10 Underrated Hard Rock Songs Of The '80s
4. Negative Creep - Nirvana
Throughout most of the '80s, alternative rock was still very much a part of the underground. Long before the grunge boom sent everything into overdrive in the early '90s, the age of The Pixies and The Smiths was back when alternative rock was actually... y'know... alternative to something. However, even when taking baby steps into their career, Nirvana was a musical wrecking ball.
Released on the now-legendary indie label Sub Pop, the band's first album Bleach features some of the sharpest songs in their career. Though some songs like About a Girl may get praised thanks to the band's Unplugged performance, Negative Creep is where Nirvana really let their heaviness out. Rather than the fun-loving pop rock that would turn up later on Nevermind, this song is Nirvana as an all-out metal band, with a borderline-incoherent guitar riff that feels like it's ripped straight out of The Melvins' playbook.
As Cobain lays down his frantic vocals, the song shifts to the bridge section, which seems to owe a little something to the stoner rock movement that was coming out of the California desert at the time. Nirvana still had a long way to go before becoming global superstars, but given that a song this heavy came out of their debut, this was already a musical giant learning to walk.