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| Bleach
Blew / Floyd the Barber / About a
Girl / School / Love Buzz / Paper Cuts / Negative Creep / Scoff
/ Swap Meet / Mr. Moustache / Sifting
I see Bleach as a snapshot of the underground
scene in the Northwest United States during the late eighties.
Like
lots of the bands' records within that genre it was rough and sloppy
and had a guitar sound that waded through mud. What set it apart
were some clever melodies, real angst and Kurt Cobain's 'freeze-dried
vocals'. Kurt's brilliant songwriting is apparent in classic
tunes
like Blew, About a girl, Floyd the barber,
School, Negative creep and that's it. This record
is incredibly unbalanced,
apart
from these songs and the cover of Love buzz the rest
are embarrassingly bad. I can understand the importance of the
album but I think
the
people who go one about how much better it is to Nevermind are
lying to appear cool. It's a shame because it could have been
a
much stronger album had they included some of the other Nirvana
songs from the time (see the songs section).
Kurt did the right thing sacking Chad Channing from the band.
His
drumming is utterly awful and makes for an even sludgyier listening
experience.
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| Nevermind
Smells Like Teen Spirit / In Bloom
/ Come as You Are / Breed / Lithium / Polly / Territorial Pissings
/ Drain You / Lounge Act / Stay Away / On A Plane / Something in
the Way + Endless Nameless
As I've gotten older I've changed my opinion on this record.
I can almost understand Kurt's whining about the production. I used
to think he was just saying these things in order to appear cool
- similar to the losers who say 'Bleach is by far their
best album' or that 'Chad was their best drummer' etc etc. Nevermind
didn't exactly capture the band in their true light. The super-slick
'glazed in Lucite' sound wasn't them. The songs on that album were
pop songs sure, That's what Kurt wrote, But it didn't sound like
Nirvana performing them. Listen to Incesticide and hear their true
sound: lo-fi, gritty, imperfect. raw. That's not to say I don't
like the sound of Nevermind. I love the powerful drum sound,
the glassy guitars and the double tracked vocals. I suppose the
record has dated more than the others because of it's sound, but
I can live with that. They're great songs whatever the production
and unlike Bleach, every tune's a winner. In the songs
themselves, the actual words Kurt sings don't really make much sense
to me - it's the energy and passion in the musical delivery and
that famous 'tension and release' that wins me over. The lyrics
almost throughout have a very 'cut-up' feel to them, as though you
could jumble up all the sentences and the song's wouldn't make any
less sense. Sonicly, Dave's awesome drumming added such depth to
their sound and with Chris's very inventive basslines, a perfect
foundation was set for Kurt's 'three chords and one that doesn't
fit' and his incredible controlled screaming.
The album starts with 'Smells like teen spirit'. I suppose it's
easy to see why the song had the impact it did. it has all the essential
nirvana ingredients but, perhaps, it's a little more crafted than
the others. There are three verses with different words in each
and not that much repetition. Compare with a lot of other nirvana
songs and you'll see just how many times Kurt writes two verses
and then just repeats the first for the third. 'In Bloom', 'Come
as you are', 'Lithium' et al. Are all examples of Kurt's ease of
creating a catchy pop hook. In fact, there's brilliant melody thoughout
the record which I think some people just forget, for example -
the fabulous and underrated 'Lounge Act'. At first listen, it might
just seem like a bit of a brain-dead mosher. If you really listen
to it there are some really nice pieces of melody and a very satisfying
build up and climax. The only disappointment I have with Nevermind
is the 'Secret song' also known as 'Endless nameless' which starts
up about 20 minutes or so after 'Something in the way'. I hate these
kind of tracks anyway, they really screw things up if you've set
the CD on random and, these days, it pisses me off because it makes
converting the album to mp3s a pain in the arse. The track itself
is mostly noise save for two 'mellow sections' (it comes across
a lot more entertaining on the LTSO video). I'm not sure
what the story is behind it - whether the boys said: 'Man, we've
really really sold ourselves out on this radio-friendly unit-shifting
record. lets save our credibility by putting the sonic equivalent
of pigshit at the end of our record. that'll show 'em!' I'm sure
Sonic Youth and others. were proud.
