August, 1993.
Interviewer: I warn that Paul McCartney recently said that “Lithium” was the song he loved the most.
Krist Novoselic: “That’s funny, because when I did the bass line of the song my goal was just to give it a Beatles air.”
Kurt Cobain: “I think if it was John Lennon who said that, I would have peed joy. But Paul… Okay, I’m wrong and I guess he has contributed significantly to many things I love about the Beatles. But I hate his solo albums.”
“Cut Me Some Slack.” Performed by Paul McCartney and Nirvana members Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear.
12/12/12. The Nirvana reunion with Paul McCartney.
The song performed was “Cut Me Some Slack.” You can click here and find out more information or follow the links below.
“I really want to change our style of music. I want to be something different, really different. I want to have enough guts to do that and if it alienates people, that’s too bad. You know, not to compare us to The Beatles, but The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, bands like that went from “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to “Sgt. Pepper’s”, that was a massive progression, and I just want to experiment.” - Kurt Cobain, 1993.
“The Beatles and Black Sabbath are probably my two biggest influences, I listened to both of them at the same time when I was a little kid in fourth grade, hanging around with a lot of older kids in the trailer park where my dad lived. In the Summer, they would come over to our trailer when Dad wasn’t home to smoke pot, screw their girlfriends and listen to records. They turned me onto a lot of really cool hard rock at a really young age.” - Kurt Cobain, 1991.
When Nirvana released their debut album Bleach in 1989 on a small-time American independent label (Sub Pop) very few people took any notice of its caustic, angst-ridden howl of Black Sabbath and Black Flag-isms twisted around irresistible yet spiky melodies. Two years later, in September 1991, the band released their follow-up, ‘Nevermind’, and they were transformed from underground favorites to the biggest rock stars on the planet. The angst in their music was still palpable, the attitude unchanged, but this time Kurt and co. let the melody and pop control the metal and punk rather than the other way around.
In every interview we’ve had over the last two years we’ve been practically warning everyone that we’re writing more pop songs, so I don’t think it’ll be a surprise to anyone when they hear [Nevermind]. All my favorite songs are pop songs. Pop just means simple, and that’s what punk rock has been forever until it turned into hardcore. - Kurt Cobain, August 1991 interview with NME.
Two decades and over 30 million sales since its first release we take a look at five bands whose approach to songwriting helped to shape Nirvana’s own, making ‘Nevermind’ the iconic album that it is.
“I wanted to have the adoration of John Lennon but have the anonymity of Ringo Starr, I didn’t want to be a frontman. I just wanted to be back there and still be a rock and roll star at the same time.” - Kurt Cobain.
When Nirvana released their debut album Bleach in 1989 on a small-time American independent label (Sub Pop) very few people took any notice of its caustic, angst-ridden howl of Black Sabbath and Black Flag-isms twisted around irresistible yet spiky melodies. Two years later, in September 1991, the band released their follow-up, Nevermind, and they were transformed from underground favourites to the biggest rock stars on the planet. The angst in their music was still palpable, the attitude unchanged, but this time Kurt and co. let the melody and pop control the metal and punk rather than the other way around.
In every interview we’ve had over the last two years we’ve been practically warning everyone that we’re writing more pop songs, so I don’t think it’ll be a surprise to anyone when they hear [Nevermind]. All my favourite songs are pop songs. Pop just means simple, and that’s what punk rock has been forever until it turned into hardcore. - Kurt Cobain, August 1991 interview with NME.
Two decades and over 30 million sales since its first release we take a look at five bands whose approach to songwriting helped to shape Nirvana’s own, making Nevermind the iconic album that it is.
