Well, the Nirvana box set looks to finally be released on November 23rd, just in time for Christmas.
Titled "With the Lights Out" the 3 CD set will feature 81 tracks, 68 of which have never previously been issued. The tracks include demos, outtakes, and live recordings.
The set will also come with a DVD that shows never before seen footage of the band at rehearsals, recording studios and live shows. It's selling for $59.98.
Glad to see them finally release the damn thing after years of rumors. I enjoyed the release of the Nirvana album a couple years ago, with 'You Know You're Right' on it, but this is what I've been wanting them to release for forever. Looks like it's finally here.
The answer to WWE's financial problems...
Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
This is what I thought they were releasing the last time but instead just put out the one new song. I'll be adding this to the Seinfeld Box Set on my Xmas List.
"When did they pass a law that says the people who make my sandwich have to be wearing gloves? I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want glove residue all over my food; it's not sanitary. Who knows where these gloves have been?" - George Carlin
As a long time Nirvana fan, I'd caution anyone interested in this boxed set to wait for a full track listing before pre-ordering or listing it as a wanted gift. I'm afraid "You Know You're Right" is going to be the last gem from the vaults; at the time of Kurt's death it was assumed to be the only finished track of value left.
"Material for the CDs spans the band's entire history from their inception and includes demos, outtakes and live recordings. The DVD shows never seen before footage of the band at rehearsals, recording studios and live shows."
Some of the "demos" will likely be from the "boombox" recordings, made before "Nevermind" was recorded, from which the long since leaked "Old Age" clip comes. (Incidentally, the full version of "Old Age" is the only as-yet unreleased Nirvana track I'm interested in.) However, that clip sounds bad. Music recorded on inferior equipment usually does.
There were a large number of other tapes that were found after the suicide, consisting mainly of Kurt recording unfinished songs by himself or with an assorted friend or two. They have been mentioned a few times in the last 10 years and Courtney's ex-boyfriend, Geffen A&R (or something) Jim Barber said a year or so ago that they needed "sweetening" (or something) and I'd imagine that if they managed to squeeze some "finished" material (or something) out of that, it'll be in the box.
I'd imagine a great deal of viable outtakes were used as single B-sides and for compilations ("No Alternative," etc.). In fact, I'm pretty sure "Incesticide" ate up most of the unreleased pre-"Nevermind" songs. I think in this case "outtakes" probably means covers, alternate versions or something you've got on another disc somewhere.
Live recordings - "Muddy Banks" took care of that, in the sense of a "Best-of" live album, so I have no idea what they're going for here.
DVD - rumored to have their first ever live performance, from a house party in Hoquiam(?) which the NFC released audio of last year (or maybe earlier this year). I can't imagine footage of them in the studio being wholly interesting, nor footage of them at sound check or at a rehearsal.
Considering this band existed for a mere six years (88-94) and Kurt was notoriously lazy and constantly strung out on drugs, there's really not much that hasn't been released officially to choose from and most of that has already gotten out on the Outcesticide bootlegs.
Honestly, my dumb ass will probably drop $60 bucks on this, because I'm a completist (except I'm not paying out the ass for the "Love Buzz" or "Pennyroyal Tea" singles and personal journals are for scholars to study in the future, not for widows to scrounge up drug money), but I'm afraid this entire box is going to consist of stuff that most artists would ask to be destroyed or at least never shown to the buying public.
Maybe one of the easter eggs on the DVD will be surveillance footage of Courtney shooting Kurt in the head.
I'm just glad that this boxed set is finally out so my brother (who actually got his hair cut like Cobain in the mid 90's) can finally stop bitching and moaning about their unfulfilled potential. Frankly, I think Nirvana is the most overrated group save the Sex Pistols and the Doors in music history, but hey, different strokes.
Originally posted by rockstar...I'm afraid this entire box is going to consist of stuff that most artists would ask to be destroyed or at least never shown to the buying public.