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| Incesticide
Dive / Sliver / Stain / Been a Son / Turnaround
/ Molly's Lips / Son of a Gun / (New Wave) Polly / Beeswax / Downer
/ Mexican Seafood / Hairspray Queen / Aero Zeppelin /Big Long Now
/ Aneurysm
Incesticide was released shortly after Nevermind
to shut hungry fans up for while before the band's next studio album
and maybe also to help newer grungers join up the dots on the periphery
of Nirvana's earlier work. It's not as broad in appeal as Nevermind
but by it's nature it was never intended to be. It's basically bits
and bobs from various sessions with lots of songs the bootleggers
didn't have. It's a terrific record which I think is more representative
of their early sound than the sludgy Bleach was. There
is an obvious 70s rock influence in a lot of the songs particularly
in the riff-tastic 'Dive' and (as the name suggests) 'Aero Zeppelin'.
'Been a Son', 'Sliver' and the mighty 'Aneurysm' are concert favourites
and are also classic Nirvana down to the bone whereas 'Mexican Seafood'
and 'Hairspray Queen' show their quirkier new-waver sound that is
all but absent in their studio records. '(New Wave) Polly' is a
bit of a disappointment as it's a bit crummy compared to the plugged
in live versions of the time (the one's where Kurt screams the last
verse and chorus ala Wishka) and 'Big long now' gets the
boneheaded song award. If you're just a passing Nirvana fan who
perhaps owns Nevermind and your favourite song is 'Smells
like teen spirit' than this record probably isn't for you, but for
those of you who are in for the ride, this record is essential.
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| In
Utero
Serve The Servants / Scentless Apprentice
/ Heart-Shaped Box / Rape Me / Frances Farmer Will Have her
revenge on Seattle / Milk / Pennyroyal Tea / Radio Friendly Unit
Shifter / tourette's / All Apologies + Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol
Flow Through The Strip
This is their last and darkest studio album. The production has
a real 'first take' feel to it and the sound overall is considerably
lower-fi than Nevermind - Kurt had often whinged and moaned
about Nevermind being too slick and not the kind of record
he would personally buy. Nevermind made Geffen ass-loads
of money so Kurt now had the clout to call the shots so they hired
the legendary producer of crap sound Steve Albini. He junked up
the songs with his backwards approach to recording and engineering.
He's certainly one of these amazingly average individuals who is
able to get round his lack of tangible skills by having a suitably
'up his own arse' attitude behind everything he does. If you 'don't
get it', you're simply not cool. He gave In Utero the rough sound
of Bleach-era nirvana but this time there were better songs
and more intelligent lyrics to work with. Throughout the record
there are long passages of feedback and some songs sounding unfinished;
I think there's something calculated about this, it can in places
sound insincere like 'anarchic punk-by-numbers'. Dave's awesome
drumming is downplayed by such an awful boxy sound and the guitars
sound scratchy and abrasive (that is when they're not descending
into ear-piercing and very very boring feedback and noise).
Despite these issues, the stand-out tracks are 'Serve the servants',
'Heart shaped box', Rape me', 'Dumb', 'Very ape' and 'All apologies'
- they're terrific examples of that winning, but by now hackneyed
and trite Nirvana formula. 'Pennyroyal Tea' is often raved about
but to my ears I struggle to get past the horrible mix. Check out
the Scott Litt remix of this song for a much easier to listen version.
Elsewhere on the record there's 'experimentation'.(yawn) - which
works well on 'Scentless Apprentice' but 'Milk it' fails and sounds
obvious and over-reaching. The most bone-headed track award goes
to 'Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle'. It sounds
like they're taking the piss out of their own brilliant Aneurysm.
Kurt sings like he sucking on an ice cube throughout this one. I
remember reading an interview* with Kurt where he says the album
is good but bits could be better - I reckon he might of been referring
to that song. In Utero is not as good as Nevermind but better than
Bleach.
*This is an interview transcribed in an issue of Guitar World from
1996. I might OCR it and publish it on this site because it's really
fascinating.
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| Unplugged
in New York
About a Girl / Come as You Are / Jesus Doesn't
Want Me for a Sunbeam / The Man Who Sold the World / Pennyroyal
Tea / Dumb / Polly / On a Plain / Something in the Way Plateau /
Oh, Me / Lake of Fire / All Apologies / Where Did You Sleep Last
Night?
