How NIRVANA's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Changed the World

Why has all the seminar rock music disappeared from the charts? Rock is dead. Or at least that's what the music press have been telling us for the last half decade. There's not been a genre-defining rock act that has gripped the public consciousness in forever. Crunching guitar-based music is mostly gone from the charts. Hip-hop, day-glo pop and synths are the new dominating force.

A lot of these RIP Rock articles envision a shake up. A new sound that is going to make "rock music" culturally relevant again. Simply put: We need another Smells Like Teen Spirit. But what made Teen Spirit so essential anyway?