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When Gus Malardo first heard Kurt Cobain's band Nirvana on the radio in 1991, he knew a defining moment was at hand. Something in that wall of power chords, distressed vocal and wickedly hummable melody coming through the radio told him that this was something new.

`` I remember exactly where I was when I first heard `Smells Like Teen Spirit.' I said then that things were going to change,'' said Malardo, 32, of Coventry, R.I., a guitarist with the area hard-rock band Mastamindz.

He was right.

Nirvana's music forced a sea change in rock. A combination of noise and melody, anger and pain, style and substance, the songs -- especially those on the band's watershed album, 1991's `` Nevermind'' -- left a mark that's still being felt.

`` Kurt Cobain and Nirvana are icons, they shifted the musical direction,'' said Oedipus, vice president of programming for Boston rock station, WBCN. `` Just as music was becoming overproduced and very electronic, Nirvana captured the spirit of rock, and it shifted gears. They took us into a very different style, with its basis in punk. It was stripped down, it was self-effacing, angst ridden, and it made the fan the star.'' Monday marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Cobain, Nirvana's leader and primary songwriter. He shot himself in his Seattle home on April 5, 1994. His body was discovered three days later by an alarm technician.

He was just 27.

Cobain was the most reluctant of rock stars, and had long suffered from drug addiction and struggled with suicidal tendencies. Those things, and the music that could have been, are the sad part of the story.

However, fans of Cobain and Nirvana are taking time out now to remember what really mattered -- the music.

As the singer and primary songwriter in Nirvana, Cobain has long been considered the father of grunge rock, heavy music rife with rebellion and disaffection, a sort of beautiful noise that Cobain himself once described as sounding like `` The Bay City Rollers after an assault by Black Sabbath.''

Cobain, along with drummer Dave Grohl (now the frontman with The Foo Fighters) and bassist Krist Novoselic (formerly of Sweet 75, now going solo and writing a book) filled Nirvana's songs with what many felt were honest emotions, bared in memorable melodies amidst the tumult of furious power chords.

Meanwhile, the band could put down a ballad as beautiful as `` All Apologies'' in the next beat, delivering raw emotion dressed in a lilting melody, and acoustic guitars backed by an orchestra.

It's a combination that still strikes a chord with area fans.

`` Nirvana's music had so much pain, and that came out. Each song contained their personal tribulations and pain,'' said Don Seagrave, 28, of Providence, bass player with Mastamindz. `` There was no BS about it. They were just playing straight from the hip. I'd say that's been an influence on us. We play from the gut.''

(Mastamindz was just nominated in the Providence Phoenix's music poll, and will hold its DVD release party at Jarrod's Live Rock Venue in Attleboro on April 23.) Not only does Nirvana's music influence today's young rockers, but Nina McCarthy, owner of the booking company B.B. Entertainment in Narragansett, R.I., said the band's approach and passion can provide a road map and inspiration for up-and-coming bands like the ones she books.

`` Although Kurt Cobain had his problems with depression and drugs, one thing local musicians can take from him is his love of music, and how he came from a broken home and was made fun of at school but he followed his dreams and used his talent,'' she said.

Nirvana emerged from the fertile music scene of Seattle in the late 1980s and early '90s. At the time, the hair metal band Poison was still on the charts, as was M.C. Hammer and George Michael. But between 1990 and 1993, a slew of Seattle bands emerged around the same time as Nirvana -- including Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and Soundgarden -- helping put grunge on the map.

Sub-Pop Records, based out of Seattle, not only had signed Nirvana and many other local bands, the label also helped promote the city and the sound, helping it spread across America and the world.

Soon after, an alternative-rock revolution was under way, and even today, along with hip-hop, what started in Seattle more than a decade ago is still shaping the music charts.

`` Nirvana was the catalyst,'' said Adam Womack, 18, a guitarist and songwriter from Plainville. `` You see the influence in a lot of different bands right now, in their style of music, and in the way they portray themselves.''

Nirvana also had a huge cultural impact. Grunge rock was soon a mainstay on MTV, clothes designers chased the flannel and threadbare look, and even the movie industry got into the action, with Cameron Crowe's film, `` Singles.''

`` I think they've had an influence on everyone,'' said Jarrod Ilkowitz, owner of Jarrod's Live Rock Venue. `` That's when we went from the '80's music to grunge. They had a unique sound.''

But perhaps the greatest tributes are from those who heard that singular voice calling out from their speakers, and felt an instant kinship.

Nicole Lemay of North Attleboro heard that voice when she was 10. Little did she know that Nirvana, and Cobain in particular, would one day lead her out of a dark emotional wilderness. As a teen, she'd become depressed and suicidal.

Then her favorite band came to the rescue. Lemay got a guitar for Christmas in 1994, and her fortunes began to turn.

`` In a few months, I could play several Nirvana songs '85 I was so happy,'' she said. `` The depression had vanished. I'd found an outlet and a way to truly connect with my love for Nirvana. Playing guitar became my life.''

Other locals have weighed in on Cobain's legacy, writing letters to The Sun Chronicle for this story to express their feelings.

One, who signed his scrawled note only `` Mark S.,'' said, `` When I feel sad or mad, his songs make me happy ... Sometimes I dream of him and we're playing the guitar and singing in concert together ... He understood the pain we depressed people go through.''

Steve Scanlon of Attleboro said he doesn't play guitar, but as a Nirvana fan wanted to express his feelings in a poem, which in part reads:

Kurt Donald Cobain, R.I.P. 1994

We miss you so much, Kurt

Now and forever more.

You gave us beautiful music

Your lyrics are some that a lot of us could relate to

For that, my friend, I'd like to thank you.

The news of Cobain's death 10 years ago shook up the rock world. Nirvana ended its short run, to the sadness of millions of fans. The band had followed `` Nevermind'' with only one more studio release, 1993's raw `` In Utero'' (the band's first album, `` Bleach'' had been released in 1991, and a disc of odds and sods, `` Incesticide'' had come out in 1992).

Shortly before his death, Cobain and his bandmates appeared on MTV's `` Unplugged.'' That recording, featuring the band's music stripped down to its most tuneful and intimate was a revelation for many who had never listened to the band. That CD was released shortly after Cobain's death.

A raucous live album, `` From the Muddy Banks of Wishka,'' which captured the band in all its sonic fury, was released in 1996.

Last October, a greatest hits CD was issued to much hoopla. The disc contained `` You Know You're Right,'' the last song Cobain recorded, just a few months before his death. Some critics said it was good enough to stand alongside the tracks on `` Nevermind'' that started it all.

Nirvana did not leave much recorded material. However, what the music of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana lacks in physical heft, it more than makes up for in its impact, Oedipus said.

`` Their influence is definitely being felt today, and what's happened is unfortunately many people tried to duplicate that style, and it didn't come from the heart and it became manufactured. And those bans will not stand the test of time,'' he said. `` Nirvana will.''

Today, Nicole Lemay is a 23-year-old student studying at Rhode Island College with plans to become an art teacher. She still plays a little guitar when she has the time, and enjoys listening to the band that pulled her up from the depths all those years ago.

`` Anyone who experienced Nirvana the way I did will never forget that time in their lives when they were truly influenced by the voice of our generation,'' she said.

`` I know one thing for sure, as Kurt Cobain once sang, `I'm not the only one.' ''

JOHN WINTERS can be reached at 508-236-0434 or at jwinters@thesunchronicle.com.