Happy 25th birthday to Nevermind, Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Low End Theory

25 years ago today, three albums dropped that became game-changers. It wasn't planned. Nobody knew what they'd do. It was pure organic history and pure organic shifts in music with Nirvana's Nevermind, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magic and A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory.

All of them built up in their own way. Nirvana was blowing up in Seattle but Alice in Chains and Soundgarden were starting to make impacts on radio as well. The Chilis were Los Angeles legends just taking mainstream success with Mother's Milk but were known for punk-funk and rowdy shows around the country. Tribe? An incredible debut that had New York and others anxious to see what they'd do next adding to the Native Tongues landscape.

There's more than enough words on Nevermind today. The album that made most of us know who Nirvana was. The classic cover, the classic songs still getting play on radio so that when I was in high school (98-02), I knew them like they just came out. As much as Smells like Teen Spirit is overplayed, there's still a rush when you hear those opening chords and that chorus that brought in a new generation.

Now I've learned more about music to know Teen Spirit was heavily influenced by Boston's More Than a Feeling and The Pixies soft-loud dynamic (quiet on the verses, loud on the chorus - something you can really hear on "In Bloom").  "Come As You Are" stole the riff from Killing Joke's "Eighties" but it still sounds so murky and beautiful that you can't help but enjoy. It doesn't rob Nirvana of their power or how that album ushered in grunge in 1992.

Oh and "Breed" is one of my favorites because it hints at Nirvana's punk roots. To me, this song is all about Krist Novoselic's heavy bass and Dave Grohl's heavy drumming. Kurt Cobain has a nasty guitar solo that just fires me up but this was all about the total band just going all out, probably why I've had it on my running playlist a few times.

Contrast that with "On a Plain" which always moves me on the Unplugged version. Something about that record makes me feel the pain in Kurt's voice and it's perfect near the end.

Then we have Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Rick Rubin on board to help mature the Chili Peppers sound. But you know something funny? I waver on this album being my favorite sometimes with Mother's Milk.

Don't get me wrong. BSSM has my favorite Chilis songs. "Suck My Kiss" is just so raw and fun every time I hear it. The Power of Equality is one of the more underrated intros in their catalog. The title track has some heavy funk in there and "Sir Psycho Sexy" is hilarious and wild. And of course, "Under the Bridge" is a great love letter to L.A. and so uplifting to me even though it's a depressing revisit into drug abuse.

But something about it lacks the raw punk sound and wild energy of Mother's Milk. Part of that is Rick Rubin robbing that in folks he produces (and I wondered if my burned CD robbed some of that sound in college) but it's missing from BSSM. So I guess there's different things I love about BSSM than Mother's Milk but what I love is great.

You hear Anthony Kiedis show that he's a solid songwriter. You hear John Frusicante show why he's a musical genius even if the fame drove him away during the tour. His guitar work on "I Could Have Lied" is incredibly soulful and hints at the goodness he'd show on later albums. So the album has some wonderful highs I love all the time and it blew them up from the L.A. alternative scene they shared with Fishbone, Jane's Addiction and more to be rock legends.

I just have a weird relationship with it as a super duper Chilis fan. Oh and if you don't like "Give It Away" you don't have a soul. Period.

Now Low End Theory. I've written words already about this being the first Tribe album I heard but with Phife Dawg having left us, it's key to remember his presence is why this album stands out. We knew about Q-Tip being a great MC from the debut. We knew the first album was well-produced so the second would have it. But Phife's presence makes it have more oomph.

His intro on "Buggin Out" still gets me excited as much as hearing that bass kick in. His solo cut "Butter" showed the personality I'd become a fan of when I dug into Tribe.  And of course, his back and forth on Check the Rhime with Q-Tip became a new standard for group interplay.

I still love this album for what it has overall. The heavy bass sound. The immaculate production and Q-Tip giving us gems on "Verses from the Abstract" (The world is kinda cold and the rhythm is my blanket). It's hip-hop that was smoothed out but no less great. You can hear it now and know that the Native Tongues wasn't just De La Soul's left field greatness but it was also Tribe finding their own lane and giving us timeless music.

"Scenario" will be played forever and ever and ever and we'll get hyped like dungeon dragons with Busta. But today's birthday means we'll also miss Phife Dawg much more. The 5-Foot Assassin who gave us wonderful chemistry with Q-Tip and made Tribe one of my all-time favorites.  A classic album with bass and rhymes for days and helped usher in the alternative rap sound that Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and more started.

Happy birthday to three game-changers. Timeless works of art that will never leave my ears or many of us who grew up in their aftermath.

Electric Relaxation: Reflecting on Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley

Last week was the 17th anniversary of the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. I know folks who grew up in the 90's can't believe it's been that long. Quietly though, April 5th was also the 9th death anniversary of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley.

Its fitting because when we think of grunge and the greatest 90's bands, Nirvana is the first name up and rightly so. Yet the older I get, the more I appreciate the underrated Alice In Chains and the beauty of Layne's pain.

When I first heard Smells Like Teen Spirit around 2000-01, I loved it right away. The sound that changed an era was 10 years earlier was still as powerful as I'm sure it sounded in 1991. I was fresh off listening to the rap-rock of Korn/Limp Bizkit/Papa Roach but I instantly respected that 5 minutes of brilliance. As time passed, I still love the song but think folks overrate the guitar solo from a technical sense.

I had heard that Kurt Cobain was a great songwriter and the more I listened to his songs, the more I saw why. His songs didn't necessarily relate to me but they were catchy yet edgy. I wanted to listen to this gutteral voice and understand why folks revered him so highly. There was something rebellious in him that I liked. His attitude was completely anti-corporate yet smart enough to use the machine to sell records.

"Come As You Are" and "In Bloom" were great songs that got played out thanks to KROQ but I preferred the singles from In Utero. I'll still tell anyone Heart-Shaped Box is a better song with a better solo and if you don't get sad hearing "All Apologies" (esp. Unplugged), you don't have a soul. Of course, then I discovered "Breed" 2 years ago and felt that was Nirvana's most punk song.

To me, Kurt's gifts were his songwriting and his voice capturing the pain of his lyrics. I remember hearing the entire MTV Unplugged album as a college freshman and being chilled of his scream at the end of Where Did You Sleep Last Night. He wasn't the best guitarist but he excelled where he did.

Which leads me to Layne Staley. The same time I discovered Teen Spirit, I discovered Man in the Box and Rooster. It was edgier, dirtier, and darker than Nirvana and Layne's voice literally sounded like I expected a drug addict to sound. When you're told from an early age that rock music was the devil, you'd make a statement like that.

Of course, I respected Layne a WHOLE lot more after that. "Would" is my favorite AIC song because of that driving bass and brooding energy he was known for. "Rooster" was great even though it was a slow build but I thought AIC was rightfully placed as maybe the 4th of the Big 4 Grunge Acts.

I did kind of write Layne off when I discovered that Jerry Cantrell was the chief songwriter. As great as he was vocally, I was into guys who wrote more of their songs in high school. I knew Layne helped write but compared to Eddie Vedder or Kurt, he wasn't in their league to me.

That changed when a college professor gave me Jar of Flies my sophomore year. I played it back and forth repeatedly and I realized that "No Excuses" was my new favorite AIC song due to its alternative sound and the desperation in Layne's voice. I swear to this day to Jar of Flies might be the best EP ever because it showed me the depth of Layne's demons and the ability for him, Jerry and the band to make beautiful music around that.

Just like Kurt, Layne was able to capture his pain of addiction and as I got older and more musically inclined, I loved Layne/Jerry's dual harmonies and the heavier sound that made their songs experiences. "Nutshell" might be Jerry Cantrell's best solo outside of Man in the Box. Once I heard "Angry Chair", a song Layne wrote entirely by himself, I was convinced Layne was far more underrated than I gave him credit for.

So as I got older, I still respected Nirvana's legacy but I know that Guns N Roses and Metallica helped to set the stage for their death of hair band music. I respect Alice in Chains a bit more because they don't get enough respect for their depth, sound and musicianship. Kurt Cobain was a phenomenal songwriter with great delivery while Layne Staley had a richer voice that made his pain resonate (although the best grunge voice and arguably the best voice of the last 20+ years is Chris Cornell)

April 5 saw two legends whose demons took them away from music fans. It's a shame we don't have more of their music but we have plenty to celebrate and pass on to future listeners.