Nirvana – With The Lights Out
(Universal/Geffen)

There was a time not too long ago when Nirvana seemed to be the only band that mattered, and now some 10 years after Kurt Cobain’s death they are largely forgotten, all but erased from the musical landscape. It’s depressing to think that there is a whole new generation of teenagers growing up who may never have even heard of this band that essentially defined my own formative years as a music fan.

With Courtney Love’s own career slowly filtering down the drain, she has finally given in to Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic’s request to release a box set of b-sides and rarities to the fans. With The Lights Out is something many people have been waiting for years to have in their hands, and I’d like to think it serves as a reminder to the band’s greatness and a final tribute to their legacy. And yet, now that I’ve pored through this collection and its contents, I can’t help but feel pretty let down by the whole thing. I’m not sure how it’s possible with so many great rare and unreleased songs at their disposal, but this collection is not the definitive proof of Nirvana’s genius I was hoping it would be. Not even close. It just feels like a cash grab and the thought of the $60 I spent on it going towards Courtney Love’s lawyer fees or drug habits or whatever else does not sit well with me.

With The Lights Out is a 3-disc collection of mostly unreleased music from Nirvana, along with a DVD that includes an assortment of live footage that spans from a very early rehearsal in Krist Novoselic’s mom’s basement to shows during their final tour. The truth is, there is a kick-ass collection of rare Nirvana songs within this box set that could easily fill up one CD. Unfortunately, the decision to go with 3 discs allowed for too much filler, bogging down the good stuff so that you almost forget it’s actually there.

The songs are essentially compiled in chronological order, with the first disc featuring the bulk of songs that have never been heard anywhere other than on some bootlegs. Disc One starts off with a couple of Led Zeppelin covers, including one recorded at a house party where Nirvana had their very first live performance. Another early song “Anorexorcist” sounds like it could have been a Bleach outtake with Cobain’s unintelligible grunts and growls and the chugging metallic guitars that were heard so often on their first album. This disc also contains a number of tracks from the band’s first demo, including the memorable “If You Must” and “Blandest”, both of which could previously be obtained on the Outcesticide bootleg. “Pen Cap Chew” is another song from this first demo recording, but the version here is different from the Outcesticide version.

One of the weirdest Nirvana songs makes an appearance here, the rather annoying yet mercifully short “Beans” which features Cobain’s voice pitched way up so it sounds like he’s on helium. Some other previously unreleased songs include “Token Eastern Song” (known as “Junkyard” on some bootlegs) and “Don’t Want It All” (also known as “Misery Loves Company”). The first disc is rounded out by a handful of Leadbelly covers and early versions of Bleach songs. One other highlight of this disc is a demo recording of “Even In His Youth”, which would later be released as a b-side to the Smells Like Teen Spirit single. Why they couldn’t include the actual b-side recording instead of a demo version is beyond me, and an annoyance that comes up again and again on this box set.

Disc Two moves into Nevermind-era material. It opens with some solo acoustic recordings including a catchy song called “Opinion” and a toned-down rendition of “Sliver”. It continues on to low quality recordings of songs that would appear on Nevermind including “Drain You”, “Breed”, “Teen Spirit”, “Lithium” and “Stay Away” (originally titled “Pay To Play”). The end of the Disc Two is where some of the collection’s best moments come. “Return Of The Rat” and “D-7″ are blistering covers of songs by Greg Sage And The Wipers, the latter of which appeared on the limited edition Japanese “Hormoaning” E.P. and also the Lithium single. “Curmudgeon” was the other b-side to the Lithium single, and “Oh The Guilt” was released as a split single with the Jesus Lizard. “Oh The Guilt”, perhaps one of the greatest Nirvana songs bar none, finds Cobain straining his vocal chords to a fever pitch while the band puts forth an interesting stop-start dynamic. But on this new mix of the song they removed the most unique thing about it — the use of a cigarette lighter as a percussive instrument! With all the crappy quality recordings on this disc, why would they think it necessary to remove such a cool little element of this song? I am baffled.

Also included on this second disc is their cover of Velvet Underground’s “Here She Comes Now”, but notably absent is their chaotic and ear-splitting rendition of “Do You Love Me” by Kiss. One can only assume royalty issues kept this one off the collection.

Moving on, we have Disc Three featuring tracks from the In Utero time period. Most of the stuff on here is pretty forgettable (particularly the 10 minute jam on the Scentless Apprentice riff), but there are still some decent b-sides including “Marigold” (Dave Grohl’s poppy singing/songwriting debut) and “Sappy”, a catchy tune which could have been a great single for the band had it been given a proper release. (As it was, the song was relegated to existence as a secret track on the No Alternative compilation.) “I Hate Myself And Want To Die” and “M.V.” (Moist Vagina) are two other noteworthy b-sides but unfortunately the original recordings are not preserved here — only shortened and lower quality demos.

As for the so-called final Nirvana song “You Know You’re Right” that was released on their greatest hits album last year, we only get an acoustic demo version of this song. Couldn’t they have given the hardcore fans the actual full recording instead of just leftover scraps?

The quality of Nirvana’s b-sides during their Geffen days is perhaps the greatest reason to own this collection, but unfortunately they screwed this up by neglecting many of the original studio recordings of these songs and replacing them with crappy home demo versions instead.

The DVD that is included with this set is okay, but again, not reason enough to buy it. It contains a bunch of live footage and some bits and pieces of video shot while on tour. The early rehearsal video is kind of fun to see, with the band ripping through a 9 song set consisting mostly of Bleach songs and another Zeppelin cover, “Immigrant Song”, while friends walk through the house drinking beer and only partially paying attention to the band that would soon be selling out arenas worldwide. It’s also worthwhile to see a song from Grohl’s first show with Nirvana and an early live rendition of Teen Spirit where it was still just another new song in their set list and not a smash mega hit. A few of the performances were shot on film, but most of it is pretty grainy and poor quality video. The original “In Bloom” Sub Pop video is on here, but what about the rest of their videos? I have a feeling they’re saving that stuff up for yet another release. Honestly, I would much rather have had a DVD version of their Live! Tonight! Sold Out! video with this set.

The biggest problem with the box set is that it feels like a bunch of random crap just thrown together. Although it strives for chronological accuracy and historical perspective, it doesn’t really play well as an album. None of the CDs are actually listenable because all the good stuff is buried among redundant, low quality versions of songs we’ve all heard a million times before. Do we really need to hear early demo versions of Rape Me or Polly? They’re nice to have for posterity’s sake but I will never actually sit down and listen to them. I only want to hear a demo version of a song if it’s significantly different from the original, and if anything, this set proves that Nirvana’s songs almost never changed over time except for the lyrics, proof of Kurt Cobain’s raw natural talent and musical intuition.

It just feels like this box set was put together by someone who wasn’t really a fan, who didn’t know what was worth including and what wasn’t. I’m not sure what involvement Grohl and Novoselic had but it doesn’t seem like they had much to do with it. I wouldn’t recommended spending the money unless you are a completist — even then, the most irksome thing about the whole collection is that it’s not really complete at all. For something that’s been in the works for years, With The Lights Out isn’t everything it should have been, and it’s a bit of an insult to the fans who have looked forward to it for so long. — Sean

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