Go to:
- Bleach (1989)
- Nevermind (1991)
- Hormoaning (1992)
- Incesticide (1992)
- In Utero (1993)
- MTV Unplugged in New York (1994)
- From the Muddy Banks of the Whishkah (1996)
Bleach
6
Blew / Floyd the Barber / About a Girl / School / Love Buzz / Paper Cuts / Negative Creep / Scoff / Swap Meet / Mr. Moustache / Sifting / Big Cheese / Downer
“Recorded
in Seattle at Reciprocal Recording by Jack Endino for $600,” the booklet
somewhat boastingly mentions. And why? Because the album sounds pretty good
for such a low budget, that’s why, and they must have realized that.
Although the album does sound rather amateurish, its dirty rawness is a nice
match for the heavy Melvins/ Sabbath-inspired dirges. People often tend to
forget that the pre-Nevermind-buzz Nirvana was just a small outfit
of scruffy looking bums. The Melvins were a crucial band in the Nirvana history.
Not only had Cobain (in his teens) played in a band with later Melvins-drummer
Dale Crover, it was also that band’s singer/guitarist King Buzzo who
introduced them to Bambi-eyed Chris Novoselic, who would eventually stay the
permanent bass player. A few years later, Cobain would return the favor by
making sure the Melvins got themselves a better record deal with a major label
(Houdini (1993)). On this album, Dale Crover fulfils drumming duty
on “Floyd the Barber” and “Paper Cuts,” while on the
other tracks Chad Channing drums. The booklet also mentions Jason Everman
(guitar), but allegedly he doesn’t appear on these recordings.
Let’s start with the good things first: “Blew,” in instant Nirvana classic, starts with Novoselic’s heavy bass, and offers a sludgy slab of rock, further characterised by Cobain’s mumbled vocals (obviously inspired by the Meat Puppets’s Curt Kirkwood), and the amateurishly recorded (that bass drum!), but dirty sounding drums. “About a Girl” is the album’s most melodic, accessible and classic-sounding song. It’s not only remarkably melodic and poppy for a ‘grunge’ band (good luck finding pop melodies in albums by Tad, Mudhoney, Soundgarden,… from the same era), it also points out where the band would go on subsequent releases. The album’s two other highlights are firstly “School”, which offers some damn fine guitar soloing, an exemplary instance of typical Nirvana-repetitions (the entire song contains just three different sentences: “Wouldn’t you believe it, it’s just my luck,” “No recess,” and “You’re in high school again”) and a swell building up of tension marked by a thrilling scream; and secondly “Love Buzz,” a dirty – if faithful - cover version of the song by Dutch band Shocking Blue (their other “classic”, “Venus,” was later covered by 80’s pop act Bananarama). A few remarkable things about the song are Cobain’s almost unrecognisable vocals in the first verse, the recognisable repetitive bass lines, and some marvellous guitar freak-outs at the end, clearly inspired by listening to a lot of Dinosaur Jr. “Floyd the Barber”, with its ridiculously loud drums, is one of the better efforts, and I really dig the ending of that song, the guitar and bass disappearing to let the drums finish the song.
Sadly enough, the second half of the album offers not one song that can compete with one of those songs. An interesting trio of songs are tracks 8-10, “Scoff,” “Swap Meet,” and “Mr. Moustache.” All these songs are quite brutal and heavy, and have, sadly enough, some weak parts. But, underneath all the muddy violence, some good ideas can be found. “Scoff” features a surprisingly accessible chorus, “Swap Meet” has some twisted, cool-sounding guitar parts and drum-rolls, and is basically recycled in “Mr. Moustache,” which speeds up the previous song. That’s when we get to the bad stuff. Notwithstanding the poppy chorus (with, again, weird bass drums), “Big Cheese” is a letdown because of the weak tuneless verses and truly annoying vocals. “Paper Cuts,” an unbearably slow and heavy Melvins-imitation suffers from the same. Even worse are “Negative Creep” and “Sifting”. The first starts off really powerful, but in the second half of the song, Cobain sounds too demented. Annoyingly demented. The repeated “Daddy’s little girl ain’t a girl no more”-line usually makes me skip it. “Sifting” offers no imagination, goes on for too long (more than six minutes), is underdeveloped and should have stayed off the album.
Ridiculously uneven, Bleach is a very frustrating listen. The bad songs are (again) annoyingly bad and repetitive, and therefore it’s a good thing that most of those songs are quite short. On the other hand, the album contains three great songs (two originals “Blew,” “About a Girl,” and the cover “Love Buzz”) some other artists would die for, and a few fine ones (“School,” “Floyd the Barber”), which betray Cobain’s talent for writing his own original songs in a classic reference frame (later efforts weren’t that far removed from powerful pop). More of that was to come two years later, when this band would almost single-handedly (with the help of the music industry and the press of course) change our notion of “rock music”.
