Nirvana's 'Nevermind' Reissue: 20th Anniversary Gets Album Re-Release

It's hard to believe that Nevermind, Nirvana's seminal and landmark album, is hurtling toward the 20th anniversary of its release, as the music is as fresh and vital as ever. But time does pass, a fact that record companies are quick to emphasize, given the sentimental calendar's profit possibilities.

As such, with the September 24th milestone on the horizon for Nirvana, Universal is planning a massive four CD/one DVD release for September 20th. The set will include a remastered version of the original album, plus a plethora of rarities, B-sides, BBC radio appearances, an unseen concert and unreleased tracks, according to a press release (via SPIN Magazine).

The album, which blasted grunge music into a full frontal assault on the world, has sold more than 30 million copies. Its signature single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," defined the band, but nearly every song has become a classic in its own right. Creepy, rolling, "Come As You Are," pain-confessing "Lithium," and 1989 revival "Polly" were significant hits, while "Drain You" featured as the B-Side to "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

For more on the re-release, click over to SPIN Magazine.

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Comments

[TannySG]

02:07 PM on 06/24/2011

:)

[catcrazee]

09:03 PM on 06/23/2011

...loved them but Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were my absolute faves.

[dean2f4s]

08:38 PM on 06/23/2011

I was 11 living in Seattle and to think when "grunge" hit and to think I missed being able to see all that awesome music kills me to this day! I still live in Seattle and we have a awesome music scene but there was just a weird chaotic awesomeness in early 90's Seattle! I got to see it but only from the balcony...

[Seafarer61]

05:05 PM on 06/23/2011

...and I bet the guy playing the Mustang will still sound like he's in week three of Mel Bay's Learn to Play guitar.
Never liked 'em....I was more of an Alice in Chains fan myself.

[catcrazee]

08:59 PM on 06/23/2011

Alice in Chains!

[BigFootJesus]

09:58 AM on 06/24/2011

Do you play?

[Seafarer61]

07:44 PM on 06/24/2011

Three decades. My tastes run to Greg Howe and Guthrie Govan but my personal favorite is Alex Hutchings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0kjUWJaII

[maurilius]

04:31 PM on 06/23/2011

I remember it well. I was a very new freshman at NC State and was already a fan when Nevermind came out. They played the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill on October 4, 1991. There was definitely a buzz about the show. The night before in Philly they were actually booed, I suppose because they "broke," which then was sort of taboo for a band like Nirvana.

To me, the release of Nevermind ushered in the end of a great period of music, say from 1987 to 1991 (Mudhoney, Jane's Addiction, Afghan Whigs, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and the list goes on and on). My first month or so in college, I saw all of these bands, and many many more, but it ultimately went away with Nevermind. After that, it got cheesey (i.e., Pearl Jam).

[BigFootJesus]

10:00 AM on 06/24/2011

Sonic Youth didn't go anywhere. They have remained one of the best American bands ever, live and in the studio.

[Prince Toddy English]

02:25 PM on 06/23/2011

There is a reason why unreleased music is unreleased...Because it SUCKED.

[liacashmere89]

02:35 PM on 06/23/2011

Thank you! Most people don't want to hear unreleased­ songs from Nirvana, Tupac, Biggie, Michael Jackson, Selena, Aaliyah, Left Eye, Elvis, or any other dead artist. If they didn't put it out while they were alive it's because it's trash and they knew it

[0311SaltDog usmc]

02:12 PM on 06/23/2011

A good band with a few very good songs.. But still overrated IMO.

[maurilius]

02:54 PM on 06/23/2011

You're obviously under the age of 37.

[Wintersoldier7020]

03:19 PM on 06/23/2011

I'm under the age of 37 and I think Nirvana is a great band , but the emotions the band provokes and their sound/tone isn't for everyone.

[mikeodd]

01:57 PM on 06/23/2011

Eagerly looking forward to it! I recall a few years ago when "You Know You're Right" hit the airwaves and how it completely shredded everything else on the radio at the time. Such was the power of one of the best bands to ever do it. Nirvana -very much missed, never ever forgotten.

[rar358]

11:57 AM on 06/24/2011

lol, I have talked to so many people who've referenced that song from "a few years ago". It wasn't a few years ago, it was 9.

[mpls mas macho]

01:52 PM on 06/23/2011

A reminder of why Nirvana was such a breath of fresh air after all the hairspray rock that came before it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C50Z7e7lsVY This is also from the same show that was the site of the famous Kurt Cobain vs. Axl Rose backstage confrontation.

