Nirvana - Nirvana

Nirvana - Nirvana (2/5)

I figured that since a new post-humous Nirvana album is coming out in less than a week, I might as well throw up an old review I had written about their "best of." Enjoy.

I'm sure the first thing that's going through your mind is, "Where is 'Aneurysm?'" My thoughts exactly. This collection makes it easy to complain about what songs were included and what songs were left out. Why do they give us "Been a Son" and not Negative Creep? Why do we have to buy an import for "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" I could go on and on about what was included ant what wasn't, but the point of the matter is that there are only fourteen songs. I know we've entered the twenty-first century, and our attention spans are almost non-existent, but please give us something for our money.

The track listing makes things awkward as well. Nirvana's three studio albums have very distinct characteristics, and it would have been difficult for anyone to come up with a best of that had a good flow to it, but sometimes it feels like they didn't even try to make it sound cohesive. Putting "You Know You're Right" as the first song feels counter intuitive to say the least.

I know the purpose of the album is to reel in the uninitiated, but it would have been nice for them to add another new song or two for the die-hards. Nirvana has such a small catalogue, much of it essential, that any Nirvana fan will likely have these songs. The only exception is "You Know You're Right" and a new sound mix of "Pennyroyal Tea."

If you're already a fan, my suggestion is to make your own Nirvana: Best Of and give it to someone who is thinking about making a purchase. Here is my suggestion for a track listings:
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Son of a Gun
3. Heart Shaped Box
4. Drain You
5. Negative Creep (live)
6. Come As You Are
7. About a Girl
8. Rape Me
9. Sliver
10. Lithium
11. Verse Chorus Verse
12. Polly
13. Lake of Fire (live, acoustic)
14. In Bloom
15. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
16. Aneurysm
17. Dumb
18. White Lace and Strange (live)
19. Do Re Mi (acoustic)
20. You Know You're Right
21. All Apologies
22. Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (live, acoustic)

You have to admit that mine easily trumps the Geffen best of. Of course that's not saying much, and I'm sure there's some guy out there that has an even better track listing. I do have a slight advantage because I'm using box-set songs (one from each disc) which was released after Nirvana, but Geffen should have had access to just about everything Cobain put to eight track (and that they could wrestle from Courtney Love).

If you are interested in the band, but have yet to make a purchase, just go out and get Nevermind, In Utero, and Live In New York. They're all essential for serious music fans. The other Nirvana albums are good, but mostly just for the die-hards.

If you really feel like buying the album be my guest. You can think of it as padding Fracis Bean's college fund.