I never thought of that. But if you told me it sounded like any Melvins record I would be in lines to agree.

yeah sure, Melvins is a good example. Nevermind is such a departure from that sound, its shocking.

I listened to Nevermind first of course. When i actually learnt they had a debut album i was shocked on how different it was, how heavy and weird it sounded.

They sure polished the songs on Nevermind.

Its still the best one in my opinion.

Incesticide

Ever since I first heard this b-side album, there were many moments where I think this could be their best release. This comes in the form of Dive, Sliver, the covers, Downer, and whenever I hear Aneurysm, which could be my favorite of their songs still all these years later. Granted, this is not their best release only because those huge highs are not maintained for the full album, but of all the albums, I always think this one is the most undersold. Even the filler is good. For a collection of b-sides, that’s pretty damn remarkable.

Bleach or Nevermind?

This and Bleach get the most play from me.

Nevermind.

Live at Reading

I am trying my best to alternate between studio releases and live albums. This one from around the same period (though technically a little before) is actually quite an exceptional show for them. While you can audibly hear a change in the audience, which is now singing along at least to the hits, the band sounds really good for most of the show (not sure if the missteps in Teen Spirit are intentional since during this time I believe they were sort of rebelling against their own hits). And in that vein, the band sounds most comfortable to me when they are banging through Bleach, Incesticide and covers. They sound good on the Nevermind songs and all but there’s almost a palatable joy you can sense in some of the deeper cuts for them. This is my favorite of the shows I am listening to on this run so no complaints regardless.

Same here, buddy.

I find this show to be merely average for the time period. Note that the official release has all of the banter crudely chopped out, which robs it of the vibe and silliness that are a staple of most bootlegs from this era.



A classic show that was fully remixed by Andy Wallace (along with the Del Mar show) and set aside for future use. But some genius decided it needed to be remixed for "Live At The Paramount" and the results are pathetic compared to the original. Del Mar just came out on the 30th Anniversary set, but despite being the original mix, it was taken from a cassette!!! Zero effort was made and zero fucks were given, which has long been a pattern with "archival" Nirvana releases. So bootlegs are still essential for both.



Not really. Legendary but overhyped and not worth its reputation. They were significantly rusty and Kurt was distracted. There are any number of shows from mid-late 92 that are much better, including Roskilde Festival which was also pro-recorded and filmed but sits on a shelf in Denmark somewhere.

Womp Womp.

I mean, I can easily accept missing the mark on live shows with Nirvana. I have heard countless of their shows as a kid and really didn’t have the ability to decipher it too easily. There’s not some metric you can really use - they are not known for their distinct attention to detail in their live shows but they also were not a band to jam or improvise. It’s all the energy you get from being there or listening to the bootleg. I had this CD bootleg of a 1994 show called “Roma” and I always enjoyed that the best, but that’s not to say it was.

What is neat is hearing the change in the energy in the band and the crowd between that Paramount show, when they were just taking off, and half a year or so later at Reading, where the crowd is singing along and at least on the Nevermind singles seem to know the songs note for note.

yeah i also have that Roma boot.

I have always found lots to enjoy in live Nirvana, and they're one of the very few bands where I find audience recordings really enjoyable. A lot of my favorite tapes are from '89-'90, before they really hit it big -- just incredible energy in those shows, a band full of piss and vinegar and with something to prove.

Without any sense of being mean, they sound great in audience recordings - kind of like a Monet where you are left to fill in details.

It's just frustrating to me how their archive has been handled. They made a mess of it and you are left to sort it all out yourself. Lots of great bootleg stuff out there.

Incesticide is actually the Nirvana material I refer to in 2022 ahead of everything else. I got this album upon release in 92/93 and loved the more 'standard' rockers like Dive, Stain, Been a Son etc but never thought a whole lot about the second half of the album. Too weird for my 13 year old head, I guess.

30 years later, I think Hairspray Queen is one my favourite songs of theirs. The bassline is just genius and Kurt's vocal and delivery I think is exactly what he wanted from the band - a platform to display his unique weirdness and make the audience uncomfortable. Aero Zeppelin, Mexican Seafood, Beeswax.... all awesome. Telling that he had Dale Crover on board for that material. What a band they would have been with him on board permanently!
Also, why 'Big Long Now' was left off Bleach still bemuses me. I know Kurt said the album had enough slow tunes on it but I would have removed something else (Sifting?) for it instead. Great compilation of oddities that has stood the test of time.

Big Long Now is so SO great.

Where can I find those Andy Wallace mixes for Paramount and Del-Mar? Thanks!

Where can I find those Andy Wallace mixes for Paramount and Del-Mar? Thanks!

In Utero

If Nevermind smoothed over the cuts and scrapes that charm this band, and thereby created an album that could at once be a departure from the sounds of that moment and easily digestible, In Utero is by contrast abrasive. The riffs, the feedback, the drums all hit harder, sharper, and cut deep. Outside of Pennyroyal Tea and All Apologies, there’s no obvious single here - though Heart-Shaped Box would become huge. I have always felt this approach served the album well. Some of my favorite Nirvana songs hang out here - Frances Farmer…, Serve the Servants, Very Ape, and Radio Friendly Unit Shifter (sorry if that offends the hardcore fans here). The band’s ability to take a song and make it at once abrasive and irresistible at the same time is their bread and butter and makes this my favorite of the more albums ultimately. As immediately repulsive as the use of “Rape Me” still is and was then, it’s still really hard not to get swept up in it nonetheless - that sort of master stroke that Kurt Cobain could break out effortlessly.

I didnt even heard In Utero when it came out. Heart Shaped Box sounded so much like a Nevermind song at the time the whole thing felt like the band wasnt pushing themselves so much.