Sounds like a really long version of post #39 :dubious:
I think that’s the show. Thanks!
Which reminds me:
Trent Reznor IS Nine Inch Nails
I would disagree with the first statement. The Bonnie Tyler video is more similar to other videos around the same time like These Dreams by Heart or I Would Do Anything For Love by Meat Loaf. They have that sort of bombastic over the top dreamlike fairy tale quality. But they are mostly musical fantasy filled with some random shit.
The video for Smells Like Teen Spirit borrows some of the same cinematography tricks to be sure. But what makes the video different is the dark subject matter. Basically the most fucked up high school pep rally ever with the lighting and the disaffected kids who all looked like wacked out rejects and the motorcycle chick cheerleaders with the anarchy logos on their uniforms and not to mention the weird janitor who felt like a look 40 years into their future.
As a college freshman in 1991, I think a lot of my peers could relate to that video. The over the top bombastic rock of the 80s like Motley Crue, Poison and Def Leppard was more of a fantasy of how my generation fancied themselves. Smells Like Teen Spirit felt more true to how we really felt we were.
Ultimately I found Nirvana a bit morose for my tastes. After listening to Foo Fighters, I sometimes wonder how Kurt Kobain and David Grohl even got along at all.
In Utero is a better album than Nevermind.
I had zero idea what Kurt Cobain looked like, as a 15-year old girl when SLTS hit the airwaves in my neck of the woods. I heard the song, thought, “WHAT is that glorious noisy loudness! NEED!” And I was making my way to the record store. Simple as that.
Also, my mom didn’t like it. Bonus!
Suicidal Tendencies filled that role for me quite nicely. And, of course, their name freaked her out. BONUS Bonus! 
He even smelled like Teen Spirit.
I will grant that “Heart Shaped Box” is probably the best song Nirvana ever did, but I didn’t think anyone seriously preferred In Utero to Nevermind.
I was 20 when Nevermind came out. I was, and still am, a classic rock fan. I just couldn’t get into the hair metal that so many of my high school class mates loved. I have never been a fan of rap, and metal was still too scary. After high school there was no new music for me.
Nevermind was loud and crunchy and I could sing along… well hum anyway. It was new rock I could enjoy.
FWIW, I never became a fan of grunge. I liked Pearl Jam’s first three albums much more than anything by Nirvana. I’m a huge fan of the Foos. Dave Grohl was the best part of Nirvana.
I wouldn’t say that. I definitely preferred In Utero and, from what I could tell, that was not exactly a controversial opinion. It wasn’t a consensus opinion, either, but among my group of music friends, it was seen as the better album.
It’s not necessarily the most scientific way of doing it, but just look at, say, the Amazon ratings for both In Utero and Nevermind. The former averages 4.5 stars, the latter 4.
A lot of people in this thread are referring to Nirvana as “classic rock.” Am I that old? :eek:
I was a huge Nirvana fan back in the day. Owned pretty much all their albums, imports, singles, and a few bootlegs. Read Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana more times then I could count. Smoked Winston Lights because that’s the brand Kurt smoked. Picked up guitar (a sunburst Fender Stratocaster) because it was one of Kurt’s favorite guitars.
I liked Nevermind, but I honestly felt it was one of their weaker albums. It contained enough mainstream appeal to be radio-friendly, much like Metallica’s black album. Incesticide was their best, closely followed by Bleach. In Utero was okay, but the song Rape Me was one of the worst the band ever put out. It got so much playtime simply because it was shocking.
To answer the OP: Nevermind was so popular because it was mainstream and clean enough for a general audience, but edgy and emotional enough for the music nerds.
If Nirvana were a person, they’re less than 10 years away from being able to run for President.
Classic rock to me is stuff like Eric Clapton, Boston, Led Zeppelin…
It hit me a couple years ago when I was listening in the car and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was on. I had realized it had been 20 years since I first heard it in high school. And then I realized me listening to it now was the equivalent of my high school self listening to Led Zeppelin IV.
I agree that the genre that I know as “classic rock” is just a synonym for late-60s to perhaps very early 80s rock, mostly stuff we’d call 70s blues-based rock, album oriented rock, that sort of thing.
Has that definition expanded as we’ve gotten older? It’s hard for me to tell as the people I hang out with tend to be more or less in my age group, within about 10-15 years or so. Is 70s and 80s music now “oldies” the way 50s and 60s was in my youth?
Yes, oldies stations around the country are playing 70s and 80s music now.
I prefer to think of “classic rock” as the 70s stuff, but bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam are sneaking on to a few “classic rock” stations too.
I probably didn’t get your point:
Naked Lunch I don’t believe I’ve heard.
Last Exit to Brooklyn was something I respected because it was Mark Knopfler’s work. I truly respect him as a musician, but when the CD got damaged I didn’t replace it. (or was this a reference to something else?)
Appetite for Destruction was the much needed bullet to the brain of big hair. In my whitebread head GNR were the offspring of The Dead Kennedys. But like many artists, they pretty much said the best of what they had to say in their first release.
As for Nevermind, well, it was kind of like that girl you’d probably have dated if she’d asked you but you didn’t have much in common. I liked Nirvana, but I probably didn’t “get” them. I needed a sledgehammer to the skull (like AFD) to get me off the pop.
When Nirvana and Pearl Jam were getting the most airplay back in the 90’s, it was referred to as “modern rock.” I’m still going to call it that. 
Modern rock, classic rock, oldies… when will we start hearing “ancient rock”?
The stations around here called it “alternative rock” (which had some irony to it, as it pretty quickly became mainstream.) It’s basically what was once upon a time called “college rock” but then, when it started finding commercial success in the late 80s to early 90s, it became “alternative rock.”
Naked Lunch
Last Exit to Brooklyn