Published on Feb 7, 2003
Anyone who followed Nirvana for the few turbulent years they
were an active band is probably thinking to themselves, “Why should
I pay good money for an album with one new song?”
In truth,
Nirvana – the first compilation of a series promised by the
surviving members and Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain’s widow – really
has three songs which may not be familiar to many people. But even
the material with which a generation has grown up to will find this
disc to be more hit than miss in terms of what’s included.
The centerpiece is “You Know You’re Right,” a song which turned
out to be the final Nirvana recording session ever. Had songs like
this been included on
In Utero, there’s no doubt in my mind that album would have
been improved a hundredfold. The angst of Cobain is captured in his
howled vocals, followed by the drawn-out calls of “pain” in the
chorus. In retrospect, someone should have recognized this song as
a call for help, but you know the old saying about hindsight.
Captured in total simplicity (with only a few overdubs), this could
well be the best song Nirvana ever recorded.
The gears immediately switch from the band’s final song to their
first album
Bleach, represented by the lone track “About A Girl.” I
never really liked
Bleach, though it does sound like something different has
been done with this track. It seems to have a bit more of a jangly
edge to it. Or, maybe I just need to dust off my copy more
often.
The version of “Been A Son” is the original take, not the one
included on
Incesticide – and while I still like the “newer” version
better, I have yet to hear a take of this track I didn’t like.
Hearing “Sliver” again is also a treat – though I wonder why “Aero
Zeppelin” didn’t make the cut for this compilation.
Both
Nevermind and
In Utero get the main focus of attention, with four tracks
culled from each disc. Granted, for a Nirvana “best-of”, you can’t
not include tracks like “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Lithium,” “Come
As You Are,” “Heart-Shaped Box” and “Dumb.” Perhaps it’s because
the typical radio listener has been inundated with these songs for
the past 10 or so years that it almost feels anti-climatic to hear
them in such a setting. On the other hand, you finally are able to
separate the good from the chaff on
In Utero.
It’s interesting to note that of Nirvana’s two live albums,
From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah is ignored, while
MTV Unplugged In New York gets two tracks (and I can’t argue
with the inclusion of “The Man Who Sold The World”).
So how does
Nirvana hold up to the entire body of work? The truth is:
pretty well. Worth the admission price alone for “You Know You’re
Right,” and amazing to hear what
In Utero could have been like with more production (courtesy
of Scott Litt’s remix of “Pennyroyal Tea”), this disc recaps a lot
of what many of us already know. If anything, hearing these 14
tracks makes me a little sad, and left to wonder what might have
become of Nirvana had Cobain not taken his life in 1994.