Reader comments: Zophael979: Well, like I said you can hear Mudhoney and Black Flag all over this record and thankfully Cobain comes up with a few good rock songs in that style. If he hadn't, there'd be no reason to buy this record (well, except maybe for the ridiculous amount of popularity that Nirvana achieved after...). "Blew" is classic garage rock with a great driving bass and great guitar work by Cobain, complete with some of his best lyrics. "Is there another reason for your stain?/Could you believe who we knew stress or strain?/Here is another word that rhymes with shame". Oblique, but not in a pretentious sort of way. "Floyd the Barber" continues in the same vein with some interesting stops and starts and amusing lyrics detailing Cobain being molested by characters from the Andy Griffith show (which I haven't ever seen, but I'll be keeping this song in mind if I ever do). "About A Girl" is the Beatle-esque rock number that sounds nothing like the rest of the album (or roughly anything else by Nirvana) and could possibly be Cobain's best song. Great guitar work (only two chords, but an awesome solo in the middle) and vocal harmonies, all supporting the lyrics which detail the sweetness and frustration of one of Cobain's failed relationships. "School" takes us back to steady rock territory and Cobain delivers more of an anthem this time, the kind you'd find on Nevermind. The lyrics are minimal, but I like that. The "No Recess" part often brings a smile to my face. Their cover of "Love Buzz" is pretty cool too. Again with the minimal lyrics (of course, they didn't write it this time), but the amount of noise the band makes makes it a highlight of the album. "Paper Cuts", as you said, is very Melvin-esque and isn't particularly amazing, but I think the sudden stops and starts (which, funnily enough, only can be found on the two songs that the Melvins drummer played on) along with Cobain's demonically possessed vocals make it memorable. "Negative Creep" is a good piece of punk metal and the crazy shouting by Cobain makes the song fun, but the "Daddy's little girl ain't a girl no more" is a bit too close to Mudhoney's "Sweet Young Ain't Sweet No More" . So far, the record is rock solid and contains some of the best Nirvana songs. The second half isn't nearly as good. All the songs follow the same formula exactly: metalish verse riff, anthemic chorus, repeat ad naseum. Of these songs, "Swap Meet" is the best thanks to Cobain's sweetly sung vocals during the verses, but the song itself is only about middling. The worst would have to be "Sifting", which is interesting somewhat for the first minute or so, but then drags everything out for almost six unbearable minutes. Not even Black Flag laid down a dirge that painfully dull. That's pretty much the original LP. "Big Cheese" and "Downer" were added to the CD edition (which mostly everyone has) as the B-sides to their respective singles ("Love Buzz" and something else). "Big Cheese" is alright. It was written as a taunt to Sub-Pop boss Jonathan Ponemen, a somewhat amusing choice as the B-side to their first single. "Downer" isn't much more than a throw-away that you wouldn't argue against being designated B-side status. Still, I suppose any closer is better than "Sifting". As you said, this one is ridiculously uneven, in equal parts exciting and dull. I wouldn't say that Nirvana particular outdoes any of the bands that inspired them, but they don't shame them either (at least not on this record). One thing I haven't mentioned yet that brings this album kind of down for me is that Kurt decided he had to be "punk rawk" on this record and break out into screaming on every song. A good scream here and there is good, but the way he keeps doing it here just ends up annoying me. It unfortunately helps some songs seem more faceless in a way because I wouldn't think that almost every single song on the record required some primal screaming to punctuate it's meaning. Still, it's a good warm-up before Nevermind (the music itself wasn't all that different on that album...Cobain just indulged his anthemic song-writing side more on that album) and a much better album than In Utero (though that's just my opinion and not a very popular one). As a whole it scores a little bit lower, but the strength of the better songs bring this one up to a seven. Certainly not a bad edition to anyone's record collection. Tom (Somewhere): |
Nevermind ( 1991 )
8.5
Smells Like Teen Spirit / In Bloom / Come As You Are / Breed
/ Lithium / Polly / Territorial Pissings / Drain You / Lounge
Act / Stay Away / On a Plain / Something in the Way
I
bought this album in September of 1991. The band had made quite an impression
at the annual Pukkelpop festival (Belgium) a month earlier, got quite some
buzz, and I (young and inexperienced) wanted the album ASAP. And I liked it
a lot. I thought it was a masterpiece, until I’d had enough of it suddenly,
and didn’t play it for a few years. Now, a dozen years later, I still
like the album, but with more reservations. It is probably a common enough
story in music history that albums that appeal to almost a whole generation
(like London Calling 24 years ago, or Sgt. Pepper’s
36 years ago), don’t seem to be able to live up to their reputation.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a winner, though. The guitar that
introduces the song still gives me a weird feeling that sends me back in time
(too bad I get this feeling less and less). It’s the ideal (teen) anthem:
it rocks, it has great hooks, and it’s memorable. People have
said parts of it were directly stolen from the Pixies’ “Debaser”
or Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” or partly influenced by
Hüsker Dü and The Police.
