Nirvana - Sliver: The Best of the Box By Nirvana
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CD Details
Artist: NirvanaBrand: Geffen
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2005-11-01
Music Label: Geffen Records
Product features:
- NIRVANA SLIVER: THE BEST OF THE BOX
- Spank Thru (1985 Fecal Matter Demo)
- Heartbreaker (Live)
- Mrs. Butterworth (Rehearsal Demo)
- Floyd The Barber (Live)
- Clean Up Before She Comes (Home Demo)
- About A Girl (Home Demo)
- Blandest (Studio Demo)
- Ain't It A Shame (Studio Demo)
- Sappy (1990 Studio Demo)
- Opinion (Solo Acoustic Radio Appearance)
- Lithium (Solo Acoustic Radio Appearance)
- Sliver (Home Demo)
- Smells Like Teen Spirit (Boom Box Version)
- Come As You Are (Boom Box Version)
- Old Age (Nevermind Outtake)
- Oh The Guilt
- Rape Me (Home Demo)
- Rape Me (Band Demo)
- Heart Shaped Box (Band Demo)
- Do Re Mi (Home Demo)
- You Know You're Right (Home Demo)
- All Apologies (Home Demo)
Music reviews of Sliver: The Best of the Box By Nirvana
Music Review: The best of the rest? Not quite..
Rating: 3 Stars
Sliver - The Best of the Box is a 22-track compilation culling 19 of the supposed best tracks from last year's With the Lights Out boxset, and adding three previously-unreleased bonus tracks. It's basically the Nirvana version of Wonsaponatime (the John Lennon anthology sampler), and like that album, it's somewhat hit-or-miss, even after being trimmed down considerably.
First of all, the three new tracks. The first is a 1985 recording of "Spank Thru," from the long-fabled Fecal Matter demo. Kurt's voice is a bit unsure and young-sounding on it, but the sound quality is a lot better than most had expected. Either way, this is definitely the most historically significant of the new tracks. It's supposedly THIS song from THIS demo which convinced Krist Novoselic to start a band with a young Cobain 20 years ago. As archival material, it's indispensible, and really should have been on the boxset too.
The other two "new" tracks are a 1990 studio version of "Sappy" and a 1991 boombox-recorded rehearsal demo of "Come As You Are." "Sappy" (which was later renamed "Verse Chorus Verse") is probably best known from the version on the 1993 album, No Alternative (the same version used on the actual boxset). This early recording of the song lacks the intensity (and killer, more fully-realized guitar solo) of the No Alternative version, but it's solid nonetheless. As for "CAYA," it's basically a strong but unremarkable early reading of a future classic. It was apparently part of a demo tape sent to Butch Vig shortly before he recorded Nevermind, so, like "Spank Thru," there's definitely some archival value here.
Now, onto the boxset selections. Did they hit most of the nails on the head? For the most part, yes. You've got some early Cobain pop gems like "Clean Up Before She Comes" (with gorgeous, multi-tracked vocals) and "Opinion," which, as far as we know, were never brought into the three-piece Nirvana dynamic. You've got searing full-band recordings like the Bleach-era "Mrs. Butterworth demo," and the incredible, studio-recorded Leadbelly cover, "Ain't It a Shame." You've got solo acoustic demos of future classics like "About A Girl," "Sliver" and "All Apologies," as well as embryonic full-band renditions of "Teen Spirit" and "Heart-Shaped Box." And, best of all, you've got "Do Re Mi," the last song Cobain ever wrote, and one of his most gorgeous melodies ever.
But the track selection isn't 100% flawless. Did we really need TWO versions of "Rape Me" - again? And what's with the completely average live version of "Floyd the Barber" - a seemingly arbitrary decision? I would've included "They Hung Him On a Cross" instead, or maybe that beautiful Peel version of "Dumb." And what about some of the stuff that didn't make it onto the boxset in the first place? I hate to say it, but listening to the box, at times you get the impression that they really scraped the bottom of the barrel. The fact is, there's still some very solid stuff out there (or in the vaults, as it were). For example, what about the full-band, 4-track recording of "Do Re Mi" (if indeed this legendary recording does exist)? There are at least two other versions of "Old Age" in existence, both of which feature proper singing, unlike the unfinished outtake included here. Hopefully these gems will be released sometime in the future.
The funny thing about these "best of the box" collections is they have an awkwardly specific appeal. They're usually bought by semi-hardcore fans, who have interest but weren't willing to shell out for the actual box, and by VERY hardcore fans, who buy them for the two or three bonus tracks. If you're a Nirvana fan who didn't get the box the first time around, I highly recommend this collection. There's some truly essential stuff on here - for instance "Do Re Mi" - that deserves to be heard by all. But if you're looking for the "Holy Grail" of rock, then just toss on Nevermind or In Utero instead.
Description of Sliver: The Best of the Box By Nirvana
Nirvana changed the course of popular music forever and remains an inspiration to those who have followed. The band's musical legacy was illuminated further in November 2004 by the release of the 3-CD/1-DVD box set With the Lights Out, the definitive collection of rarities and outtakes. Now the 22-song, single-disc Sliver: The Best of the Box offers fans audio highlights from With the Lights Out with the bonus inclusion of three unreleased tracks: "Spank Thru," "Sappy," and a rehearsal recording of "Come as You Are."Alternative Rock CDs
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