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NIRVANA
RATING: 6
PLAY THESE: ABOUT A GIRL, SCHOOL, LOVE BUZZ
SKIP THESE: SWAP MEET, BIG CHEESE
Nirvana. The name evokes countless images, many of which are misleading, if not downright false. As anyone acquainted with VH1 knows, Nirvana, led by the tortured genius and Generation X spokesman Kurt Cobain, came out of nowhere to usher in a musical revolution called grunge, which forever changed the musical landscape. Of course, anyone who actually lived through these events can tell you that this is pure nonsense. Cobain, while talented, was not a genius (not even in musical terms). There was no musical revolution, as the current state of corporate-run popular music will attest. Nirvana was not a grunge band - they don't fit into the mighty Pearl Jam-Stone Temple Pilots-Creed-Nickelback genealogical line that has so dominated rock for the last 10 years. Lastly, Cobain was not a spokesman for his generation. Rather, he detested most of his peers and everything they stood for, as even a brief glance at his lyrics will attest. The Kurt Cobain we think we know is patently false, a mere media creation. And no-one was more aware of this stark fact than poor Cobain himself. The imagined responsibilities of his phony iconic stature weighed so heavily upon him that he felt compelled to kill himself.
So what's Cobain's true legacy? The answer: his music. The independently released Bleach is the first Nirvana album, and although it hints at the greatness that was to be, it is a rather tedious listen at times. Part of Nirvana's later appeal lay in the sheer dynamics of their songs (the simple quiet verse/loud chorus formula), but the rather juvenile Bleach has none of this type of drama. What we do have is mindless riff after mindless riff - sonic sludge, if you will. Of course, the mediocre, unimaginative drumming is part of the problem (Dave Grohl has yet to join the band), but even Cobain's songwriting hasn't quite developed yet. Many of the songs, particularly in the album's lackluster second half, don't have much to offer in melodic terms. Nevertheless, there are a few minor classics. The moody 'About a Girl' is a nice Lennonesque ballad, and the punky 'School' boasts a couple of good hooks, in particular Cobain's leather-lunged "NO RECESSSSS!!!" refrain. Also worth a listen is the melodic (and dynamic, for a change) 'Love Buzz,' and the frantic 'Negative Creep,' which has a pretty good riff going for it. As for the rest of the tracks, nothing really stands out. For Nirvana completists only.
RATING: 9
PLAY THESE: SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT, COME AS YOU ARE, DRAIN YOU
SKIP THESE: SOMETHING IN THE WAY
The defining album of the 1990's alt-rock scene, Nevermind has been dissected and analyzed by countless scribes, almost to the point where the music itself becomes mere background noise. It's a shame, really. God only knows that this whole Nirvana thing took on a life of its own by early 1992, quickly becoming the commercialized behemoth that the band used to rail against before they became famous. Too bad, because the music itself is really good. Cobain's songwriting has grown leaps and bounds since Bleach, somehow managing the rare feat of combining aggression with melody. He's also perfected the trademark Nirvana sound: alternating quiet verses with loud, scream-your-head-off choruses. The addition of drummer Dave Grohl has also made a big difference; the power and volume with which he plays adds a new and welcome dimension to the groups sound. Nirvana has come of age on Nevermind, and it is a glorious thing to listen behold.
As for the songs themselves, the obvious highlight is the dynamic 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' Please ignore those hard-core Nirvana fans who diss the song and insist that it's not actually one of their best - there's a reason why it was such a massive hit. It is a fantastic rock song. Overplayed, yes, but deservedly so. The lyrics are kind of dumb, what with the references to "albinos" and "labidos," but the overall effect is astonishing. But there are other great moments too. The moody 'Come As You Are' has a fantastic riff and a catchy middle eight going for it, while 'In Bloom' and 'Drain You' good old-fashioned pop - just a bit louder than most. There are a few aggressive, in-your-face punk tunes worth a listen, especially 'Breed,' which has a killer guitar riff and some great drumming from Grohl. The only weak moments occur on the acoustic numbers, with 'Something In The Way' sounding flat and dull in comparison with the other material. Ditto for 'Polly,' although the disturbing imagery of the lyrics make it somewhat compelling. In the end, Nevermind is a great album, one of the best of the 1990's. It doesn't live up to the hype, but who cares...it's still great.