Well, I’m not convinced. I guess some comparisons could lead to a “Yeah, it does resemble…” but it’s no more the case than loads of other songs that are influenced by their peers’ accomplishments. Also, the rest of the songs show that the band had moved much more towards ‘mainstream’ rock since Bleach: “In Bloom” has some catchy verses and a loud, sing-along verse (“Heeeeeeeeee’s the one who likes all our pretty songs…”). All this suggests that the band not only had notorious indie bands like the Wipers, Flipper, and Dinosaur Jr. as prime examples, but also more melodic rock acts such as Cheap Trick and the Beatles. Another great track is “Breed,” which has some great greasy bass work, crunchy guitars, propulsive drumming, and a killer chorus. The album’s other energy-blast is “Territorial Pissings,” which is about the only song on this album that could qualify as ‘punk’ (using the clichéd definition of “fast and aggressive rock song that speeds ahead so fast you’re ruining the seat cover”). Some mighty Hüsker Dü-guitars (the galloping part could very well come from that band’s “Turn On the News”), a drum assault by Dave Grohl, and some riveting vocals by Cobain introduce the song.
“Come As You Are” and “Lithium” are, besides the first track, the most well known songs on this album, and rightly so. However, I have really heard these two tracks too much. Certainly “Come As You Are” seems a bit of an annoying song to me now. It has become somewhat of a drag to listen to. “Lithium”, however, has that “Yeah yeah yeah”-chorus that does the trick, but it could have been shorter. Or maybe I’m just forgetting we’re dealing with an anthem, and they’re supposed to go on for too long. A song everyone seems to like is “Polly”, and I can see why: the song offers a nice contrast to the powerful stuff at the beginning of the album, the lyrics aren’t very lightweight (and seem to be dealing with rape), there are some spooky backing vocals, etc., but somehow it doesn’t appeal to me anymore. Instead, I prefer the even more drugged-sounding “Something In the Way,” which is more subdued, moody and enigmatic, and is a great album closer.
The rest of the songs on the album (tracks 8-11, the song order could definitely have been better) aren’t that impressive. “Drain You” is catchy and has a great middle part with a cool climax, “Lounge Act” has some nice bass work and leans more towards the folksier guitar-pop of the Lemonheads (or is that far-fetched?), “Stay Away” is raunchy, features some cool call-and-response verses, but an annoying chorus, and “On a Plain” is good, but nothing more than that. Than why the hell is this considered a classic album? Well, I don’t know for sure, but it was probably a good example of “the right album at the right time”. The album is loud enough to annoy those who hate rock (an important factor when you’re 15). At the same time it has loads of pop hooks, and an overall attitude/message of disillusion that appeals to kids looking for answers. Although the band took its energetic conviction from listening to lots of punk music, it replaced idealism with indifference. The amount of self-hatred on this album is massive, but whereas someone like Henry Rollins (whose obsession with pain, hatred and solitude must have influenced Cobain) would turn it into a life force to feed on, Cobain seems to celebrate its fatality and the uselessness of trying to change anything (we’re dealing with an album called “Nevermind”, right?).
An album that is guaranteed to appeal to music fans all over the world, because of its clever mix of almost-noise (although the album sounds very ‘clean’ a dozen years after its release, leading to the presumption that the guys at DGC knew they’d just found something new) and catchy choruses, Nevermind is a very good, but somewhat uneven album that has become a classic, but not only on the basis of the quality of the music, since certainly the second part of the album suffers from some unremarkable song-writing. On the other hand, it’s not the hugely overrated album some people claim it to be now (a common backlash). Just try to forget the stories, the hype, all those delirious reviews and enjoy it for what it is: a very good album by a very good band.
Note: Most copies around (not mine) seem to have a hidden track at the end, “Endless Nameless.” I heard it, and I’m glad my album ends with “Something In the Way.”
