Aberdeen, Washington isn’t a major city or one you’ve probably ever heard of. There’s not much of a chance you’ll ever go visit, but Aberdeen will always be known as the hamlet that birthed a band named Nirvana. Though it seems like just yesterday, it’s been 20 years since Nirvana released their game-changing second album, Nevermind. Today marks the re-release of this classic and all of its chart-topping singles, including “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come As You Are,” “Lithium,” and “In Bloom.”

Nirvana was gritty, alternative and radio-friendly. I’m not sure lead singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain set out to change the world, but he did. He also became an unlikely demigod, the jewel of Seattle’s grunge music scene and the voice and walking salvation for a generation of freaks, geeks and disenfranchised cool kids, who felt Kurt speak to them every time he sang “I feel stupid/And contagious/Here we are now/Entertain us.”

There were other albums (Bleach, In Utero) and other singles but the lights went out too soon. Kurt Cobain committed suicide on April 5, 1994. Alternative and grunge music hasn’t been the same since. Fans like myself will always wonder what could have been, but good music never dies. In honor of Nirvana, check out my little tour of all things grunge.

Some of these bands are grunge, others are not, but all were super influential tastemakers of the 1990s:

Mother Love Bone: Mother Love Bone

The Gits: Frenching The Bully

Pearl Jam: Ten

Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream

Screaming Trees: Sweet Oblivion

L7: Bricks Are Heavy

Alice In Chains: Dirt or Jar of Flies

Soundgarden: Superunknown

Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands include:

The Vaselines: The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History

R.E.M.: Document

Smithereens: Especially For You

Pixies: Doolittle

Watch these movies to get the spirit of grunge:

Reality Bites

Singles

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