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Originally Posted by Trollheart
Somebody please explain to me the attraction of Nirvana. Yeah, they were an okay band, but just okay as far as I can see. Why did they suddenly become the godfathers of grunge and rise to messianic stature? Just don't get it. Like, I'll be honest and credit where credit is due, it's a decent album. But it's not The Second Coming, as some (many) people would have you believe.
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Where were you and what were you listening to in 1991? Because I remember that was the first time that I'd heard of them and I remember just how unique they were, and the energy and focus that they had as well.
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I mean, I read that it's been included in the Library of Congress as a "culturally significant or historical recording", for ****'s sake! Was "Number of the Beast", "No sleep till Hammersmith", "Selling England by the pound" or even "Thriller" put in there? What is wrong with the world? This is NOT a religious experience! It's just an album, an okay album, maybe even a good album. But not anything to stick up on your dresser and worship with candles on either side of it.
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To be fair it's the perfect example of what a "culturally significant and historical recording" should be, for the impact that it had on a generation and it's rather similar to what the Who's My Generation and the Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks had on previous generations.
I'm not sure why you've mentioned No Sleep till Hammersmith as this is a live album at a time when nearly all the best live bands were putting out great live albums anyway and it's just one of many at that time. The others could all be candidates but Number of the Beast for such an important album is actually quite disjointed, Thriller was what was expected and Selling England By the Pound came out at the height of prog, point being that all these albums with the exception of Iron Maiden were nothing new and overly surprising to the listener.
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I can think of a hundred better rock albums, none of which probably get this almost fanatical level of respect. It's like I said with "Loveless": what's the big fuss? It's okay but it's not to me a milestone in music history. Maybe it's because Cobain took his own life and there's a certain rabid fan mentality dedicated to preserving his memory, but do people feel the same about INXS? What about Boston? See? Suicide is not a reason to worship a singer.
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I've listened to absolutely thousands of albums over the years and I can honestly say that Nevermind is actually one of the best and most complete from beginning to end. Sure the band were ruined with the hype surrounding Cobain, but suicide and death is all part of the romance that is rock and will probably never change.
Also I've no idea why you've mentioned Boston in this context either or are you referring to Brad Delp here?
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But I don't see anything hugely innovative or interesting about this album. It's not anything special, not to me. Maybe my perception is coloured by too many years of hearing how great Nirvana were, but I'm not signing up. Just on auto-pilot now, waiting for it to end. Hey, a new "Family guy!" 
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Just think of them as the Beatles, Black Sabbath and the Pixies all chucked in a liquidizer and you might actually enjoy them a lot more.