Reader comments: Barrett Barnard: Zophael979: I've always been only a casual fan of Nirvana. I like some of their songs (radio singles and otherwise), but they've never really had a particularly great album in my view, including Nevermind, which is pretty much the closest they ever got to a classic. I suppose in some respects it technically is. It sold a lot of copies (but so did The Backstreet Boys), it was pillaged and molested by commercial radio (at least four of the songs off this one are still in regular rotation today) and pretty much set the standard for much of commercial radio in the 90s (which still kinda sucked and nowadays really sucks, save for a few good bands). Perhaps my view of this album was always tainted by the ridiculous amount of praise that both Nirvana and Kurt Cobain received because of it. Every so often I'd seem either one get placed ridiculously high on some magazine list; Nevermind gets #2 behind Revolver in some "Best Album Ever" special magazine thing (VH1 sponsored I think), Rolling Stone gives Kurt Cobain a spot in the top 15 on their "100 greatest guitar players" list (yeah, right). Personally, I'm surprised they didn't throw Justin Timberlake in there, knowing Rolling Stone. It all contributes to my sometimes unfair hatred of Nirvana and this album, along with my contempt with the deification of Kurt Cobain (everything he seemed to preach against he turned around and did). Another thing is my utter dislike for "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I understand it's place in rock history, but like The Beatles' "Love Me Do" (and a few other of their not-so-great early singles), I could really give a crap less. The melody is infectious, but obnoxiously so, and as such I've never warmed up to it. As far it being a Pixies rip-off goes, I could go back and forth on that, but if pressed for an ultimate answer, I would say it is one. The "hello, hello, how low" part reminds me of Kim Deal's "hey Paul, hey Paul, let's have a ball" from "Gigantic". Now there's nothing wrong with lifting a vocal performance off a good song (though it might not exactly make your song better), but I've noticed that the main riff of "Teen Spirit" is remarkably close to the chorus riff of "U-Mass" off the Trompe Le Monde album, though The Pixies bury the riff under enough distortion to make the similarity missable. Either way, I don't particularly care for it and tend to change stations whenever it comes on the radio. Still, there's some good stuff elsewhere. "In Bloom" and "Lithium" are probably the best songs here. "In Bloom" has a great, slow burning Mudhoney-esque riff and some good soloing by Kurt to compliment the sing-along chorus. "Lithium" shifts well between the bass driven verses and the stomping choruses, allowing some sensitivity (or is it just self-pity?) to be thrown in along with the anthemic, hard charging parts. Elsewhere on the first half, "Come As You Are" is the closest to a straight pop song on this record and the lyrics pretty much define the word "anthem". Nothing mind blowing, but fairly good stuff. "Breed" proves they hadn't completely given up their dirty, Mudhoney-esque sound and turns out to be one of the best songs on the record. Truthfully, it reminds me of the early Replacements records and that can only be a good thing. "Polly" is a nice little morbid acoustic number that probably stands as the height of Kurt Cobain's lyrical achievements. The second half isn't quite as tight. "Territorial Pissings" just sounds like a soulless Husker Du imitation to me (nobody could outdo Bob Mould at his own game), while "Drain You" probably could've been on Flip Your Wig. That being said, it's still a pretty good tune with some pretty tight harmonies in the chorus and some good, sarcastic lyrics concerning two idiots in love. Ditto for "Lounge Act". Decent Husker Du-influenced tune. "Stay Away" is easily the hands down worst song on the record. From the annoying vocal effects to the annoying screamed chorus to the usual "blah blah, gotta hate the cool kids" sentiments that have been festering around since Minor Threat to Kurt's "I'd rather be dead than cool" line (yeah right, Kurt), it's just pretty much bad. "On A Plain" is decent rocker with some funny smart ass lyrics and "Something In the Way" closes the album well with a little cello infected acoustic number telling a sad story that turned out to be a myth. The bridge that Cobain supposedly slept under wasn't the kind of bridge anyone could ever sleep under; the water rose too high on a nightly basis. Still, it's pretty good as far as melancholy ballads go. As for the band itself, they play tight. Krist does bass well, Grohl is, well, Grohl, and Cobain's limited guitar playing hurts this album more than helps. Some of the songs could've stood to have more interesting guitar work rather than just lots of power chords, especially those on the second side. Put them all together, though, and they were a pretty decent unit, though nowhere near as good as a power trio like Husker Du. Playing this back to back with New Day Rising does this album no favors. So overall, I think this one is a classic based more on popularity more than actual quality. Maybe this is great stuff compared to most of the crap that most mainstream music lovers were subjected to after, but compared to what came before (Husker Du, Replacements, Pixies, countless others) and more interesting bands that were in operation at the time (Fugazi, Pavement), this isn't that great. I could go on a rant about how overrated the band is in general, but that will take pages and I'll save my typing energy. Overall, it's still a pretty decent collection of rock radio tunes, along with some coulda-been hits, and some dead weight. I'd give it somewhere from a 7.5 to an 8. |
Hormoaning ( 1992 )
8
Turnaround / Aneurysm / D-7 / Son of a Gun / Even in
His Youth / Molly’s Lips
An
ep that has three songs overlapping with Incesticide (which was released
later than this ep I think), Hormoaning is short but contains nothing
but good songs. It contains the three covers (“Turnaround,” “Molly’s
Lips,” and “Son of a Gun”) that are also on the rarities
compilation, and adds another cover they recorded during the same BBC session:
“D-7” by the Wipers, from the guitar rock classic Is This
Real? (1980). The song starts off with a moody introduction of 90 seconds
before transforming into a furious blast of garage punk-energy. Very true
to the original version, Cobain once again pays respect to one of America’s
unsung guitar heroes, Greg Sage. The two remaining songs are the awesome “Aneurysm”
and “Even in His Youth,” which were added to the “Smells
Like Teen Spirit”-single. Both songs were recorded by the band (with
Craig Armstrong as producer) just before the Nevermind-sessions, and would’ve
been strong enough to appear on that album. If it weren’t for “D-7”,
this release would be utterly superfluous, but now it’s worth checking
out even for that song alone. Moreover, it’s a 19-minute release containing
only good stuff.
Incesticide ( 1992 )
6
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
What’s
the use of releasing a rarities-compilation after only two studio albums?
