Product Description

Eagerly awaited greatest hits from arguably one of the mostinfluential groups of the nineties. 'Nirvana' is a collection of hit singles and tracks taken from their previous albums, alongside the much talked about 'You Know You're Right' which was the last song recorded by Nirvana in late January 1994 at Bob Lang's studio in Seattle.

Track Listing

1. You Know You're Right
2. About A Girl
3. Been A Son
4. Sliver
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit
6. Come As You Are
7. Lithium
8. In Bloom
9. Heart Shaped Box
10. Pennyroyal Tea
11. Rape Me
12. Dumb
13. All Apologies
14. The Man Who Sold The World
15. Where Did You Sleep Last Night

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1405 in Music
• Released on: 2002-10-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 56 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Though fans will endlessly argue about the selection of tracks (what, no "Breed"?), there's no denying that the songs on Nirvana are all classics. Nirvana were the most influential band of their generation, galvanising the then-underground indie scene and bringing their music to the masses. Though their career was cut short by the suicide of singer and songwriter Kurt Cobain, they left in their wake a massive shift in popular music and popular culture, much like punk a generation earlier (or the Beatles before that).

The 14 tracks on Nirvana chart their career, from the first album on Sub Pop ("About a Girl") to the song ("Smells Like Teen Spirit") and album (Nevermind) that changed everything, and the subsequent rarities collection (Incesticide's "Sliver", "Been a Son"), the superb follow-up album (In Utero's "Rape Me", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Pennyroyal Tea") and their classic MTV Unplugged session ("The Man Who Sold the World"). For fans and completists, there's even a previously unreleased track, "You Know You're Right". Of course, it's a superb collection, but at 14 tracks it seems a bit short. Here's hoping there's a double-CD version just around the corner. Maybe even a box set…--Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews

A rather disappointing greatest hits collection
Eight years after Cobain's death, Kris Noveselic, David Grohl, and Courtney Love finally mange come to some sort of agreement and release NIRVANA, which is a greatest hits compilation. The biggest news about NIRVANA is its inclusion of "You Know You're Right," which is the last studio song Nirvana recorded. This is an excellent song, though why they open the record with it is beyond me. It should have been at the end, because the rest of NIRVANA is sequenced chronologically.
The problem with NIRVANA is, with only having three albums and a large number of b-sides to draw from, it still misses the boat. Courtney Love made it pretty obvious she wanted a hit album like The Beatles' ONE record. The Beatles had a very large number of hit singles. Recording for seven years, they scored twenty-seven number one hits. There was a very clear criteria to determine what made it onto One and what didn't. Whatever didn't top the charts didn't make it. For the consumer, this was a good criteria to assemble a best-of. ONE ran just under 80 minutes.

Nirvana, on the other hand, didn't have the same criteria to go by. Some of Nirvana's best material never made it big on the charts, though they're acknowledged classics. Each of their three albums, plus the B-side collection and MTV UNPLUGGED, have their own sonic textures and vibes. Nirvana's body of work works much better in the context of albums, because each of their three albums have very distinct personalities.

So what does all this mean to NIRVANA? It has a difficult job before it, and unfortunately, it fails. NIRVANA does not capture the essence of Nirvana. The material that does make it onto the album can't be faulted as obvious candidates for a best-of compilation.

What can be faulted is the tracks selected don't give us a clear picture of Nirvana's three studio albums. Moving from when they were unknown, Nirvana had a much more grungy, punk-informed sound on BLEACH which does not come through on NIRVANA. NEVERMIND, 1990s rock's most important record, has a glossy sheen and a very produced feel. Listening to BLEACH and then to NEVERMIND, this juxtaposition is very obvious.

IN UTERO, Nirvana's last album before Cobain's suicide, is volatile, abrasive, dark, and tortured. It's a very willfully difficult record, and stands as Nirvana's most cohesive artistic statement. Sifting through for radio hits on IN UTERO completely negates what Kurt was trying to say on that record. He was trying to cope with fame and bad personal relationships, and IN UTERO stands as his tortured cry. NIRVANA ignores this completely.

The biggest problem with NIRVANA is its running length. At only fifty minutes, it leaves out some obvious choices that are essential to the Nirvana canon. Where's "Aneurysm"? Where's "Verse, Chorus, Verse"? Where's "Something in the Way"? Where's "Polly"? Where's "Drain You"? Where's "Breed"? Where's "D7" (which is an awesome b-side)?

In the end, NIRVANA feels like a botched opportunity to represent one of rock's most influential and important bands. Stick with the original albums.

Originally issued on Amazon.com May 11, 2004

Where's Breed?
For anyone thats unfamiliar with Nirvana and wants to listen to a sample of their best stuff then this is the album for you, just one problem, the song breed is missing. Also alot of these tracks are on two albums, "nevermind" and "in utero" so if your willing to spend a few pounds more i would recomend the albums above this.

One of My favourite albums of one of my favourite bands...


Wow this album is pretty amazing. I listened to the first track and really liked it. Then I listened to the secong and really liked that as well. And then the third, and the fourth, and the the fifth... all 15 tracks are brilliant rock songs which I listened to again and again.
My favourites were:

>>Smells like Teen Spirit - probably Nirvana's best song... woow.. made me want to play guitar

>>Sliver - Listen to the lyrics on this one, they're pretty funny. The frantic pace also makes the song sound faster and more exciting.

>>Pennyroyal Tea - I don't really know why I really liked this song so much.. I think I liked it that it wasn't that fast, but still had a lot of power and loudness.

>>Where did you sleep last night - one of the slower songs on the CD, it has a kind of feeling of inevitability... the melody is really swinging and sad... i like it