NFC News 10/2002
- - - October 31, 2002 - - -

The Japanese tracklisting for the "NIRVANA" (Best-Of) CD seems to have been confirmed now by a couple of different sources (i.e. Tower Records in Japan). There was speculation that the CD would contain some 20 tracks but now a more realistic 16-song tracklisting is making the rounds. The extra song that it adds to the European version is simply the (I assume) MTV Unplugged recording of Something In The Way. Due to the high cost of CD's in Japan, many artists compensate by adding bonus tracks to Japanese editions of their albums. Adding 2 tracks in addition to the US release, and one in addition to the European edition, makes sense. So, I will assume that this is correct. You can buy the Japanese edition from November 2. Thanks to Shaun and Sean. This means that only three different versions of the album have been produced - with somewhat minimal differences separating them.

This past Sunday, the Observer in the UK published some more excerpts from the forthcoming Kurt Cobain 'Journals' book. Check their website for more information. The book will be released worldwide on Monday (November 4). You can order it here.

AOL have been featuring Nirvana on their member service; "On October 29th AOL's welcome screen featured Nirvana and you could join the listening party, and listen to songs from the new album. Even though the welcome screen has changed now, you can still listen to the songs by typing the keyword: nirvana" The person who sent in this news also provided some screenshots; #1 and #2.

In the November 2 issue of Hit Parader they had a couple of Top 10/Top 100 lists where Nirvana were featured. On their 'Heavy Metal's All Time Top 100 CD's' list they had placed Nirvana's Nevermind album as #8; "Quite simply, Nevermind is the sound of America's teen masses in the '90s emitting their battle cry through the tortured soul of Kurt Cobain. Nirvana's late, lamented leader utilized his sardonic wit, insightful lyrics and powerful sound to put a generation's angst to music." On the 'Heavy Metal's All Time Top 100 Bands' list, Nirvana came in at #11. And finally, Kurt Cobain was #3 on the 'Heavy Metal's All Time Top 100 Stars' list. Thanks to Rob.

Nirvana's You Know You're Right is currently #49 on the Billboard "Hot 100" chart with issue date November 9. On the Modern Rock Chart the song is still number one as it was last week, and the week before that. Thanks to Chris. The new Foo Fighters album One by One entered the Billboard 200 chart at #3 so it's going to be interesting to see how NIRVANA will do.

"I wanted to tell you that OOR (a dutch music magazine) has an article about Dave Grohl, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters in this months issue." More info here. Thanks to Jan Tijert.

The first NFC Compilation CD is now once again available for download in MP3 format. The compilation comprises of songs by artists/bands that use(d) the NFC Discussion Board. Get the songs and more info here. The second compilation will be up shortly.


- - - October 30, 2002 - - -

Following a few days of instability and downtime this website should now be back to normal and fully operational. Due to the fact that the NFC as a whole has received almost twice as many visitors lately than what is usual, the servers became overloaded. Eventually the hosting account for the discussion board (nirvana2.com) and the galleries (nirvanaclub.net) had to be shut down as they were using too many resources. All of this, combined with the fact that I kept running out of bandwidth for the main site nirvanaclub.com, resulted in finally acquiring a 'dedicated server' for all of NFC.

The dedicated server solution is more expensive but gives us much more bandwidth, space and control over the server hosting the site. The move to the new host has now been completed so hopefully the site should remain stabile for now. All parts of the site should thus be back up now, and even the two NFC Compilation CD's will be put back online shortly - for the first time in over a year.

On the 28th (the European release date for the "NIRVANA" album) the biggest radio station in Denmark (nationwide P3) were having a 3-hour 'Nirvana Theme Night'. The night featured exclusive live interviews with three prominent Danish musicians; Tim Christensen (formerly of Dizzy Mizz Lizzy), Steen Jørgensen (of Sort Sol) and Freya. There were also taped interviews with Charles Cross, Sune Wagner (of The Raveonettes) and Kenan Seeberg who interviewed Nirvana before their Roskilde Festival appearance in 1992.

During the entire 3-hour show there was a 'Nirvana expert' ready to answer questions from the listeners. That was me. I had been asked to be on the show based on my work with this website. I got the opportunity to do a short interview on the air, talking about what it was like working on the NFC, how many visitors it had, and things like that. I also got the opportunity to answer some of the questions on the air that had been sent in (most of them were answered per e-mail). Finally, I was allowed to have my favorite Nirvana song Sappy played on the show.

Generally, I think the show turned out quite well and featured a lot of interesting segments and a really good playlist. I'd like to say thanks to everyone in the studio - and extend an extra special thanks to the talented and sweet Christina for asking me to be on the show, and for doing such a great job with everything. Also thanks to all the listeners who sent in their questions and favorite song lists.

Just in case anyone missed it - the "NIRVANA" (Best-Of) album has now been released worldwide. Seeing that this is the first official album release in about six years, it's a little unfortunate that this site was down during most of the two days marking it's release. However, I got to post some final comments and info on it already on the 24th which you should check out if you haven't already. I hope to have more reviews of the album here soon. For now, make sure you enter the exclusive competition below:



To celebrate the arrival of the new "NIRVANA" album I will be running a little competition here for about a week.

The first prize is an exclusive one-of-a-kind gold disc of the "NIRVANA" album. You won't be able to get one of these anywhere else. AND I will have it arranged so that your name, should you be the winner, is printed on the plaque. The second prize is a rare poster promoting the new "NIRVANA" album. These posters are usually only given to record stores and will not be for sale. To enter the competition you must own an original store-bought copy of the new "NIRVANA" album. A control question to ensure this must be answered. The faster you enter your name to the competition, the better your odds of winning will be. To enter just fill out this simple form and press submit.

COMPETITION OVER! The winners have been found so you can no longer enter the competition.

- - - October 24, 2002 - - -

After receiving the final retail version of the "NIRVANA" (Best-Of) album I can confirm that the tracklisting is indeed the following:

  • 1. You Know You're Right
  • 2. About A Girl
  • 3. Been A Son
  • 4. Sliver
  • 5. Smells Like Teen Spirit
  • 6. Come As You Are
  • 7. Lithium
  • 8. In Bloom
  • 9. Heart-Shaped Box
  • 10. Pennyroyal Tea
  • 11. Rape Me
  • 12. Dumb
  • 13. All Apologies
  • 14. The Man Who Sold The World
  • 15. Where Did You Sleep Last Night *

    First of all: track fifteen Where Did You Sleep Last Night (From MTV Unplugged) only appears on the European version of the album.

    You Know You're Right is identical to the version that leaked online exactly a month ago. However, the quality of the album version is of course better. Been A Son is, interestingly, the version that was put on the 1989 Blew EP and was not taken from Incesticide. The Blew EP version is slightly longer. All Apologies is the MTV Unplugged version and not the one from In Utero. Pennyroyal Tea is the Scott Litt remix that was made for the Pennyroyal Tea single. Apparently, after In Utero was released, Kurt Cobain complained about how certain songs were recorded and mixed. Pennyroyal Tea was one of them. A single of the song was planned for release in the spring of 1994 but all promotion halted when Kurt died. Only a few copies of the single have since been uncovered. Even so, many counterfeits have been produced and they do in fact contain this version/mix of Pennyroyal Tea. It can also be found on the infamous "K-mart" version of the In Utero album (FAQ). The new mix is better but I don't think it is a huge improvement over the In Utero one.

