20 Years and Still Rockin' (My Nevermind Tribute)

September 24, 1991 Nirvana's sophomore album Nevermind is released.  Essentially kicking the music industry in the nuts and sending Guns N Roses packing.  Was this intended?  No, they were just three punks doing their thing.  Soon enough some college radio stations picked up the lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit and BAM!  Grunge is born, hair metal is gone, and the music industry is forever altered. 

This was a huge deal.  By 1992 Nevermind had knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the charts.  Michael Freaking Jackson, pre-molestation.  Name some singers more famous than MJ... Elvis, Beatles, and that's probably it.  And here are these dirtballs from Washington not only unseating him from his pop throne, but changing our culture not only musically, but also in fashion, their "grunge" attire became the cool thing on runways even. 

Officially labeled as "alternative" at the beginning, Nirvana opened the door for tons of bands to get heard on mainstream radio that we may not have heard otherwise.  Obviously Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains come to mind, but there were many more that rode the wave of alt-rock as far as it would take them.  (Some are even still kicking today.)

All of society was affected for however short of time we had with them.  Listen to any modern rock band today, and you can more than likely hear Nirvana influences.  Puddle of Mudd is a blatant Nirvana ripoff, but that's OK right?  I mean it's better than Beiber.

There are two different special edition releases of Nevermind dropping to commemorate the 20th anniversary which are linked below.  Do yourself a favor, if you haven't listened to Nevermind please do.  It is easily one of the best albums ever.  You may even find yourself seeking out more Nirvana after the fact.