RATING: 8
PLAY THESE: DIVE, SLIVER, ANEURYSM
SKIP THESE: BEESWAX, MEXICAN SEAFOOD, HAIRSPRAY QUEEN
A collection of outtakes, demos, and rare tracks intended to thwart bootleggers and buy time for the next proper album, Incesticide is actually a pretty compelling listen. Sure, the latter half of the album is quite sketchy, but the first 7 or so cuts are undeniably fantastic. Forget the glossy, well-produced Nevermind, this is Nirvana as nature intended - raw, aggressive, and sarcastic. Among the highlights are the relentless punk-rock album opener 'Dive,' and the unbelievably catchy 'Sliver,' a song which brings back childhood memories in a most effective manner. There are few decent covers too, including Devo's 'Turnaround,' as well as the Vaseline's melodic 'Son of A Gun.' A revved up version of the disturbing '(New Wave) Polly' is also really good, blowing away the listless, monotone rendition found on Nevermind by a large margin. As previously mentioned, the album's mediocre second half is pretty forgettable, although some listeners may experience difficulty in erasing Cobain's irritating donkey impersonation on 'Mexican Seafood' from their memories. Luckily, though, the album closes in dramatic fashion with the stellar 'Aneurysm,' which just may be the best song Nirvana ever came up with (you just gotta love that "come on over and do the twist" refrain). It really is a remarkable performance - especially Cobain's vocals, which are among his best. Overall, Incesticide is an essential purchase for both casual and hard-core Nirvana fans. Get it now.
RATING: 7
PLAY THESE: SERVE THE SERVANTS, HEART SHAPED BOX, ALL APOLOGIES
SKIP THESE: MILK IT, RADIO FRIENDLY UNIT SHIFTER, TOURETTE'S
"Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old." And with that ironic opening line, it is difficult to regard In Utero as anything but Kurt Cobain's suicide note, a tragic foreshadowing of what was to come. Indeed, many of the tracks are so blatantly suicidal in tone that it's a bit difficult to listen to them today without revisiting that tragic day in April 1994. On the other hand, some of the other songs, particularly on the album's throwaway second half, are hard to digest simply because they're really crappy. I realize that unlistenable tracks like 'Tourette's' were designed to shed Nirvana of its trendy fans who loved the glossy power-pop of Nevermind, but sheesh....there's some really irritating garbage here. I mean, who but the most loyal of Nirvana fans can honestly claim to enjoy listening to Cobain's bray like a old, constipated donkey passing hard stool on 'Milk It'? Yikes. It's hard to believe that some of these "songs" made the album when vastly superior tracks like 'Verse Chorus Verse' and 'I Hate Myself And Want To Die' were inexplicably deemed unsuitable, and pawned off to compilation albums like No Alternative and the Beavis and Butthead soundtrack.
On the plus side, however, the album's first half is darn tootin' good. The Lennonesque album opener 'Serve the Servants" has a good guitar riff, a cool solo, and good lyrics going for it, while the cryptic 'Heart Shaped Box' boasts some typically overblown dynamics that really make the song memorable. 'Dumb,' while somewhat stupid in terms of lyrical content (e.g. "I think I'm Dumb, etc") is otherwise very catchy, and the addition of a cello suits the song to a tee, especially during the haunting middle eight section. My personal favorite, though, is 'Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle,' a tough, stark, uncompromising slice of indie rock - a neglected classic, to be sure. Oh, and the other indispensable classic is the remarkable album closer 'All Apologies,' a tear-jerking ballad that can't be read in any other way than being Cobain's last will and testament. But in the end, In Utero is still an unsatisfying final studio album from the great Nirvana, not only because of it's general unevenness, but because the great tracks represent unlimited potential wasted. Good, but it could have been even better....
