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[Maiden Voyage]

The Best Nirvana Songs, Ranked

A thorough review of the iconic grunge band’s most revelatory tracks by Uproxx Cultural Critic Steven Hyden as ’Nevermind’ turns 30.

uproxx.com

Please let me know how wrong the list is.

For those who want some history, the writing is quite good throughout the article. Nothing Earth-shattering here, but it's worth the trip down memory lane.

 

[Prison Mike]

Where the fuck is marigold?

 

[Star-Lord]

Never really got the hype for Nirvana.

 

[MrS]

In Bloom #1 forever and always

 

[Patrick S.]

Never really got the hype for Nirvana.

How old are you?

 

[Star-Lord]

How old are you?

35. So, yeah, I know I was too young to appreciate Nirvana when they were on the scene, but I listened to them in my teens and…I just didn’t get it. I haven’t listened since, so maybe my opinion might be different now,

 

[Patrick S.]

35. So, yeah, I know I was too young to appreciate Nirvana when they were on the scene, but I listened to them in my teens and…I just didn’t get it. I haven’t listened since, so maybe my opinion might be different now,

I'm 43. I never *loved* Nirvana, but it was one of the most important groups of a musical movement that hit the zeitgeist from then square between the eyes. I always preferred Soundgarden.

 

[Prison Mike]

Never really got the hype for Nirvana.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Nirvana’s dna in rock and roll today is everywhere, multiple #1 songs nobody imagined they’d still be talked about today.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

35. So, yeah, I know I was too young to appreciate Nirvana when they were on the scene, but I listened to them in my teens and…I just didn’t get it. I haven’t listened since, so maybe my opinion might be different now,

Do you like rock music? Punk? Metal?

 

[AJUMP23]

 

[p_xavier]

Never really got the hype for Nirvana.

Same. Actually grunge was such a Gen-X thing. As an older millennial, I had more than enough of being screamed at by sad/loser musicians.

 

[DeepBreath87]

Nirvana is cool. The whole rock scene was so good then. Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, STP, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, etc. This will sound morbid, but it isn’t supposed to. Nirvana holds a special place partly because Kurt died. They ended at their absolute peak. Had they continued, maybe the follow up to In Utero isn’t so special or at least eventually they become stale. Then they’re just one of the most popular 90s bands. Instead, they sort of became more legendary and important as a result of his death.

I imagine they’d be viewed very differently if their arc had been similar to the other big 90s bands who struggled with troubled front men.

 

[Prison Mike]

Nirvana is cool. The whole rock scene was so good then. Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, STP, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, etc. This will sound morbid, but it isn’t supposed to. Nirvana holds a special place partly because Kurt died. They ended at their absolute peak. Had they continued, maybe the follow up to In Utero isn’t so special or at least eventually they become stale. Then they’re just one of the most popular 90s bands. Instead, they sort of became more legendary and important as a result of his death.

I imagine they’d be viewed very differently if their arc had been similar to the other big 90s bands who struggled with troubled front men.

In utero is their best album

 

[DeepBreath87]

In utero is their best album

It is phenomenal. And I’ve heard a couple of demo songs that was supposedly the direction Kurt was working on for the follow up. I’m not saying they don’t have another 2 or 3 great albums. As a song writer, Kurt was a savant. But like all rock bands, eventually you either break up or become 45 year old dudes touring for a bunch of people who want to relive the glory years but don’t have the same affection for the new stuff.

Nirvana never did that because Kurt died. They were cemented as cultural icons, which they were. But we never had to seem them afterwards in any way. I guess we did see Dave Grohl in Foo Fighters, but that was such a departure from Nirvana that I don’t really think people even connect the two.

 

[jdforge]

Was it even sure there was going to be a follow up to In Utero?

I thought a major part of Kurt’s instability was that he felt Nirvana (his band) was on the brink of collapse, along with his marriage to Courtney Love.

 

[Scotty W]

Not a bad list. No way does Serve the Servants belong at the top. That should be the Smart Studios version of Aneurysm.



The list could also have used Oh the Guilt and Jam After Dinner.

 

[Porcile]

Was it even sure there was going to be a follow up to In Utero?

I thought a major part of Kurt’s instability was that he felt Nirvana (his band) was on the brink of collapse, along with his marriage to Courtney Love.

The band with Kurt, Krist, and Dave was pretty much dead. After their European tour was cancelled, Kurt went on a heroin bender to end all heroin benders and burned his bridges with just about everyone in the main Nirvana circle. There is still a lot of hard-feeling and guilt about the whole thing as far as I know.

 

[DeepBreath87]

The band with Kurt, Krist, and Dave was pretty much dead. After their European tour was cancelled, Kurt went on a heroin bender to end all heroin benders and burned his bridges with just about everyone in the main Nirvana circle. There is still a lot of hard-feeling and guilt about the whole thing as far as I know.

Eh. I think they patch things up enough to make the record. I mean who knows, because Kurt clearly wasn’t moving towards more stability at the time he died. But in another timeline, Kurt completes rehab and they crank out a few more albums. Although Nirvana was so fueled by his personal struggles that it’s hard to imagine the music they would’ve made had he cleaned up.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Nirvana is ok, never thought they were as good as others did but that's ok. They always looked so fucking dirty and gross.

