Nirvana Incesticide CD

INCESTICIDE is a compilation of material recorded for the John Peel Sessions, rare singles from Nirvana's tenure with Sub Pop, and previously-unreleased tracks.
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar); Chris Novoselic (vocals, bass); David Grohl (vocals, drums).
Producers include: Jack Endino, Steve Fisk, Miti Adhikari, Dale Griffin.
Engineers include: M. Engles, F. Kay, John Taylor.
Includes liner notes by Kurt Cobain.
All songs written by members of Nirvana except "Turnaround" (Mark Mothersbaugh/Gerald V. Casale), "Molly's Lips" and "Son Of A Gun" (Eugene Kelly/Francis McKee).
Personnel: Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar); Dave Grohl, Chad Channing (drums).
Photographer: Charles Peterson .
Unknown Contributor Roles: Krist Novoselic; Dale Crover; Dan Peters; Dave Grohl; Chad Channing; Kurt Cobain.
Buying time and thwarting bootleggers, Nirvana and DGC released the rarities compilation Incesticide toward the end of 1992. Like any odds'n'sods collection, this is uneven, but that's its charm since it captures Nirvana's character better than any official album. After all, this was a band that was born equally from '70s sludge metal, bubblegum pop, post-punk artiness, and indie rock inclusiveness, each of which are apparent on this collection. There are some non-entities here, particularly on the second side, but the plodding sub-metallic grind was part of their identity, one part of their multi-faceted character. Nirvana meant everything to everyone, from the jangle pop veterans to the garage rock ravers that worshipped the Stooges to stoner metal fetishes and indie rock bed-sits that adopted Sebadoh just as they outgrew Morrissey -- everybody loved Nirvana, and there's something for every kind fan here, thanks to murky sludge, Devo and Vaseline covers, BBC sessions, instrumentals, and limited-edition singles, plus sub-Melvins goop, everything visceral where Bleach was tame. Nevermind doesn't capture this freewheeling indie spirit but Incesticide does, piling on some essentials in the meantime -- the pummeling "Dive," the childhood snapshot "Sliver," the terrific forgotten indie pop tune "Been a Son," and "Aneurysm," perhaps the greatest single song the group ever recorded. Yeah, there's some filler here, but this is the sound of what Nirvana was actually like. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
More than just a b-sides collection, INCESTICIDE culls together Nirvana's work before and around their now-legendary albums. Released between the groundbreaking NEVERMIND and the artsier IN UTERO, the rarities and outtakes which make up this album shed new light on Nirvana's oeuvre, filling in the gaps between official releases and providing fans with a wider variety of recordings from different sources.
Highlights include three covers, taken from John Peel sessions: a Devo tune ("Turnaround") and two songs by Scotland's The Vaselines, whose purposefully vapid pop magic is given the force of a juggernaut, with the minimal production that best showcases the Nirvana's aggressive grace. The famous quasi-live recording conditions of the BBC sessions provide another standout, the surging, desperate "Aneurysm," which remains one of Nirvana's finest recorded moments.Rolling Stone (1/21/93, p.48) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Nirvana was a great band before NEVERMIND topped the charts. INCESTICIDE is a reminder of that..."
Spin (3/93, p.22) - "...The stellar collection of old and new, borrowed and blue will thrill Nirvana fans that don't already own this stuff on bootleg..."
Entertainment Weekly (12/18/92, p.58) - "...you can tell a great band by its junk. And by those standards, Nirvana remains a great band..." - Rating: B
Q (1/93, p.100) - 3 Stars - Good - "...short, melody-driven songs which belt past with brisk, uncomplicated glee....a fascinating insight into what makes the band tick....a must for fans..."
Alternative Press (3/93, p.54) - "...In that it takes the edge off an increasingly surreal collectors' market, INCESTICIDE blazes with an uncommon passion, and is a laudable effort to boot..."
Musician (1/93, p.89) - "...With INCESTICIDE Cobain has called up the ghost of the old, pre-famous Nirvana and asked it to go out and face the world when he cannot..."
NME (Magazine) (12/12/93, p.29) - "...Between the recording of BLEACH in 1988 and NEVERMIND in 1991, a helluva lot happened and here, thanks to the inclusion of the 1990 Peel covers session, a few mysteries about their metamorphosis in style are laid out for a proper look...."