10 Legendary Albums That Will Make You Love Grunge

There are only a few moments where you can really pin down when the tides would change in the world of rock music. You can argue that Chuck Berry started the concept of rock and roll when he made Johnny B Goode, but most of these things end up catching on gradually, as the rest of the public gets used to this new sound. If you wanted to hear the moment that the tides changed for grunge though, you just need to look at the video for Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Off the strength of just 12 tracks, Nirvana delivered punk for the masses on Nevermind, pairing together the same manic energy of grunge with the kind of pop hooks that most people could fall in love with. Kurt Cobain had always considered himself a huge Beatles fan, and you can hear him flirting with the poppier side of rock across this album, whether that means the 'Yeah' chorus of Lithium or bringing things back down to Earth a little bit on Come As You Are.

The transition to the top of the world did end up being an extremely mixed blessing for Kurt, who seemed to want to run away from his fame as fast as he could, bad mouthing this record for being too slick and not up to his standards. If you were to ask the rest of the scene, Kurt probably shouldn't have been so hard on himself. This was the kind of earnest rock and roll that could help expose fans to the alternative sides of the genre.