Well, it’s a way to make easy money of course, and released during the
band’s popularity peak it’s guaranteed to sell because of all
those fans eager to complete their collection. I have this feeling this might
be one of the best-selling (non-singles) compilations ever because of that.
The material gathered here can be roughly divided into three sections: early
releases (single and ep-stuff), BBC radio sessions (of early material and
a few covers), and early recordings never before released.
“Dive” and “Sliver” (a single released between Bleach and Nevermind) both are prime Nirvana songs hesitating between the dragging grunge of the debut and the crispy melodic punk pop of the classic album. “Stain,” originally on the Blew ep, could’ve been on the debut album too, plodding sludgy along while Cobain repeats his “And he never…” over and over again. The song also features a chaotic, distorted but cool guitar solo.
The BBC-sessions feature “Been a Son,” an unpolished early pop-gem (also from the Blew ep), and a speedy electric version of “Polly” that sounds as if the early Meat Puppets are playing it. There’s also a version of “Aneurysm,” one of the best songs the band ever recorded, which is not very different from the original studio version (added to the “Smells Like Teen Spirit”-single), but remains a classic nevertheless. The covers the band chose are quite surprising and work very well; there’s a jerky version of Devo’s “Turnaround” (which sounds rawer, but also as geeky as the original song), and two sublime cover versions of “Molly’s Lips” and “Son of a Gun”, songs written by Scottish band the Vaselines. Both are incredibly infectious (how can you not sing along to “Kiss kiss Molly’s Lips”?) and are given a suitably raw and sober treatment. Maybe this is also the right moment to point at that Cobain’s support of other bands was admirable. Even after he’d achieved true star status he kept pushing many of his beloved bands/artists (the Raincoats, Daniel Johnston, Dinosaur Jr., Flipper, etc.), some of which were also important influences. The rest of the album consists of songs recorded before and during the Bleach-session (all of them with Dale Crover on drums). After hearing those it’s easy to understand why these songs (except for “Downer”) never made it to the album. Apart from a few good ideas that are scattered around, these songs aren’t very appealing, as they seem underdeveloped, lack imagination or wallow in their own tuneless impenetrability.
Suffering from the same problem as Bleach, Incesticide shows that not everything the band touched turned into gold. On the one hand it’s very frustrating that the excellent first half of compilation isn’t maintained throughout the rest album. On the other hand, a compilation like this shows the band progressed with gigantic leaps and bounds at a time. The question remains who’s interested in sub-par stuff when there’s no time to waste.
In Utero ( 1993 )
8.5
Serve the Servants / Scentless Apprentice / Heart-Shaped Box
/ Rape Me / Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle /Dumb /
Very Ape / Milk It / Pennyroyal Tea / Radio Friendly Unit Shifter /
Tourette’s / All Apologies
Everyone
knows the story by now, the updated version of “rags to riches,”
the American Dream come true. Before the release of their sophomore album,
no one predicted these scruffy guys would become one of the biggest bands
in the world, selling millions of albums, selling out all the venues and leaving
their mark on pop culture (remember how even all those pop acts and 80’s
hair metal bands suddenly restyled themselves?). But it did happen, and it
probably wouldn’t have been such a problem, had not Kurt Cobain loatheed
himself so much because of his superstar status. He had always admired (and
supported) independent and idealistic rock acts, and I guess he hated himself
because of becoming bigger than them. This, combined with his self-deprecating
nature, of course. Well, I’m not trying to claim I was a personal acquaintance
of the guy, but that’s pretty obvious, right? Anyway, like so many other
people, I do think that Nirvana’s third studio album, In Utero,
was an attempt to alienate the largest part of their public and to regain
some ‘indie credibility’.
Produced by Steve Albini, In Utero is a much harsher and emotionally draining album than Nevermind, with a far less polished production, and less accessible songs to match. The album starts off with one of the best tracks, an unsung Nirvana classic. A mid-tempo rocker that seems to drag itself lazily along, “Serve the Servants” is nevertheless a fine track with a semi-mumbled chorus, ragged solo, and (oh, surprise) self-deprecating lyrics, that also ridicule the band’s status (“Teenage angst has paid off well, now I’m bored and old, self-appointed judges judge, more than they have sold”). “Scentless Apprentice”, which takes its cue from Das Parfum by Swiss author Patrick Süskind, is one of the first loud tracks on this album, with noisy drums, concrete riffing, and Cobain’s mad screaming. It’s weird, but initially these songs didn’t seem interesting at all, but gradually I had to admit that they rock. “Very Ape,” “Milk It,” and “Tourette’s” are dominated by seemingly chaotic musicianship, alternations of soft, loud and very loud sections, and disgusted vocals, but in the context of this album, they work well. For some reason (overdose?), the album’s most famous tracks, “Heart-Shaped Box,” and “Rape Me” have become somewhat of a drag to listen to, but they remain very good tracks that combine the melodic elements from the previous album with the rawness of the current. “Rape Me” has an introduction that reminds me of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but I can’t imagine “Rape Me” on Nevermind. That can also be applied to “Frances Farmer,” which has quite accessible parts, but also contains reminders of Bleach’s heaviness.
