THE ROAD TO NEVERMIND
On October 12, 1991, record producer Butch Vig had traveled from his home in Madison, Wisconsin, to Chicago to see Nirvana play at Cabaret Metro. He’d first met the band a year and a half earlier, when they’d recorded tracks meant for Nirvana’s second album on Sub Pop Records at Vig’s own Smart Studios. But much had happened since then. Nirvana had changed drummers, left Sub Pop and signed with DGC, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. In May 1991, they’d recorded their major-label debut, Nevermind, in Los Angeles, with Vig again producing. The album was released on September 24, and it was now rocketing up the Billboard 200 chart.
“The buzz in the air was unbelievable!” says Vig of the show. “Kids were screaming and crying, and almost everyone already knew all the lyrics. I was thinking, ‘Wow, I might eventually have a gold record,’ and of course it went gold in a matter of weeks. A few months later, I talked to their manager John Silva and asked if there was any chance of Nevermind going No. 1. And he said, ‘No way, not a chance.’ The next week it was No. 1.”
Thirty years later, the album is still regarded as a landmark classic that shaped the musical landscape of the 1990s. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Nevermind has been reissued in a newly remastered edition in a variety of formats, the most lavish of which is a deluxe CD/Blu-ray edition, with four live shows, and video of one show on the Blu-ray. It’s a testament to Nirvana’s power as a live act as much as a tribute to their work in the studio.
Kurt Cobain (vocals/guitar) formed the band that would become Nirvana in 1987 in Aberdeen, Washington, along with Krist (then anglicizing his name to Chris) Novoselic (bass) and Aaron Burckhard (drums). Melvins drummer Dale Crover played on their first demo, and, followed in 1989. Their spring 1990 tour included a stop in Madison so they could record their second album.
