A COUPLE of weeks ago,
Musicology looked at the many bands of Dave Grohl, so it was probably only a matter of time before we looked at the first of those acts that made him famous - Nirvana.
This year was a significant one for fans of the Seattle grunge trio that changed the face of modern music.
The Live At Reading DVD/CD was the first major release since the archive-clean-out box set With The Lights Out was unveiled five years ago.
It was also the 20th anniversary of their debut album (which got a re-release to coincide) and, sadly, the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's suicide.
Here are their five key releases of original music (that's why the popular MTV Unplugged isn't on the list).
Bleach (1989)
SELLING about 30,000 copies on release and famously recorded for $606.17, this sludgey debut went platinum in the wake of Nevermind's success. The rough-and-ready recording carries the hallmarks of what was to come - a weird mixture of metal riffs, punk-rock fury and poppy flourishes. The heavy elements provide an overall dark atmosphere, particularly on the pummel-and-scrape of Paper Cuts and Sifting, and the grinding Scoff, but Cobain's fondness for pop adds balancing rays of light. There's the surprising cover of Shocking Blue's Love Buzz, Cobain's early Beatles tribute About A Girl, while the melodies of Blew and the chorus of Downer are impressively catchy. Cobain dismissed the lyrics, confessing he "didn't care about lyrics" at that stage, and added that the music was "really one-dimensional... all the songs are slow and grungey... and I scream a lot". But then again, he never really talked up his work or seemed that pleased with the end results.
Nevermind (1991)
SIGNING to major label Geffen at the suggestion of Sonic Youth, Nirvana made Nevermind for 200 times the cost of Bleach. Cobain would later discredit it as too clean and shiny (while producer Butch Vig thought it was too raw) but everyone at the time was happy with the record. It was the album they hoped would make them famous and it did beyond their wildest dreams. A couple of months after release, it knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts, thanks in no small part to anthemic lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit, but the secret of its success is Cobain's head for catchy melodies and rage-filled riffs. The quieter moments (Polly, Something In The Way) provided breathing space, there's still plenty of that punk fury (Breed, Territorial Pissings) and at the end of the day, every song on it is awesome, simple and effective.
Incestic ide (1992)
HAVING almost single-handedly pushed alternative music into the mainstream, fans were keen to hear more Nirvana. Geffen and Sub Pop struck a deal to put out this odds 'n' sods collection of b-sides, radio sessions and unreleased tracks, inadvertantly creating a map of Nirvana's progress from backwoods weirdoes to mega-selling musicians. The earliest tracks are the oddest, including the puerile Beeswax and Mexican Seafood, and the three covers (Devo's Turnaround and two The Vaselines songs) show Cobain's pop roots. Big Long Now and Aero Zeppelin would have been at home on Bleach, and the journey is complete with Nevermind intermedaries Sliver, Been A Son and the live favourite Aneurysm. It's a sonically boggling compilation but a perfect soundtrack to their wilderness years.
In Utero (1993)
DEPENDING on who you believe, either the band or Geffen were unhappy with the sound of this, their final studio album. In one interview, Cobain stated he loved it's raw sound, but in the end, Heart-Shaped Box and All Apologies were remixed and the bass and vocals were turned up, angering hardcore punk legend and producer Steve Albini, who said he gave the band exactly what they wanted. Either way, In Utero is undoubtedly a difficult album, both sonically and lyrically. It's also a masterpiece that howls and burns while throwing the punk-pop sheen of Nevermind out the window, with Cobain saying in one interview "this is the sound that we always thought Nirvana should have". Between the noises barrages of Scentless Apprentice, Milk It, tourettes and Radio Friendly Unit Shifter are some of Cobain's strongest songs - Heart-Shaped Box, Frances Farmer..., Dumb and his ultimate epitath All Apologies. Cobain would be dead by self-inflicted gunshot wound less than seven months after In Utero's release. He was 27.
With The Lights Out (2004)
THE subject of lengthy legal battles, it took about eight years for this hefty 61-track box set (plus 20-song DVD) to emerge. Given that much of their unreleased material was heavily bootlegged, there were few surprises and some reviews and fans complained about the content and what was missing. While a lot of the tracklisting is made up of dodgy boombox recordings of Cobain solo or the band rehearsing, there are some treats - early tune If You Must, endearing home recording Clean Up Before She Comes, Bleach reject Blandest, covers of LeadBelly, The Wipers and The Velvet Underground, and hard-to-find rarities Oh The Guilt and Sappy. Perhaps the saddest gem on the disc is a never-before-heard song called Do Re Mi, which is claimed to be the last song Cobain wrote. It's beautiful melodies are the biggest indication of what potentially amazing music lay ahead had Cobain not killed himself.
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