Day 7: Nirvana, “Nevermind”

When: Released September 24, 1991

Why? Other than “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” I’ve never heard a Nirvana song. This album has sold over 30 million copies and is frequently ranked among the greatest albums of all time. Also, it seemed fitting to listen to this after “Never Mind the Bollocks,” as Kurt Cobain has said that this album was named after it.

What? 13 songs, 49 minutes. This is Nirvana’s second album and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl.

First Impressions: Maybe I’m being overly influenced by having just listened to “Never Mind the Bollocks,” but in many songs this feels like a more polished, more mature, and more personal take on punk. Often the lyrics are baffling and obscure; without modern resources that explain their background and meaning I wouldn’t have a clue what they were about. But I think maybe that’s kind of the point: sometimes it’s more about the sounds of the words than their literal meaning (which is, I think, a Sex Pistols thing to do).

To some degree, I enjoyed every track on the album—except for track 13, “Endless, Nameless,” which should have been titled, “Endless, Pointless.” On the original LP, it appeared as a hidden track after 10 minutes of silence following track 12. It should have remained hidden.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” features a positively powerful musical chorus underscoring great phrases (“Here we are now, entertain us”) as well as words-as-sounds (“A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido”). Other highlights for me include: “In Bloom,” “Come As You Are,” “Lithium,” “Drain You,” and “On a Plain.” Learning the backstories of “Polly” and “Something in the Way” was helpful in appreciating those songs; although they weren’t among my favorite tracks on the album, I welcomed the change of pace they brought to the mix. (Although once you know the backstory for “Polly,” the song becomes a difficult listen.)

Instrumentally, I enjoyed the guitars and bass playing (and appreciated the addition of cello on one song!) but I especially was impressed by Dave Grohl’s powerful drumming.

I enjoyed Kurt Cobain’s singing but didn’t feel any immediate personal connection to his voice. That may come with repeated listens. The very few times harmonies were used, I liked them and wanted more…but maybe vocal harmonies aren’t very “punk” or “alternative.”

So? For some reason, I’ve had this bias against Nirvana and the whole grunge scene. The few songs I’ve sampled from Dave Grohl’s post-Nirvana Foo Fighters have sounded generic and bland to me, and nothing I’ve heard from them, Pearl Jam, and their ilk has made me want to hear more. So I was surprised to discover that I actually liked this. I will listen again.

Day 6: Sex Pistols, “Never Mind the Bollocks: Here’s the Sex Pistols”

When: Released October 1, 1977

Why? I’ve never really heard a Sex Pistols song, and this is one of the most important and influential punk albums ever recorded. Interestingly, I do remember that an older bandmate brought a copy of this album to one of our practices, when I played drums and piano in a band called Exodus in high school. I’m sure he played some of it for us—he was so excited about it—but I can’t remember what I thought. (Given what I was listening to back then, I can’t imagine understanding or liking it at the time.)

What? 12 songs spanning 39 minutes of primal punk.

First Impressions: The first things that struck me in the opening track, “Holidays in the Sun,” were the quality of the performances (I was under the impression that they couldn’t really play their instruments; apparently, that was only true of “bassist” Sid Vicious) and the satirical nature of the lyrics. I had not expected satire or wit, and the Pistols deliver both in most songs, featuring creative wordplay and a biting sense of humor. While I would never call him a singer, Johnny Rotten’s (John Lydon’s) sung/spoken delivery has an attitude that fits these songs perfectly, and I believed the authenticity of it far more than I believed Axl Rose’s swagger on “Appetite for Destruction.”

The wordplay on “Submission” is delightful: Told by their manager to write a song about sexual submission, they instead wrote a love song about a “sub mission” looking for love underwater! (Their manager was hoping the song would help to promote a sex boutique he owned, where, coincidentally, Chrissie Hynde worked before founding the Pretenders.) Similarly, “Pretty Vacant” is pretty remarkable—and maybe 30 years ahead of its time.

When you’re in Pistols/punk territory, though, there’s a very fine line between biting satire and bad taste…and I think they crossed over on “Bodies,” an anti-abortion song that is over-the-top ugly and cruel. That said, I never expected to hear an anti-abortion song on a Sex Pistols album! (Lydon has since claimed that the song is neither anti-abortion nor pro-choice. Never mind the bollocks: The lyrics are very clear about his position at the time.)

The only other low points for me were the last two tracks: “New York” and “EMI.” Here, the wit seems to have abandoned them completely. Both are just mean-spirited, insult-laden “screw-yous” to their manager’s former clients (the New York Dolls) and their former record labels (EMI and A&M), respectively, the latter of which dropped them for perfectly justifiable reasons that the Pistols seem oblivious to.

So? A surprisingly witty, raw collection of songs that I could easily listen to again, though I would skip “Bodies,” “New York,” and “EMI.”

Day 5: Guns N’ Roses, “Appetite for Destruction”

When: Released July 21, 1987

Why? I’ve never heard a GNR song or Slash’s guitar work with his original band. (I think my only prior Slash experience was hearing him on a Rihanna track.) This album, their debut, was featured on the “20 Million Club” Classic Rock podcast, where the participants agreed that it was, for them, peak GNR.