MTV
UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK
(1994)
RATING: 5
PLAY THESE: ALL APOLOGIES, ABOUT A GIRL, PENNYROYAL TEA
SKIP THESE: OH ME, LAKE OF FIRE, POLLY
Following in the ubiquitous "unplugged" acoustic trend (although I could swear I heard an electric guitar or two in there somewhere), MTV Unplugged Live In New York features a stripped-down, more intimate version of Nirvana that falls flat on its face within the first couple tracks. Nevertheless, the commercially accessible Unplugged remains a radio/MTV favorite, coaxing back casual listeners who turned their backs on the band after the release of the uncompromising In Utero. Of course, the fact that it was released a mere six months after Cobain's death is purely coincidental, but we'll forget that issue for a moment and take a close look at the album. In simple terms, Unplugged is not very good. Yes, there a some great performances to be found (i.e. 'About A Girl,' 'All Apologies, 'Pennyroyal Tea), but the stark, minimalist arrangements reveal far more negatives than they do positives. Cobain's limitations as a guitarist (without a distortion pedal) are immediately evident, as his shaky, rudimentary strumming conjures up images of an old man suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Also, several of the cover tunes chosen are way, way , WAY out of his vocal range, particularly 'Lake of Fire,' in which his voice breaks more often than that pimply 14-year-old boy who just took your order at McDonald's. Luckily, not all of the covers are this bad. The group's reading of David Bowie's obscure 'The Man Who Sold the World' is excellent - a true gem, perhaps better than the Bowie version. In contrast with Bowie's original, which is cold, trippy, and distant, Nirvana's version oozes with warmth and emotion. Nevertheless, as a whole Unplugged is largely forgettable, and it's hard to believe that Cobain would have consented to its release had he lived.
RATING: 4
PLAY THESE: SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT, HEART SHAPED BOX, COME AS YOU ARE
SKIP THESE: YOU KNOW YOU'RE RIGHT
After years of senseless legal wrangling between Cobain's sleazebag widow Courtney Love and Cobain's surviving band mates, Nirvana, a supposedly comprehensive "best of" album, finally saw release in October 2002. Unfortunately, Nirvana is an unsatisfactory compilation, a loose 14 track anthology of mismatched songs that represents a lost opportunity to summarize the career of a great band. So what's the criteria here? Hit singles? Check. Key album cuts? Check. Outtakes? Check. B-Sides? Check. Unplugged performances? Check. Boring songs? Check. In essence, Nirvana contains all of the above elements - and even less, if that is possible. Questions abound: why is the stupid 'Rape Me' included? Why the so-so 'Pennyroyal Tea'? Where's the great 'Aneurysm'? What happened to 'Verse Chorus Verse'? Granted, any "best of" compilation won't please everyone, but this is ridiculous. There are too many key songs missing, and the lack of chronology and inclusion of unplugged tracks give the album a very uneven character. In my humble opinion, the album should have concentrated on the band's best early Sub-Pop material, the classic album cuts, and the hits - and left out the Unplugged stuff and the drivel. Here's a suggested alternate track listing:
1) About a Girl
2) Love Buzz
3) Negative Creep
4) Dive
5) Sliver
6) Aneurysm
7) Smells Like Teen Spirit
8) In Bloom
9) Come as You Are
10) Breed
11) Verse Chorus Verse
12) Serve the Servants
13) Heart Shaped Box
14) All Apologies
Oh yeah, and that unreleased 1994 recording 'You Know You're Right' that kicks off Nirvana stinks. It's embarrassing self-parody at it's worst, and the screaming bit in the chorus is pretty annoying. Faux-grunge from a group that should've known better......