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NIRVANA
Who hasn't heard of this band, whether you loved or hated them. Fact remains,
they're still an enormous musical entity even after they were violently
broken up by intense frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide on April 8, 1994.
Almost a decade after the event, the 15 classic rock tunes that re-launched
rock music into the spotlight during the early to mid-90s still feel fresh
and alive after electronica got out of hand. The opening song on the album
is the previously unreleased last track recorded by the band, You Know
You're Right. It's everything you'd have expected of the band. It
would've been great if they could pull one (like they did on live shows)
by excluding the song that made them the (reluctant) commercial success
they became. Yes, I'm talking about Smells Like Teen Spirit - overplayed
for years but I can still enjoy it as I'm sure all the global Nirvana
fans do. The collection consists of tracks taken from their releases including
Bleach & the Blew EP (with Chad Channing on drums), the
Sliver single (with Dan Peters on drums), Nevermind, In
Utero and the stellar MTV Unplugged show. One could say that
Dave Grohl was instrumental in their rise to fame when Nevermind
shot through the roof…Hey, drummers need more credit than they're due
(!). It's no secret that Cobain stood out as the band's mastermind. Hardcore
fans would've wanted more from Bleach, some live tracks (other
than Unplugged) or something from Incesticide. The other
unforgettable songs include About A Girl, Been A Son, Penny Royal Tea,
Come As You Are, Lithium, In Bloom, Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me and
the Unplugged numbers All Apologies, the David
Bowie
cover The Man Who Sold The World and Where Did You Sleep Last
Night. Each of these songs holds its own emotion, impact and level
of personal experience (for both performers and listeners). The combination
of this Seattle trio was just perfect - rebellious enough and capable
to construct a song both carrying hard rock attitude as well as stand
out as a "good song" whether it managed to gain critical acclaim and commercial
success or not. While Grohl has gone on to make a success of his Foo
Fighters
band, I haven't heard much from bassist Krist Novoselic. Liner notes are
written by David Fricke while the memories of these songs are all yours.
6 / A
- PB
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