    One of the main qualities this Best-Of album has to offer is the fact that all songs were re-mastered. Of course only the early material from the Sub Pop days truly benefits from this. The Nevermind, In Utero and MTV Unplugged albums sound just fine without any additional mastering. But, songs like About a Girl and Sliver have lived up a lot and seem to have benefitted significantly from the re-mastering process. They definitely sound better than their earlier counterparts. Even the controversial choice Been A Son has more crisp vocals and this version is much better than the 1991 BBC version that landed on the Incesticide compilation album from 1992.

    As for the booklet that comes with the CD; it basically offers some Nirvana photos (most of which have been seen many times before), and linernotes by David Fricke of Rolling Stone Magazine fame. He goes through each song with some background info and personal comments, starting with You Know You're Right. In particular the information on how this track came to be is interesting, albeit some of it was published in the latest issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. I think Fricke's linernotes are very well written, contain a lot of interesting information and details on the songs and Nirvana in general. And as long as a former band member wasn't going to write this piece (as Krist Novoselic did with 1996's From The Muddy Banks of the Wishkah for example), David Fricke seems to have been a good choice for the job.

    "On Sunday, January 30, 1994, Kurt Cobain walked into Robert Lang Studios in Northern Seattle and recorded the first song on this album. It would be Kurt's final session with Nirvana, and he made it count. He was also late. Krist Novoselic and DAve Grohl had been at Lang's for two days: waiting for Kurt, using the time to fill tape with some of Dave's songs. But when Kurt finally rolled up on the third day, with no particular explanation, the real work was done in minutes."

    What's interesting about the tracklisting is that it is the exact same as the one that was posted online by various sources (most noteably amazon.com) about two weeks ago. Shortly after it was posted then, James Barber (Courtney Love's manager and one of the main people responsible for this CD) claimed that the tracklisting was incorrect. What he must have meant was that some versions of the songs were different (i.e. All Apologies being from the Unplugged show, and Been A Son being from the Blew EP) and re-mastered.

    A few more details should be noted; there will not be any singles promoting the album. There were rumors of a You Know You're Right single but this will not happen, unfortunately. Only a 1-track promo CD of the song has been compiled and sent to radio stations. And then, of course, there is the music video. I believe the tracklisting will be the same all around the world except, as noted earlier, the European release will have 15 tracks instead of 14 (adding Where Did You Sleep Last Night as a bonus).

    There is speculation (mostly based on a tracklisting posted at the Japanese Amazon) that the Japanese edition of the album would have no less than 20 tracks. The extra songs supposedly include Negative Creep, Love Buzz, the much wanted Aneurysm, Polly, and Serve The Servants. While it makes sense to have these tracks on the CD (that would certainly strengthen it's appeal and quality significantly), it is extremely unlikely that there will be a 6-song difference between the US and Japanese releases. It is indeed common for Japanese editions of albums to have one or two bonus tracks (due to the generally high price of CD's in the country), but I've never once come across one offering 6 additional songs. Therefore, until this can be confirmed, I will assume they are getting the 15-track version as well.

    Funnily, despite being marked with a October 28 release date, the album was apparently released already today in Australia. At least in some stores. The same happened with the new Foo Fighters album. The official release dates, however, are October 28 and 29.

    As for my personal review of the CD -- most of my thoughts on it can be gathered from the above and from my analysis (which turned out to be valid after all!) in the October 8 story. To sum up my personal opinion; I still think the CD is way too short. They could easily have found room for almost an additional 10 songs and with there being so many classics and fan favs to choose from, it's a damn shame that they didn't utilize this option. The songs they did choose are for the most part fine (with the notable exception of Been A Son which has no place on this CD whatsoever). Indeed, a good portion of Nirvana's best and most popular songs are on the album - and for that reason alone it should belong in any music lover's collection (Nirvana fan or not).

    As stated above, I also think the re-mastering is fairly well done, but perhaps unnecessary in the case of the post-1990 songs. Even these songs DO sound better, but still. Overall, it's a CD that I would recommend to a music lover, but from a Nirvana fan's point of view, it leaves a lot to be desired.

    It serves very well as an introduction to Nirvana and contains the songs that could be expected from such a release. However, to call the CD the best of Nirvana wouldn't be entirely right, in my opinion. Classics such as Sappy, Aneurysm, Drain You and even Something In The Way are sorely missed. But, make your own assumptions. Go out and buy the CD and judge for yourself. No matter how you twist and turn it, it is a CD packed with brilliant songs and they sound better than ever in their re-mastered format. Hopefully next time something comes out of the Nirvana camp, it will have the fans' wishes in mind and give them something they have long desired (and deserved).

    - - - October 23, 2002 - - -

    Due to the extreme amount of traffic this website receives at the moment, some sections are either instabile or disabled for the time being. This includes the NFC Picture and Sound Galleries as well as the discussion board. Certain images and files from this news section might also be unavailable. We hope to get the problem fixed soon. Thank you for your patience.


    - - - October 22, 2002 - - -

    The October 31 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine (#908) features an interesting news article on Nirvana, with background information on how You Know You're Right came to be; "Though the court papers in the suit [between Courtney Love and Krist Novoselic/Dave Grohl] describe 'hundreds' of unreleased Cobain demos that remain in the vaults, 'You Know You're Right' is one of a handful of finished Nirvana tracks. 'It's one of their best songs', says Adam Kasper, who produced the last session, 'probably in the Top Ten.' Cobain never explained the song, and no one dared to ask what it was about."

    The author also speculates on the possible release of a Nirvana video in early 2003, and describes the You Know You're Right Internet leak last month. Finally, there is a brief update on the current careers of Courtney, Krist and Dave. Read the full article here; page 1 & page 2. Story courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine.

    It it also worth to mention that in the same issue, You Know You're Right made it to #1 on their Hot List; Out of legal limbo, online, on the radio and amazing for a single afternoon's work back in 1994." Funnily, on the same page they list MTV2's Top Five Videos and there "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age is listed as #1. Dave Grohl drums on the track and also appears in the video.

    The same issue of Rolling Stone includes a rather unflattering review of the debut album by Krist Novoselic's new band Eyes Adrift; "As with most supergroups, Eyes Adrift is poorer than its piecemeal pedigree suggests. The unexceptional countryflecked rock indicates careers adrift here." The album got a 2-star rating (out 5).

    MTV Europe will also be airing Nirvana specials this coming Saturday, albeit their schedule is quite tame compared to what MTV2 in the US has to offer. MTV Europe will, instead of producing something new, once again broadcast the "Bare Witness" special on Saturday, October 26, at 11 PM (CET) followed by the Nirvana Unplugged show at 12 PM (CET). MTV UK will broadcast Unplugged at 7 PM (GMT) and the documentary "Egos and Icons" at 8 PM (GMT). It should also be noted that MTV2 UK will have a Queens of the Stone Age weekend on October 26 and 27 so there's bound to be something for the Dave Grohl fans out there.

    The new Foo Fighters album One By One has now been released worldwide. The album, opening with the debut single All My Life, is the fourth by the band. My initial favorites on the album would have to be the aforementioned first single, "Have It All", "Halo", "Overdrive", "Burn Away" and "Come Back".

    Initially the album was produced and mixed by Adam Kasper (who also worked on Nirvana's last session as noted above), but apparently he was dropped from the project and a new producer was brought in. Thus, only one track from the Kasper session made it to the album (and another two on the DVD). One of the songs from the Adam Kasper session that only appears on the DVD is the much talked about Walking A Line that features Krist Novoselic on background vocals. The bonus DVD comes with the limited edition version of the album and also includes the music video for All My Life, various photos, and other bonus material.