 

[Scotty W]

Was it even sure there was going to be a follow up to In Utero?

I thought a major part of Kurt’s instability was that he felt Nirvana (his band) was on the brink of collapse, along with his marriage to Courtney Love.

Probably. They did a studio session a few months before his suicide where they recorded You Know You’re Right and some Foo Fighters stuff.

Live Nirvana | Sessions History | Studio Sessions | January 28–30, 1994 - Robert Lang Studios, North Seattle, WA, US

 

[ntropy]

no Spank Thru? fuck you
and sappy is not verse chorus verse wtf it's a completely different song
pen cap chew
if you must

 

[bender]

Never really got the hype for Nirvana.

The MTV Unplugged set is just about perfect. Nirvana outside of that really isn't my cup of tea either but I'd take them over Pearl Jam which was a popular line in the sand as those two acts were coming up.

 

[TheMan]

In Bloom #1 forever and always

Drain you is better

 

[ntropy]

Was it even sure there was going to be a follow up to In Utero?

I thought a major part of Kurt’s instability was that he felt Nirvana (his band) was on the brink of collapse, along with his marriage to Courtney Love.

he was doing some stuff with REM, but nothing was recorded

i think he decided to take his life after he found out Love almost had an affair with Billy Corgan

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Not from Nevermind but my two favourite Nirvana songs are Negative Creep and Sliver.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

These all being outside the top 10?

• Something in the way
• Heart shaped box
• In bloom
• Smells like teen spirit

Holy shit, how are any of those outside the top 10. Bad list is bad.

For me the top 3 should be -

3. Lithium
2. Come as you are
1. In bloom

 

[YoshiMadness]

These all being outside the top 10?

• Something in the way
• Heart shaped box
• In bloom
• Smells like teen spirit

Holy shit, how are any of those outside the top 10. Bad list is bad.

For me the top 3 should be -

3. Lithium
2. Come as you are
1. In bloom

Tbh, SLTS is very overrated. That's what people who don't actually listen to Nirvana pick as their best song.

And Nevermind is great, but Bleach, In Utero, Incesticide, and Unplugged are all better albums in my opinion. In Utero is probably my favorite, but maybe Bleach. Both are awesome, I guess it just depends on what I'm feeling.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Tbh, SLTS is very overrated. That's what people who don't actually listen to Nirvana pick as their best song.

And Nevermind is great, but Bleach, In Utero, Incesticide, and Unplugged are all better albums in my opinion. In Utero is probably my favorite, but maybe Bleach. Both are awesome, I guess it just depends on what I'm feeling.

I grew up when Nirvana first dropped so that association with them breaking through with SLTS is a big deal and will stay with me. The newer generations since then I understand how the song is overrated by comparison to their other songs.

 

[Star-Lord]

Do you like rock music? Punk? Metal?

All of the above. I was a bit of an emo back in my teens, so anything that fit in with those genres suited me fine.

 

[jufonuk]

I prefer the foofighters.

But I still have a place in my heart for nirvana.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

All of the above. I was a bit of an emo back in my teens, so anything that fit in with those genres suited me fine.

Damn. Then there really is no explanation.

 

[Porcile]

1. Territorial Pissings
2. On a Plain
3. Lounge Act

Come and fight me bros.

 

[Jaysen]

Moist Vagina just for the title alone.

 

[cherry2000]

Some pretty good stuff released that year: Use Your Illusion II, Ten, Black album

 

[Scotty W]

Some pretty good stuff released that year: Use Your Illusion II, Ten, Black album

Yup. Kyuss

 

[Prison Mike]

1.marigold
2.oh me
3.where did you sleep last night

 

[Cutty Flam]

1. Pennyroyal Tea
2. Polly (Unplugged)
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit
4. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam (Unplugged)
5. Come As You Are
6. In Bloom
7. Rape Me
8. Lithium
9. Sappy
10. Heart-Shaped Box
11-15. Dumb, Blew, About A Girl (Unplugged), Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Unplugged), On A Plain

 

[Rien]

In utero is their best album

Fuck yeah.. followed by Unplugged

 

[drganon]

Aneurysm is my favorite nirvana song. Toward the end where Kurt just let's loose with a deafening scream and then goes into the final part with Dave singing too is awesome.

 

[MilkyJoe]

Same. Actually grunge was such a Gen-X thing. As an older millennial, I had more than enough of being screamed at by sad/loser musicians.

Bullet for My Valentine more your thing, was it?

 

[jason10mm]

I grew up when Nirvana first dropped so that association with them breaking through with SLTS is a big deal and will stay with me. The newer generations since then I understand how the song is overrated by comparison to their other songs.

Yup. I remember when that video hit and how that "fast then slow" grunge sound just swept through the school like a tidal wave. Literally killed everything before it almost overnight. It was amazing to experience it at the time but in retrospect grunge is probably my least listened to rock genre now. SLTS is one of the more tolerable songs from that era for me now despite BRUTAL airtime overkill of it back in the day.