This is what bothers me about these types of postmortem releases; obviously the band didn't release this stuff for a reason. Bands record many songs that never make it onto an album, and there's a reason they don't. I feel that releasing "unreleased tracks" just dilutes a band's legacy.
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffBut this was something that the surviving band members wanted to put out.
That makes it a little better, I guess, but I still feel it dilutes their catalog. I doubt any artist would do this unless they needed the money; I'm guessing Chris Novoselic is hard up for cash these days.
1. Heartbreaker* 2. Anorexorcist 3. White, Lace And Strange* 4. Help Me I'm Hungry 5. Mrs Butterworth 6. If You Must 7. Pen Cap Chew 8. Downer 9. Floyd The Barber 10. Raunchola 11. Moby Dick* 12. Beans 13. Don't Want It All 14. Clean Up Before She Comes 15. Polly (solo) 16. About A Girl 17. Blandest 18. Dive 19. They Hung Him On A Cross 20. Grey Goose 21. Ain't It A Shame* 22. Token Eastern Song 23. Even In His Youth 24. Polly
CD 2:
1. Opinion 2. Lithium 3. Been A Son 4. Sliver 5. Where Did You Sleep Last Night* 6. Pay To Play 7. Here She Comes Now 8. Drain You 9. Aneurysm 10. Smells Like Teen Spirit (demo) 11. Breed 12. Verse Chorus Verse 13. Old Age 14. Endless, Nameless 15. Dumb 16. D-7 17. Oh The Guilt 18. Curmudgeon 19. Return Of The Rat 20. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Butch Vig Mix)
CD 3:
1. Rape Me (solo) 2. Rape Me 3. Scentless Apprentice 4. Heart Shaped Box 5. I Hate Myself And I Want To Die 6. Milk It 7. Moist Vagina 8. Gallons Of Running Alcohol Flows Through The Strip 9. The Other Improv 10. Serve The Servants 11. Very Ape 12. Pennyroyal Tea 13. Marigold 14. Sappy aka Verse Chorus Verse 15. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam* 16. Do Re Mi 17. You Know You're Right 18. All Apologies
DVD:
1. Love Buzz* 2. Scoff 3. About A Girl 4. Big Long Now 5. Immigrant Song* 6. Spank Thru 7. Hairspray Queen 8. School 9. Mr Moustache 10. Big Cheese 11. In Bloom 12. Sappy 13. School 14. Love Buzz 15. Pennyroyal Tea 16. Smells Like Teen Spirit 17. Territorial Pissings 18. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam* 19. Talk To Me 20. Seasons In The Sun*
*-cover
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The NFC has a list of possible sources for the material here.
The only three songs I've never heard of are "Mrs. Butterworth", "Don't Want it All", and "They Hung Him on a Cross". I'm guessing at least one of these is a "Beans"-esque throwaway.
I've never heard "Moby Dick" (Led Zep cover, bleh), "Grey Goose", "Ain't It A Shame" (standard blues cover), "Seasons in the Sun" (Terry Jacks' cover) or "Token Eastern Song", which I think is also referred to as "Junkyard" on some bootlegs.
"Pay to Play" is an alternate of "Stay Away", also available on DGC Rarities Vol. 1.
I'm going out on a limb and saying that the first half of the first disc is crap.
I was fortunately wrong in that few of the demos come from the pre-Nevermind "boombox" recordings and I'm hoping that "Old Age" comes from the Smart Studios sessions. I seem to also have been wrong about the possiblitly of a lot of the more recent stuff being from Kurt's homemade recordings; unfortunately the recent stuff is mainly alternates of In Utero songs. I was not wrong, however, in that most of this stuff has long since been available on bootlegs or the Internet.
I do suggest "Talk to Me" and "Old Age" to anyone who hasn't heard them; the rest is...blah. I think I'm taking this off my gift request list.
LW TW Artist Song Album Peak #Weeks 7 ^ 1 The Music "Breakin'" Welcome To The North 1 13 3 ^ 2 And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead "Worlds Apart" Worlds Apart 2 10 1 v 3 Louis XIV "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" Lou...