    Here are some screen captures from the new Foo Fighters music video All My Life.












    Rolling Stone put up a review of the new Foo album on their website - a review with many Nirvana references; "When Dave Grohl sings, 'I see your ghost,' in the first song on One by One, it's impossible not to think about Kurt Cobain. Grohl has now spent more years as the Foo Fighters' singer and guitarist and has made more studio albums (four) with them than he did as Nirvana's drummer. Yet he knows as well as anyone that his band will never be as earth-shaking as Nirvana were. The grunge that Grohl pounded into shape in Nirvana now dominates the rock airwaves.

    Grohl's task, which he has taken on with grace and persistence, is to make rock that sets its own stakes high and doesn't get stuck looking back. Nirvanologists may be tempted to hear One by One as Grohl's reflections on the band and its aftermath. By that reading, 'Low' could be a snarl at Courtney Love ('I'm hanging on you, baby blue'), while 'Halo' suggests a glimpse of Cobain: 'You pray you're gonna make it/And then when you're done you keep fucking up.' In 'Lonely As You,' Grohl sings, 'Blame it on the past/It's the last place I knew you.'

    In their music, Foo Fighters have neither fled grunge nor let it confine them. Taylor Hawkins on drums is nearly as explosive as, well, Dave Grohl, and the band's latest lead guitarist, Chris Shiflett, has traded distortion for clarity without losing any impact. Potent guitar riffs define every song on One by One: furious tremolos ricocheting across the stereo in 'Low,' twangy New Wave dissonances in 'Have It All,' warm folk-rock strumming in 'Halo,' implacable one-chord repetition in 'All My Life' and those faithful descending grunge progressions in 'Lonely As You' and 'Tired of You.' Grohl still pushes his mild-mannered voice toward the throat-tearing rasp that came more naturally to Cobain."


    - - - October 20, 2002 - - -

    In the October 28 issue (on newsstands Monday, October 21), Newsweek publishes an exclusive excerpt of the Kurt Cobain Diaries. "Journals" looks at the private dreams and despair of the late rock legend. Here is a more detailed story on the article;

    "The journals and writings of Kurt Cobain, the late lead singer of Nirvana, are raw and unsettling and reveal how he spiraled from an ambitious kid in a garage band to a disillusioned pop star with a deadly heroin addiction. In the October 28 issue (on newsstands Monday, October 21), Newsweek exclusively excerpts passages from 'Journals,' a collection of handwritten diary entries, letters, band memos, drawings, screeds and cries from the heart that editor Julie Grau culled from stacks of Cobain's notebooks.

    Riverhead Books, who will publish 'Journals' next month, is said to have paid the Cobain estate-his widow, Courtney Love, and his 10-year-old daughter, Frances-in the neighborhood of $4 million. The book is already controversial among some fans, who worry that it's an invasion of Cobain's privacy, his suicide in April 1994 being tragic, irrefutable evidence of his desire to be left alone. Nirvana's drummer, Dave Grohl, and its bassist and cofounder, Krist Novoselic, recently settled a lawsuit with Love over control of the band's legacy. Novoselic preferred not to speak for this story, his manager Corey Moore saying, 'He just feels it's wrong to talk about something this private. He doesn't want to be involved with these diaries on any level.'

    After his death, Cobain's personal belongings started disappearing. Cobain's grieving friend Eric Erlandson, who played guitar in Love's band, Hole, saw what was happening and moved to safeguard valuables including his notebooks. 'From day one I treated the whole situation the way I would have for any friend-keeping their stuff safe,' he says. 'But from a historical perspective, I treated it like I would have treated John Lennon's legacy. I guess I knew even then it was important.' An excerpt follows: 'I Am Not A junkie' " - "Among the entries was this open letter to Nirvana fans, which he never made public:"


    "I kind of feel like a dork writing about myself like this as if I were an American pop-rock icon-demi God, or a self-confessed product of corporate-packaged rebellion, but I've heard so many insanely exhaggerated stories or reports from my friends and I've read so many pathetic second rate, freudian evaluations from interviews from my childhood up until the present state of my personality and how I'm a notoriously f---ed up heroine addict, alcoholic, self destructive, yet overtly sensitive, frail, fragile, soft spoken, narcoleptic, neurotic, little pissant who at any minute is going to O.D. jump off a roof wig out blow my head off or all 3 at once. Oh Pleez GAWD I can't handle the success! The success! And I feel so incredibly guilty! For abandoning my true commrades who were the ones who are devoted who were into us a few years ago. And in 10 years when NIRVANA becomes as memorable as Kajagoogoo that same very small percent will come to see us at reunion gigs sponsored by Depends diapers, bald fat still trying to RAWK at amusement parks. Saturdays: puppet show, rollercoaster & Nirvana ...

    Well for those of you who are concerned with my present physical and mental state. I am not a junkie. I am not gay, although I wish I were, just to piss off homophobes. Ive had a rather unconclusive and uncomfortable stomach condition for the past 3 years which by the way is not related to stress which also means it is not an ulcer. Because there is no pattern to the burning, nauseaus pain in my upper abdominal cavity, I never know when it will happen, I can be at home in the most relaxed atmosphere sipping natural spring water, no stress, no fuss and then WHAM! like a shotgun: stomach time. Then I can play 100 live performances in a row, guzzle boric acid & do a zillion television interviews and not even a burp. This has left doctors with no ideas except the usual: here Kurt, try another peptic ulcer pill and lets jam this fibre optic tube with a video camera in it down your throat for the 3rd time and see whats going on in there. Again. Yep your in pain alright. Your stomach is extremely inflamed and red. Try eating ice cream from now on. Please lord, f--k hit records, just let me have my very own unexplainable rare stomach disease named after me. And the title of our next double album, 'Cobain's disease.'

    So after protein drinks, becoming a vegetarian, exercise, stopping smoking, and doctor after doctor I decided to relieve my pain with small doses of heroine for a walloping 3 whole weeks. It served as a band-aid for a while but then the pain came back so I quit. It was a stupid thing to do and Ill never do it again and I feel real sorry for anyone who thinks they can use heroine as a medicine because um, duh, it don't work. Drug withdrawal is everything you've ever heard. You puke, you falail around, you sweat, you s-t your bed just like that movie 'Christiane F.' It's evil. Leave it alone.

    I am the product of 7 months of screaming at the top of my lungs almost every night 7 months of jumping around like a retarded rheesus monkey 7 months of answering the same questions over and over ... . I'm really bored with everyones concerned advice like: 'man you have a really good thing going. Your band is great. You write great songs, but hey man you should get your personal s-t together. Don't freak out, and get healthy.' Gee I wish it was as easy as that but, honestly I didn't want all this attention but Im not freaked out which is something a lot of people would like to see. Its an entertaining thought to watch a rock figure whos public domain mentally self destruct. But I'm sorry friends Ill have to decline. Maybe Crispin Glover should join our band.

    Well Ive spewed enough, probably too much but oh well, for every one opinionated, pissy, self appointed rock judge cermudgeon there's a thousand kids ... Hope I die before I turn into Pete Townshend."
    Story courtesy of Newsweek, MSNBC, and Yahoo! Inc. Thanks to BB and Chris. Once again, you can pre-order the Journals book here. You can also get more excerpts from the book and more information here.