“I’m not like them, but I can pretend” are the first lines of “Dumb,” In Utero’s very own “Polly”. It’s a gentle track, sung with controlled intensity by Cobain, containing once again depressing lyrics. By the time you’ve reached this song, the message’s probably clear: this guy ain’t too happy. The album’s crammed with lines such as “I think I’m dumb,” “I am my own parasite” (“Milk It”), “I’m a liar and a thief” (“Pennyroyal Tea”), “I love you for what I am not” (“Radio Friendly Unit Shifter”), etc. Even more painful than this is the obsession with bodily decay (references to sores, burns, cancer), bodily fluids (semen, shit, laxatives), and life/death (birth, abortion, afterbirth), which makes it obviously clear that Cobain no longer seemed to believe there was anything to enjoy in this life, because everything ultimately leads to death. “All Apologies,” one of the album’s highlights, and, like “Dumb” a moving song with an awesome guitar melody and oddly intense atmosphere, is a final negative note. “Everything is my fault, I’ll take all the blame” sounds a bit weird in the light of his suicide the next year.
An album that is a bit uneven and contains some disappointing songs (“Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” is monotonous and boring, while “Pennyroyal Tea” is no match for a later version they’d record), In Utero is hard to take in. However, it may very well be the quintessential Nirvana-album, capturing their complicated essence. Nevermind may be a better sounding and more consistent album, but it doesn’t have this album’s gut-wrenching honesty and emotional resonance. On the other hand, Nevermind is probably the ideal way to get acquainted with Nirvana, as this album really sounds as if they were on the verge of a breakdown, and it is a bitter chapter in a tumultuous and harrowing book.
Reader comments: Zophael979 (USA): I guess that dull and boring would be the words I'd use here. It's funny that Kurt originally wanted to name this album "I Hate Myself and Wanna Die" because this seems to be a concept album about. It starts off luke-warm enough, but once it hits "Rape Me" (which is terrible), the avalanche of self-pity and "god, I suck" lyrics never end. You already named a few. Now I have no problems with depressing lyrics in themselves. Some of the best songs off of Candy Apple Gray make you want to go slit your wrists, but that album never harped on it so much. Perhaps I'm a hypocrite because I've been known to spin a few Henry Rollins-fronted Black Flag records, but like you said, Henry turns depression and self-loathing into a life force to feed on and thus his albums are more of a cathartic experience. Maybe that's what makes the difference for me. Musically, I've never been that impressed with this album and don't really buy into the hype of it being a "noncommercial, more indie rock" sort of album. Aside from one or two noisy experiments, this is just Nevermind redux with a darker and more grungey sound. This darker and grungier sound had become just as mainstream as the "Teen Spirit" stuff (those who don't believe me should check out "Superunknown" or "Vs.", both from the same time period) and really....if Kurt had been hellbent on losing his mainstream fans, he wouldn't have agreed to have the singles remixed for radio consumption. I don't have a problem with writing a commercial song for an album, but doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of the "anti-comercial" album? Also, if Cobain wanted to lose his macho, headbanger type fans who "likes to sing along to all his pretty songs", he definitely went in the wrong direction because this is even more headbanger friendly and not all that far off from something like Metallica would've done circa Master of Puppets (in terms of tone and sound, not really musicianship or songs). In short, I don't believe the "let's lose our fans" crap for a second. If that was the original intention, they wussed out. As for the songs themselves (which are the most important things after all), I like the first two the best. "Serve the Servants" is pretty much just straightforward grunge, but with a good lazy melody that could've come from the original Dinosaur Jr. and confessional lyrics by Kurt Cobain. Well, maybe the whole album is confessional, but this is the only point where I really care somewhat. "Scentless Apprentice" was written by the whole band and it shows. Kurt throws in a few literary lyrics, but mostly the track is lots of big metal riffs and feedback noise. I wish there was more of this stuff here. "Heart-Shaped Box" is more familiar territory--a decent melody supporting a love song to Courtney Love, but the usual heavy, anthemtic, angsty chorus. Decent, which is more than I could say for "Rape Me". I really dislike the song. Not only is it just a "Drain You" redux than cops it's opening riff from "Teen Spirit", but the lyrics have to be one of the worst examples of rock star whining that I've heard. I know the song is about the media and I'm sure Kurt had a hard time adjusting to that, but that is nowhere near the pain and agony of someone who has been raped and it sickens me that he implies it. I think the guy who used to run the Creative Noise site said it best: typical, Gen X "I'm a victim" crap. Some have argued to me that he didn't imply it because the song has nothing to do with the sexual context, but you can never separate the sexual context from that word. Ever. Meh, perhaps I'm making a huge deal out of it, but I really hate that song. The rest of the record just lazes along sort of. "Frances Farmer" has some wonderfully acidic lyrics, but isn't really anything too special. "Dumb" is a really mopey pop song that I'm indifferent to. "Very Ape" is surprisingly catchy and is probably the highlight of the second half of the record for me. "Milk It" thrashes alright, but never really stood out to me. "Pennyroyal Tea" approaches decency with lines like "I'm on my time with anyone/I have really bad posture" (and what outcast fifteen year old couldn't relate to that?), but the better reading of the song is on the "Unplugged". "Radio Shifter", as you said, is pretty boring, plus the