NIRVANA, the trio comprised of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl, hailed originally from a coastal fishing town in Washington and rose to become one of the most influential rock bands in history with irreverence, intense honesty and an overriding passion.

Nevermind is recognised as a rock classic, although on release Rolling Stone gave it a paltry three stars, the cultural shift it initiated was felt instantly on release — and the profundity and depth of that shift becomes even more apparent when seen through the prism of the two decades of art and music created in its wake.

Released in September of 1991, “Nevermind” despite low commercial expectations by the band and its record label, it rose within a few months to the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s U.S. sales chart. “Nevermind” was propelled to No. 1 across the globe by their young fans worldwide that identified with the band and embraced their anthem. January 1992, it had replaced Michael Jackson’s album Dangerous at number one on the Billboard charts.

Smells Like Teen Spirit is now seen as a breakthrough – when grunge went mainstream – although at the time Kurt Cobain admitted he was just trying to imitate The Pixies. Since then, it has sold more than 30 million albums.

NIRVANA changed the course of popular music forever and remains an inspiration to those who have followed.

What do you think is it still as good as it was 20 years ago, or has it past its used by date?

Until next time keep rockin’
The 0800 Jukebox crew.
www.0800jukebox.co.nz