    "Nirvana's You Know You're Right video debuted at #1 on MTV2 'Rock Countdown'. The host said that this was the first time a video had ever debuted at #1! The Foo Fighters were #2. Dave Grohl was actually in 3 videos in the Top 10, as Queens of the Stone Age were in the top 10 also, and he drums for them on their latest album. YKYR debuted at #2 on the Muchmusic-USA 'Number One Countdown' (which includes all types of videos, not just rock). Aerials by System of a Down was #1." Thanks to Mark!

    As mentioned yesterday, The Observer in the UK have published excerpts from the Cobain journals in today's issue. You can read most of it on their website.


    - - - October 19, 2002 - - -

    Tomorrow Sunday, the British newspaper The Observer will feature a preview of the forthcoming Kurt Cobain journals book; "The british paper 'The Observer' will publish a selection of Kurt Cobain's personal journals on Sunday. I've found this out from ads on MTV in the UK. They've advertised this as a world exclusive." Thanks to Matt, Anand and Chris. The book with the journals will be published on November 4.

    More info from the Observer website; "Remember 1991? Chances are you were flailing about to Smells Like Teen Spirit on a fair few occasions. That was the rush created by Nirvana. And now's your chance to find out what went on in Kurt Cobain's head. Because tomorrow, The Observer are printing Kurt Cobain's personal diaries. In his own words, and his own handwriting. There are many unanswered questions surrounding Kurt. What were his inspirations? His fears? How did this catalyst of the grunge revolution handle fame? And how come Nirvana still sound so damn good compared to their contemporaries? Find out in The Kurt Cobain diaries, serialised in The Observer tomorrow, October 27 and November 3."

    Andrew sent in this one; "This weekend on the famous Seattle radio station 107.7 The End they will be playing an all Nirvana weekend. They will be playing ANY song requested by listeners as well as the Nirvana favorites of the DJs. They said everything goes. They named some of the songs that would be played by the DJs and they were all awesome rare songs. It's going to be an awesome weekend." Thanks to Andrew.

    Some TV stations have now been airing a promo for the forthcoming "Nirvana" (Best-Of) CD. The 2 minute promo features clips of Nirvana's videos, interviews and more. If you would like to view the promo over the net, point your Real Audio player to this location.

    As mentioned previously MTV2 in the US will be airing two Nirvana specials in the near future; "Nirvana: Unseen From The MTV Studios" (aired before) and the new show "Nirvana DVD Special". The former show is basically Nirvana's performance from January 10, 1992 in full, while it is not clear what the DVD special includes. There is also a third show that I don't know much about; "No Apology: Nirvana's MTV History". Finally, they will be broadcasting the MTV Unplugged show again, and an Artist Collection on the band. Here is the full schedule of when the various Nirvana shows are going to be shown on MTV2:

    No Apology: Nirvana's MTV History:
    Sat 10/26 @ 4:00 PM
    Sun 10/27 @ 8:00 PM
    Mon 10/28 @ 12:00 AM (On MTV)

    Nirvana - Unseen From The MTV Studios:
    Sat 10/26 @ 4:30 PM
    Sat 10/26 @ 7:00 PM
    Sun 10/27 @ 8:30 PM
    Tue 10/29 @ 11:00 AM

    Nirvana DVD Special:
    Sat 10/26 @ 6:00 PM
    Sun 10/27 @ 7:00 PM
    Mon 10/28 @ 12:00 AM
    Tue 10/29 @ 1:00 PM
    Tue 10/29 @ 5:00 PM
    Wed 10/30 @ 8:00 AM

    Nirvana MTV Unplugged:
    Sat 10/26 @ 5:00 PM
    Sun 10/27 @ 6:00 PM
    Mon 10/28 @ 01:30 AM (On MTV)

    MTV2 Artist Collection - Nirvana:
    Sun 10/27 @ 5.00 PM

    All times are EST (Eastern Standard Time). Thanks to Tom and musicstation.com. Note that the "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!" video will be aired on VH-1 (in the US) at 10:00 PM on October 29 followed by the Unplugged show at 11:30


    - - - October 17, 2002 - - -

    The popular KROCK (92.3 FM) radio in New York have Nirvana's You Know You're Right listed as #1 on their 'Furious Five at Nine' chart. Out of the 2855 votes counted at the time of this writing, the song had received 16% of the votes, of the 16 songs listed. Interestingly, for each artist on the chart they list the official website and for Nirvana they have listed this one. Rock on! Thanks to Jeff for the news. To vote for the Nirvana track go here. Speaking of YKYR -- it has also reached #1 on the French radio 'Oui FM' and the video has now been played on Canada's MuchMusic. Thanks to Kris and 'Dapper'. More YKYR; The Independant (A british newspaper) published a story on the song today that you can read here. Thanks to Anand for the link.

    As reported a couple of days ago, Nirvana made it to #2 on the Modern Rock Chart in the October 19 issue of Billboard magazine. Now, in the October 26 issue, they are number one! Last week's number one by System of a Down is now on place #3, with "She Hates Me" by Puddle of Mudd on the second place. Information was courtesy of Billboard/VNU Business Media Inc.

    Matt reported that according to amazon.co.uk, a limited edition vinyl of Nirvana's "Bleach" album will be released on November 4, 2002. I don't know if this just goes for amazon or other stores as well. The tracklisting is the same as the one on the regular version. Thanks to Matt.


    - - - October 16, 2002 - - -

    In the October 17 issue (#907) of Rolling Stone Magazine they compiled a list of 'The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time' as voted for by the readers. The magazine received votes from 23,000 people who sent in their Top 10 lists. Nirvana made it to #2 on the list with the Nevermind album; " 'We all decided to do this. And we could decide to end this any day. I don't know how - it might land me in jail - but we could do it. If I went to jail, at least I wouldn't have to sign autographs' - Kurt Cobain. The hardest song on the album was 'Something in the Way'. Kurt Cobain ended up doing it on a nylon-string guitar in the control room with all the fans and phones off." About the album, one reader commented; "It took this hip-hop boy's heart, shook it violently yet gently and opened my ears to rock n' roll."

    Nirvana also made it to spot #22 with In Utero - supplemented with another Kurt Cobain quote; "Let's face it, we already sold out two and a half years ago. There's no sense in trying to redeem yourself by putting out an abrasive album and pretending that you're a punk rocker." Finally, Nirvana's MTV Unplugged In New York album made it to #55. On top of the list was the Beatles' Revolver. Story courtesy of Rolling Stone magazine. Also thanks to Dan.

    Speaking of Rolling Stone, the latest issue (#908 - October 31, 2002) has an article on the whole You Know You're Right spectacle; "How the new Nirvana song and compilation finally escaped legal limbo; plus: News about Springsteen, G n' R, overpriced CDs." We hope to have the article here shortly. Until then you can find the magazine at your local newsstand.

    On the TV schedule for MTV2 US they have a "Nirvana DVD Special" scheduled for 6 PM (EST) on October 26. I am not sure what this program will be about, and if it means that a Nirvana DVD is to be released. The show will also be aired the day after, October 27, on 7 PM. If someone could shed more light on this, please e-mail me. Thanks to Mark and others. MTV2 over in Europe will be playing Nirvana's "Live and Loud" special this Friday (October 18). Thanks to Kevin.

    Jonas told me about an article he wrote on the song You Know You're Right that got published in the Swedish net-fanzine 'Revolver'. You can read it here.

    Someone sent this note in; "The Internet Nirvana Fan Club was mentioned in a newspaper in Argentina (see more here). It basically talks about what can be found on the site, the YKYR leak and the sections of the site." The NFC was also mentioned and quoted on the air by Cleveland radio station WMMS while they were talking about the new CD. Thanks to Erik.

