With The Lights Out

Nirvana - With The Lights Out

With The Lights Out
List Price: $59.98
Our Price: $37.99
You Save: $21.99 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.99 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album


(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Artist: Nirvana
Brand: Music CD
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2004-11-23
Music Label: Geffen Records
Product features:
  • Disc 1
  • 1.Heartbreaker [Live] - 2:59
  • 2.Anorexorcist - 2:44
  • 3.White Lace and Strange - 2:09
  • 4.Help Me I'm Hungry - 2:41
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Heartbreaker [Live][#]
  2. Anorexorcist [#]
  3. White Lace and Strange [#]
  4. Help Me I'm Hungry [#]
  5. Mrs. Butterworth [#]
  6. If You Must [#][Demo Version]
  7. Pen Cap Chew [#][Demo Version]
  8. Downer [Live][#]
  9. Floyd the Barber [Live][#]
  10. Raunchola/Moby Dick [Live][#]
  11. Beans [Acoustic][#]
  12. Don't Want It All [Acoustic][#]
  13. Clean up Before She Comes [Acoustic][#]
  14. Polly [Acoustic][#]
  15. About a Girl [Acoustic][#]
  16. Blandest [#][Demo Version]
  17. Dive [#][Demo Version]
  18. They Hung Him on a Cross [#][Demo Version]
  19. Grey Goose [#][Demo Version]
  20. Ain't It a Shame [#][Demo Version]
  21. Token Eastern Song [#][Demo Version]
  22. Even in His Youth [#][Demo Version]
  23. Polly [#][Demo Version]
Music CD 2
  1. Opinion [Acoustic][#]
  2. Lithium [Acoustic][#]
  3. Been a Son [Acoustic][#]
  4. Sliver [Acoustic][#]
  5. Where Did You Sleep Last Night? [Acoustic][#]
  6. Pay to Play [Demo Version]
  7. Here She Comes Now [Demo Version]
  8. Drain You [#][Demo Version]
  9. Aneurysm [Demo Version]
  10. Smells Like Teen Spirit [#][Demo Version]
  11. Breed [Rough Mix][#]
  12. Verse Chorus Verse [#][Outtake]
  13. Old Age [#][Outtake]
  14. Endless, Nameless [#]
  15. Dumb [#]
  16. D-7 [#]
  17. Oh, the Guilt
  18. Curmudgeon
  19. Return of the Rat [Outtake]
  20. Smells Like Teen Spirit [Butch Vig Mix]
Music CD 3
  1. Rape Me [Acoustic][#]
  2. Rape Me [#][Demo Version]
  3. Scentless Apprentice [#][Demo Version]
  4. Heart Shaped Box [#][Demo Version]
  5. I Hate Myself and Want to Die
  6. Milk It [#][Demo Version]
  7. M.V. [#][Demo Version]
  8. Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip
  9. The Other Improv [#][Demo Version]
  10. Serve the Servants [Acoustic][#]
  11. Very Ape [Acoustic][#]
  12. Pennyroyal Tea [Acoustic][#]
  13. Marigold
  14. Sappy [AKA Verse Chorus Verse] [#]
  15. Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam [#][Demo Version]
  16. Do Re Mi [Acoustic][#]
  17. You Know You're Right [Acoustic][#]
  18. All Apologies [Acoustic][#]

Music reviews of With The Lights Out

Music Review: A complete mess, stick with the boots...
Rating: 2 Stars

Now the long-awaited box arrives, bearing three music discs, a live DVD, notes by Thurston Moore, a wonderfully obsessive recording history (though no discography), and ugly metallic packaging that would have made Cobain, an accomplished visual artist, throw up. Only nine of the set's 51 tracks have been previously released (though many have been bootlegged), and those are culled from B-sides and compilation appearances. It's a scruffy hodgepodge of solo acoustic and full-band demos, radio shots, and live recordings, hugely variable in terms of sound, songwriting, and performance quality.

So, first, the bad news: Those hoping for a trove of overlooked gems will be disappointed, as too much of With the Lights Out sounds like nothing so much as a dull-edged instrument lifting flakes of material from the bottom of a barrel. Simply put, there's enough good stuff here for a solid single disc. Beyond padding the release to box-set length, why include a sub-Barlow stab at four-track tape manipulation ("Beans"), two versions of "Polly" to go with the four already released (every Nirvana record on Geffen except In Utero features this middling song), two demos of "Rape Me" showcasing Cobain at his self-conscious worst, and a number of live tracks that sound like they were recorded on overused speech cassettes? If tossed-off experiments and poorly recorded demos of familiar songs are fair game, one imagines the Nirvana vaults stretching into bottomless "Dick's Picks" infinity.

