blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with nirvana

An Utter Sandblast of an Album
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The members of Nirvana were so caught off guard at the explosive success of "Nevermind" that it took them three years to record the follow-up. They were even quoted as saying they wanted to make an anti-nevermind to shed some of their fans who looked at the band (and in particular, Kurt Cobain) as movement leaders. "In Utero" was somewhat successful at that attempt, as it is possibly one of the loudest and most distorted albums recorded by a major rockstar band. Producer Steve Albini's original production was so harsh that the record company demanded a remix, which was done when the masters were turned over to REM producer Scott Litt, who remixed them under the title of "additional engineering."

But even he couldn't smooth out the roughest edges of "In Utero." The band got its initial wish as well. "In Utero" was selling on a slower pace than "Nevermind" was until Cobain decided addiction, success and depression were too much for him and he ended his own life. That act reignited the sales of "In Utero" and the whole Cobain as spokesman of a generation rage. His suicide still doesn't detract from the album's strengths and flaws. Cobain was a unique songwriter, in that his style of 'soft-loud-soft-screech' version of verse-chorus-verse altered songwriting for a whole generation of acts. And when he was on, he was stunning. There's no denying the power of "Heart Shaped Box" and "Dumb" or the depth of the haunting "All Apologies." Drummer Dave Grohl was the feistiest drummer in a long line of skinpounders, and bassist Kirst Novoselic held the bottom together in the midst of all the chaos.

At the same time, the album's flaws are glaring. The intentional dissonance can sometimes get in the way of the band (like on "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter," which sounds like a slam against the record company's insistence on getting another "Smells Like Teen Spirit") or the crash and burn howling on "Scentless Apprentice." But when you consider that this was the kind of Stooges' "Raw Power" approach Nirvana was aiming for, it's pretty amazing that they got away with it. Also, given that the music was essentially Cobain's suicide note to the world, it cemented "In Utero" as a riveting punctuation point to the end of Nirvana's lifespan.

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Pennyroyal Tea" Nirvana

Minor Harvest

4 Out Of 5 Stars

The second "best of" release from Soundgarden was meant to correspond to a version of Guitar Hero. While the earlier "A-Sides" is a beefier collection, this CD pares down to 12 songs. Of course, you can splurge and jump up to the double disc that has live versions and B-sides. However, Soundgarden is a decent collection of one of the most influential of the Seattle bands, along with Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

Soundgarden mixed the sludgy hard riffs of Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin with the attitude of the Grunge period. Lead singer Chris Cornell is a world class frontman, whose vocal style ranged from a screaming wail to hushed psychedelia. Kim Thyall remains a terrific guitarist, with versatility that grew the longer the band existed. Soundgarden also followed the classic career arc; really good rock band starts indie (the Sub-Pop single, "Hunted Down"), start finding their chemistry ("Hands All Over" from "Louder Than Love") gel completely (the incredible "Rusty Cage" from "Bad Motor Finger") and then cut a classic for the ages (all the cuts from "Superunknown"). Then they begin to unravel (still great "Blow Up The Outside World") as they cut the swansong album. But they still cut three great hard rock albums, and one world class single/video in the swirling drone of "Black Hole Sun."

There are two bonus reasons to have "Telephantasm." "Birth Ritual" from the movie "Singles" is included, and the new song that brought Soundgarden to reunion, "Black Rain," is better than expected. Granted, a copy of "A-Sides" and "Superunknown" is likely all the Soundgarden you'll probably ever need, but for a best of, this single disc does the job.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Black Hole Sun" Soundgarden

Once Upon a Ten
5 Out of 5 Stars

Pearl Jam's debut album, "Ten," helped to upend the state of American Rock and Roll. Coming off the remnants of several other noteworthy bands (most of all, Mother Love Bone) and recruited San Diegian singer Eddie Vedder, "Ten" stripped the fluff and posturing away from late 80's hair-metal and scraped it down to primal guitar and deep angst. Vedder gave this perfect voice, and guitarist Mike McCready stayed more inside the classic rock manual when it came time for guitar leads.

The result was an a album that resonated both the current rock lovers and the grunge crowd that was lusting for anything that gave of something that resembled Nirvana's grunge vibe. "Evenflow," "Alive," "Jeremy" and "Black" soon became established on radio and MTV, and the rest,as is often said, is history. That established, the most exciting thing about this deluxe remaster is the obvious care the band, producer Rick Parashar, bonus disc remixer Brendan O'Brien and other contributors put into this edition. The original album sounds as blistering as it always did, and the second disc rethinks the original while losing none of the impact. O'Brien reins in the echo/reverb, pushes Vedder more to the fore and makes things a bit cleaner. Disc one is like getting caught in a ravaging sandstorm, the remix is like getting a sand blaster applied in a precise location. Either way, you're getting pounded and laid bare.

The DVD is the MTV Unplugged performance of March 1992 (roughly when "Ten" was beginning to peak), and captures the band in all its anti-swagger glory. The DVD is also devoid of clutter and scraps, making it a more valuable watch. The scraps are in the main packaging, with articles about Mookie Blaylock (Pearl Jam's original name), lots of pictures, posters, passes, and plenty of Vedder's surprisingly good sketches. The deluxe version of "Ten" is exactly how a re-issue should be done; no waste and plenty of value, respectful to both fan and band.