    "You Know You're Right entered the Triple J (Australian radio station 99.3) at number 1 on the 'Net 50' chart in its first week." Thanks to Luke and Matt for that info. You can vote for the song here. Speaking of YKYR, it made it's debut on the Columbian Rock station 'Radioacktiva' on September 24th as possibly the first in Latin America. Thanks to Ivan.

    Brendan shared this one; "In December of 2000, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain of The Smashing Pumpkins were on Sound opinions - a radio show in Chicago hosted by Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot. In the course of the conversation, Nirvana came up." Here is a segment about Nirvana:

    Caller: Do you think you lived in the shadow of Nirvana, and if you did, how did it effect your music?
    Billy Corgan: No, we never felt that we lived in the shadow of Nirvana. We felt that we were an equal peer of Nirvana. Certainly Nirvana is the most influential band of our generation, but we felt we were a better band in a lot of different ways. In a lot of ways, even at Nirvana's height, we were outdrawing Nirvana but we never got that sort of credit. We never got the cultural credit. But I think the Pumpkins were just as important and just as strong, just a different thing. If Nirvana were the Beatles, than the Pumpkins were the Doors or something, both need to exist to create balance in the universe.

    Jim DeRogatis: What do you think Cobain did right? What was the best thing Nirvana did musically, just from a songwriting perspective?
    Billy Corgan: The thing about Nirvana, and Kurt in particular, is that his talent was so simple. It was in his voice and it was in his lyrics, but he put it across in such a simple un-sophisticated way. That was the pure raw beauty of it. I certainly don't have that kind of talent. But the ironic thing was, and I know this from talking to Courtney, he could've made a 'white album'. He had that level of sophistication, he was attracted to the punk rock ethic. So in that sense he was a John Lennon kind of character. He could've done anything he wanted, he could've transformed himself from a punk rock guy to an acoustic balladeer. He could've made techno records, he could've done anything he wanted to do. So he had that level of talent, and certainly I will always give him his props. He opened that door, and he opened the door for all of us. Listen to the rest here. Thanks to Brandon for the transcript and info.

    Another Pat Smear guitar is up for auction; "Pat saved this white 1970's Gibson SG Custom for last as it was a favorite and primary instrument used on early tours to promote the Foo Fighters self titled debut album. This guitar has a long list of high profile appearances including the December 2, 1995 airing of NBC's Saturday Night Live where Pat played this SG Custom on the first song of the night titled 'I'll Stick Around'. It was also used in the Tibetian Freedom Concert movie, the recording of the album 'The Colour and the Shape', The Jon Stewart Show, and the grand opening of the Times Square Virgin Megastore in NYC." Pat also released a statement where he notes that this is the last auction for now but that he will return in the new year with more. A soundtrack album for his new book "If These Guitars Could Talk: The Pat Smear Guitar Collection of Short Stories" will be available on January 1st, 2003. As for the last auction, it ends on October 20 and the current high bid stands at $1,375.00. You can view the auction here.


    - - - October 15, 2002 - - -

    You Know You're Right The Nirvana video for You Know You're Right has now gone into heavy rotation on MTV in the US and Europe. Here is a brief review of it. First of all, the video is a collage of several clips from Nirvana concerts, TV shows, interviews, music videos and more. In between these clips there are still images (photos) of Kurt Cobain. Most of the footage has been seen before - for example in the official videos Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! and 1991: The Year Punk Broke but there are also rare clips that haven't been released previously. Some of the sources used for the video include;

    Hollywood Rock Festival (01/23/93 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Reading '91 (08/23/91 Reading, UK), Reading '92 (08/30/92 Reading, UK), Saturday Night Live (01/11/92 New York, NY), Saturday Night Live (09/23/93 New York, NY), MTV Unplugged (11/18/93 New York, NY), Nulle Part Ailleurs (02/04/94 Paris, France), Headbanger's Ball (10/25/91), The Word (11/08/91 London, UK), 10/19/91 Dallas, TX, 11/25/91 Amsterdam, Holland, 10/31/91 Seattle, WA and the Sliver music video. Generally it is a pretty good video. Some more rare and "unseen" clips would've been nice though. I also think the focus on Kurt is too extreme and too obvious. After all there was more to Nirvana than Kurt (despite what Courtney and her camp thinks). But fortunately, it appears that a lot of work has been put into making it and it is indeed very well done, all considered.


    As for the actual song, it is worth to note that it is identical to the version that leaked onto the Internet last month. The quality of the video version is just slightly better. If you don't have MTV or VH-1 you can watch the video online.

    Here are some screenshots of the You Know You're Right video (view more here).

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    The time has come for this year's people choice awards (by dotmusic.com) voting to begin. Each year thousands of official and unofficial fansites compete for the people's choice honour in the dotmusic Interactive Music Awards. The award is voted for by the fans and last year this site landed in the Top 40 out of more than 2,500 registered websites. Let's get the Internet Nirvana Fan Club in the Top 10 this year and show everyone how much Nirvana still matters! To vote for this site simply go here and fill out the form. Your vote is much appreciated.

    Surprisingly You Know You're Right is currently #2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart (issue date October 19), jumping up from place #22 last week. Topping the chart is System of a Down's "Aerials" but we'll see how long that lasts! Interestingly, on place #4 is the new Foo Fighters single "All My Life" (their 4th album is due out early next week). And, Seattle music is also found on place #7 with the new Pearl Jam single "I Am Mine". Finally, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have two songs in the Top 10. Nice! The song is #55 on the Billboard Hot 100. Information courtesy of Billboard/VNU Business Media Inc.


    - - - October 11, 2002 - - -

    On October 5 I brought some info on the 8/6/93 Mia Zapata benefit show along with a setlist for it. Some people have wondered why the set was so short. The reason is that the last band, Nirvana, (out of several) had to finish their show by 10 PM that evening. The curfew was most likely due to the club not being allowed to be extremely noisy after this time. The show was running late so the band was unable to play a full set and they even had to use TAD's gear, because there was no time to bring in their own. Anyway, Earnie Bailey who provided the photo of the setlist also sent in a photo of the back of the paper, showing the intended setlist. You can view it here.

    The show was a benefit for Mia Zapata - member of the Seattle band The Gits - who had been murdered the month before. Josh sent in an interesting story about her; "Before Mia moved to Seattle she went to Antioch University with my Aunt and they were roommates and friends for several years. She described her as artistic and hugely talented. She moved to Seattle at a time when Seattle was just ready to emerge into the limelight, saying that the scene there was perfect for her." The murder let to hear friends forming the organization Home Alive which is essentially to support and encourage self-protection. A benefit CD was made (Home Alive: The Art of Self-Defense) which Nirvana also contributed a song to.

    To my great surprise the MTV and VH-1 websites have already now put up the complete video for "You Know You're Right". To watch the video point your Internet browser here. Since I am using the worst phone line in the country, I haven't been able to watch the video myself. Preliminary reviews of it are for the most part positive. More info coming soon. The video will debut on MTV2 in the US on Monday and MTV Europe & MTV2 UK on Tuesday.

    Speaking of You Know You're Right; the song debuted at #55 on the Billboard radio charts this week. This is despite the fact that the song hasn't been released on single yet and probably won't be at all.