obviously overdubbed distortion is annoying. As far as I'm concerned, 95% of the distortion you hear on record should be natural. "Tourettes" is an OK screaming number (reminds me of The Pixies' "Rock Music"), but the much praised "All Apologies" never really did it for me, aside from the closing "All in all is all we are" outro (pretty moving) and Kurt's vocals (nice echo effect), but I consider it to be more or less a lesser "Lithium". Perhaps his death made people look at this song in a different light, but taking it out of that context, I kind of wonder what exactly he was apologizing for and IF he felt like "married--buried" (oddly prophetic), then why didn't he just get out? Ah well. Perhaps no one will ever really understand Kurt Cobain. Perhaps that's another part of this album's appeal, giving us a peak inside the guy's skull and giving us clues as to why he stuck a gun in his mouth (or, if you believe the conspiracy theories, what he did to piss off Courtney Love and David Grohl). Too bad the appeal is mostly lost on me. Looking at the music, I wouldn't say that all of it is bad (except for the ones I cited as bad), just decidedly mediocre and not a great follow-up to Nevermind. It's not like that didn't happen to a lot of bands: having a great record that broke them into the mainstream and then delivering a lesser second album...except in Nirvana's case In Utero actually succeeded for them anyway and obtained classic status. Still, I wonder whether they would've showed some real progression on their next record or just further streamline their sound, as "You Know You're Right" suggests. I've never really given this album a ranking, but going by the descriptions on your review page, I'd have to give it a 5.5. Stuart Denyer (UK): Perhaps that person can't... but equally, perhaps they should look up "rapacious" or think about the language they deploy. Likewise, when people talk of Vikings raping and pillaging, many aren't aware that the first word of the cliche refers to abduction. "Rape" is a word which comes from both French and Latin, and is commonly used today to denote a number of things. If the reader doesn't like this... well, they'll struggle to find a language which isn't formed by the common consent of people using it. Writing off a song because of a singular interpretation is hardly a fair hearing. The value of Nirvana's output, as I see it, is that they produced many songs which compound a variety of diverse meanings into lyrical form. Don't like the way reviewers have settled upon tired variations on the 'established wisdom' of how each track came to be and what each means? Don't let that run through your mind as you listen, then. 'Rape Me' can be as much a "voice" song as 'Polly', nothing to do with Kurt or his personal life.
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MTV Unplugged in New York ( 1994 )
8
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
Released
half a year after Cobain’s suicide, Unplugged in New York was
the document that proved once and for all that the band could play
their instruments, and that they could turn in quite some great stuff that
also works well in an acoustic setting. Nevermind and In Utero
already contained their share of quieter and more introspective moments, but
if it weren’t for this unplugged-craze (I often really regret someone
ever started this), we might never have heard this side of Nirvana. So, thank
you MTV and David Geffen (yes, this is the first and last time I’m
going to say that) for providing us with this satisfying and often remarkably
intense collection of songs, consisting of eight originals (one from Bleach,
four from Nevermind, and three from In Utero) and six remarkable
covers.
A faithful version of “About a Girl” sets off the album and benefits from a very nice sound, with especially the guitar and the bass very full and warm, and the drums suitably muted. Most of the songs taken from Nevermind are quieter songs in the first place, so these versions aren’t all that different. “Come As you Are” still benefits from that watery guitar sound, “Polly” and “Something In the Way” stay as creepy as before, and a calmer version of “On a Plain” perhaps even surpasses the studio version. For some reason, I do enjoy the In Utero-songs even more in these acoustic versions: Cobain gives a solo performance of “Pennyroyal Tea” (quite a drag to listen to in the studio version) and succeeds in making it more directly emotional, without loosing the morbid tone underlying the song. Both “Dumb” (is that the bass line of The Rolling Stones’ “Live With Me” at the end of the song?) and “All Apologies” are given superior treatments here, and benefit immensely from the cello (played by Lori Goldston) that adds some more drama, and are as good as any other unplugged performance I’ve heard so far.
Early during the set, the band plays covers of The Vaselines’ “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam” and David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” (with Cobain mumbling before the song “I guarantee you I will screw this song up”). Both are sublime versions and album highlights. Novoselic makes the first one (which I never heard before) with even more melancholy on accordian, while the second one, with a sweeping combination of electric (!) guitar and cello, is nothing short of stunning (personally I think it surpasses Bowie’s original). Cris and Curt Kirkwood join the band for three songs from their own second album Meat Puppets II, and while these songs are certainly satisfying (certainly “Lake of Fire”) they are not album highlights, though they probably gave the Meat Puppets quite a boost for a while (which is a nice gesture of the hosts). The album’s masterpiece is undoubtedly their version of Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” with which they finish the set. Cobain had already contributed to a version of that song on Mark Lanegan’s debut album, The Winding Sheet (1990), but this version eclipses it, as it is turned into an incredibly emotional and harrowing tale of adultery and defeat, with Cobain giving the performance of his career during the song’s climactic ending.
