10 Nirvana Covers Better Than The Original
6. The Money Will Roll Right In
Another of Cobain’s much-discussed influences was The Meat Puppets, and it’s safe to say Nirvana did a lot in the early ‘90s to keep the band in the public eye. Indeed they go so far as to invite Chri and Curt Kurkwood on stage to play and sing with them during the Unplugged show as Nirvana cut a trilogy of songs from the seminal Meat Puppets II album.
Cobain is deferential to these tunes, keeping his band’s renditions faithful in the extreme. There’s no topping the original “Lake Of Fire”, but there’s certainly a case to be made that their version of “Plateau” tops the 1984 version by virtue of the fact that Cobain’s vocal performance is so strong.
The Kirkwood boys have characterful voices but by no means are they technically great singers. Their music didn’t demand perfection, but on a song with the melodic range of “Plateau”, it doesn’t hurt to utilise a vocalist with the ability of Cobain.
No doubt it was a joy for Nirvana to play with two guys whose music they loved so much, and the guys from the Meat Puppets can only have been impressed when Nirvana pulled out such a slick rendition of a classic song.