What? Twelve songs, 54 minutes.

First Impressions: While I can’t imagine ever being able to distinguish Slash’s playing from any other riffing hard-rock guitarist, the guitar sounds and arrangements on this album are amazing. For me, they are the highlight. I can’t say that I love Axl Rose’s voice, and his songwriting (assuming he wrote the lion’s share of the lyrics) can really vary in quality.

A few comments on specific songs:

“Welcome to the Jungle.” Musically—and this seems to be a GNR “thing”—the song takes several short detours that seem wholly unrelated to anything that’s come before, which makes it feel unfocused to me. Lyrically, it goes from bold to silly: “Sha-na-na-na-na-knees! Knees!” and “Feel my serpentine.”

“My Michelle.” An intriguing, adventurous song that deserves a better chorus.

“Think About You.” This struck me as the only false song on the album. It’s a straightforward, by-the-numbers love song without any hint of grit or bite.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine.” This is the big hit from the album and it’s definitely catchy, even if it’s nothing like the rest of the tracks. Slash shines here. But, lyrically, it falls short for me. (Or maybe I’m pushing back against the song’s—and the album’s—general misogyny. What adult would call their lover “sweet child of mine”?)

“You’re Crazy.” Again, strong verses let down by a weak chorus.

“Rocket Queen.” This sounds like two very different songs mashed together against their will. I can’t help feeling that each should have been developed separately to their full potential.

Having said all of that, I did enjoy “Mr. Brownstone,” “Paradise City” (which I’m choosing to interpret like the movie “Dark City”), and (with lyrical reservations) “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” To a lesser extent: “Anything Goes” and “Rocket Queen.”

So? I guess I have little real “appetite” for GNR.

Day 4: The Dead Deads, “Tell Your Girls It’s Alright”

When: Released September 10, 2021

Why? I read a write-up in Classic Rock magazine that compared them to a number of bands I really like.

What? Described as blending pop, rock, and metal, the band deliver a 12-song, 43-minute album combining guitar-driven rock with horns, strings, heavy beats, captivating melodic harmonies, and inventive lyrics.

First Impressions: While the lyrics are sometimes a bit obscure (benefitting from repeated listening), and song structures can be quite fluid, the arrangements are fresh and often surprising, making this an album I know I’ll continue to come back to. When a single hit on the bell of a cymbal can make me laugh—in the terrific “Deal with Me”—I’m in.

Immediate highlights for me: “Sea Beast” (the opening track, which sets the stage for the album’s attitude and empowering message), “First Tooth,” “Dead Inside,” “Deal with Me,” and the closer, “Cure for Life,” which presents an especially catchy—and not-at-all heavy-handed—satire on nuclear war. For me, though, there wasn’t a single superfluous track on the album.

So? I loved the sound of the band, the vocals, and the arrangements. I can see myself putting this one on repeat.

Day 3: Bryan Adams, “Reckless”

When: Released November 5, 1984

Why? This album was featured in Warren Huart’s YouTube series on “Albums That Changed Music.” Prior to this listen, I’d only heard the radio singles.

What? This 10-song album is considered a timeless rock classic by some. It has sold over 12 million copies.

First Impressions: In a nutshell: I didn’t like this. Even at a mere 38 minutes, this album feels padded to me, with three or four (at least) forgettable or throw-away songs. Also, I’ve learned that I’m not a fan of Adams’s voice; it has a constant Springsteen/Seger huskiness that makes my skin crawl. (And in case that sentence didn’t make it clear, I’m not a Springsteen or Seger fan.)

Lyrically, there just isn’t much here: love songs that rarely put things in a fresh light, lots of clichés, and an over-reliance on “Yeah!,” “Whoa!,” and “Hey!” to fill out the lines. Some lyrical phrasing is just downright clumsy: In “Somebody,” is the couplet “I need somebody / Hey, what about you?” meant to be asking: A) Are you the somebody I need? or B) Do you need somebody too? Hit “Heaven” includes similarly constructed lines that made me stop and ask, Does he mean this or does he mean this? (And, no, there doesn’t seem to be any intentionality behind this.)

Musically, rather than feeling timeless, it sounds very much of its time, with possibly every song driven by slightly distorted, chorused, electric guitars. In some songs, sections come together without any natural musical connection to make them feel either inevitable or pleasingly surprising; instead, they come off awkward and forced. There was too much repetition and too many missed opportunities for further developing the ideas—both lyrically and musically. Few songs feature distinctive melodies.

The highlight and the exception was “Summer of ‘69.” Other songs I enjoyed were “One Night Love Affair,” “Run to You,” and “It’s Only Love” (a duet with Tina Turner).

So? The performances are energetic, the production is polished, and Adams clearly gives it all he’s got vocally. But ultimately he’s let down by bland songwriting and more-of-the-same arrangements. I can’t see myself listening to this again.