Audio CD review:
Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of The Wishkah

Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of The Wishkah

Band: Nirvana Title: From the Muddy Banks of The Wishkah Rating: Release Date: 01 October, 1996 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Intro 2: School 3: Drain You 4: Aneurysm 5: Smells Like Teen Spirit 6: Been A Son 7: Lithium 8: Sliver 9: Spank Thru 10: Scentless Apprentice 11: Heart-Shaped Box 12: Milk It 13: Negative Creep 14: Polly 15: Breed 16: Tourette's 17: Blew

Editoral Review Because of its somber, intense nature, the first post-Cobain release, MTV Unplugged in New York, was largely perceived as music for a wake--an impression reinforced by MTV's constant airings of the special in the days following Cobain's suicide. Kurt Cobain's former bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl clearly had an agenda in compiling From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, the second of what will no doubt be a long line of posthumous Nirvana albums. But that acoustic detour aside, the Nirvana live experience was always about displaying a lust for life--not a death wish--with all the energy the musicians could muster. Wishkah offers 16 songs spanning the band's career, all delivered in the loudest, most frenzied, and sometimes the sloppiest versions imaginable. In the opening "Intro," a snippet of pre-show noise, Cobain screams his heart out in joyful contrast to the haunted screams on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night. " Then the group launches into "School," which ends with the spirited chorus "Don't be sad. " Indeed, it's impossible to dwell on the maudlin when listening to these renditions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Sliver," "Heart-Shaped Box," and "Negative Creep"--they're too loud and too full of life. But while it should be applauded, Wishkah isn't the great lost Nirvana album--there are no unheard gems to add to the catalog--and in the end, it isn't nearly as essential as any of the band's studio albums--or even the downbeat but revelatory Unplugged. --Jim Derogatis .. You can see a complete list of all Nirvana discography, or go back to the Nirvana tabs