Nirvana and the 20 year 'Nevermind' album bandwagon (and reissues in general)

Greetings all,

Recently, it has been brought to my attention that there's a Nirvana bandwagon doing the rounds (the Seattle Grunge band, not some other band that I think was psychedelic or prog rock).

Great, another opportunity for the record companies to milk a cash cow! * groans *

It's the same old story that has happened before with many bands. “Oooh, it's been x amount of years since anyone heard of them. Let's go and re-release the back catalogue of their stuff RE-MASTERED in shiny new packaging with 24bit digital HDCD sound! The kids will go for that, as their parents only have vinyl records or tapes and nobody knows how to play those things now!”

I call bullshit, personally.

The 'Re-Mastering' process, so to speak, is usually a case of adding compression to the music. To amplify the quiet bits and to make it sound louder and somehow 'better', when all compression does is usually ruin the original master recording. Most of the time. Nowadays, the are remastered in such a loud and brash fashion just to suit fashonista wankers who wear cargo shorts and have edgy styled, slick haircuts who wear clothing by GAP to listen to on their iPods. Because “Those CD things are so passé, maaaaan”.

A typical example of 'money for old rope'.

I am old enough to remember Nirvana first time around, and I do like them. In fact, I was going to get a ticket for their 'In Utero' show for April 1994 until Mr Cobain decided to perform some interior decorating using his head, and a shotgun as a paintbrush. They made some good music, in my humble opinion and brought about the death of the stale 'Hair Metal' scene at the time, Although, in a counter productive manner they killed of a lot of decent Rock and Metal bands and ushered in an era of lazy bastards that looked like a bunch of people that just sauntered on stage from the street, instead of the showmanship and stage costume presence of yore.

The problem is down to the old 'bandwagon syndrome' that seems to occur with far too much of my favourite music. Personally, I like it when the band is a band that only myself and a select few that are musically 'in the know' are aware of them. I agree that this mode of thought does sound somewhat esoteric, but let me explain it to you this way; how many times have you been into something and then got sick to death of it because of excessive airplay? I am willing to wager that if you are a music fan worth your salt, this will have undoubtedly occurred.

A cracking example that demonstrates this point was Alanis Morisette. The album 'Jagged Little Pill' was a classic 'college alt-rock' album that was edgy, spikey, and had rather scathing lyrics and bile in some places (such as they lyrics in 'You Oughta Know' to quote an example). Then, everybody jumped on the bandwagon and started liking the bloody thing. This album has remained unplayed and filed right at the back of my CD rack for many years as a result and I don't have the urge to go near the damn thing.

Another problem is also down to music television channels as seen on satellite and cable TV, They ruin your enjoyment of the band by playing the 'radio friendly unit shifters' over and over again. This may help the band promote themselves and get revenue for the record labels to sign such bands , but ironically it starts to make you pig sick of the band in question. An example of this is Metallica; whenever I hear 'Enter Sandman', 'Sad But True' or 'One', they start to make one's stabbing hand itch as a result. And then, you go to see them live in a big arena gig which ruins it even further when you have the same fashionista arseholes moshing/dancing to said 'radio friendly unit shifters' and then looking blankly when they play material from earlier albums. This was observed clearly when I saw Marilyn Manson with my partner when 'Dope Hat' was played live, which confused this shower of fashionista bastards that were down at the front.

If you have never heard of Nirvana, or wish to discover a band I suggest that you scour eBay and get a second hand copy of their albums or a 'normal issue' of their album new (naturally, this also applies for any band besides Nirvana). I urge you not to buy into the remaster bandwagons that occur like this, just because it's in shiny new packaging with bonus tracks, a sexy wooden and brass slip case with an Ocelot fur lining or whatever bloody rubbish they are trying to trick you into buying.

Also, you know those tracks you hear that are played to death on music channels and the radio? SKIP THEM. This is also a perfect remedy for those who are sick of hearing what was their favourite band, and it can be once again enjoyed how it used to be before the bandwagon occurred.

Finally, I have something else worth mentioning here with regards to Nirvana.

I'm lead to believe that there is some strange rumour that people are trying to get Nirvana as a Christmas number one. Have you considered the fact that it was the rise to fame of Nirvana that contributed to Mr Cobain's death?

Here's one worth mentioning to the 30+ somethings that are out there:

Cast your mind back to when 'Nevermind' first came out in 1991. You may recall your parents prattling on about The Beatles and how great they were, and yet you dismissed them as a load of old shite who had split up 21 years previously because “Grunge is where it's at, all rock music is dead!” rather foolishly. Remember?

Well, guess what buddy – time is a fickle son of a bitch and it's come full circle.

WELL DONE ON TURNING INTO SQUARES LIKE YOUR PARENTS!

As a closer to this blog, here is an example of a re-arranged track listing for 'Nevermind':

01.

02. In Bloom

03.

04. Breed

05. Lithium

06. Territorial Pissings

07. Drain You

08. Lounge Act

09. Stay Away

10. On A Plain

11. Something In The Way

12. Endless, Nameless

Happy listening.