What’s the best Nirvana album? Which Nirvana album’s the most overrated? How do you rank the various Nirvana albums? Is Incesticide actually an album? Are you really going to answer any of these questions or is this just more SEO wank to waste my time?
This article will answer all these questions – and more. Or not, who knows, stranger things have happened. But one thing we can all agree on is that it’s about Nirvana albums.
It’s now been 30 years since the untimely death of Kurt Cobain prompting me to reflect on the man’s incredible body of work and contribution to the world of music.
So much has changed in those three decades, in society and culture generally and in music specifically.
Kurt Cobain lived ever in fear of being considered a sellout. Whereas these days, thanks to social media, you need to sell out a million times over just to get your music heard once.
I retain a small ember of hope that maybe, sometime soon, the pendulum will swing back once more and we will learn to once again revere substance over style and artistry over conformity but, until then, Kurt Cobain remains the last true rock and roll star.
I should point out, for the purposes of this article, that I’ve not included any of the later live releases so there’s nothing past the 90s, basically, because that’s just how I roll.
Other discounted releases include the myriad bootlegs and other abominations like the unofficial In Extremis remix album (which I actually bought in a drunken stupor, oops) – the less said about that the better.
However I am including Incesticide, despite it being just a compilation rather than an album, because as teenagers we counted it as such.
So, it’s a 90s teenage thing basically, which is appropriate because we were the target audience. So, with that in mind, Nirvana albums ranked… frenzied Dave Grohl drumroll please…
6. From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
My reasons for ranking this bottom are slightly selfish and nothing to do with quality, it’s a decent enough release so it comes down to personal preference. Of all the albums on here it’s the one I’ve listened to the least as I tend to prefer the studio versions.
Best Track: Scentless Apprentice.
I’m gotta go with this one as it’s a personal fav track of mine. The original always had that raw garage band vibe it so hearing it performed live is an enhances its impact. Plus it’s on home turf too, recorded in Seattle in 1993.
5. Nevermind
The album that launched the global grunge craze and a generation of typos, Nevermind is hands down the band’s most popular and best-known album, though of their three studio albums I put it right at the bottom.
I’ve got my reasons, amongst them the fact that the music video to Smells Like Teen Spirit always got on my nerves, I’m on record saying this already so no issues with repeating it, petty though that may be. But there are other more solid reasons.
Fact is, Smells Like Teen Spirit got played out long ago and if Kurt was here I’m sure he’d agree with me. And, though there’s some iconic tracks on here, I just don’t rate this one as much as the others.
It’s an unpopular opinion though not an uncommon one as I’ve noticed more and more people starting to agree, even if it’s taken decades for people to admit it.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike this album, I just don’t rate it as high as the others and the songs I like most on it aren’t the definitive versions in my book.
Best Track: Something In The Way.
What a way to close out the album though, what an amazing song, poignant yet nonsensical in a way that only Kurt could be. I don’t eat a lot of fish, but when I do, I don’t feel that guilty about it. Thanks Kurt.
4. Incesticide
Now, before all the militant Nirvanerds get up in my face, I know this isn’t an album. Rather it’s a compilation of Sub Pop-era tracks and other bits and pieces which was quietly released in between Nevermind and In Utero.
But, back in the 90s, as far’s we were concerned, it was a tape with Nirvana on it and so it counted as an album.
In fact, I was under the impression for years that this was their first album, predating Bleach, which was why the logo looked different.
It’s obviously old material, which is part of its charm. It’s raw and gritty but not quite there yet, representing a sound that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve.
Like Downer, it’s pure punk thrashyness, and there’s Sliver, a clear sign of things to come, but for my pick I’m going with the most Nirvana-sounding track for me.
Best Track: Aneurysm.
This is without a doubt the must fully-formed Nirvana track on the album. With the abrupt changes in tempo it’s like having two songs for the price of one, and both sound like peak Nirvana.
3. MTV Unplugged In New York
Oh, you’re still here, still scrolling?
