Nevermind by Nirvana (USA) (CD, Sep-1991, DGC David Geffen Company USA)

This album is a must for anyone who loves rock music and its history. It is hard for me to describe to a young person today just what it felt like to hear this revolutionary music for the first time. Now, Nevermind is standard classic radio fare that has allowed alt bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Killers to become pop stars, but in 1991, when bands like Poison dominated the airwaves, it was almost inconceivable that something as edgy, serious, and passionate would be heard by the mainstream.
In the late 80s and early 90s there was an alternative music movement that was bubbling just below the surface waiting for something to turn that simmer into a boil. That something was Nirvana, and it ignited a fire that blew the lid off Top 40 radio and changed the face of music.
I was 16 at the time and was already heavy into alternative music with Pixies, Sonic Youth and REM being my favorite bands. I don't remember the day or place I first heard Nevermind, but I remember the feeling. During those first opening notes of Smells Like Teen Spirit, my jaws dropped open. It was like everything I had heard before and nothing I had heard before all rolled into one. It was a conflicted feeling of de ja vu and that of entering a strange new world. It was my only musical experience like this to date and I don't think it happens very often. People who were around to first hear the Beatles or Elvis are probably the only other fortunate people to have a musical experience like this.
Despite the fact that Teen Spirit has become the most overplayed rock song of the decade (stealing the crown from Stairway to Heaven), it's still an absolute emotional rock freak-out best heard cranked up loud. What follows Teen Spirit is a musical masterpiece that blends all the best about rock music and turns it into a new genre. There are no bad songs here. It's hard to find albums like this today where its all about two or three hits with the rest being filler. Drain You is one of my favorite songs as is Lithium and Polly, but most of the time, I play this all the way through.
I highly recommend this music for any rock fan who really wants a complete collection. In fact, I'd recommend any Nirvana album, but to me this one is the most accessible for newcomers. Somewhat overproduced, yes, certainly over-reviewed, and hyped to the point of exhaustion, but don't let that stop you from missing Nevermind and an intense musical experience.