CC00002: Nirvana
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 10:23
Tags:
- Nevermind (10)
- In Utero (10)
- MTV Unplugged in New York [live] (9.5)
- From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah [live] (7)
- Bleach (6.5)
- Incesticide (6.5)
Author Comments:
This is the second in a new series I call Critical Consensus. I am averaging the opinions of several excellent music critics to produce a list of each artist's albums. The albums will each have a rating between 1 and 10. The albums will be listed in a recommended purchasing order, so new fans will have an idea of where the best place to start buying an artist's work is. These are not my opinions, although, since I have chosen the critics used (and I'm using many), my taste will perhaps seep through a bit.
Terribly nerdy, I know, but maybe this will help people only now beginning to dabble into certain artists' bodies of work.
From a critical perspective, I think this list and ratings are right on. But from a "purchasing order" perspective, I'd probably argue that "MTV Unplugged in New York" is the most accessible.
There are times I personally believe the unplugged disc to be their best; I prefer many of the unplugged versions of their songs to the studio versions.
Nevermind received the top recommendation simply because most people come to the album already knowing several songs from it, thus making it quite accessible. If Nevermind had never broke, I would completely agree with you. In a couple of years, I may.
I am also trying to keep the top rated discs near the top of the list; if a buyer starts with a masterpiece, they may not undervalue the band, which is always a danger if one starts with a lesser disc. (On a light note, I had a friend who for years believed he hated Dylan because Slow Train Coming was the first disc he ever heard by him; it took years of my prodding to get him to buy another, and now he's a fanatic! Of course, Nirvana's MTV Unplugged is a much better disc than Slow Train...)
Thanks for the great comments.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
P.S. - What are others' thoughts on this? Should MTV Unplugged be listed first? I may come off as quite adamant, but I can indeed be persuaded...
All input, especially on recommendation order (the ratings are rather set, being a consensus of critics) is welcome and desired.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I would agree that MTV Unplugged is the most accesible of their albums, but Nevermind, besides being familiar to most people, is also the most representative. This is who Nirvana was, and this is the album that kick-started grunge. MTV Unplugged shows a side of Cobain and Nirvana that may have have ended up being explored more fully had Cobain not killed himself, but considering that it was a posthumous release and so not something to be more fully developed, I have to go with Nevermind as the top choice.
Also, I would humbly like to submit that Incesticide is a much better compilation than most critics give it credit for being. It ends rather weakly but the first 2/3 of the album is quite strong and gives the first glimpse of Nirvana's skill at covering other bands' songs, a trait that would be brilliantly shown later on Unplugged.
Johnny Waco
I haven't yet fully heard the live albums but as for the others I have to say that I enjoy both Bleach and Incesticide more than the 6.5 ratings they received. Although not all around great records they have many great songs. I'd porbably give them Bleach a 7 and Incesticide 7.5. In Utero, unfortunately is just way too depressing, which doesn't mean it doesn't deserve the high rating its just not my personal favorite. I really do need to get one of the live albums.
This is the older CC list. On the
new one, Incesticide fared a bit better, while Bleach continues to slip down, down, down.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs