Nevermind

By 1990 the band were planning a second album for Sub Pop under the working title Sheep. Butch Vig was brought in to produce on the label's recommendation, and eight songs were taped at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, between 2 and 6 April that year. "Breed", "Stay Away", "In Bloom", "Lithium" and "Polly" all reached this album from those sessions in altered form. The album proper was made at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in May and June 1991 on a budget of $65,000, and mastered that August at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood. To raise petrol money for the drive to Los Angeles the band played Seattle's OK Hotel on 17 April, and that night was the first time "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was performed in public. It is also the first record with drummer Dave Grohl. Against the hedonism that rock was trading in at the time, it sings about alienation, frustration and refusal, and writers have credited it with putting the figure of the vulnerable songwriter into mainstream rock. The running order here is the original's as printed; the closing "Something in the Way" is followed by the unlisted "Endless, Nameless".