. Horrifying? For sure. But I wouldn't exactly call it good.
Breed "We can plant a house, we can build a tree. I don't even care, we don't have to breed" is one of my lyrics. Territorial Pissings "Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" is another gem.
Nirvana was sued for Come as You Are because the riff was basically a slowed down version of Killing Joke's Eighties. Which itself sounds suspiciously similar to The Damned's Life Goes On.
That didn't happen. Killing Joke never pursued a copywrite infringement suit. Eighties is very similar to The Damned's Life Goes On.
Naw bro.
I think Come as you are was supposed to be the first track on the album but Kurt was scared it was to similar to the songs you mentioned so it wasn't the first track.
Its harder to drum fast in the air than it is to drum on the face of a surface. You get a tactile bounce from the surface.
Found you on your Beatles Odyssey and I'm loving your reactions. I, like a lot of others, will never forget the first time I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit. I pulled my car over to listen to it properly, like "Wtf is *this*?"
About the guitar tone changing in “Come As You Are” it is chorus pedal that is plugged in between the guitar and the amp
Music is one of those "You had to be there." Type things to really truly grasp its full impact. When I ask people what concerts have they ever been to, I always preface it with "Did you see them in concert in their heyday?" Because it matters.
I recommend other bands like The Sonics, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Fugazi, The Stone Roses, Golden Earring, The Foo Fighters, The Stooges, Blur, U2 (the Post-Puk era, I Will Follow and New Year's Day etc.), Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Interpol especially their song Evil, Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP and others.
@@danbam3411 if that's so, well damn!
@@danbam3411 that sucks bro!
Those are the best ones, most easy ones are mid to low!
Like I love Nirvana and Beatles, but exploring stuff is great too!
Umm ok this is very odd. I will just kindly leave the twitter thread here and you can make up your own mind...very confused how my reply was crass :/ Thought it was kind to let him know I didn't intend on reacting to the Rolling stones instead of ignoring him. I guess you can't please everyone!
Time to block Dan the man I think
twitter.com/cazza_music/status/1490603379391090691
@@CallMeCaroline idk anymore lol
@@CallMeCaroline is it the same guy that replied to me about twitter too? Because I was gonna say who hurt that boy lol. Just ignore weird people Caroline and feel free to react to whatever you like, it is your channel after all.
Great reaction! To answer your questions: Kurt uses a flange guitar effect pedal on Come As You Are...yes the lyrics are very much secondary, as Kurt famously wrote half the lyrics of this album while riding the bus to the recording studio....Endless Nameless was like a hidden song (it wasn't listed on the back of the album or the sleeve), and you had to let the CD play for like 10 minutes of silence before the song would come on (and it's also the song they would usually play right before they smashed their instruments to end the show). I saw them in 94 in Vancouver just a few months before Kurt died....one of my favorite teenaged memories.
You should check out Kurt's cover of And I Love Her by the Beatles from his Insesticide album
Caroline, while I'm always glad to see your reaction videos, Nirvana is one of those bands I could never get into. I blame it on my downstairs neighbor who would listen to their albums turned up to 11 for hours on end. Any time I hear a Nirvana song I think back to hearing that music shaking my walls. Like the band or not, there's no denying their legacy as the godfather of grunge music.
the high pitched sound effect that you were wondering about in the song Drain You is Kurt squeezing a rubber ducky into the microphone followed by steam sounds that he made by hissing. What you probably missed on this album since you stopped for every song is how beautifully the songs bleed into one another. Go back and take a listen.
You'll probably really enjoy their MTV unplugged album.
12:15 " omg sounds like its hurting his voice " try listening to scentless apprentice on the album In utero, Incredible song but my voice starting hurting just hearing it, he's singing in the soprano register while SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS. great but terrifying
That guitar sound on Come As You Are can be attained using a single coil electric guitar (neck pickup) playing through a chorus pedal with a high depth and low repeat rate, coupled with added reverb (which can be done in post-production)
The LOUD QUIET LOUD was first made effective by Boston alt rockers THE PIXIES in the late 1980s. Kurt Cobain even cites “ripping them off” in several interviews. The Pixies had a huge following in Europe, more so than in their native country in the USA.
Caroline if you want to hear another iconic rock album from the 90s: 'Definitely Maybe' by Oasis is a special one.
And (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory
Oh an Oasis discography reaction would be so sweet, they have a ton of good material
There is a video on youtube, you should check out the producer Butch Vig talking about who difficult was to record something in the way and how it was a mess and out of tempo and tune.
watch on UA-cam at METAL GIRLS REACT TO PINK FLOYD
For On a Plain, supposedly the lyrics were "written" on the spot during recording. I put written in quotes because the lyrics come from journals of his, not so much in any message/story or order, but just what fit the melody of the song. It keeps all the songs somewhat mysterious as there isn't a lot of intentional meaning.