    In the October 14 issue of Time Magazine there is an interview with Dave Grohl and some information on the lawsuits being settled. Here are some excerpts from the interview (courtesy of someone on the NFC Board):

    Time: You, Krist and Courtney finally settled your differences over the rights to Nirvana's music. What took so long?
    Dave: Legal stuff, mostly. It was a matter of negotiation, and we live in differnet places and have different lives and didn't always see eye to eye. But the passage of time helped. Most people would expect negotiating with Courtney to be a complete nightmare, like World Wrestling Entertainment or something. But I didn't have to do too much. Thankfully my time was occupied with other things.

    Time: Why do you think there's still so much interest in Kurt Cobain eight years after his suicide?
    Dave: When something ends as Nirvana did, and as Kurt's life did, it's inevitable that people are left with a question mark. People are still wondering why and what happened, and they're looking for some sort of insight.

    This news comes a bit late but there is a nice Nirvana article in the October 2002 issue of Mojo magazine. It features several previously unseen Nirvana photos and the stories behind them, told by the photographers Michael Lavine, Charles Peterson, Ian Tilton and Krist Novoselic. Check out the article here; cover, page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5 and page 6.

    Steven, who is still working on his "Nevermind Year" documentary, just returned from his trip around the west coast (see September 25 story for more info). Unfortunately he didn't get to interview any Nirvana fans on the trip as planned. So, here comes Plan B; "For all of you welcoming Nirvana fans whom I was unable to meet during my mad dash to Seattle and back, here's the plan:

    For those interested, I would like to see/hear more about your relationship with your hero, Kurt Cobain. If it's at all possible for you to borrow a miniDV or Hi8 videocamera from a friend or family, it would be cool to see a little video about you, your connection to Kurt, your friends, family, school, church, rockband, work, kids, parents, whatever ... Also looking for your thoughts on the release of the journals, and the release of the Greatest Hits. In fact, if any of you are going to do the 'line up at midnight to be among the first to buy either the journals and/or CD at the mall', it would be great if you could videotape the wait and your eventual purchase. E-mail me at nevermindyear@hotmail.com with questions, or when the video is done, and I'll arrange for its delivery."
    Thanks to Steven. As noted be sure to e-mail him at the above address if you can help out. You can also check out his website for more info here.


    - - - October 10, 2002 - - -

    NME put up an interesting story where Dave Grohl comments on Nirvana; "On the day of the settlement, Grohl told NME.COM: 'It's interesting to be stuck in traffic and hear a DJ say ''OK, coming up next it's the new Nirvana''. That's pretty wild.' The Foo Fighters frontman refused to blame anyone for deliberately leaking the song on the Internet. 'That music was made for a reason – it was made for people to hear,' he said. 'I'm glad that song's out, I'm glad that song has finally seen the light of day.' Asked about the Nirvana rarities album planned for 2003, Grohl commented: 'I kind of know what's going to be on it. There's a lot of stuff no one's ever heard.' " Read the full story here. What's most noteworthy here is how Dave said that the upcoming Rarities album would indeed feature unreleased material. That should eliminate the fear that they were going to re-release various B-sides and songs that were previously only available on compilations.

    Dave Grohl is not the only former Nirvana member that is happy about You Know You're Right finally getting out; "Nirvana's unreleased track 'You Know You're Right' may have hit the airwaves prematurely, but former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic tells JAM! Music he's pleased the tune was leaked early. 'I'm glad. If it were up to me, that song would have been out last year,' says Novoselic. 'I had that song in my basement for eight years and nobody even knew about it. I think it's a great song. I'm really proud of it. It's a great performance by everybody and I'm glad that people get to hear it - finally.' Novoselic admits that he hasn't been privy to fan reaction to 'You Know You're Right', but did hear that 'people are saying good things about it.' " Read the full story here, courtesy of JAM! Thanks to John Williams for the link and for doing this great interview.

    Speaking of You Know You're Right - as mentioned earlier, the record label has been sending out promos of the song to selected radio stations. Here are some scans of the promo CD; Front insert, Back insert, CD front, CD back. Thanks to Chris for these scans.

    Some interesting news; "This Monday (October 14), MTV2 in the USA will premiere the new Nirvana video for the song 'You Know You're Right'. The new video will contain never before seen footage of the band. MTV 2 will be airing the video all day and will also be airing a new Nirvana Comp Special. The show is a retrospective told through the music, the videos, and never before seen band footage as well as a look at Nirvana's career, who they were, and what their impact on music was/is." Thanks a bunch to Keith. The 'Nirvana Comp' show will be aired on 11 AM (ET), 2 PM (ET) and 7 PM (ET) on MTV 2 (in the US) this coming Monday (Oct. 14). In addition they will repeat the "Nirvana: Unseen from the MTV Studios" show at 1.30 PM the same day.

    A person who claims to have watched the You Know You're Right video sent in this review; "Let me say that it is a brutal reminder of just how awesome Nirvana was and how much modern rock sucks. It is a series of video and still clips edited together beautifully. There must be like 1000 clips that wizz by. Whomever did the edit on this must have been working for months on it. Truly well done. The video ends with Kurt swinging a guitar around his head - then smashing it into an amp. Then it fades to static." Thanks to the source.

    "I just read in the 'El Economista', a newspapper here in Mexico, that in the Q magazine list of the 'Top 100 Most Influential Musicians' Kurt is in the Top 10. Also another radio station - Orbita 105.7 FM - has been playing 'You Know You're Right' a lot of times."

    As mentioned the other day, Dave Grohl called K-Rock in New York recently to talk about his band's new album and Nirvana's You Know You're Right. The conversation is now available in audio format online here. Thanks to Tony R.

    Apparently, the tracklisting for the "Nirvana" (Best-Of) album that was posted here on October 8 is not entirely correct. NME reports; "COURTNEY LOVE's manager JIM BARBER has contacted NME claiming the tracklisting that has emerged for the upcoming NIRVANA compilation album is incorrect. Barber wouldn't be drawn on where the differences lay, but did say that there were 'different versions' of established Nirvana songs on the album and that 'the remastering is breathtaking'." As noted in this story it is not known exactly what the differences are. It is most likely just a song or two that is different. I am not sure what 'different versions of established Nirvana songs' Mr. Barber is talking about but it will certainly be interesting to see the correct tracklisting. With this statement in mind, my detailed analysis of the album in the October 8 story should be taken with a grain of salt, as it might not reflect the true choice of tracks. The incorrect tracklisting has now been removed from amazon.com where most people (including NME) got it from originally. XFM online posted a story on the Best-Of album also which you can read here.

    "In the latest issue of the Finnish music magazine 'Soundi' there's a story about the lawsuit between Courtney and Krist/Dave. There is also an article about the Foo Fighters. Check out www.soundi.fi" Thanks to Harri for that one.

    "Belgium seems to be getting hot for 'You Know You're Right'. This week it entered 'De Afrekening' on Studio Brussel (a famous alternative rockstation). It entered at spot #19 on it's first week there and jumped to #2 the week after." Thanks to 'grungerTK' and Jacky.

    "Nirvana came 4th in the Top 100 Videos Of All Time' with Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was pretty good as the channel Music Max (Australian Foxtel channel) is mainly a 60's - late 80's channel. Michael Jackson's Thriller got #1."


