Five absolutely outstanding 1990s albums people love to hate

Nirvana - Nevermind

This is where Dave Grohl added his might to the Nirvana team. It was the band's second album, but their first with Grohl behind the drum kit and also their debut on DGC records. They would have been hoping for a breakthrough moment, but did they expect it to the extent it achieved? Surely not. 

Nevermind got off to a slow but steady start when released in September 1991. It entered the Billboard 200 at 144 that week. It battled its way upwards and by mid-January 1992 hit the number one spot with sales then running at over 300,000 each week. With sales now of over 30 million worldwide it's phenomenally exceeded those early expectations.

Like the Pearl Jam album Ten, Nevermind Is credited with driving grunge to the mainstream. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the album’s anthemic highlight. The single backed by heavy airplay on radio and video on MTV helped drive the album sales upwards. 

There's much more to the album than that one song though. “Come As You Are”, Lithium” and “In Bloom” were all hit singles too. The album collected many nominations and awards. And it’s another regularly featuring high in those many top album lists. 

Again though the album is slated by some people. They just can't bring themselves to like it. It’s more coincidence than a recurring and scientifically based theme across these albums, but once again there are mentions of a whiny voice annoying listeners. Others rate it as having no real depth, some critics do recognise the influences it had but attribute that more to the exposure it gained via MTV than the quality of the record itself. 

I can't buy those arguments myself. It is an album that changed music, sold millions, and helped inspire many other great bands to make their own great music. Perhaps even the Foo Fighters too, through Grohl and his switch to frontman and guitar. Nevermind has a rightful place as a classic album.

There will always be personal opinions, it’s healthy to hear other people’s perspectives. But for these outstanding albums, it just seems as if haters got to hate. Often it's a dislike for the genre, or the artist and we can't really take having a whiny voice seriously as a theme. Thankfully the negative views are very much in the minority for these five classics.

Read more from AudioPhix