In the fall of 1993, corporate rock whores' Nirvana agreed to perform
a set for MTV's Unplugged this is where REM, Neil Young, Elton John
and others had previously performed. It was released posthumously
in August 1994. Nirvana performed 8 songs of their own and 6 covers
in the stripped down style. Along with the band were second guitarist
Pat Smear and cellist Lorie something-or-other. For this gig Kurt's
songs were completely exposed; there was no distorted mega-loud
guitar to hide behind or a front row miles away from the stage.
The songs stood up well - Kurt’s songwriting got the attention
it deserved all played in a very gentle way - that is apart from
Kurt’s voice; he's was very-much in his 'toilet-singing' mode,
his straining is a little grating in 'pennyroyal tea' which he performs
by himself and in two of the three meat Puppets songs it gets a
little painful. Elsewhere the simple compositions work brilliantly
in the style - about a girl is gorgeous as is 'Dumb', 'On a plane'
and 'All apologies'. 'Polly' is particular tasty thanks to the new
textures added by the cello. The covers are mostly obscure but all
played well, in particular David Bowie's 'Man who sold the world'
is fantastic. They close the set with Leadbelly's 'Where did you
sleep last night' the song is already chilling enough but Kurt added
an incredible screaming climax to it which makes for me one of the
the best Nirvana moments in their history. This is a very intimate
record - it's as though you know Kurt after listening it. His sweet
and funny side really comes across and for those of you that've
watched the bootleg video tape of the show uncut - there're lots
of funny little incidents and banter between the bandmates which
emphasises the relaxed and comfortable nature of the show. (although
it's well know that Kurt was incredibly nervous before and during
it). Listening to this record can be an emotional experience as
it makes you focus on the genius of the songs and morn the loss
of such a talented but troubled git.
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| From
the Muddy Banks of the Wishka
Intro / School / Drain You / Aneurysm / Smells
Like Teen Spirit / Been a Son / Lithium / Sliver / Spank Thru /
Scentless Apprentice / Heart Shaped Box / Milk It / Negative Creep
/ Polly / Breed / Turrette’s / Blew
Geffen released this record in the fall of 1996 (that's when I bought
it anyhow). I was really looking forward to it. Christ I was disappointed.
Apparently Krist (who compiled it) had listened to over 100 hours
of live recordings. I think that is either just lies or he was on
lots of crack when he chose the track listing. Any Nirvana fan could
make a better live album from any selection of half decent bootlegs.
for a start there's the omissions, there's no 'Love Buzz' - a live
favourite since the early days, or 'About a Girl' which surley must
have been their most played live song. 'Come As You Are' ... or
tons of others. there's two venues which dominate the record; the
Amsterdam Paradiso and the Del Mar California gig both from 1991
- the first one I think is a good show with lots of energy and enthusiastic
performances, but the latter I think has a lousy sound to it - from
this gig there's a medioca 'Drain You' with a horrible chorus effect
in the intro, a stiff 'Aneurysm' and a much to fast 'Smells Like
Teen Spirit'. Kurt's voice just sounds so empty in these songs -
like it's all scream but no presence, a bit like how Frank Black
of the Pixies sounds when he screams. How on earth did those performances
stand out from the others? Why did he choose such a null rendition
of 'Lithium' when he could of had that famous performance from Reading
92? livenirvana.com say that the negative creep used is 'awesome'.
I guess that's a subjective one - I think it's crap. It sounds as
though Krist's bass come in out of tune and the 'instrumental bit
where Kurt does a couple of little improvised riffs is totally frigged
up - he just dulls the strings and makes feedback. I hate it - they
should of used the negative creep from the Amsterdam show, or lots
of others. The worst inclusion is 'sliver' the song's a huge favourite
among fans and yet the rendition chosen is just utterly awful -
it’s feels sloppy (very unusual) and sounds like Kurt is running
out of breath. Aside from those huge issues there are a few good
tracks. 'Spank thru' is a nice inclusion and it's a little more
interesting the their usual run through - Kurt slurs the softer
bits and sounds a bit like Jim Hendrix It’s also a really
good recording. Scentless Apprentice is possibly the best performance
of that song. the version of Milk It is pretty cool in as much as
I now like that song. The last track 'Blew' is very strong and is
a good closer. If you’re after a good live document of Nirvana
I'd avoid this record and go with the video release: 'Live Tonight
Sold Out' which has several of their best performances (in my opinion).
