Shortly after Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, a local college radio station DJ took it upon himself to air an entire show of Nirvana material, much of which was rare b-sides, covers, and demos that had never graced my ears before. Luckily, I was armed with a tape deck and several blank cassettes, and when it was all said and done I had my own personal collection of Nirvana rarities that covered the band's catalog, including early demos like "Pen Cap Chew," and notorious covers such as "Do You Love Me." Ten and a half years later, Geffen Records has finally graced us with a comprehensive release of rarities only Nirvana fans could dream of, With the Lights Out.
While many reviewers will just glace over portions of a release, I felt a thorough investigation of the material on this release would be the only way to write an accurate review. Of course, such an in depth examination takes time. So while it may not be the first review you read of the album, this one will contain more than vague descriptions and witty anecdotes.
Disc One: The first disc is comprised of material dating back to before Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic took the name Nirvana. While the production quality and song structures of many of these songs is rough, the groundwork being laid definitely hints at the bright future to come. The most obvious difference between Nirvana in its fetal beginnings and multi-platinum selling days can be found in song like "Anorexorcist" and "If You Must." These songs share more similarities with metal. On the other hand, the infusion of pop and punk that Nirvana merged so seamlessly is also represented in the songs "Polly" and "Dive." And while many of these are scraped together from various demo sessions, the production quality is surprisingly good.
Disc Two: Following the underground buzz generated by Bleach, Nirvana added drummer Dave Grohl to the mix, writing even more music than ever, and these songs demonstrate their maturing as songwriters. Nirvana was finally able to bring together its influences and form a sound of their own. The second disc features an array of material: acoustic and demo performances of songs that eventually turned up on future releases ("Drain You," and ""Breed"), a multitude of b-sides like "Curmudgeon," the original Butch Vig mix of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and the band's stellar covers of the Wipers songs "D-7" and "Return of the Rat." Some of my favorite songs come from this time period. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in any one of those recording studios.
Disc Three: By the time the material contained on the final disc was being written and recorded, the hysteria surrounding Nirvana and the grunge movement was in full swing. Unfortunately In Utero would be the last full-length the band released. But the music contained remains today some of the finest rock-n-roll ever committed to tape. And after hearing some of the late recordings like "Marigold," "Do Re Mi," and "You Know You're Right," it really would be interesting to see where not only Nirvana, but also modern music would have gone had the tragic death of Cobain not occurred.
DVD: The appeal of a nine song rehearsal from 1988 is a key selling point of With the Lights Out. The quality of this session is so-so. While the sound and video are in good condition, the fact that Cobain faces a wall away from the camera whenever he sings is somewhat of a turnoff. Why he does this, I'm not really sure. I can only speculate that it was either due to his insecurities as a vocalist or the fact that the house wiring led that to be the only location for a microphone. The remainder of the DVD showcases a number of live performances, including Dave Grohl's first show as they perform the fan favorite "Love Buzz." The DVD portion closes with the rendition of "Seasons in the Sun," and Cobain prophetically sings the melodies "Goodbye my friend it's hard to die... we had joy we had fun / we had seasons in the sun... / Out of time."
While many have attempted to discredit the packaging design, calling the cover plate a visual abomination, I found the simplistic image of the band to be very fitting. It's the perfect contrast to the overly detailed booklet that accompanied the release. Undoubtedly this is the most detailed discography of Nirvana's recordings committed to paper and is a must-have item for a music geek like myself.
Obviously, if you were not a fan of Nirvana before, you will most likely find little interest in this release. But those that grew up on stirring underground punk and metal scenes of the late 80's and early 90's will appreciate the large amount of rare material contained within With the Lights Out.