Still, the live and demo overkill can't erase Cobain's status as a great songwriter and (usually) one of rock's best vocalists, so there's still a fair amount of content here to enjoy. "If You Must" and "Pen Cap Chew" immortalize pre-Bleach Nirvana as self-loathing, drop-tuned stoners-- endearing qualities that never quite disappeared from their better known recordings. "Even in His Youth" has that classic combination of short, tense verses with a defusing swoop of chorus. And 1991's "Old Age" is loose and midtempo, showing Cobain stretching himself melodically, breaking free of the clipped phrases and soft/loud style that was serving him so well at the time.

Elsewhere, "Verse Chorus Verse" is a completely different song than the one released under the same name on the No Alternative compilation (that one was originally called "Sappy", and is also included here), but shows a similar easy restraint. The nine-minute instrumental jam on "Scentless Apprentice" was also worth rescuing, showing the lumbering riff monster Nirvana could summon when in the mood. Additionally, versions of four Leadbelly songs, including "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", document Cobain's strange obsession with the early folk singer.

Oddly, despite its big holiday marketing push, this is probably a set for the Nirvana fanatics in search of a complete picture of the band, particularly because many of its pleasures are purely historical. There's no definitive date on the horribly recorded rehearsal demo of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" but it's interesting to note that the structure of the song, down to the tiniest detail, was already complete. And Cobain's off-the-chain scream is completely exhilarating despite the bad sound. Same goes for "Dive", which remains powerful though the band is ragged and Cobain can't quite muster the vocal power of the Incesticide version.

About 20 of these tracks are solo acoustic demos, offering a leering look into Cobain's creative process. One thing we learn is that he wasn't a good acoustic guitarist, at least not when he was sitting at home on whatever he was on. The sloppy strumming on "Sliver" and "Pennyroyal Tea" is distracting, but not nearly as disconcerting as the solo demo of "Rape Me", on which Cobain seems to be struggling to maintain consciousness. This is where the box set makes you feel a little gross, pawing through the musical equivalent of Cobain's journals, listening to things he never intended to release.

The DVD, on the other hand, includes some more lighthearted voyeuristic moments that are the highlight of the box. The first nine tracks are given over to a 1988 rehearsal at Novoselic's mom's house, and it's a huge kick to see Cobain and Novoselic so young and goofy, hanging out with a few neighborhood dudes and jamming like any other local band. For whatever reason, Cobain sings facing a wall with his nose two inches from the simulated wood paneling. They have a ball with Zep ("Immigrant Song"), but then they bust out "About a Girl" and we remember that this is not your everyday garage band. When they crank up the strobe light and hold a bottle of Rainier up to the camera, it's adorable enough that you might feel inclined to hug somebody. Fittingly, most of the remainder of the DVD features pre-fame shows and miscellaneous tour footage; technically, it's generally of poor quality, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Though With the Lights Out is in many respects unsatisfying and shows Geffen to be rudderless with their handling of the Nirvana legacy, in the end, it's nearly enough that it documents so much material we haven't heard a million times before. And despite the complete predictability and heavy-handedness of closing the set with the solo demo of "All Apologies", the effect is still emotionally devastating. When Cobain was numb on heroin he missed the comfort in being sad, and if nothing else, With the Lights Out brings us back to this nourishing place.
More With The Lights Out free music reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Description of With The Lights Out

