Nirvana – Nevermind (CD)

Nevermind didn't just displace Michael Jackson's Dangerous from the top of the Billboard 200 in January 1992, it signaled a wholesale realignment of what rock radio and MTV would look like for the rest of the decade. Cobain's gift was writing pop hooks sharp enough to reach arenas while keeping the abrasion and ambiguity that made underground kids feel seen, a tension that still crackles through "Lithium," "Come as You Are," and "Territorial Pissings" on every listen.