Problems playing this file? See media help. The sample illustrates the change in dynamics from verse to pre-chorus and chorus. Sample of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' from Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind. Cobain recorded only three vocal takes according to Vig, 'I was lucky to ever get Kurt to do four takes.' Composition Vig corrected some timing errors created by Cobain switching between his guitar effects pedals. The band recorded the basic track in three takes, and used the second take. Vig suggested changes to the arrangement, including moving a guitar ad lib to the chorus and shortening the chorus.

Vig and the band recorded 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in May 1991. While the sound was distorted due to the band playing at a volume, Vig felt it had promise. Prior to the album recording, the band sent Vig demos for songs including 'Teen Spirit'. Cobain said he was unaware of the deodorant until months after the single was released, and had interpreted it as a revolutionary slogan, as they had been discussing anarchism and punk rock. The title derives from a phrase written on Cobain's wall by his friend Kathleen Hanna, singer of the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill: 'Kurt smells like Teen Spirit.' Hanna meant that Cobain smelled like the deodorant Teen Spirit, which she and Tobi Vail, his then-girlfriend, had discovered during a trip to the grocery store. As a result, it is the only song on Nevermind to credit all three band members as writers. Eventually, Novoselic began playing it more slowly, inspiring drummer Dave Grohl to create the drum beat, which drew from disco artists like The Gap Band. Bassist Krist Novoselic dismissed it as 'ridiculous' in response, Cobain made the band play it for an hour and a half. Cobain said the riff was 'clichГ©d', similar to a riff by Boston or the Richard Berry song ' Louie Louie'. When Cobain presented the song to his bandmates, it comprised just the main guitar riff and the chorus vocal melody. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band-or at least a Pixies cover band. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. He said it was an attempt to write a song in the style of the Pixies, a band he admired: Singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain began writing it a few weeks before recording their second album, Nevermind, in 1991. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was one of several songs written following Nirvana's first recording sessions with producer Butch Vig in 1990. In 2017, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' fifth on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2002, NME ranked the song the number two on its list of '100 Greatest Singles of All Time', while Kerrang! ranked it at number one on its list of the '100 Greatest Singles of All Time'. In 2001, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranked the song at number 80 on their Songs of the Century list. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2000, the Guinness World Records named 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' the 'Most Played Video' on MTV Europe. In subsequent years Amy Finnerty, formerly of MTV's programming department, claimed the video 'changed the entire look of MTV' by giving the channel 'a whole new generation to sell to'. It won two MTV Video Music Awards, and was in heavy rotation on music television. The music video for the song is based on the concept of a high school pep rally which ends in chaos and riot, inspired by Jonathan Kaplan's 1979 film Over the Edge and the Ramones' film Rock 'n' Roll High School. In the years since Kurt CobainвЂ™s death, listeners and critics have continued to praise 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' as one of the greatest songs of all time. The song was dubbed an 'anthem for apathetic kids' of Generation X, but Nirvana grew uncomfortable with the attention it brought them. The song garnered widespread critical acclaim, including topping the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics ' poll. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was Nirvana's biggest hit in most countries, charting high on music industry charts around the world in 19, including topping the charts of Belgium, France, New Zealand and Spain. The unexpected success of the song propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind (1991), released on DGC Records. ' Smells Like Teen Spirit' is a song by American rock band Nirvana.

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