Avoid this awful release - it does nothing but harm the bands legacy.
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| Nirvana
(best of)
You Know You're Right / About a Girl
(Bleach) Been a Son / Sliver / Smells Like Teen Spirit / Come As
You Are / Lithium / In Bloom / Heart-Shaped Box / Pennyroyal Tea
/ Rape Me / Dumb / All Apologies / The Man Who Sold the World
I couldn't get too excited about a Nirvana
greatest hits package. The list of 'best tracks' made by a fanatical
fan
of any band will almost always exclude the big singles or the tunes
most frequently heard on the radio. For example: I never want
to
listen to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' or 'Come as you Are'. I've
heard them far too often. Greatest Hits has a very limited appeal
for
me and others like me - it's not one for the fans even despite
the new track. Having said that, there are strange omissions.
'Drain
you' and 'Aneurysm' being most notable and the inclusion of the
ho-hum 'Been a son' is quite strange. The whole record is only
55
minutes - there was room for more. Apart from the first track,
the songs are in chronological order. starting lo-fi, going
very hi-fi
then lo-fi again. Then two songs from the unplugged performance.
'All apologies' just sounds awful with Kurt sounding as though
he's
'Married ... buried ... married ... buried' whilst sitting on a
toilet and removing a very large stool from his ass. I wish
they'd
stuck to studio recordings. The long awaited 'You know you're right'
is a disappointment. Mad murderer Courtney had made us believe
that
this track was going to end all suffering in the world. It's a
fairly lame song. Sounds more like Puddle of Mudd or anything
of that ghastly
ilk. Kurt sings like crap as well which is appropriate as, once
again, it sounds like it was recorded whilst he was indeed crapping.
The sleeve notes have a long and rambling load of guff possibly
similar
to the
long
and
rambling
load
of
guff on the horrendous Wishka live album. There are
also some photographs we've all seen before. If, when asked,
'what's your
favorite Beatles album?' you answer: Best of the Beatles
then you might enjoy this album. Me? I'll make my own Nirvana's
Greatest Hits compilation thanks.
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| Live
Tonight! Sold Out! (video)
Aneurysm / About A Girl / Dive / Love Buzz
/ Breed / Smells Like Teen Spirit / Negative Creep / Come As You
Are / Territorial Pissings / Something In The Way / Lithium / Drain
You / Polly / Sliver / On A Plain / Endless nameless
This video was originally conceived buy Kurt in 1992 (I think)
but was put on hold for some reason or another. It was released
posthumously after Krist and Dave had done the final completion
work. It's a weird video - I don't think it was intended to sell
the band - it's not for those new to Nirvana. For those of us who
are familiar to those crazy dudes, it's a very entertaining video.
it's packed full of all sorts of little gems, from cracking live
performances to funny banter and incidents. Of the live stuff it
has some of the best. there's fantastic performances of ‘Aneurysm’,
‘Breed, ‘Lithium’, ‘Drain you’, ‘Polly’
and ‘Sliver’. An off-key but exhilarating ‘About
a girl’, a mental 'Come as you are' the infamous 'Love buzz'
where Kurt gets his head kicked in and their one and only top of
the pops performance, absolutely fantastic - it whizzes all over
the hugely disappointing Wishka live album. There are strange
possibly drug-influenced interludes in the last half of this video
- As Kurt was a well known substance abuser, this might have been
some kind of homage to the wonderful world of crippling heroin abuse.
The video ends with 'Endless-Nameless' performed at various venues
and is cleverly spliced together - it puts across almost an artform
in stage destruction and seems to make it look cool. That's down
to the fabulous cinematography of the Seattle homecoming show which
dominates this video. We all know that in real life, grown men smashing
things up on stage is the most childish and stupidest looking thing
since you. This live and behind-the-scenes document as a whole really
is totally gripping from start to finish. It's a thoroughly entertaining
and a fascinating incite into the band - a must for any fan.