[kensp]

03:54 PM on 06/23/2011

I don't have time to watch right now, but this was at the MTV awards was it not? At the end of Nirvana's performance, Krist Novoselic threw his bass into the air and it came back down and beaned him right in the forehead. I will always remember watching that on tv as it happened.

[mpls mas macho]

05:45 PM on 06/23/2011

Yep, in 1992. The story has gone back forth whether he was really injured or not, but great performance nevertheless. There's also a clip from the same show where Nirvana is awarded a prize by (awkwardly) Wilson Philips and Bel Biv Devoe.

[noway lv]

08:39 PM on 06/23/2011

I was only 5 when this happened . . . but I grew to appreciate the 90s!

[Hopethisworks]

01:19 PM on 06/23/2011

Man, I played the c.rap out of that cd.

[CornellDublier]

01:08 PM on 06/23/2011

Sorry never thought much of the no melody bands

[mpls mas macho]

01:20 PM on 06/23/2011

Have you ever listened to Nirvana's version of Bowie's "Man who sold the world" on MTV's Unplugged? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8 - sorry couldn't find non-Vevo version). Great cover, great feeling, & powerful guitar solo, all the more so for it being played on just one string.

[spiderbucket]

01:24 PM on 06/23/2011

You must not have listened very well. Nirvana counted Abba, The Beatles, and The Knack as influences. Their songs were very catchy for heavy rock.

[american-dolt]

12:55 PM on 06/23/2011

Isn't Courtney Hole gonna start a bunch of Lawsuits over this?

[mpls mas macho]

12:16 PM on 06/23/2011

I remember very well hearing Nevermind for the first time, in my friends dorm room in Pioneer Hall @ the U of Minn my sophomore year, a few weeks after we all returned from summer vacation. The music spread so quickly everybody was listening to the album in just the space of a couple weeks. I think for a lot of people Nevermind signaled the final demise of all the generic, corporate, phony hair-metal schlock like Winger, Poison, Warrant, etc etc that MTV pushed on an entire generation. Nevermind was like when the Beatles landed at JFK; a true before and after moment.

[RepublicansAreFail]

12:36 PM on 06/23/2011

God I hated hair bands. The most fake and phony music ever! Such corporate schlock!

[american-dolt]

12:59 PM on 06/23/2011

Wrong. This is a Hair Band

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80522498/

[mpls mas macho]

01:09 PM on 06/23/2011

Only because of generational nostalgia do any songs from that genre survive. The only positive thing I can say about that music was that oftentimes it was so awful and cliched that it fell into the category of "so bad its good."

[Cole 33]

12:39 PM on 06/23/2011

favorite quote about all that, from Brett Michaels talking about Nirvana.

"All of the sudden people were looking at us thinking we looked ridiculous, and we did."

[mpls mas macho]

01:04 PM on 06/23/2011

That's a great quote. A lot of those bands went from playing 20,000 seat arenas to playing at 2000 capacity night clubs almost overnight. Remember when Poison tried to get "serious" with that song about homeless Vietnam Vets in a desperate attempt to remain relevant?

[lemmyk73]

12:09 PM on 06/23/2011

I remember I Was in NYC at a tiny club. The bottom floor was all dance/techno of the time- but upstairs was a tiny rock club. I remember the first time I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit and it blew me away. It was real. Unfortunately, Nirvana ruined all the fun in music and spawned the Staind's and Creeds of today.

the best song they ever did was "Verse Chorus Verse". Seek it out if you can find it. Was on the No Alternative HIV charity compilation.

[derrickhoyle]

12:46 PM on 06/23/2011

a.k.a. Sappy...I like the No Alternative version best.

[lemmyk73]

01:00 PM on 06/23/2011

Learn something everyday. I did not know it was also called "Sappy". Thanks. I never bothered with Nirvana after he left this Earth. I can not listen to them much anymore.

Honestly, I think Foo Fighters are a way better band.

I find that I do not listen to much 90's music anymore. It is like that decade is gone from my playlists- except for Pantera and Urge OVerkill "Saturation"- classic

[BigFootJesus]

10:05 AM on 06/24/2011

You can't blame Nirvana for Staind and Creed. Blame the industry.

[pbarba1969]

11:39 AM on 06/23/2011

Sorry to say but no interest in another song by the most over rated band ever.