Nirvana – With the Lights Out (3CD compilation)

Hey all,

It’s been a while eh? Sorry , been very busy with my school work, and rarely do I have a day as free as today. So, it’s about that that I wrote another review.

Now, to disappoint all “best-of” fans, this is NOT a best-of compilation of Nirvana’s strongest… no doubt they have enough material to pump out a 3CD compilation. But this is different. Oh yeah.

Its like a story book, it chronicles Kurt Cobain and his band’s influences since they started off in 1987. By the way, Cobain died in 1994 (murdered by gunshot. Some say assassinated, some say suicide. Its still one big mystery)

So in this short span of 7 years, Nirvana has managed to storm into the music scene, introducing their then unique grunge punk-rock style (Pearl jam fans may argue here). Most decent rock listeners will know how Nirvana’s introduction into the music scene totally destroyed 80s hair metal, [which was already on the wane anyways], and opened up a whole new genre for rock, so much so that nowadays much of 90s, 00s rock bands have similar grungy, alternative sound that is such a trademark of Cobain’s. Rarely do we find really good solos, or superb hard-rockish playing that dominated the 70s and 80s. Yes, whether you like them or not [and there are many Nirvana haters], but it just proves one thing – they owned the 90s.

Enough about them, let’s get on with the CD. If you’re expecting studio recordings, be very disappointed. There are none. All the songs here are demos, live, solo acoustics and a couple of B-sides. No nice clean post-production sounds, all you get are as good as a jam studio recording. Obviously many of the songs have been remastered, but the whole album does sound disjointed at times.

But why does this album stand out? Because it gets you thinking about how Nirvana made it to where they are. It makes you wanna go to the jam studio right away and make noises like Cobain did. To make you go: “hey I do sound like that in the studio too!”

Their 1st song happens to be their first live performance too. “Heartbreaker” [A Led Zepplin Cover] kicked it off (I had initially thought I put on the wrong playlist when it sounds like LZ. But its quite different tho) Early versions of “Polly”, and “About a girl” litter the track, while there are some which I’ve never heard before, quite possibly unreleased tracks. “Polly” stands out most in this disc. Cobain is really good singing and playing live on acoustic.

Disc 2 will sound familiar to most of us. Many of their “In Utero” songs could be found here…. Songs like “Lithium”, “Dumb” [ 2 yrs b4 it was studio released] and of course their triumphant “Smells like Teen Spirit” pre-studio recordings. You really get to listen to their songwriting process, find out the little bits of changes between these demos and the studio releases and appreciate the genius that is Kurt. [BTW one rarely gets to hear other musicians because its 80% acoustic. Kinda like a Cobain tribute]

Disc 3 is, not surprisingly, moodier than the previous discs. “Rape me” starts off. In fact 2 versions, the solo acoustic and the demo, pave the way. I really think, by this time, Cobain’s voice has degenerated quite badly. I’m not sure if it was his drugs or his health, but it was quite apparent that he is not the force he was 4 years ago. And there was this tinge of regret and depression in his singing… just listen to “Rape me” [solo acoustic version] to get what I mean. Other outstanding tracks on this disc include “All apologies”, “you know you’re right” and “Do Re Mi”. (All of which recorded in 1994 months before his death)

If you are a huge Nirvana fan, wait no longer. Never mind the constant lawsuits between Dave Grohl [front man of Foo fighters and ex drummer for Nirvana] and Courtney Love [widow of Cobain], put your heart into this compilation to witness the magic that is Nirvana and one of music’s greatest icon – Kurt Cobain.


Aside: “with the lights out” is a lyrical reference to their flagship song, if you were ever wondering.

Aside 2: Nirvana’s unplugged in New York is the bomb. If you need to watch the vids of his marvelous, soulful performance in New York, drop me a msg. IMHO, it’s the best unplugged performance ever.

Track listing:

Disc: 1
1. Heartbreaker [Live][#]
2. Anorexorcist [#]
3. White Lace and Strange [#]
4. Help Me I'm Hungry [#]
5. Mrs. Butterworth [#]
6. If You Must [#][Demo Version]
7. Pen Cap Chew [#][Demo Version]
8. Downer [Live][#]
9. Floyd the Barber [Live][#]
10. Raunchola/Moby Dick [Live][#]
11. Beans [Acoustic][#]
12. Don't Want It All [Acoustic][#]
13. Clean Up Before She Comes [Acoustic][#]
14. Polly [Acoustic][#]
15. About a Girl [Acoustic][#]
16. Blandest [#][Demo Version]
17. Dive [#][Demo Version]
18. They Hung Him on a Cross [#][Demo Version]
19. Grey Goose [#][Demo Version]
20. Ain't It a Shame [#][Demo Version]
21. Token Eastern Song [#][Demo Version]
22. Even in His Youth [#][Demo Version]
23. Polly [#][Demo Version]

Disc: 2
1. Opinion [Acoustic][#]
2. Lithium [Acoustic][#]
3. Been a Son [Acoustic][#]
4. Sliver [Acoustic][#]
5. Where Did You Sleep Last Night [Acoustic][#]
6. Pay to Play [Demo Version]
7. Here She Comes Now [Demo Version]
8. Drain You [#][Demo Version]
9. Aneurysm [Demo Version]
10. Smells Like Teen Spirit [#][Demo Version]
11. Breed [Rough Mix][#]
12. Verse Chorus Verse [#][Outtake]
13. Old Age [#][Outtake]
14. Endless, Nameless [#]
15. Dumb [#]
16. D-7 [#]
17. Oh the Guilt
18. Curmudgeon
19. Return of the Rat [Outtake]
20. Smells Like Teen Spirit [Butch Vig Mix]