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| With
the Lights Out (box set)
After what seems like an eternity the Nirvana camp have finally
brought out the much anticipated forever delayed boxed set; the
final chapter; the last piece of the jigsaw; fait accompli; 'closure'
[insert cliché here]. Technically, on the audio front it
doesn't disappoint, there's an awful lot of content: 3 CDs packed
with demos, early versions and previously unheard and unheard of
tracks. There's an accompanying booklet full of background info
and setlists and other stuff (which to be honest I haven't read
yet) and there's the forth disk, a DVD of rare and never before
seen footage. Fantastic.
First off, this collection is kinda too late for me, I would have
been foaming at the mouth, shaking and gurgling five+ years ago
at something like this, now I'm old and bored I feel more nostalgic
and reflective than 'crank this record and experience NIRVANA!'.
I'm sure I speak for most fans who were there at the time. The
tracks are mostly snapshots from various points throughout their
all-too-brief career although there are some strange and notable
omissions - anything from the Fecal Matter demo in particular,
this exclusion among others raises questions over the choice of
a few oddities in particular the inclusion of content available
elsewhere, also, what there is anal Nirvana completists like myself
will have heard most of it before but it's nice to hear the tracks
cleaned up and with their proper names.
Disk one has a lot of unheard
early material with all the hallmark pre-Grohl nuances - the fizzy
distorted guitar, the farting bass
sound and drums that sound like they're actually cardboard boxes.
Included here are a slightly cleaned up cover from their first
ever gig, a special extended version of Beans with extra
madness, a very early Help me I'm hungry strangely without
any guitar and a collection of Ledbelly covers. Interest in this
lot would really
only be for historical purposes so I can imagine casual nirvana
fans won't listen to this disk more than once.
Disk two is probably the most anticipated on my part as it contains
studio versions of Verse chorus verse (AKA In his
hands) and Old
age. Interest in the former fuelled by a soundcheck and a
poor quality live recording, this version proves once and for all
it's
actually a rather unremarkable song, the latter soiled by a scratch
vocal but a great tune none the less. I was disappointed with the
KAOS radio performances, Kurt's banter with the utter
gaywad DJ (the Calvin Johnson) made the session memorable,
they're cruelly edited out but what there is sounds pre-fm recorded
so that's nice.
I'm pleasantly surprised by Butch Vig's 'working mix' of Breed,
on first half-listen I thought it was a pointless piece of filler
(a'la all the tracks available officially elsewhere) but to me
it sounds like the true sound of Nirvana - raw, edgy and imperfect,
not the sound that eventually surfaced on Nevermind.
Disk three is In Utero era stuff that runs right to the
end of Kurt's life. I'm a little cynical about the inclusion of Marigold (Dave!)
and the version of Scentless
apprentice is too embryonic
(and long) to enjoy. I can't help but react to Dave's audible 'I
wrote this song ...' then proceed to play the boneheaded (c'mon,
it is) riff that makes up the least interesting part of the song.
however, the Jewel in this disk's buttock is the mere sketch of
Do Re Mi, a rough Dictaphone demo from 1994. a beautiful little
song like no other Cobain composition. His voice unusually soft
and travelling falsetto in places. This tune more than ever reminds
me that the band's success was no fluke.
The DVD on the otherhand I need to give more time too as it failed
to inspire me on first viewing. Filmed mainly on camcorders and
showing early performances and well as rehearsals and home videos,
after about 20 minutes I yearned for the more watchable professionally
shot gigs of which there are many. What there is though is very
well put together with some nice little Easter eggs along the way,
again, most of this stuff is more historically interesting than
outright enjoyable. Choosing a highlight from this is easy - the
cover of Terry Jack's Seasons in the sun, filmed
and recorded in a studio in Rio de Janeiro when they must have
been very bored
it's a wonderful candid moment that even the most curmudgeoned
arsehole would soften to.
The whole collection is slowly growing on me and I'm still finding
new little gems (at the moment it's Token eastern song -
I was told no studio version exists with proper vocals) so I'm
relatively
happy. Scanning a few online forums I see a lot of people are winging
about what's not in this collection, which, surly is a good thing
as it means it still ain't over. I'm just glad the powers that
be finally pulled their fingers out and have given me something
I never thought they would have; closure. Sort of.
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