By Carrie Howard
By Carrie Howard
Managing Editor
Listening to Nirvana’s new compilation CD brings back middle school memories. We were sick of listening to the New Kids on the Block, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and all the sappy mainstream crap. Nirvana offered something different. Seattle grunge made its way to Kentucky when we had braces and funky hair, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” became our new anthem. Kurt Cobain entered the scene, offering a solution to our adolescent angst.
As I listen to the album, simply titled Nirvana, I feel sad; the melodies are almost like a slap in the face, a reminder of a bittersweet past. One can’t help but think of Cobain with every track. He was so talented, so tormented, so lost. I guess you could say that this CD is his legacy. This is not to say that I wouldn’t have added more songs to the legacy, like “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” or “Polly.” I think a legacy album should be two discs, or perhaps a boxed set; Nirvana deserves that. What about other unreleased Nirvana tunes? Geffen Records could have included a recording of Courtney Love’s eulogy to her deceased husband, which would have capped off the album well.
The album does include “About a Girl,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Lithium,” “In Bloom,” and “Heart-Shaped Box,” along with a few other favorites. In addition to the popular tracks, Nirvana includes one previously unreleased single entitled “You Know You’re Right,” which was recorded in Cobain’s final session with the band. The tune follows along well with Cobain’s miserable, angry, repetitive lyrics. The song repeats, “I would never bother you. I would never promise to,” and Cobain goes on to say, “Always knew it would come to this, things have never been so swell, and I have never felt so well.” I find the lyrics quite ironic, considering Cobain’s mental and physical struggles with heroin usage and his pending suicide. I know the irony was intended.
The cover of “Nirvana” is black; very fitting, considering the tone of the tracks, the death of Cobain, and the legacy he left behind that changed music forever.
