I Feel Stupid And Contagious / A Nirvana Thread

[tragabigzanda]

If In Utero didn't exist, Nirvana would be a very minor band for me.

[VinylGuy]

they arent a big band for me.

[tragabigzanda]

they arent a big band for me.

The sound of In Utero is kind of my platonic ideal of what a rock band should sound like. There are very few rock albums that I'd even put in the same sphere as far as having a visceral impact on me.

[VinylGuy]

yeah i get that, specially you being a Albini fan.

I think Nirvana peaked early and that has to do of course with Cobain being gone. But by the time In Utero came, it kinda felt i already heard that album.

Its still a great record by the way.

[tragabigzanda]

yeah i get that, specially you being a Albini fan.

I think Nirvana peaked early and that has to do of course with Cobain being gone. But by the time In Utero came, it kinda felt i already heard that album.

Its still a great record by the way.

It was funny to discover The Jesus Lizard and Rapeman and all that stuff after In Utero, and feel like "Oh other bands had already done this?" But Grohl really does push it to another level.

[VinylGuy]

yeah Dave really brings it.

I always feel its a shame Cobain didnt last for a few more at least...there are hints of him going more into the REM route and damn, i would have loved to hear that.

[liebzz]

I am hoping to get into it a little more with Unplugged, but the way that performance seemed to open up a whole new range of possibilities for them, I would have liked to see them explore that. I get that the show ended up getting to mythical proportions, but it was a big deal even before he died, and I would have hoped to see them utilize Pat Smear in a way that allowed for some of the more interesting dynamics of that show.

But the present before that, In Utero, is the best sounding album because it best captures the way the band sounded - it’s a full on assault on the senses where none of the instruments feel muted. I mean this perfectly captures their moment post-Nevermind, and I would have loved to hear what came next, though I suspect in reality that they may have split, Dave makes some iteration of Foo Fighters, Cobain goes solo, and Krist does the exact same thing he ended up doing. Once the calendar turned to 1994, my recollection of what I have read was that they were basically spiraling out - though the shows I have heard from that short period I remember really liking.

[VinylGuy]

Dave was out of the band for sure, but i think both Kurt and Krist would have continued with Nirvana.

[tragabigzanda]

FWIW, I never had any interest in In Utero Part 2. Seems like a step in either direction -- towards the brutalist approach of songs like Milk It, or towards the radio-friendly sound of Pennyroyal Tea -- would've been too self-conscious and probably underwhelming.

Unplugged is magical, and I think it's perfect the way it is (minus Pennyroyal Tea, a song I loathe). I think it could've been very cool to them do a studio album of more acoustic/twangy stuff similar to what they did on Unplugged, but even that would've been great one record.

What would've come next? Nirvana with an orchestra? Electronic? I can't imagine any of it would've been fulfilling, and while I am not at all glad that things ended when they did, I agree that they peaked with those last two records and we would've likely been getting diminishing returns after Unplugged.

[liebzz]

MTV Unplugged in New York

This show has morphed and gained in legend as years have gone on. Some treat it as foreshadowing of what would tragically occur in 6 months time from its airing, bringing it to mythical status. And with the shows final notes in Where Did You Sleep Last Night (In the Pines?), Kurt unloads what he’d been nearly bottling in all night in a manner that transcends even the show itself. It’s an amazing moment.

Really, there’s no foreshadowing. Given the opportunity to play Unplugged, Nirvana seized the chance to bust out some of their favored covers, bring along some friends, and find yet another way to defy the expectations laid before them. And to have basically nailed every aspect of this show is a real testament to them (I know there’s a whole story about Dave Grohl’s whisk like drum sticks stemming from bad rehearsals). Way to rise up to the moment, and do a few things on the fly, and be entertaining all at once.

From this vantage point nearly 30 years later, one could see a space where Nirvana could have explored this further since they sound so good when you pull out the fuzz and give the chords some air. It exposes Kurt as a singer-songwriter underneath all that feedback and guitar, and it sounds great. We can play what ifs unendingly and perhaps this as a sense of a finale is apt, but it also shows a band that had talent even beyond what they showed us.

[VinylGuy]

what the story with Dave on the Unplugged?

i dont remember it

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

what the story with Dave on the Unplugged?

i dont remember it

He couldn't play quietly to save his life.

So they had to give him pussy brushes to stifle his attack.

[tragabigzanda]

what the story with Dave on the Unplugged?

i dont remember it

He couldn't play quietly to save his life.

So they had to give him pussy brushes to stifle his attack.

And it worked like a charm.

[Strat]

what the story with Dave on the Unplugged?

i dont remember it

He couldn't play quietly to save his life.

So they had to give him pussy brushes to stifle his attack.

[liebzz]

what the story with Dave on the Unplugged?

i dont remember it

He couldn't play quietly to save his life.

So they had to give him pussy brushes to stifle his attack.

And it worked like a charm.

Great. Now I am laughing tears to all others in the room for no reason.

[liebzz]

Well that and they almost replaced him for that show because of his bad rehearsals. I forget how he got the whisks.

[tragabigzanda]

I honestly never knew any of this stuff until Azerrad published that article several months back. He talked about how Kurt went through a period of hating Dave for his one-dimensional drumming; Dave's defense was that as an angry addict, Kurt always needed someone to hate. Interesting/nauseating stuff.

[Strat]

This convo lead me to listen to In Utero front to back which i really dont think ive done in 20 years.

I remember very little of this album other than the 3-5 hits.

Kind of weird how into them I was but never really attached myself to this album.

I remember getting Vs and In Utero on cd the same day. Vs took over.

[liebzz]

This convo lead me to listen to In Utero front to back which i really dont think ive done in 20 years.

I remember very little of this album other than the 3-5 hits.

Kind of weird how into them I was but never really attached myself to this album.

I remember getting Vs and In Utero on cd the same day. Vs took over.

I have officially done my job on this thread.

But really, I got them both around the same time too and attached to both of them. Took me years to get into some of the other bands of this era because I was so glued to these two.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I honestly never knew any of this stuff until Azerrad published that article several months back. He talked about how Kurt went through a period of hating Dave for his one-dimensional drumming; Dave's defense was that as an angry addict, Kurt always needed someone to hate. Interesting/nauseating stuff.

Well it's clear that Dave can handle a complex song just fine as proven by his drumming with other bands, but I've never really heard him do anything other than the John Bonham thing. I love his drumming anyway, but Kurt wasn't wrong. All the best drummers (IMO) have a diversity to them, so I'd love to see examples of him playing something other than mongoloid rock.