Btw Polly is a VERY disturbing and messed up song based on a true story, just go read up on it and watch stuff about it.
It's actually sad...
The guitar sound in "Come As You Are" is achieved using an effects pedal- in this case, a "chorus" effect.
I CANNOT wait to see your reaction to In Utero!
I'm glad you continue Nirvana, cause I too haven't heard all the songs/albums yet
This album is a masterpiece. At the time it was a complete different sound in rock music. Definitely one of my favorites. The last song was not even mentioned in the tracks list on the original CD it was a hidden track.
I have so many favorites on this album - or just love the whole thing. Perfect album, I'm glad you covered it. Loved your Beatles series as well.
I love that you react to entire albums on your channel. I always appreciate your analysis and honest reactions, good or bad. I'd love to see you react to some Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall) or Led Zeppelin (III and IV are my favorites). But there are a ton of great older artists and I really enjoy watching you explore them, whatever you choose next.
Smells like Teen Spirit likely my fav song. I recommend watching the music video, giving much of the vibe from that MTV era. There is a fabulous parody of the song by Weird Al Yankovic - being highly appreciated by Nirvana - that is musically on par with the original (typical for Weird Al). It would be a pity if you missed out on those things, imo.
Patti Smith does a great cover too. Kinda slow Hillbilly style.
I like "Something In The Way". I remember when this album came out, I was working at Tower Records and playing gigs all the time....and EVERYWHERE you went, you heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (and also "Lithium" and one or two others). I wasn't a huge fan at the time or anything; musically it was very much in the style of Husker Du and other bands from the 80s that I like better.....but he definitely had the hooks. Years later, I bought the studio monitors they recorded "Nevermind" on (allegedly, lol).
You should listen to the unplugged version
You need to go for Alice in Chains if you want vocal harmonies. Best harmonies of the 90s, best voices of the 90s.
harmonies, but voices?... come on... maybe it's to your taste (and i like aic too), but give me chino's or kurt's voice any day over layne
@@notimportant3686 I was referring to the front 4 as the best voices of the 90s. I don't think it's up for debate that Layne and Chris were the top 2 of the 90s. Kurt would be your personal taste. Kurt was good in studio, as was Chris, but they didn't deliver as well live. Layne actually delivered better live than in studio. I think Chris sounded better in studio than anyone in the 90s because of how technical he was.
@@Footsoldier1234 i actually don't like chris's voice AT ALL, the actual tone... layne is a great singer but the pitch of his voice is not as good as kurt's, and you are right IT IS a matter of taste, and therefore you are wrong... it is COMPLETELY up for debate... or to make it easier for you... my taste is right and your taste is wrong
@@notimportant3686 as far as what you like it's up for debate. But as far as how you are actually supposed to sing, Kurt was terrible. He blew his voice out all the time. Layne and Chris have perfect breath control, vibrato, positioning of the mouth and tongue, ect. No vocal coach in the world that is unbiased will tell you Kurt is a better singer than Layne and Chris. I'm not really interested in arguing with you, I really don't have to. I like them all. You can call Kurt number 1 all you want. But Layne and Chris were trained singers. Kurt took his teen angst, stomach pain, and frustrations with his parent's divorce, put it down on paper, and screamed it using words and phrases that don't make sense. That is what made him special. But it was not his vocal talent. But I love Kurt just as much as the other guys. He's just not on their level. But believe what you wish. In the end people believe what they want to believe.
@@Footsoldier1234 "how to sing" and the audible singing that you produce are completely different concepts... the fact is there are amazing singers like maynard from whom i hear false notes live ALL THE TIME, kurt was able to go to the limit of his voice and BEYOND IT and still sing in tune... he was able to get closer to his limit than layne by a HUGE margin and still stay in tune... these are facts
“It’s like I’m doing a plank!” 🤣
So crazy to think I was about your age when this album came out. I remember sitting in the back of the car with a car load full of friends and saying "Play this cd! Play this! They are going to be bigger than the Beatles even!"
They all thought I was crazy. Honestly though this album was EPIC. Just HUGE. Changed everything at the time.
The guitars in "Come as You Are" are achieved by using a chorus effect pedal
Great! The journey continues!👍
17:00 part of it is moving your hands quickly and getting that dexterity going. But a big part of it is using your index finger as a folcrum point, using the springieness of your drum head, and using your other fingers behind your index finger as "triggers" to also hit the drum head. So you can get multiple hits in with a single stroke of your arm, and then as you improve your hand speed as well you can make them even faster.
Kurt acknowledged that their “loud, quiet, loud” approach was very much influenced by The Pixies… who influenced an entire generation of musicians… including much bigger names in music like David Bowie and U2. My favorite track on “Nevermind” is “Lounge Act”. p.s… Kurt’s singing style did take a harsh physical toll on his body. Bleeding from his diaphragm was common for him.