A strong overall collection, with a few outstanding tracks and no misses, Unplugged in New York doesn’t offer any new insights or amazing Nirvana-tracks we hadn’t heard yet, but it’s a nice document nevertheless, that proves that the band not only could create an immense racket if they wanted, but also some moments of sheer beauty.
Reader comments: Zophael979: The way I see it, Kurt Cobain was an advocate of great music, but he himself only made decent music. The "Unplugged" album kind of crystallizes that for me. The versions of "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" are probably my highlights here, but I wouldn't say either surpasses the original version. The trio of Meat Puppets covers, though they make it clear which album of theirs was Kurt's fave, are all pretty atrocious. Well, I guess "Plateau" is alright and the guitar work is good (thanks of course to the brothers Kirkwood), but the versions of "Oh Me" and "Lake of Fire" presented here lack all the power and emotion of the original versions. I honestly can't get through them anymore without cringing a lot. I haven't heard the Vaseline's version of "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam", but the Kurt, Krist, and Dave managed to put together a pretty good one. The accordion definitely helps the song stand out. As for the Nirvana songs, most of them are ballads and as such aren't greatly changed from their studio counterparts. I still don't particularly care for "Dumb" or "All Apologies", but "Polly" and "Something In the Way" still sound pretty good. Three songs definitely stand out for me. Firstly, About A Girl" sounds great in acoustic form and is my personal fav of this collection, along with the Leadbelly cover. The acoustic version of "On A Plain" is better than the original, bringing out the sing-along qualities of the song more. Finally, the solo acoustic version of "Pennyroyal Tea" is a great improvement over the generic grunge-ballad version found on "In Utero" and sung with a lot more feeling. I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm not the biggest Nirvana fan, but this is definitely one of their better records. Probably their second best behind Nevermind actually. I give it about a 7. Maybe a 7.5 |
From the Muddy Banks of the Whishkah (1996)
7
Intro / 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 / Tourette’s
/ Blew
After
the release of Unplugged In New York, there was still one element
missing in the Nirvana-output: a regular live album by the band that would
satisfy both those who’d witnessed them on stage and those waiting to
catch a glimpse of the band in its messy live magnificence. It took several
quarrels and two years to come up with the requested album, but the result
is quite satisfying. The sound isn’t always top-notch. The guitars and
bass sometimes sound all too samey, and the vocals come and go, but that wasn’t
a prerequisite in the first place. It ain’t Steely Dan we’re dealing
with. Muddy Banks does offer confirmation that the band
was a very competent live outfit and took no prisoners on stage. Much more
ragged and raw than the Nevermind-recordings, this album sounds exactly
like what you would expect after listening to In Utero.
It’s a good thing that the performances gathered aren’t just live versions of a best of-compilation. Several of the band’s most famous songs are indeed missing from this album, while few ‘obscure’ ones replace them. The album contains three tracks from the muddy Bleach: “School,” “Blew,” and “Negative Creep”. Especially the latter is given an exciting treatment, easily surpassing the studio version with an extra shot of adrenaline. From the classic Nevermind, “Drain You,” and “Lithium” are given a faithful version, while “Smells Like Teen Spirit” stands proudly among the rest of the tracks. “Polly” and “Breed” are taken from a gig recorded in December of 1989, and are thus versions that pre-date the studio takes with more than a year. And while “Breed” proves the band had started honing its sound before the nineties, the mediocre version of “Polly” shows they also knew how to get a maximum result from a song. The songs that are taken from In Utero are, apart from “Heart-Shaped Box,” about the loudest on the album: both “Scentless Apprentice” and “Milk It” sound as aggressive as their studio versions, but suffer a bit from the production. “Tourette’s” (announced as “The Eagle Has Landed”), on the other hand, recorded during the 1992 Reading festival (UK), sounds as utterly deranged and wild as it’s supposed to be. Also on the album are the melodic “Been a Son,” the early Nirvana-classic “Sliver,” the exciting b-side “Aneurysm,” and, for the completists, the garagey “Spank Thru,” one of the band’s earliest songs, and the album’s only ‘unknown’ song.
Although I mentioned the songs from each album, they’re not grouped like that (although the non-album tracks are in the first half, and all of the In Utero-tracks in the second half). Instead they’re all mixed up, and the performances are taken from ten (10!) different shows, recorded between December of 1989 and January of 1994, spanning the largest part of the band’s history. Therefore, the album lacks a certain homogeny. However, the songs are sequenced and pasted in a clever way, so that you’ll never be really bothered by this. From The Muddy Banks Of The Whishkah might be a blast to those who worship the band, but more neutral and unbiased listeners are given proof of what they already knew: Nirvana were a damn good band with loads of unfulfilled potential. Please resign, Phil Collins.
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