10 Perfect Grunge Albums With No Bad Songs

There was a duality to Nirvana. Kurt Cobain seemed to reject any notion of becoming a pop star. But it's no secret he had a deep affiliation for the pop music that came before him. The Beatles were one of his main sources of inspiration, and his song About A Girl, could happily have appeared on one of their earlier records.

Nevermind, was what brought grunge to the mainstream and although the songs were disguised in low fidelity make up, the melodies were nothing if not pop-centric. This fact seemed to have tortured Cobain to no end. After the album's mainstream success, the group doubled down on their anti-everything sentiment, writing songs that were less accessible and more unapologetically rebellious.

The bands third album, dealt with yet darker themes and saw Cobain adopt an even raspier emphasis to his vocals. In Utero was visceral, impart this can be attributed to the choice to go with a new producer, Steve Albini. They recorded everything in extremely short sessions, often using first takes, and being less reliant on layering to bulk up the overall sound of the tracks.

Heart-shaped Box and Rape Me, both received criticism. The former's music video drew heat for its bastardisation of religious iconography. And, although Rape Me denounced rape as a wicked and deplorable act, the blunt handling of the subject matter caused people to question the songs meaning. For all that, this album was the perfect follow up to Nevermind.