    - - - October 8, 2002 - - -

    The tracklisting for the forthcoming "Nirvana" (Best-Of) CD has now been uncovered. The following stems from two of the biggest online music stores, CD Universe and Amazon, so I assume it is correct:

  • 1. You Know You're Right
  • 2. About A Girl
  • 3. Been A Son
  • 4. Sliver
  • 5. Smells Like Teen Spirit
  • 6. Come As You Are
  • 7. Lithium
  • 8. In Bloom
  • 9. Heart-Shaped Box
  • 10. Pennyroyal Tea
  • 11. Rape Me
  • 12. Dumb
  • 13. All Apologies
  • 14. The Man Who Sold The World

    Now, I can't restrain myself from commenting on this. For starters, it is of course a good representation of the best of what Nirvana has to offer, and there's no doubt that the majority of their absolute best songs are included above. However, there are - in my opinion - several problems with this selection:

    1) According to my calculations the above songs take up no more than about 49 minutes and 30 seconds on the CD. This is a scandal. There is room for almost 30 minutes of additional music on a regular 80 minute CD. While it is not adviseable to record more than 78 minutes or so, that still leaves us with a good 28 minutes of room.

    What should be noted in this context is that most of Nirvana's songs are fairly short. Smells Like Teen Spirit is one of the only songs reaching 5 minutes. Therefore, you could have found room for probably another 8-10 songs on there. Think about it . . . TEN MORE SONGS!

    It is outrageous that they didn't maximize the potential of the CD format and used up all the room. Especially considering the nature of the album. Pretty much all 'Greatest Hits' and 'Best-Of' compilations are at least 65-70 minutes long if only one CD is used. They made the exact same mistake with the 'Wishkah' album (a collection of Nirvana songs recorded live) that only clocked in at 54 minutes. You would think they had learned by now.

    2) It can of course be debated from now until new year's eve 2004 which songs should have been included and which shouldn't. To this question there will be as many answers and opinions as there are Nirvana fans. I just want to point out what are, in my opinion, some of the most obvious omissions.

    Only one song from Bleach made it. This is understandable since most of Nirvana's mainstream appeal lie with the Nevermind and In Utero albums. However, I think Bleach has a lot more to offer than just the overplayed About A Girl. Songs such as School, Floyd The Barber, their first single Love Buzz, Negative Creep and the brilliant Big Cheese could easily have been included. Hell, a song such as Floyd The Barber is a mere 2 minutes and 17 seconds long. I'm sure they could have squeezed it in.

    As for Nevermind, the most obvious choices (and highlights of the CD) do appear on the Best-Of. I don't think anyone could realistically have expected a different choice. However, I think it's a shame that Kurt Cobain's own personal favorite Nirvana song Drain You didn't make it. Absolute gems such as Longe Act and Something In The Way DESERVE to be on such a CD as well. And, it's curious that Polly was omitted as it stands as one of the songs that the band chose to play most often in concert, from the early 80's shows up until the large scale arena gigs in 1994. It would also have been fun to see the popular Territorial Pissings on the Best-Of.

    From Incesticide, what comes to mind first is that they didn't include the highlight of that album, namely Aneurysm. How they could leave this one in the dark is beyond me. Another song I truly love from Incesticide is Big Long Now but it doesn't have a particular 'Best Of' kind of vibe to it, I suppose. Dive is another really good song that could potentially be included on the Best-Of. Many feel that Been A Son is by far the most annoying Nirvana song ever. Thus, it didn't score many points in a poll conducted by this site over which songs one would most like to have included with this very CD. Funnily, out of the 26,418 votes, Been A Son received just 100!!

    As with the Nevermind choices, the selection of songs from In Utero seems natural. Fortunately, the best songs that this album has to offer do appear on the Best-Of. No complaints there. However, I would personally have liked to see Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle and Radio Friendly Unit Shifter on there. After all, the latter song was used to open most of the shows of the band's 1993/94 tour so they must have thought it to be somewhat important. Otherwise, like I said, the selections made from In Utero are as expected.

    Only one song from the MTV Unplugged in New York album has been chosen and that is, of course, perfectly understandable as it is a live album. I also feel that The Man Who Sold The World is the highlight of this album so no complaints there either. While the Unplugged performance is of course brilliant, the better part of it would be inappropriate for a Best-Of album.

    3) I think it is an awful shame that no B-sides or rarities whatsoever (apart from You Know You're Right of course) were included. I am in particular thinking of the outstanding song Sappy here. This is probably my personal favorite Nirvana song and it has always been popular among fans. In fact it placed as #12 on the aforementioned poll and would probably have landed in the Top 5 if it was located on one of the main studio albums (instead of being buried on an AIDS benefit compilation).

    Brendan e-mailed me with a very good point; A lot of people probably voted for the song Verse Chorus Verse (which received 465 votes) in the poll instead, because they thought they were voting for the song most commonly referred to as Sappy. There's still some confusion over which title is the correct one, so it's possible that most of the votes for VCV should be attributed to Sappy. That would bring it to the Top 10.

    Perhaps they plan on including songs such as Sappy on the 'Rarities' album to be released later. In any case, it deserves to be on the Best-Of as it truly represents some of the best Nirvana has to offer. There is, however, a rumor floating that Sappy will be served as a hidden track on the Best-Of album. I guess we'll see.

    In short I think the selection of songs for the Best-Of is somewhat disappointing. First of all because of the discussed shortness of the album, and secondly because of all the great songs that were left out. As said before there will, of course, be many different opinions as to what songs should have been included. But I think many will agree with the ones I listed in point 2) above.

    At least, the Best-Of does contain the core of Nirvana's best songs and biggest hits, and I suppose that's the most important. Hopefully, newcomers to Nirvana who purchase this album will become curious and get their other albums. After all that must be one of the main purposes of releasing such a compilation. And, if the Best-Of contained EVERY good Nirvana song, there wouldn't really be any reason to buy their other albums. That being said, this album fails big time when it comes to pleasing Nirvana's existing fans.

    As for whether the result of the poll conducted by this site - "Which song would you most like to see on the Best-Of album" - reflects the final tracklisting, I must say it does. Out of the songs that made it to the Top 10 in the poll, only 2 of them (Aneurysm and Drain You) didn't end up on the actual CD. Out of the Top 20 of the poll, 12 songs made it to the Best-Of (out of it's 14 songs). So, the fans' say could be said to have some influence on the selections made.

    You may view the full result of the poll in the news archive for March 2002. You can pre-order the new album here.

    Yesterday, KROCK in New York City received a phone call from former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl where he talked about You Know You're Right. Among other things he noted that the musical part of the song was done in one take while Kurt did his vocals a couple of times. Dave was not playing on his usual drumset, but a very old one. Krist was not playing through a bass amp but a Fender twin guitar amp. Thanks to Chris for this info.

    Speaking of Dave Grohl - in the November 2002 issue of Spin magazine there is a lengthy interview with him. In the interview he talks a lot about Nirvana and his current activities.

    Here are some of the questions and answers from the article:

    Spin: Do fans still approach you with questions about Nirvana?
    Grohl: I think people are afraid to ask me about it because of the demise of the band. They feel intimidated nd don't know what to say. People will ask me questions, and they won't say the word Nirvana. They'll say 'Well, in your previous band ...' It's funny, because I don't consider it a curse. It's not something I dislike talking about. I mean, shit, you can't avoid it, really. There's not one day that goes by that I don't think about it.

    People think of Nirvana as this sad, brooding experience. But I don't. I have a lot of great memories. And at the same time, I've forgotten so much, just because it was so insane. I mean, fu@k, I joined the band in September of 1990, and by April of '94 it was over, it was done. Try to remember everything that happened to you during college. You can't.


    Spin: The band only became successful after you joined. Do you allow yourself to think, 'This wouldn't have happened without me'?
    Grohl: Shit, it could have been better [without me]. What happened in Nirvana happened because of timing. It could have been us or Jane's Addiction or the Pixies or Hüsker Dü.

