7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7

was in store, but this time, rather than boldly pushing
forward, the band sought to reassure fans by making music
that referenced its 1980s roots. The aptly titled All That
You Can’t Leave Behind (2000) and How to Dismantle an
Atomic Bomb (2004) were focused on riffs and songs rather
than atmosphere and mystery, and they succeeded in
reestablishing the quartet as a commercial force, but at
what price? The band took five years before releasing its
12th studio album, No Line on the Horizon (2009). Longtime
collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois played a bigger
role in the production and songwriting, and the layered
textures of the album’s most experimental work crept
back prominently in the mix.

Nirvana

The members were Kurt Cobain (b. Feb. 20, 1967, Aberdeen, Wash.,
U.S.—d. April 5, 1994, Seattle, Wash.), Krist Novoselic (b. May 16,
1965, Compton, Calif., U.S.), and Dave Grohl (b. Jan. 14, 1969,
Warren, Ohio, U.S.).

N

irvana was an American alternative rock group
whose breakthrough album, Nevermind (1991),
announced a new musical style (grunge) and gave voice to
the post-baby boom young adults known as Generation X.
From Aberdeen, near Seattle, Nirvana was part of
the postpunk underground scene that centred on K
Records of Olympia, Washington, before they recorded
their first single, “Love Buzz,” and album, Bleach, for Sub
Pop, an independent record company in Seattle. They
refined this mix of 1960s-style pop and 1970s heavy metal–
hard rock on their first album for a major label, Geffen;
Nevermind, featuring the anthemic hit “Smells Like Teen
Spirit,” was the first full expression of punk concerns to
achieve mass market success in the United States.