Butch Vig's production turned Kurt Cobain's self-loathing into stadium-sized catharsis, a trick so effective it accidentally murdered hair metal and made flannel a fashion statement. The genius wasn't just "Smells Like Teen Spirit"'s bulldozer riff but how tracks like "Lithium" and "Come as You Are" smuggled genuine despair onto MTV between hair product commercials.

Recorded for pocket change at Sound City, this displaced Michael Jackson from the charts and sold thirty million copies, proving America's kids were far angrier than anyone suspected. Generation X finally had its anthem, even if Cobain hated being the spokesperson.