    Spin: A lot of this is Krist's deal, right?
    Grohl: Well, you have to understand that Krist is Nirvana. He said at one point, 'How many Nirvana shows have you been to? Because I've been to every one of 'em.' It was kind of profound. Nirvana was Krist's idea and project as much as it was Kurt's.

    Courtesy of Spin magazine. Thanks to Andrew for the transcript and scans.

    On October 4, The L.A. Times published an interesting article concerning the settlements in the two lawsuits Courtney had going. You can read the article here. Courtesy of Jeff Leeds and The Los Angeles Times.

    Yet another one of Pat Smear's guitars was put up for auction this past weekend; "This blue glitter work of art is one of a small handful of guitars that Pat Smear had professionally refinished, refretted and inlaid at Neal Moser's GMW Guitarworks in Glendora, California. Real mother of pearl block inlays are set against a deep blue glitter finish, complimented by a custom made blue mirror pickguard and chrome hardware. Gibson pickups, Gotoh bridge and tuners are among the hardware upgrades that went into converting this Hagstrom from it's stock condition to the high profile stage instrument of Pat's last two tours as a Foo Fighter. The new frets on this guitar are perfect while the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is very nicely figured. This instrument is hands down one of Pat's most beautiful guitars and a product of a period in which he was having his guitars custom made, along with his elaborate stage clothing. In addition to it's touring history, it was also used during the recording of the Foo Fighters' album 'The Colour and The Shape.' " At the time of writing the highest bid stands at $769.22. You can view the auction here.


    - - - October 5, 2002 - - -

    Nirvana guitar tech Earnie Bailey sent me some very interesting photos that shed more light upon which songs had been planned for the Nirvana Unplugged performance but never made it. This issue was first brought up in my recent interview with Pat Smear. Earnie provided photos of the setlist, and a letter from their manager John Silva, discussing which songs could be included. Interestingly, as the documents prove, songs such as "Rape Me", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Sliver", "Been a Son", and "Old Age" were considered - if only for a moment. Click here and here for the two sheets that were actually placed on the black music stand in front of Kurt when they did MTV Unplugged.

    Earnie also provided a (albeit heavily stained) note with song titles that was apparently used at the rehearsals the day before. View a photo of it here. The handwriting in the right side is most likely Kurt Cobain's while the rest is undetermined.

    Finally, Earnie provided one more tidbit. On August 6, 1993, Nirvana played a Mia Zapata benefit show in Seattle, WA. It has always been a bit of a mystery exactly which songs were played and in what order. Here is a photo of the setlist for the show which should clear it up. Interestingly, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was omitted and in general it was a very atypical set. Also, while the setlist doesn't document it, they did jam on several covers. They apparently included Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" and the Terry Jacks classic "Seasons in the Sun". It was the last show Nirvana performed as a trio before being joined by Pat Smear on guitar. Check out my interview with Gillian G. Gaar for more info on the show.

    According to NME and a couple of other sources, the release date of the "Nirvana" (Best-Of) album has been pushed forward to October 28, 2002 in the UK (and the rest of Europe, I assume). The CD will be released on October 29, 2002 in the US instead of on November 12 as originally planned. Story courtesy of NME. Be among the first to own the CD by pre-ordering it through Amazon.

    Gideon sent in this tidbit; "If you check the posting of October 3rd in the weblog of www.euphonic.nl, you will find a link to an original 14-year old contract about Nirvana as signed by Kurt Cobain himself. It was for a gig in the club De Gigant in Apeldoorn, which is in the Netherlands. On our site you can also hear the studio version of the song 'You Know You're Right' by Nirvana. It is featured in the radio show 'X-Clusiv 7' on www.euphonic.nl" Thanks a bunch to Gideon Hofland for this one.

    "On the recent 'Top 100 Sexiest Artists' countdown on VH-1; Dave Grohl placed #74, Courtney Love placed #67, and Kurt Cobain placed #48. Other artists on the list included Eddie Vedder and Anthony Kiedis." As for Cobain's placement, Joshua added some more info; "A few people commented on him including Bijou Phillips who said 'Oh Man, Kurt Cobain was good, he was so beautiful'. Also Mary J Blige commented saying; 'He was so grungy and dirty but he was just so sexy.' Others from Rolling Stone commented on how his representation of 'freedom and the unwillingness to compromise' is what made him sexy." Thanks to Teddy and Joshua.

    "You Know You're Right Right' was played last night on France Inter, during the famous rock show here 'C'est Lenoir' " Thanks to Ben.


    - - - October 2, 2002 - - -

    Pat Smear Interview In the midst of all the You Know You're Right hoopla, I did an interview with guitar legend Pat Smear. Pat joined Nirvana in October 1993 to play rhythm guitar - allowing Kurt Cobain to concentrate more on his singing. He would be the band's 4th member for the following six months or so, until the end in April 1994. In those six months he toured Europe and the US with NIRVANA, promoting the In Utero album. Some of Nirvana's biggest shows at huge stadiums and venues were played in this period, and Pat's debut took place on the band's second Saturday Night Live appearance in 1993.

    Apart from joining Nirvana, Pat is most famous for being a founding member of the L.A. punk band The Germs. After Nirvana, Pat Smear joined Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters where he stayed until 1997.

    The interview goes over his impressive career and focuses on his time in Nirvana. One of the topics discussed is the hot item of the moment, namely You Know You're Right and the upcoming Best-Of CD. Pat also talks about the legendary Unplugged performance, the last ever Nirvana show in Munich, guitars, and music in general. It's rare that Pat agrees to interviews at all (let alone one about Nirvana) so I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to him for doing this. Also thanks to Earnie for everything.

    Please follow the link below to read this, the 12th interview NFC has done with a "Nirvana related" individual.

    An interview with Pat Smear.

    After 16,109 votes I thought it was about time to end the latest NFC Poll; "Should a 'Best Of Nirvana' CD be released?" A good majority of the voters - 13,189 (81.9%) - voted 'yes' to that question while 2,920 (18.1%) voted 'no'. So, the CD (which is to be released on November 12 in the US) seems to have somewhat strong support. There's also a fairly large group of people against it, however.

    A new poll is now up: If you have listened to it, did you like "You Know You're Right"? The song leaked onto the Internet a little over a week ago and has since been broadcast by many radio stations worldwide. You should only answer the poll question if you have indeed listened to the song. Thanks for participating!

    NME published a story on their website with the cover artwork for the future "Nirvana" (Best-Of) album. The cover is a simple black background with the white 'NIRVANA' logo placed in the middle. The cover is as boring and stupid as the cover of the forthcoming Kurt Cobain 'Journals' book. That cover is also based on a black background with the words "Kurt Cobain" written in pink letters, and the word "Journals" written underneath in red letters. Anyway, here is the apparent cover art of the forthcoming Nirvana CD (courtesy of NME).


    Speaking of Pat -- another one of his guitars was put up for auction this weekend; "Guitarist Pat Smear's early 1970's Gibson Les Paul Signature goldtop guitar used on the Foo Fighters' 1995 North American and European tours and the recording of the album 'The Colour and The Shape'. This guitar has been modified for stage use, including the addition of higher output humbucking pickups, Grover tuners, removed pickguard, disconnection of stereo input jack on the face and both tone controls have been bypassed completely. This is one of strangest Les Paul models made for a short period by Gibson and it comes complete with the original purple plush interior case with attached touring luggage tag. Also included are a set of working laminates and early Foo Fighters set list found stored inside the case pocket." The auction ends on October 6, 2002. At the time of writing, the highest bid was $810.00.




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