Originally written by Mike Diver · 2 November 2004
Entitled 'With The Lights Out', the set features three CDs and a DVD, with a rather puzzling 68 previously unreleased tracks across a total of 81. How, exactly, did Geffen keep them under wraps for this long? More importantly, how many of them are going to be horribly shit?
The set spans the band's entire career, from a cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Heartbreaker' recorded in 1987 to Kurt Cobain's solo acoustic work recorded shortly before his death in 1994. Also included is a 60-page booklet with liner notes by Thurston Moore and writer Neil Strauss. The DVD contains a previously unreleased video of the band performing at Krist Novoselic's mother's house in 1988, as well as music promos and other unreleased live performances.
CD 1 01. Heartbreaker 02. Anorexorcist 03. White Lace and Strange 04. Help Me, I'm Hungry 05. Mrs. Butterworth 06. If You Must 07. Pen Cap Chew 08. Downer 09. 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 01. Opinion 02. Lithium 03. Been A Son 04. Sliver 05. Where Did You Sleep Last Night 06. Pay To Play 07. Here She Comes Now 08. Drain You 09. 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 01. Rape Me (solo) 02. Rape Me 03. Scentless Apprentice 04. Heart Shaped Box 05. I Hate Myself and Want to Die 06. Milk It 07. Moist Vagina 08. Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip 09. The Other Improv 10. Serve The Servants 11. Very Ape 12. Pennyroyal Tea 13. Marigold 14. Sappy 15. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam 16. Do Re Mi 17. You Know You're Right 18. All Apologies
DVD 01. Love Buzz 02. Scoff 03. About A Girl 04. Big Long Now 05. Immigrant Song 06. Spank Thru 07. Hairspray Queen 08. School 09. 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
Expect me to shell out for this and then be greatly disappointed with the shitty quality of the unreleased recordings. Probably.
http://www.nirvanabox.com/
DiScuss: Excited? Really? If so, why, and if not, why not? Is this a money-making exercise that should have stayed on the drawing board, or is it important that these songs, or versions of existing songs, are released? See the video for In Bloom here.