Nirvana

Nirvana
Greatest hits album by Nirvana
Released	October 29, 2002
Recorded	1988–1994
Genre	Grunge
Length	49:38
Label	DGC
Producer	Steve Albini, Jack Endino, Steve Fisk, Scott Litt, Butch Vig
Nirvana compilations chronology
Incesticide (1992) Nirvana (2002) With the Lights Out (2004)
Singles from Nirvana (album)
"You Know You're Right" Released: October 8, 2002

Nirvana is a "best-of" compilation album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released in October 2002.

Background

Nirvana was released following the settlement of a long-standing legal dispute between Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, and surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. Much of the dispute centered around the song "You Know You're Right" which was recorded during the band's final studio session, in January 1994. Novoselic and Grohl had wanted to release it on a long-delayed Nirvana rareties box set. However, Love blocked the song's release, and sued Novoselic and Grohl over control of Nirvana's legacy. Love's lawsuit maintained that "You Know You're Right" was a "potential 'hit' of extraordinary artistic and commercial value."^[1] She believed that "You Know You're Right" would be "wasted" on a box set, and instead belonged on a single-disc compilation similar to the Beatles' 1.^[2] In September 2002, it was announced by the Nirvana camp that the lawsuit had been settled, and that "You Know You're Right" would be released on "Nirvana, a one-CD history of the band."^[3]

Release

Nirvana was the third Nirvana album to be released following the death of singer/ guitarist Kurt Cobain in April 1994, and the first to feature studio material. The first track on the album is "You Know You're Right" which was also released as a downloadable single. The only song to appear from Nirvana's 1989 debut album Bleach is "About a Girl", a song that had also been a popular single from the MTV Unplugged in New York album in 1994. The song "Been a Son" was originally a b-side from Nirvana's 1989 Blew EP, which itself was only a limited release in the United Kingdom, making the song a rarity. Nirvana's 1990 non-album single "Sliver" which was their last release on the Sub Pop label is the fourth track on the album. The four commercially released singles from 1991's Nevermind album ("Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Come as You Are", "Lithium" and "In Bloom") are all included, as are three singles from 1993's In Utero album ("Heart-Shaped Box", "Pennyroyal Tea" and "Rape Me"). The version of "Pennyroyal Tea" that is included is a remixed version which was planned as a single in March 1994 from the In Utero album, however due to Cobain's death the single was recalled shortly after its release making this remixed version rare and hard to find until its inclusion on Nirvana. Two tracks from Nirvana's 1994 MTV Unplugged in New York album ("All Apologies" and "The Man Who Sold the World") are included, both of which had been released as promotional singles.^[4]

The album opened at #3 on the Billboard 200 with 234,000 copies sold. Currently, it has sold over 7 million copies worldwide. It has sold nearly 2.2 million copies in the United States, according to Soundscan, and has sold more than 2 million copies in Europe as of 2007.^[5]

The album contains liner notes by music journalist David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[6]
Blender	[7]
Pitchfork	7.0/10.0[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]

Several critics believed that Nirvana was too brief, and omitted key tracks. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that "the presence of a few more tracks, along with placing "You Know You're Right" at the end where it belongs, would have made this collection not just stronger, but possibly definitive. As it stands, it feels like a bit of a cheap compromise and a wasted opportunity."^[10] Will Bryant of Pitchfork praised the album as "an artful selection of the band's most seminal material," but also dismissed it as "a party mix for parents who want to appreciate Cobain's Lennon-esque knack for great melodies without having to click past "Scentless Apprentice" or "Territorial Pissings"...utterly inoffensive: an impulse buy from Columbia House, perhaps, with no more artistic value than The Eagles' Greatest Hits or the Beatles' 1."^[8]

Track listing

All songs by Kurt Cobain unless otherwise noted:

1. "You Know You're Right" (previously unreleased) – 3:38
2. "About a Girl" (from Bleach) – 2:49
3. "Been a Son" (from Blew) – 2:23
4. "Sliver" (from Incesticide) – 2:14
5. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (from Nevermind) (Cobain/Grohl/Novoselic) – 5:01
6. "Come as You Are" (from Nevermind) – 3:39
7. "Lithium" (from Nevermind) – 4:17
8. "In Bloom" (from Nevermind) – 4:15
9. "Heart-Shaped Box" (from In Utero) – 4:41
10. "Pennyroyal Tea" (from In Utero, single remix) – 3:38
11. "Rape Me" (from In Utero) – 2:51
12. "Dumb" (from In Utero) – 2:34
13. "All Apologies" (from MTV Unplugged in New York) – 3:51
14. "The Man Who Sold the World" (from MTV Unplugged in New York) (David Bowie) – 3:47

Bonus tracks

15. "Something in the Way" (from MTV Unplugged in New York) – 4:01 (appears on vinyl and Japanese CD copies only)
16. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (from MTV Unplugged in New York) (Traditional; arranged by Lead Belly) – 5:08 (appears on vinyl and international CD copies only)

Charts and certifications

Personnel

• Kurt Cobain – guitar and vocals
• Krist Novoselic – bass guitar
• Dave Grohl – drums and backing vocals (except on tracks 2, 3 and 4)
• Chad Channing – drums on "About a Girl" and "Been a Son"
• Dan Peters – drums on "Sliver"
• Pat Smear – guitar on unplugged tracks
• Lori Goldston – cello on unplugged tracks
• Kera Schaley  - cello on "Dumb"

Production

• Nirvana – production
• Butch Vig – production, engineering
• Steve Albini – engineering, mixing
• Jack Endino – engineering, mixing
• Steve Fisk – engineering, mixing
• Adam Kasper – engineering, mixing
• Andy Wallace – mixing
• Scott Litt – production, mixing
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Robert Fisher – art direction
• David Fricke – liner notes
• Michael Meisel - project director
• James Barber - project director
• John Silva – project director
• Corbis Bettman - photography
• Frank Micelotta - photography
• Frank Ockenfels - photography
• Charles Peterson - photography
• Redferns – photography

References

• Courtney Love Sues Grohl And Novoselic, Blocks Nirvana Rarity by Teri van Horn, MTV News, June 29, 2001
• A piece of Kurt Cobain by Jim DeRogatis, March 10, 2002