Musicians Reflect on Nirvana and Nevermind

In the summer of 1991, Billy Corgan traveled from Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin to spend time with Butch Vig, following their 30 intensive workdays on the first Smashing Pumpkins album, Gish. Vig received an offer on whether he would work on Nirvana's second album. At the end of April 1991, Vig met with Nirvana in Los Angeles for pre-production. Before the Nevermind sessions, Kurt Cobain told Vig that he only wanted a heavy sound.

Dave Grohl stated that Smells Like Teen Spirit was recorded in a short time and was one of Vig's favorites. Grohl also said he thought In Bloom or Lithium would be the big hit of the album, while he thought Smells Like Teen Spirit was an ordinary album track. Billy Corgan described Nevermind as a once-in-a-generation album and said he thought Smells Like Teen Spirit was a four-minute classic.

Josh Homme explained that he saw the Smells Like Teen Spirit video on MTV in a hotel room. Melissa auf der Maur said that Smells Like Teen Spirit represented the birth of the new sound of the 1990s. Chris Cornell attributed Nirvana's reach to a wide audience to the band presenting itself like everyone else.