The box set spans Nirvana's entire career, from a recording of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" at the band's first show in 1987 to solo acoustic performances from singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain in 1994. With The Lights Out features a 60-page color booklet with rare photos and liner notes by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and writer Neil Strauss. The three CDs, arranged largely chronologically contains home and rehearsal demos, including for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (whose lyric "With the lights out" provides the set's title), "Rape Me," "Heart Shaped Box" and a trio penned by legendary bluesman Leadbelly. Heard in the 12 previously unreleased solo acoustic tracks are such gems as "All Apologies," "Lithium" and "Sliver." Six previously unreleased radio performances range from "Anorexorcist" in 1987 to "Dumb" in 1991 (two years before it was on 1993's In Utero). Along with the remaining debuts are a handful of earlier issued, though rare, b-sides and demos as well as the original Butch Vig mix of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Highlighted on the With The Lights Out DVD is a previously unreleased video of nine songs performed in 1988 at bassist Krist Novoselic's mother's house in Aberdeen, Washington; the rare "In Bloom" Sub Pop music video, and 10 never-before-seen live performances. Noteworthy among them are debut renditions of "Pennyroyal Tea", "Smells Like Teen Spirit" both from early 1991. Also premiering is an unlikely performance of Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen's "Seasons In The Sun" shot at a Rio de Janeiro studio.
Nirvana may have been the biggest thing in the music world in the early '90s, but the trio maintained an uncommon devotion to core fans who knew them when they were still sleeping in a van. Fending off the adoration of punk-rock dabblers in the media and their audience while simultaneously welcoming stalwart underground-music supporters, Kurt Cobain did things on his own terms--until it all came crashing down. A decade after Cobain's 1994 suicide and the band's demise, With the Lights Out remains true to the ethos that defined the band and the alt-rock revolution that rose and fell with them.

Eschewing the standard hits-sprinkled-with-rarities mix, this lovingly compiled three-CD, one-DVD collection is made up almost entirely of previously unreleased selections. The handful of previously heard tracks are obscurities along the lines of the group's cover of "Here She Comes Now," recorded for a 1990 indie-rock tribute to the Velvet Underground. But it's not the B-sides and compilation oddities that define this idiosyncratic set; rather, its spirit is captured in the bedroom demos, radio performances, and sloppy amateur video recordings that catch Cobain and cohorts developing from just another punk- and metal-inspired bunch of grunge rockers pounding away in the bass player's mom's living room into a band that defined an era. --Steven Stolder

Alternative Rock CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Alternative Rock CDs
Maniacal Laughter ImageBouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter
Release date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Parallel Lines ImageBlondie - Parallel Lines
Release date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $397.77
L.A. Woman ImageDoors - L.A. Woman
Release date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $199.99
Phallus Dei ImageAmon Duul - Phallus Dei
Release date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops: $18.98
Melrose ImageTangerine Dream - Melrose
Release date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Private Music of Tangerine Dream ImageTangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine Dream
Release date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $11.98
Ska Explosion [VHS] ImageSka Explosion [VHS]
Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $16.98
Little Earthquakes [VHS] ImageLittle Earthquakes [VHS]
Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $16.98
Exile ImageExile
by Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
Louder Than Live [VHS] ImageSoundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]
A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $14.98
Similar CDs
MTV Unplugged in New York ImageNirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York
Release date: 1994-11-01; Published: 1994; Music CD
Best price: $4.91
Price in other shops: $10.99
Nirvana: Live at the Paramount [Blu-ray] ImageNirvana: Live at the Paramount [Blu-ray]
Uni; Release date: 2012-01-10; Blu-ray
Best price: $19.13
Price in other shops: $29.98
Journals ImageJournals
by Kurt Cobain
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2003-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.85
Price in other shops: $25.00
Nirvana - Live! Tonight! Sold Out! ImageNirvana - Live! Tonight! Sold Out!
Uni; Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $8.28
Price in other shops: $19.98
Live at Reading [CD/DVD] ImageNirvana - Live at Reading [CD/ DVD]
Release date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $12.43
Price in other shops: $34.99
Nirvana: Unplugged In New York ImageNirvana: Unplugged In New York
Uni; Release date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $8.26
Price in other shops: $19.98
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah ImageNirvana - From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah
Release date: 1996-10-01; Music CD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops: $13.98
Incesticide ImageNirvana - Incesticide
Release date: 1992-12-15; Music CD
Best price: $3.43
Price in other shops: $11.98
Bleach (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) ImageNirvana - Bleach (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
Release date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $15.98
In Utero ImageNirvana - In Utero
Release date: 1993-09-21; Published: 1993; Music CD
Best price: $2.92
Price in other shops: $11.98
Books | DVD Video | VHS Video | Health and Personal Care | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware | Sports Equipment | Dresses shirts shoes apparel pants
Copyright © 2004-2007 music-hills.com
Google
 
Web music-hills.com
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles