NIRVANA

Nirvana
(Geffen)

RATING: four

How do you explain Nirvana to people who never took to their music? How do you describe the way Kurt Cobain’s serrated blade of a voice could reach inside of you and yank out your heart through your throat? How can someone else understand how much pain and wisdom you can find in lyrics that sound like they were once bathroom wall graffiti: I’m so ugly/ That’s okay, ‘cause so are you; Sell the kids for food; All alone is all we are; Here we are now, entertain us; Rape me.

This was the coming-of-age music for a whole generation of pained teens (is there any other kind?) who took to Nirvana’s new brand of pre-millennial punk. Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic were each talented musicians in their own right, but it was Cobain who was the dark star whose very presence was punk rock. With his intense, blue eyes peeking out from behind matted strings of blond hair, his thin frame hunched over a guitar and a microphone, Kurt was an anti-rock star anti-hero, a grunge god who preached empathy with, not salvation from, suffering. When he finally killed himself in April 1994, it was almost a perfect ending. Yes, we were shocked, yes, we were dismayed, yes, we thought it untimely—but what else is there for the king of pain? Surely nobody really thought he was destined for a happy ending.

Still, his death meant that Nirvana were only around for seven years and six albums; their reign as the kings of grunge really only lasted three years, from the release of Nevermind in 1991 to April 1994—not nearly enough time for the public to get enough of their music; perhaps not even enough time to let the band realize their full creative potential.

Nirvana is the long-delayed posthumous best-of compilation from the band, hurriedly released after a long legal battle between the surviving members of Nirvana and Kurt’s litigious widow, Courtney Love. Their only release since 1996’s From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, this collection comprises fourteen of their best songs, plus one previously unreleased track, “I Know You’re Right,” Kurt’s swan song, recorded just over two months before he died. This in itself isn’t a standout track, although it’s always newsworthy when a “new” Nirvana track is found. Otherwise, it doesn’t take a genius to pick out the songs to include in this compilation, and indeed, there are no contentious choices, nor any pleasant surprises here. Just the obvious, with only one new track and an essay by music journalist David Fricke to sweeten the deal.

Still, if nothing else, Nirvana offers the opportunity to trace the arc of the band’s career. Beginning with the landmark track “About a Girl,” off their 1989 debut Bleach—the first love song, and which Fricke refers to as Kurt’s first great one—the CD’s 15 tracks demonstrate Nirvana’s development as a band, and Kurt’s growth as a songwriter. There’s a world of difference between the rough-hewn “Been a Son” or “Sliver” and the phenomenal melodies and complicated lyrics of Nevermind’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come as You Are,” “Lithium,” and “In Bloom.”

Nevermind, arguably one of the most important and influential rock albums of the 21st century, is of course well-represented in this collection, as is the impressive In Utero. This 1993 album may mark the band’s true peak, earning more lauds from critics than Nevermind, offering both the sophisticated grunge of “Heart-Shaped Box” and “Pennyroyal Tea” and the coarser, more direct “Rape Me” and “Dumb.”

You know, come to think of it, Nirvana only came out with three albums—the other three (1992’s Incesticide, 1993’s MTV Unplugged in New York, and 1996’s From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah) were live sets and/or retrospectives. Of these, only MTV Unplugged is represented, with the band’s cover versions of “The Man Who Sold the World” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” and the heartbreaking acoustic version of “All Apologies.”

I’d argue for the inclusion of a couple more tracks on this collection. Where’s “Drain You,” “Aneurysm,” or even “Pay to Play”? And where is “Polly”—how could they miss “Polly”? This is the song, a disturbing narrative of a rape told from the point of view of a rapist, that got even Bob Dylan to sit up and take notice. Missing also is “Something in the Way,” which is of autobiographical importance to Kurt; this is the song in which he recounts his days living as a runaway under a bridge—not true, most people around him say, but it’s a myth that Kurt liked to nurture.

Of course, it’s all a matter of taste. The truth is that Nevermind and In Utero are already best-ofs in themselves, given the many remarkable tracks on those albums and the limits of the Nirvana discography. If this collection were to try to please everybody, it might have just as well have just re-released the two albums with a few other token tracks.

The black-and-silver album packaging is somber and dignified, a far cry from the humor and edginess of their past covers. Nirvana offers nothing new by way of music or posthumous commentary, and is more a tribute than anything else. There’s no better, more respectful way to pay tribute than to keep quiet and let the music speak for itself; and this collection does just that.—Kristine D. Fonacier


Track List

“You Know You’re Right”
A previously unreleased track recorded on January 30, 1994, this song was recorded during Kurt Cobain’s final session with Nirvana. Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl had been at the studio for two days, waiting for Kurt, when the singer finally showed up with no explanation for his absence, recording the track in minutes.

