Total Nirvana: The consumer guide

Bleach (1989)

Featuring a line-up that included Chad Channing on drums and Jason Everman on second guitar, and recorded for $600 at Jack Endino’s studio in Seattle, there’s little on Bleach apart from Cobain’s voice and the jangle of ‘About A Girl’ to suggest what would come. That said, this debut is worth owning for the dunderhead riff of ‘School’ and a near acid-raga cover of Shocking Blue’s ‘Love Buzz’.

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Nevermind (1991)

What can you say? From the volcanic spew of ‘Teen Spirit’ to the derelict ‘Something In The Way’, from the punk pig-squeal of ‘Territorial Pissings’ and ‘Breed’ to the narco-bubblegum of ‘Come As You Are’ and ‘Drain You’, Nevermind was a near perfect fusion of spit and polish, like an open sore with a Barbie band-aid stuck on top. No wonder it’s been rated among the essential releases of the ’90s.

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Incesticide (1992)

You want to know how Kurt Cobain developed a killer pop sensibility between Bleach and Nevermind? Look no further than this collection of B-sides, singles and rarities. A cover of The Vaselines’ ‘Molly’s Lips’ is up there with classic Buzzcocks, while Cobain’s own ‘Aneurysm’, ‘Been A Son’ and the brilliant child’s-eye view of ‘Sliver’ could’ve easily slotted into the band’s second album.

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In Utero (1993)

An exercise in sonic pornography, Steve Albini’s anti-production provided a warts and all close-up of the band’s beautifully explicit noise. In Utero lacked the pop suss of its predecessor, but the graphic rage of ‘Scentless Apprentice’ and ‘Milk It’ are scarifying, while ‘Rape Me’ and ‘Heart Shaped Box’ represent the apogee of Nirvana’s quiet/loud dynamic. Plus, there’s ‘All Apologies’, one of Cobain’s finest moments as a songwriter.

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Unplugged In New York (1994)

The record that gives the lie to Cobain’s fears that the band had run its creative course. Whether re-interpreting their own back catalogue or playing like Appalachian mutants on a succession of covers of Protestant hymns (‘Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam’), traditional folk tunes (‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?’), archive Bowie and a strange triptych of Meat Puppets nuggets, this set proved that they were literally a different band with the volume turned down.

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From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah (1996)

Nirvana live were never a sure thing, but . . . Wishkah’s largely unadorned sound (in some cases takes were lifted directly from the board) offers a forensic peek into the guts of the band: Grohl’s bludgeoning but bang-on drumming, Novelsic’s catchy basslines, Cobain’s shredded voice. Plus, there’s a scalding version of ‘Lithium’.

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