IMO The Top 10 Most Influential Bands/Artists #10

I started thinking the other night in bed about all the bands that I like (and there are a lot) and then I started thinking that I should do a, what I think, are the most influential bands and artist. It is a tough thing to narrow down all the great bands that have come and gone. It is also especially tough when my interest is mostly in Rock n Roll. People like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson are certainly influential in their own right, given the title of Kings among pretty much everyone, but they aren't the type of artist that made my list, because well, it is my list and I can be just a little biased. So to start, here is number 10. Drum roll please

#10 Nirvana

Ah Nirvana.  Those clean cut kids from Seattle.  Pioneers of the grunge music scene of the late 80's and early 90's.  Nirvana was really that band that took this style of music to the main stream.  Formed in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic released their first album Bleach in 1989 and enjoyed some moderate success in the underground music scene.  It wasn't until 1991, after Dave Grohl joined the band and they released Nevermind that the band exploded on the main stream.  With the singles Smells like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come as You Are, Breed, Lithium, the band became one of the biggest bands in the world nearly overnight, and had a large legion on fans.

Their follow-up album, and subsequent final studio album In Utero in 1993, also shared exception radio play  Nevermind.  Singles such as Heart Shaped Box, Dumb, and All Apologies lead the way for high record sales.  But sadly, the dream faded away almost as quickly as it started.  On April 8th, 1994, Kurt Cobain took his life.  

I believe that Nirvana belongs on this list because of how they were able to bring this music to the main stream, whether they wanted to achieve that or not.  No other band can or will be able to duplicate how Nirvana took a sound and made it sound great.  I love other bands in that era.  Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, STP, Pearl Jam just to name a few, are still exceptional bands.  Their music is as good or better than Nirvana's, but if it wasn't for that catchy riff at the beginning of Smells like Teen Spirit, I don't know if the recond studios would have given them a chance.

I leave this post with the song that really started a movement.

-d