“About a Girl”
Recorded in December 1988, Kurt wrote this song about then-girlfriend Tracy Marander. According to Cobain biographer Charles Cross, Kurt would play the song in front of her but never admitted that it was about her. Directly influenced by the Beatles (Kurt wrote the song after listening to Meet the Beatles! for three hours), early audiences often mistook it for a cover.

“Been a Son”
Kurt, who had deep-seated issues with both parents while growing up, might have written this about his sister Kim, and how their father would have preferred a boy. Or it may have been a twist to an early Cobain line, “I wanted a father, but I got a dad.”

“Sliver”
“It’s probably the most straightforward song we’ve ever recorded,” Kurt told Melody Maker. This song was released as a single on SubPop, reappearing on Incesticide. The track features Mudhoney’s Dan Peters on drums.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”
If there’s one song that launched the grunge era, this is it. The lyrics are mostly vague and unintelligible, though the title was taken from graffiti that Bikini Kill band member Kathleen Hanna spray-painted on Kurt’s wall: “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit,” taunting Kurt about his relationship with fellow Bikini Kill member Tobi Vail and referring to her brand of deodorant, Teen Spirit. (Hanna was dating Dave Grohl at the time.)

“Come As You Are”
Kurt was in the middle of a detox program when the band had to record the video for this single, and he insisted that all shots of his face be distorted or obscured.

“Lithium”
Referring to a popular pre-Prozac anti-depressive, the lyrics for this song changed over time. In an interview with the magazine Musician, Kurt said that the song was about “some of my personal experiences, like breaking up with girlfriends and having bad relationships.” The cover for the CD single featured a sonogram image of Frances Bean Cobain.

“In Bloom”
“I don’t like rednecks,” Kurt has been quoted saying to explain this song. A line that says, “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs/ and he likes to sing along/ and he likes to shoot his gun/ but he don’t know what it means,” ridicules the rednecks that the band used to play to.

“Heart-Shaped Box”
Originally titled “Heart-Shaped Coffin,” Courtney Love advised Kurt to change the lyrics, saying that the original were “too dark.” The new title referenced a heart-shaped silk-and-lace box that Courtney gave Kurt early in their relationship.

“Pennyroyal Tea”
The version that appears on this album was a previously unreleased single mix by Scott Litt. Litt’s remix scheduled for release before Kurt’s death was stopped by the record company, though there are copies that leaked out—which now reportedly fetch as much as $1000 on eBay.

“Rape Me”
MTV executives threatened to pull the band off-air if they played it at the MTV Music Awards. To spite them, the band played the opening strains of “Rape Me”—causing panic in the control room—before shifting to “Lithium.” “We did that to fuck them,” Krist said.

“Dumb”
“All that pot. All that supposedly, unaddictive, harmless, safe reefer that damaged my nerves, and ruined my memory, and made me feel like wanting to blow up the prom. It just wasn't ever strong enough, so I climbed the ladder to the poppy,” wrote Kurt about this song.

“All Apologies”
“The Man Who Sold the World”
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night”
Recorded on November 18, 1993 for the MTV Unplugged series, Kurt was terrified about performing the stripped-down set. He threatened several times to withdraw from the show, but finally showed up and turned in one of the most unforgettable, most poignant performances of his career.

THE VERY BEST OF MTV UNPLUGGED

Various Artists
(Warner)

RATING: two and a half


Since it debuted in 1989, MTV Unplugged has been a showcase for musicians aiming to try out something new and radical with their music—in this case, taking their songs and stripping it down to bare acoustic bones. “No electric guitars. No keyboards. No special effects,” it claimed, and it was a radical idea in its time, because unplugging revealed the music for what it was, without studio effects or flashy instrumentalization. You could see the true beauty—or lack thereof—of the songwriting or the singers’ vocals.

The roster of musicians invited to the sessions have been impressive: R.E.M., Eric Clapton, Lenny Kravitz, Annie Lennox, Sting, Oasis, and Sheryl Crow were only some of the featured guests on the show. The sessions with Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Alanis Morissette, 10,000 Maniacs, The Corrs, Tony Bennett, Mariah Carey, and Bryan Adams were good enough to be released as separate albums. Through the years, the show has seen some unforgettable performances from some of the best musicians around.

It’s a shame, then, that The Very Best of MTV Unplugged errs on the safe side. The 18 selections on the album are crowd-pleasers—only the biggest names, and only their hits. Not bad in itself, but it also means that it doesn’t live up to the promise of its title: often, the very best performances came from musicians who insisted on venturing away from the safety of their regular repertoire.

Sure, this collection offers you Eric Clapton’s unmatched rendition of his elegiac “Tears in Heaven” and a poignant version of “Lightning Crashes” from Live. And, yes, there’s nothing wrong with Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” or Sheryl Crow’s “Strong Enough” or Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose.” In fact, they’re very good. Some cuts—Lenny Kravitz’s slowed-down and sexy “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” for example, or Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s “Gallows Pole”—are even excellent. And nobody’s going to complain about the inclusion of The Cranberries’ “Linger” or Bryan Adams’ “Summer of 69” or Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson.” They’re all hits, after all.

But that’s the problem. The Very Best of MTV Unplugged doesn’t court argument because it doesn’t attempt much, sticking to the Billboard hits and staying away from the rarer, more interesting cuts. There are no collaborations, no covers on this album. Which means that you don’t get to relive the day the Meat Puppets sat in with Nirvana, when the Indigo Girls sang back up for Michelle Shocked, when Tesla teamed up with The Black Crowes, or when Slaughter played with Winger. You don’t get to hear Pearl Jam covering Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Hole trying out Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like a Wolf,” Aerosmith paying tribute to the Doors with “Love Me Two Times.” Remember these? No? Well, that’s because they were never released on CD (except on bootlegs), and it’s too bad, because now it looks like no one ever will.

When Nirvana guested on MTV Unplugged in 1993, they carefully avoided playing the obvious choice—“Smells Like Teen Spirit”—and did a lot of covers, including a haunting cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World.” The show was a treasure trove of rarities, and the album disappoints by featuring none of these and having none of the courage of its concept. —Kristine Fonacier

DIVINE DISCONTENT

Sixpence None the Richer
(Reprise/ Warner)

RATING: three and a half

Here’s a band that’s hobbled by the very same thing that makes it soar: in this case, lead singer Leigh Nash. It’s Leigh’s voice that made “Kiss Me” the love song staple of 1997, but it’s hard to court credibility when you’re a pixie-cute vocalist with a girlishly sweet voice and a band that has a penchant for saccharine sweet pop hits.

Too bad, because Sixpence None the Richer have never really been about sweet pop. Divine Discontent, their follow-up to their breakthrough self-titled album, is in the same danger as its predecessor of being dismissed—not because there are no standout songs, but precisely because there are tracks whose catchiness threatens to obliterate the rest of the album.

“Breathe Your Name,” the first single off Divine Discontent, is a light and airy piece, opening with jangly guitars that open up into a sugary melody. With Leigh’s voice singing lines like, “You are in my heart/ I can feel your beat/ And you move my mind/ from behind the wheel/ When I lose control/ I can only breathe your name,” this single is destined for the same fate as their biggest hit, “Kiss Me,” overplayed on the radio and on video, but still just stopping short of being cloying. Leigh also uses her charm on a remake of the Crowded House classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” which, like their remake of The La’s “There She Goes,” was a faithful rendition that seemed just that much more lightweight than the original with her voice.

Is this such a bad thing? Perhaps not, and Sixpence know better than to knock it when they know it’s also their ticket to the top of the charts. But the truth is that the group has always been about more than just heavenly pop hits. Their work—from 1994’s The Fatherless and the Widow through 1995’s This Beautiful Mess and their eponymous breakthrough album—was darker and more poetic than their hits suggested, really more art pop than pop art. Their biggest hit to date may be a song called “Kiss Me,” but their discography is filled with titles like “Love, Salvation, the Fear of Death,” and “Within a Room Somewhere.”

There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with “Breathe Your Name” or “Don’t Dream It’s Over” or any of Sixpence’s lovely pop songs, but delve through Divine Discontent and you’ll find such surprisingly substantial songs like the lyrical “Tension is a Passing Note” and the soaring “Like a Million Parachutes.” Although Leigh’s voice remains as sweet as ever, on these and other tracks she uses it to hint at a vague sadness, with astonishing, heartbreaking results.

Here’s an album that will exceed your expectations. Buy it for the sweet hits, but beware that it’s just sugarcoating on a collection of 13 songs that will prove to be deeper, heavier, and far more satisfying than you’d think.—Kristine Fonacier