[liamenator]

Sweet, this means I get to make my pick before I have to go MIA for a bit.

With our 5th round selection, BF & the BFFs are proud to select, in the category of US, West of Mississippi, the band that helped define a generation, worthy successors in the long line of Kings of the Alternative nation, bringing the anger and dissatisfaction of their audience to the forefront of a national consciousness... The Leaders of the charge to wipe the last gasp of hair metal and synth-pop off the map, A band whose own tragic story mirrors that of the scene they came to represent, the most important band of the 1990s, and one that changed music forever.... NIRVANA

Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing was ever quite the same, for better and for worse. Nirvana popularized punk, post-punk, and indie rock, unintentionally bringing it into the American mainstream like no other band to date.

Jane's Addiction and Soundgarden may have proven to the vast American heavy metal audience that alternative could rock, and the Pixies may have merged pop sensibilities with indie rock white noise, but Nirvana pulled at all together, creating a sound that was both fiery and melodic. Since Nirvana was rooted in the indie aesthetic but loved pop music, they fought their stardom while courting it, becoming some of the most notorious anti-rock stars in history... Cobain may not have been able to weather Nirvana's success, but the band's legacy stands as one of the most influential in rock & roll history.