Derp.

https://www.livenirvana.com/firstlast/

Man, that would've been useful!

I just knew there was no way that song was first performed as late as October 1991 and went hunting through the setlists.

Another example of the Internet settling arguments before we get to “my dad says…”

I just find it humorous that Nirvana (of all bands) has the most anal-elitist collector base on the planet.

It's also baffling to me how there are legendary bands who have a mere handful of audience tapes - but there were people taping Nirvana like mad well before Bleach even came out. I have no explaination for this.

Are there any SBDs or FMs available?

Before Channing joined, there are at least 3 (fascinating) SBD available, each with a different drummer.

After Channing joined, there are many.

Some were taped by fans with permission but most were taped by the soundman.

Frances Farmer is such a killer tune. I fear I've been underrating it for the longest time.

Every time I hear it I’m like “is this maybe the best song they’ve ever done?”

It's also nuts how there's tapes of the band playing a house party in 1987 and other early shows probably in front of a handful of people - and yet no circulating recordings of a bunch of notable shows from when they were one of the biggest bands in the world, e.g. the Mia Zapata benefit show, the surprise early October 1992 shows supporting Mudhoney, multiple shows on the In Utero tour, etc.

It's long been my personal favorite.

It's long been my personal favorite.

Mr. mustache bears a striking resemblance to Metallica’s Jump Into the Fire.

Actually listening to Spoon in reverse ended up bringing me here. So I am going to give this all a fresh listen. A little context: as a 15 year old teenager, my obsessions clearly fell into Pearl Jam and Nirvana. There were plenty of other bands I liked, but those two bands by far got the most play, and more Nirvana than anyone until about 1996. They slowly faded from my listening, with an occasional relisten, but I had sort of slow walked back from the punkier elements of my listening and closer to classic rock, where I still sort of reside most of the time. In any event, I have heard these albums countless times, have about a dozen CD bootlegs and more cassettes with shows of theirs. On this listen I am going with what’s on Spotify and not jumping too far out to keep it manageable.

“Bleach”

I find myself surprised by the fact that I go back to this one and it is always the highest in quality over what I am expecting to hear. I remember it always being a good album, but then the familiar (About a Girl, Blew, School, Negative Creep, Love Buzz) mixes in with the songs that remind me why I really loved this band, with the killer hooks in unexpected places I forgot about, like Scoff, Swap Meat, and Sifting. This album has its rough edges but here those cuts and scrapes give the album character. Damn, it’s been a while.

Live at the Pine Street Theatre, Portland, OR 1990

They would never not be a young band, but this catches them pretty early on after the release on “Bleach.” Of note in this performance is that some of the best stuff in this show were not even on the album. Dive is a killer performance, as is Sappy. The band sound great on Spank Thru though Cobain’s delivery is a bit awkward on it - which I think is always the case with that song. The album cuts here that stuck out were Floyd the Barber, Love Buzz, and show closer Blew. Solid show, though their heights go higher than this.

Nevermind

Strange things happen when super fans talk about the albums that made their bands famous. Much like discussing Ten, or Born to Run, or countless other landmark albums that become singular achievements for bands in its own right, fans like to - for some reason - snap back and bring these things back to Earth. It doesn’t fall within the realm of surprise that Nevermind, an album of unfathomable impact and stature, the size of multiple myths, could be called by a super fan their worst album, overproduced, or not nearly what they are capable of. There’s just a natural visceral response to placing something so high on a pedestal that you either want to knock it down a peg or at the least shed light on all the other contributions from that same artist. It makes perfect sense.

Nevermind meets the hype more often than not. It is, in reality, a singular achievement amongst the many - making this brand of punk rock, with excessive guitar fuzz, pummeling drums, and a dude who could be as much a rock star as a country star with a strange twang in his voice that is at once melodic and like a cat in heat. Yet a voice that expresses out all the frustrations and pent up energy of youth.

The songs here nothing short of amazing. The quiet-loud-quiet formula is delivered to perfection on Lithium, songs like Polly have an unexpected impact - a snicker followed by immediate revulsion at yourself for snickering, which is the impact intended I think. That sort of wordplay everywhere - makes this record connect with its listener at every turn. And the songs are much more varied than we tend to give credit. Breed fits right in as does Lounge Act and Polly and the creepy Something in the Way as much as In Bloom, Smells Like Teen Spirit or Come As You Are. Surely a killer classic album maybe taken for granted.

Live at the Paramount

Just as Nirvana was blowing up in sudden fashion, this show comes on Halloween night 1991. Once again, it’s the non-album tracks that seem like the highlights, as the opening run of Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For a Sunbeam, Aneurysm, and Drain You is really awesome. I also really enjoyed Love Buzz, Lithium, Breed and On a Plain here. I did not enjoy the ending, Endless Nameless. I can appreciate noise rock from time to time but that never did it for me.

Executive decision not to listen to the Nevermind Deluxe shows. Just might be too much for me right now.

Gosh do I hate nevermind

I love every Nirvana record.

They're just ingrained in me at this point, I have no real objectivity. Those four canonical albums were virtually my whole world at a very formative time in my life.

I always felt like Bleach sounded similar to AIC´s Facelift.