Nirvana - Sliver
To a certain extent, Nirvana are the music world's Ché Guevara - in the years since their demise, both have almost ceased to function as the real article and become a concept, a business, a fashion statement. To some, this may seem to be an inappropriate, sweeping, statement, but I think it's apt; and to prove this let me give an example. A number of young kids sport Nirvana t-shirts and Kurt-esque dirty swept-back hair, yet in a recent conversation with such individuals, I discovered they didn't even realise that the iconic singer was dead - over ten years after his suicide. True fans? Or fashion-bandwagon riders? With the release of countless commercial products - a film, a comic book and tons of official merchandise - Nirvana has lost a lot of its meaning and many people seem to have forgotten what it was all about. Question is, is this latest Nirvana compilation a must-have insight into the quality music that made them Grunge's standard-bearers in the first place, or just the last drop of blood to be squeezed out of Kurt's body?
'Sliver' is essentially the highlights of the 'With the Lights Out' box set that was released last year and was packed with never-before-heard tracks. A number of the songs are taken from home demos, such as the eponymous, stripped-down 'Sliver', the dreamy 'Clean Up Before She Comes' and the awkward sounding, poorly recorded 'About a Girl'. The acoustic rendition of 'You Know You're Right' is simply superb, perfectly capturing the pain of Kurt's final song. There are a couple of other solo-acoustic affairs here - 'Rape Me' and 'All Apologies' - but to be honest this is done better and more extensively on 'Nirvana - Unplugged In New York'. Boombox recordings of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Come As You Are' are frankly ignorable, as is 'Dom Re Mi' and the ironically bland 'Blandest'. Classics such as 'Lithium' and, especially, 'Heart Shaped Box', are done well, but breathe no new life into the songs. This 2005 release also features three previously unreleased tracks: the aforementioned, unessential 'Come As You Are', the equally unremarkable 'Spank Thru', and the impressive, stomping 'Sappy'.
So as we can see, there are enough good moments to make this CD a good one-time listen. But is it essential? Absolutely not. If you're a Nirvana-virgin, keen to be immersed in their world, then pick up 'Nevermind' or the 'Best Of' that was released back in 2002. If you're a devote Nirvana fan and already own 'With The Lights Out', then 'Sliver' is totally redundant. If you don't and just HAVE to own these collectors items, I do recommend cutting you losses and buying this CD, rather than squandering your money on the box set. As for the rest of you, stop reading this review, put your money back in your wallet, stick on one of your old Nirvana CDs and remember what it was all about in the first place: the music.