Let me guess you stopped reading because I’m the guy who “hates Nevermind” and you just want to find out what my top pick was to see if you disagree with it.
But what if I said I prefer the Nevermind songs that are on here? In fact, I prefer a lot of the Unplugged versions because they feel so real.
There’s an openness and vulnerability to Kurt’s performance here which we hadn’t encountered before. Given that he had previously signalled a desire to go more in this direction, it’s a shame we didn’t get more. But if we did I guess this album wouldn’t feel so special.
Kurt’s reverence and humility was a direct contrast to standard notions of the egotistical rockstar. You can tell how pumped he was to play some covers and his excitement, coupled with nerves, were palpable throughout the entire album. Which only served to make us empathise with him further.
Best Track: The Man Who Sold The World.
This is one of those rare examples of an artist making a song their own. Think Hendrix covering All Along The Watchtower, Aretha Franklin taking ownership of Otis Redding’s Respect, Sinead O’Connor singing the Prince-penned Nothing Compares 2 U or Johnny Cash’s rendition of Nine Inch Nails’ song Hurt.
It takes some cojones to cover a legend like David Bowie and it takes an abundance of pure raw talent to do so and make your version better. Easily one of Kurt Cobain’s finest moments. (And to think, he genuinely thought he was going to screw it up.)
(Just a quick little update; I’ve just seen the new trailer for the upcoming Mad Max spinoff movie Furiosa and noticed that this song was used as the basis for the orchestral score. Interesting to see who this will tie in with the broader themes of the movie. Can’t wait.)
2. Bleach
So close… this one is a masterpiece and has some of the best Nirvana songs but you’ve probably guessed by now what my pick is, which is a no-brainer really since I’ve said it already in an earlier blog post.
But let’s talk about Bleach first. What a debut this was, dropping out of nowhere in the summer of 1989, just like Batman, except darker.
Bleach does generally tend to get overshadowed by Nevermind, which is a criminal, it’s a far superior album in every way and has tons more energy.
Their cover of Love Buzz (which already has one of the coolest riffs ever) turns a groovy 60s song into hard rock classic while About A Girl is another favourite of mine which I really wanted to include on this list but alas it lost out twice.
To be fair the first time was to a David Bowie song, this second time around, sorry, but if we’re talking best track on Bleach I gotta go with my gut reaction…
Best Track:
Negative Creep. And I’m not just saying that cuz I am one. I mean just listen to it!
Such a riff, such energy, such an emotive performance from Kurt… pure moshpit madness! One of Nirvana’s absolute best.
1. In Utero
Yeah I did kinda give the game away by saying this already in my In Utero review, but this was the album that turned me around on Nirvana.
Truth is I wasn’t a fan initially and it took me a while to warm to the band. Nevermind wasn’t my thing at the time but then In Utero came out and my friend and his older brother blared that album constantly and that’s when I finally understood the hype.
Sometimes that’s the best thing, to be confronted with music you don’t like at first but then you grow to love it more with repeated listens. That’s the problem with streaming too, younger people don’t necessarily experience that anymore. So yeah, fuck Spotify basically and young brats need to shut up and eat their musical vegetables!
As a teenager who went on record for saying I didn’t like a band, I couldn’t just perform a quick musical U-turn and retain credibility, “yeah but you said”, so it was a slow process of admitting I was wrong, sheepishly asking to borrow a copy of Bleach next and then discovering Incesticide before pretending that, by the time the MTV album came out, I was a Nirvana fan all along.
As an album, In Utero is their best produced and most eclectic. It has that perfect balance of studio polish and garage band abrasiveness. Similarly it has a good mix of cleverly crafted songs with pure balls-to-the-wall headbanger noise. It’s peak Nirvana, basically. The only downer being we’d never get to hear a follow-up.
Best Track: Heart Shaped Box.
Honestly, I could pick any of the tracks off this album and put it here but I’m going with this because of the great memories I have attached to this song, even if I can’t help rolling my eyes at the eegit I was when it came out. Well, we all were really, it was the 90s.