Every Nirvana Project Ranked From Worst To Best
The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful from The Godfathers of Alternative Rock.
Record executives have been looking to court the next Nirvana for years now. Ever since Kurt Cobain's band of merry men infiltrated the rock mainstream off of the strength of Smells Like Teen Spirit, the entire musical landscape was virtually changed overnight. Though there is some magic sprinkled throughout each respective Nirvana song, there are some that shine a bit brighter than others.
For the limited amount of time we got with this band, there is actually a shockingly diverse array of sounds at play here. Whether it be the more caustic sound of the early days or what Kurt Cobain himself described as the "candy-ass" version of themselves in later years, there are bits and pieces across every Nirvana project that is worth your time. While only having a couple of albums to their name, the real meat is found in the deep cuts, B-sides, and even some choice live tracks, each of which has reached legendary status alongside their more celebrated releases.
Even though the next Nirvana is not going to be coming any time soon, there's no shame in looking back at the greatness that they gave us when they were still around. Excluding greatest hits albums, let's take a look back into the warped mind of Seattle's prodigal sons.
5. Incesticide
There's a reason that B-sides never tend to get brought up when talking about an artists' complete discography. Given the more slapdash delivery of some of these albums, they kind of don't count when put up against the actual artistic statements these musicians wanted to make. However, Incesticide proved that even some of Nirvana's cutting room floor material is still better than most bands at their best.
Coming out right after the release of Nevermind, this collection of singles and covers feels like the natural extension of where Kurt was going after the release of Bleach. Instead of the radio-ready singles that turned up on Nevermind, there's a lot more eccentricities on this record, one of which includes a new wave version of the disquieting acoustic song Polly. In fact, most of this album is indebted to new wave, as these guys work through covers by Devo and the Vaselines and Nirvana-fying them into their own unique entity.
That's not to say it's all new wave rock either, with noise freakouts like Big Long Now, pop singles like Sliver, and even a combination of the two on tracks like Aneurysm. Even though this album ranks pretty low on the totem pole, this is an absolute must if you're still craving more Nirvana outside of their studio output.
Best Songs: Stain, Aneurysm, Son of a Gun