No. 958 – Breed

Performer: Nirvana

Songwriter: Kurt Cobain

Original Release: Nevermind

Year: 1991

Definitive Version: None

After I had publicly pledged allegiance to Pearl Jam in the spring of 1992 to much approval from Robb, he made me a tape of Nevermind. Unlike Pearl Jam, of whom I had been dimly aware but didn’t know their music, I knew Nirvana. You pretty much would have had to be living in a cave to not know Smells Like Teen Spirit. I was living in a cave, and I still knew it.

I didn’t like it. I was reacting to everyone else piling on the bandwagon to the point where I was already in backlash-mode. But really it was pure ignorance; I didn’t know what I was talking about.

But when Robb made me the tape I was ready to give it a chance, and I have a clear memory of sitting in my car as this song came on as the rain cascaded down at the first Grand Blanc co-ed league softball game of the year. It should have been a rainout, but the league was run by, shall we say, not the sharpest knives in the drawer (and I’ll definitely have more to say on this topic at a later date). So there I sat listening to Nirvana, awaiting the rain to subside, which it finally did after a looooong delay.

I still didn’t like it. I got why people were into Nevermind, and I certainly didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I found it a bit too abrasive. That seems silly in retrospect, doesn’t it? But I would like to remind everyone that when Nevermind was released, Rolling Stone gave it only three stars, so I wasn’t the only one who didn’t genuflect on first impression. (I still have the magazine to prove it.)

Of course, I came around—and Rolling Stone later named Nevermind the album of the decade. First impressions don’t have to be the only impressions.