Due to Unforeseen circumstances I have had to repost some of my older reviews until further notice. We will get back to new groups soon enough!
Stand Out Albums has been a showcase for my favorite albums across the vast performers that I love. Covering a little bit of everything from classic rock to country hits, much like Key Movies of My Life, it has been the albums that shaped me. This year, I am taking a slightly different approach by discussing the discographies of my favorite musicians, album by album, in release order.
Since we have already discussed one of my first loves in music, lets jump ahead 30 some odd years to a band than helped shape my modern taste in music while also inadvertently helping define an entire generation.
Today we discuss the ‘3rd’ album from Nirvana, one entitled Incesticide.
Why This Album?
Incesticide is an interesting release as it is ‘technically’ not a studio album and, thus, is not considered one of their main album releases. What?! you ask. Yeah, Nivana’s Incesticide is in fact a copilation of demos, outtakes and live recordings that were collected from Subpop in order to release the album on their own terms including original cover art by Kurt himself.
What was ultimately released has remained a favorite of mine for some time. As I had become determined to collected each and every Nirvana song ever released, this album was a treasure trove for me. Containing tracks that I had only heard in low quality bootlegs, I was treated to fully produced versions of Been A Son, Aero Zepplin and Aneurysm. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement, I was thrilled beyond belief to have anything new from Nirvana and although I didn’t know at the time their time with us was not long, it felt like this would be a band I would have for the rest of my life.
The album itself is an eclectic mix of covers, b-sides and more offering glimpses into their early ‘pre-Grohl’ days with drummers Dale Crover, Chad Channing and Dan Peters while also presenting alternate versions of songs like Polly. What makes this album special is that you can actually hear some of the bands evolution over the course of the 15 songs presented giving us a clearer picture of where they were headed as a band. While they did revel in their ‘grunge’ feel, there was a touch of new age and folk buried in the tracks that would later come to light on In Utero and their final release MTV’s Unplugged.
Overall, this is an album for the fans and one that, for people new to Nirvana, might seem to be a step back from the polished nature of Nevermind. It was never meant to really be an album, but more of a celebration of where the band had been and where it was eventually going.
Favorite Tracks
Son of a Gun. From the 1990 John Peel sessions on the BBC, this track is absolutely one of my favorites and also happens to be a cover from a band called the Vaselines. The original track is pretty great as well.
New Wave Polly is a more upbeat rock version of the somber song ‘Polly’ from Nevermind. While it doesn’t quite fit the feel of the song, it is a great example of how versatile this band really was.
Aneurysm, the final track on this release, is by far one of their greatest and most intense. It is pure rock through and through and shows the cohesive nature of the trio that gave Nirvana it’s stardom, Cobain, Novoselic and Grohl.
Ok, Where do I get it?
You can pick this one up from the folks at Amoeba or stream it here on Spotify. Honestly, I think the physical version is slightly superior but that’s just me.
Late to the Game 2/15/2022 (4/20/2021)
Thanks for reading, If you would like to read more reviews I have a weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and also check out some retro tv goodness with the ongoing series Retro TV Reviews here. You can also find a few of my other Music Reviews Here.
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