Nevermind‘s praise is definitely deserved, as it contains some of the greatest pop/rock songwriting ever put to record. Any song here could be a single (except for the possible exception of the mellower “Polly”).

Even better, the songs are backed by the authentic and relatable emotions of the depressed and alienated frontman and songwriter, Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain’s detached apathy is accentuated by the dissonant, echoing guitars. Though Kurt’s powerful lead guitar dominates much of the album, Krist Novoselic’s basslines create a catchy backing beat, and Dave Grohl’s drumming gives the music a strong backbone that allows it to rock even harder. Kurt Cobain’s surreal lyrics are impressive as well, as he finds ways to express his complex troubling emotions in non-literal ways that a likeminded person can still understand the feeling of.

I don’t think there’s any criticism of Nevermind more laughable than lambasting the “pop production” job Butch Vig applied to the songs. Thanks to the latest Nevermind box set, the Devonshire Mixes have finally surfaced and proven that Butch Vig’s production job was barely different from the earliest mixings. Nirvana were always a band that valued pop songwriting, and Butch Vig did the band a favor by giving Nevermind a production job that emphasized the band’s best qualities. Nevermind was never meant to sound any different than it ended up sounding. If you want to blame anyone for Nevermind “not sounding like Nirvana,” then blame the primary songwriter and band leader, Kurt Cobain. Yes, that’s as laughable as it sounds. The echoing chords on Nevermind reflect the apathy of a cool, detached teenage culture of the time while the bursting choruses reflect the very real alienation and frustration that lies underneath the facade.

Nirvana get a lot of backlash these days (even though they are still generally acclaimed, and rightfully so) for being associated with an “emo” crowd, making them “uncool” to praise. Even though it’s been at least one generation since that scene of people were really into Nirvana, but I digress.

Nirvana once helped me through a difficult time in my life, more than any other music I’ve ever heard in my life. It was Nevermind that supported me the most. And I will never, ever forget that.

---

20th Anniversary Edition (2011)

What a mixed bag this is.

Disc one is a remaster of the original album remastered by none other than Butch Vig himself, the original producer of Nevermind. Before I begin, I’d like to say that Nevermind is one of my favorite all-time albums. But this remaster is an insult to the original. I have nothing against remasters, I even prefer some to the original. This remaster, however, ruins the dynamics of the original album, unquestionably one of the most important things about the album. Every track is mixed at a high volume level, so the shifts from soft verses to loud choruses have much, much less of an impact before. This is the perfect example of a remaster done horribly, horribly wrong. I have significant hearing loss and still prefer the quieter original album to this new victim of the “loudness war.”

Also on the first disc are a few B-sides and other rarities. Though none of these approach the quality of the tracks on Nevermind (except possibly “Aneurysm”), they are still worth hearing. There’s also some live tracks, including a cover of the Wipers’s song “D-7.” That’s decent enough, but the live renditions of the regular Nirvana songs are unnecessary. How many times are they going to release the same songs simply as uninteresting live renditions? Forgettable except for maybe “D-7.”

Disc two contains several early renditions of Nirvana songs from the Smart Studio sessions and very old tape recordings known as the “Boombox Rehearsals.” These are all just curious pieces of history and of course do not come close to the final album cuts with their pitifully low quality. The exception being Nirvana’s cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Here She Comes Now.” The older versions of “Verse Chorus Verse,” “Dive,” “Sappy,” and “Old Age” are also interesting enough. “Pay to Play” is simply an earlier version of “Stay Away” with earlier, placeholder lyrics. There are also two live recordings from their BBC sessions. Whoopee.

Disc 3 is the highlight of this collection. The Devonshire Mixes are very early mixes of Nevermind, before Butch Vig put his controversial glossy production over the songs to give them a more accessible pop-friendly edge. These songs are supposed to be “rawer” than the final album cuts, but listening to them now makes something very clear: Nevermind was designed to be a pop album from the bottom up. Even without Butch Vig’s final touches on the production, the tracks still sound glossy and catchy. There is very little difference between the Devonshire Mixes and the final version of Nevermind. An interesting listen for hardcore fans, to be certain.

Disc 4 is Nirvana’s concert at the Paramount, often called Nirvana’s best ever live performance (not counting Unplugged, of course). I have to agree with that assessment. The Paramount concert was full of energy, precision playing, and a solid track list. This is a must for fans who enjoy hearing Nirvana live. Also included is a DVD of the concert. However, early pressings of this deluxe edition have a DVD that accidentally has the audio go out of sync with the video. Quite a mistake. I assume this has been corrected by now, but as I don’t actually have the DVD myself, I can’t comment.

Overall, the Deluxe Edition of the 20th Anniversary Edition of Nevermind is a disappointment, but not a big one. Nirvana had a very short career. Fans know by now that we’ve seen just about all the interesting unreleased material there is. Nirvana are one of my favorite bands, but very little on this box set interests me, and I assume many fans share a similar feeling. Because this box set is designed for the hardcore fans, it is disappointing. If you are looking to listen to Nevermind for the first time, I highly recommend skipping this superfluous collection and grabbing the original album that isn’t tainted with this poor remastering job.