Nevermind at 20

Untucked flannel shirts, messy hair and laid-back air.

It was the spring of 1990. Hoping to become at least as well-known as groups they liked, including Sonic Youth and The Melvins, a band passed on such niceties as heated apartments and furniture and focused their money and energy on a demo recorded at Vig's Madison, Wis., studio.

Nirvana

And now their album NEVERMIND is 20 years old.

Grunge is old.

Cobain wasn't thrilled with Nevermind, at least initially, says his biographer Charles R. Cross. "Early on, he complained that the album was too produced," says Cross. "But at the same time, he would acknowledge that it was a brilliant production. Vig was a drummer, and his genius was bringing Grohl to the forefront of the sound on Nevermind. Those opening notes of Teen Spirit can't help but knock you over."

For Nirvana's surviving band members, the album that made their name continues to be a source of pride.
"It was exactly like I hoped it would be," says Grohl. "It's a real simple record. A drum set, a bass, a couple of guitar overdubs and a vocal that's doubled. That's it. By today's standards, it might as well have been done at Sun Studio."

Now, an expansive new multi-disc re-release of Nevermind reveals, the band worked incessantly for more than a year to craft an album that went on to rock the foundation of the music business in the same way that the Sex Pistols' (similarly titled) Never Mind the Bollocks caused a punk explosion in the disco age.

The box set Nevermind [4CD/DVD Super Deluxe] is out today but exclusive to Best Buy until an Oct. 24 general release.

SOURCE: Nirvana poured their hearts into 'Nevermind' – USATODAY.com: