History YMMV / Nirvana

* HypeBacklash: Given their extensive praise as important musicians and Cobain's comparatively poor guitar skill, many modern listeners fail to see the attraction.

* MisaimedMarketing: The band has inspired T-shirts, a couple Kurt Cobain action figures, an exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum, and an appearance by Cobain in ''VideoGame/GuitarHero 5''.

** ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'', [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albums_considered_the_greatest_ever voted regularly as one of the greatest albums of all time]], only received '''1''' Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Performance which it lost anyway.

* PeripheryDemographic: Their music is especially popular with feminists. Kurt Cobain was a self-proclaimed feminist himself and very vocal about the inherent sexism in most rock music at the time, much of which is clearly reflected in ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'', especially "Polly." (See also the liner notes to ''Music/{{Incesticide}}'', where he explicitly condemns bigotry and rape and says he doesn't want bigots buying his music or attending his shows.) Cobain was also very said to have been very InTouchWithHisFeminineSide[[note]]He once told and interviewer that he was [[AmbiguouslyBi probably gay or bisexual]], but wasn't allowed to find out due to his [[GetBackInTheCloset homophobic environment]][[/note]], having many close female friends who gave him a greater appreciation for femininity and female visibility.

* SequelDisplacement[=/=]EvenBetterSequel[=/=]ToughActToFollow: ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''.

* ''YMMV/{{Nevermind}}''

* HypeBacklash[=/=]SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Given their extensive praise as important musicians and Cobain's comparatively poor guitar skill, many modern listeners fail to see the attraction.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Some people didn't know Music/DaveGrohl was in Nirvana before starting Music/FooFighters. Pat Smear, Dave's bandmate in Foo Fighters, was briefly [[EleventhHourRanger the fourth member of Nirvana during their last year]].

* {{Squick}}: "Mexican Seafood" is sort of the musical equivalent of a GrossoutShow, featuring such delightful imagery as "Now I vomit cum and diarrhea / on the tile floor like oatmeal pizza". Perhaps it's fortunate that the verses are [[IndecipherableLyrics nigh unintelligible]] even by their standards.

* SignatureSong: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" overall. By album:
** ''Bleach'': "About a Girl".
** ''Nevermind'': "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is of course their absolute SignatureSong, but also "Come as You Are", "Lithium" and "In Bloom" definitely count, as does the album track "Something in the Way", not released as a single yet widely popular and a charting hit nevertheless.
** ''Incesticide'': "Sliver".
** ''In Utero'': "Heart-Shaped Box", followed by "Rape Me" and "All Apologies". Notable are also "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea".
** ''MTV Unplugged'': Their covers of "The Man Who Sold the World", "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" and "Lake of Fire".
** ''Nirvana'': "You Know You're Right".
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The main riff in "Breed" sounds a-lot like Link Wray's "Run Chicken Run".

* TransAudienceInterpretation: ''Been A Son'' has been speculated to be about a transgender woman and her parents' shameful reaction by some people.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: Mostly {{Averted|Trope}} with "Come As You Are" being a copy of Music/KillingJoke's "Eighties" and also somewhat Justified since Killing Joke's song sounds like Music/{{The Damned|Band}} "Life Goes On"
** However, many people hate "Smells Like Teen Spirit", including Cobain himself, because it sounds too much like Music/{{Boston}}'s "More Than a Feeling".

* FaceOfTheBand: Cobain, of course. Dave Grohl escaped it by forming Foo Fighters. Krist Novoselic, on the other hand... (Naming the previous members or the second guitarist -- who might be more known to Music/FooFighters fans -- is even more difficult.)

** Nirvana's record company greatly underestimated how popular ''Nevermind'' would be, and they thought it might certified gold by ''September 1992'' if everybody worked hard. This was based on the number of copies Music/SonicYouth's ''Music/{{Goo}}'' had sold. It was certified gold and platinum in ''November 1991''. It ended up selling 30 million copies worldwide.

** Dave's eventual friendship with Slash considering the band's undisguised hatred for Music/GunsNRoses.

** Music/DavidBowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" (especially impressive Kurt says at the end, "That was a David Bowie song", and people ''still'' [[MisattributedSong believe that it's]] [[CoveredUp a Nirvana song]])

* MisaimedFandom: Thought to have been a factor in Kurt Cobain's suicide (as well as ItsPopularNowItSucks -- a rare example of this ''with the creator'').

** "Oh, Me" "Lake of Fire" and "Plateau" by Music/MeatPuppets, from ''Music/MTVUnpluggedInNewYork''

** What's really funny about the Music/MeatPuppets example is that 2/3 of the band played with Nirvana on the cover.

** ''Incesticide'': "Slider".

* ArchivePanic: You wouldn't think so at first for such a relatively short-lived band with only three LP albums, the ''Unplugged'' album, ''Insesticide'' and some live albums. But when you get into the absurd amount of old homemade demos and obscure live performances that have been made publicly available on old bootlegs and then Website/YouTube, far more than most bands, it creates quite a rabbit hole to go down. Even people who have been fans since the band was active can always find something new.

* ''[[YMMV/BleachAlbum Bleach]]''

* ''YMMV/{{Bleach}}''

* ArchivePanic: You wouldn’t think so at first for such a relatively short-lived band with only three LP albums, the ''Unplugged'' album, ''Insesticide'' and some live albums. But when you get into the absurd amount of old homemade demos and obscure live performances that have been made publicly available on old bootlegs and then Youtube, far more than most bands, it creates quite a rabbit hole to go down. Even people who have been fans since the band was active can always find something new.

* ArchivePanic: You wouldn’t think so at first for such a relatively short-lived band with only three LPs, the ''Unplugged'' album, ''Insesticide'' and some live albums. But when you get into the absurd amount of old homemade demos and obscure live performances that have been made publicly available on old bootlegs and then Youtube, far more than most bands, it creates quite a rabbit hole to go down. Even people who have been fans since the band was active can always find something new.