The producer of the classic Nirvana album Nevermind has expressed his doubts that the record would have achieved the same impact today.
Nevermind was, simply put, one of the defining albums of the 1990’s, helping to launch grunge into the mainstream and making Nirvana one of the biggest bands in the world.
It was produced by Butch Vig and in an interview with NME, he said that the environment surrounding how and when the record arrived into the world was a huge factor in making the great record reach even greater heights.
“I think it would be tough to repeat that zeitgeist moment,” he explained. “If Nevermind came out this week, despite being a great record, it would not have the same cultural impact. It was perfect timing coming out when there was a shift in music and it felt like a revolution. I can see that happening again, but not in the same way.”
Vig also shared the same opinion of Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl about young superstar Billie Eilish: “I saw something similar with Billie Eilish. I’m friends with her and [brother, producer] Finneas and their mom was my daughter’s music teacher. They live down the street from us. Billie speaks for a whole generation of youth, much like Nirvana did with their zeitgeist moment.” Quite the statement!
Vig went on to say what he thought a band of the 2020 zeitgeist might sound like. “Everything is so instant that it’s hard to build up some mystique,” he said. “When you really want something but can’t quite get your hands on it, that makes it all the more powerful. Everyone has access to everything these days.
“Maybe someone will come along with a band who sounds like Nirvana but a lyricist who writes like Bob Dylan and is into hip-hop and doesn’t have Instagram or Facebook.”
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He continued, “Maybe they’ll do a couple of shows and disappear. If they did, people would go mental because they’d want them all the more. If you know who that is, please call them because I want to produce them!”
Nirvana’s iconic release hit number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 in 1991. The album contained the incredible and timeless singles ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘Come As You Are’, ‘Lithium’, and ‘In Bloom’. That’s a stacked track list if ever there was one. Nevermind has been certified diamond (for over 10 million albums sold) by the RIAA in the U.S..
Check out ‘Lithium’ by Nirvana:
