This `Nirvana'? Nevermind

WHOEVER decided at Da Capo Press to call "Nirvana: The Biography" the "final" word on the legendary alternative-rock band should know that even using the term sounds defensive: Either it's an apology for girth (It's the final word. It had to be 600-plus pages) or an insulation from criticism. (It's the final word. Which means there's nothing else to say, especially from you.) But like the book's author, they plowed on, blind to the wipeout of publishing a tome more thorough than insightful and letting force-fed opinions stand between readers and the subject.

If you're in a different demographic queue or think Nirvana is foremost a state of Buddhist enlightenment, here's what you need to know: Nirvana was a three-piece band that came out of the underground music scene in Aberdeen and Olympia, Wash., in the late 1980s. Influenced by punk and alt-rock pioneers such as the Melvins and Sonic Youth, Nirvana blended distorted guitars, arching vocals and elliptical, gothic lyrics with a sneaky pop sensibility.

Their fearsome live shows attracted first the interest of up-and-coming Seattle label Sub Pop and then Geffen Records, which released the band's major-label debut, "Nevermind," in 1991. The single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" propelled the album to the top of the charts, and began the era of alt-rock reaching a mass audience. Now called "the anthem of a generation," "Spirit" brought Nirvana popularity it had never anticipated and fame that made the group's three members uncomfortable. Lead singer Kurt Cobain began abusing heroin. Two more albums, several tours and attempts at rehab followed. On April 5, 1994, Cobain shot himself at his home. He left behind a wife -- musician and actress Courtney Love -- a baby daughter and a world of fans. Grunge's moment in the pop spotlight faded soon after.

British journalist Everett True conducted scores of interviews in researching this volume and had covered Nirvana long before the band became famous. If nothing else, I applaud his thoroughness. But not content to merely feather the archival nest (and with several other biographies plus a memoir from bassist Krist Novoselic already out, that's really all that's left to do for a while), True has something bigger in mind: It's for the kids, he writes. "They understand how it feels to be unloved, confused, misunderstood, betrayed by those in positions of authority who only ever claim to be helping you. The kids understand." Cobain and his band (which also included drummer Dave Grohl, now the Foo Fighters' front man) have stood in as marketable metaphors long enough. It's time to reclaim for the next generation what it felt like to be there.