Origin and recording
Early history
"Dive" was first recorded in the studio in the spring of 1989 at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The session was produced by Evergreen student Greg Babior, and was the band's only studio session with second guitarist Jason Everman, [2] who was credited on their 1989 debut album, Bleach , but did not play on it. The session also resulted in a cover of the Kiss song "Do You Love Me?", which was released on Hard to Believe: A Kiss Covers Compilation in 1990. However, this version of "Dive" remained unreleased until its appearance on the Nirvana box set, With the Lights Out , in November 2004. [2]
"Dive" was performed for the first time live on May 26, 1989 at the Lindbloom Student Centre of Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington. On November 1, 1989, it was recorded along with "About a Girl" and "Love Buzz" for the VPRO radio show Nozems-a-Go-Go at Villa 65 in Hilversum, Netherlands.
"Sliver" single
A second studio version was recorded by Butch Vig, who later produced the band's breakthrough album, Nevermind , in April 1990 at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. This version was released twice by the band's then-label, Sub Pop, first as the B-side to the "Sliver" single in September 1990, and then on the compilation album The Grunge Years in June 1991.
Post-"Sliver" single
In December 1992, the same version of "Dive" was re-released by DGC Records, the major label the band had signed with in 1991, on the Nirvana rarities compilation, Incesticide. As on the "Sliver" single, it appeared back-to-back with "Sliver," but was the album's opening track.
The final live rendition of "Dive" was an impromptu version played at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio on October 31, 1993.
Release and reception
The "Sliver" single was first released on 7-inch vinyl in the US in 1990 by Sub Pop. The initial run of 3,000 copies was pressed on black, marbled blue, or clear pink vinyl. [6] It was released on CD single, 7-inch vinyl and 12-inch vinyl in the UK in 1991 on the Tupelo record label.
Reviewing Incesticide for Entertainment Weekly in December 1992, David Browne described "Dive" as "a 1988 pile driver" that "embodies everything wonderful about Nirvana: the one-two-three punch of thudding guitar riffs, rubbery bass lines (Chris Novoselic is the band’s unheralded linchpin), and Cobain’s lozenge-craving roar fighting to be heard through layers of boredom and rage, which all combine to form something both cathartic and moving." [7]
The single was re-released on silver 7-inch vinyl on 26 March 2021 by Jackpot Records and it is limited to 1,000 copies. [8] [9]
Legacy
In a July 2018 retrospective review of Incesticide, Pitchfork's Jenn Pelly wrote that "in the crests and punches and crashes of 'Dive,' Cobain shows all the contours and shapes he could carve with his voice," and that "like the best of Nirvana, 'Dive' validates pain while tacitly pulling you out from beneath it, depressive and buoyant in each breath, making the sunken feeling soar." [10]
In 2015, "Dive" was ranked at number six on Rolling Stone's No Apologies: All 102 Nirvana Songs Ranked list, with Maura Johnston calling it "a tense and furtive pop song in spite of itself." [11] In 2017, it was voted eight on Rolling Stones's reader's poll of non-album Nirvana songs. [12]
According to the 2001 Cobain biography Heavier than Heaven by Charles R. Cross, Cobain's future wife, Courtney Love, was impressed with the song upon hearing the "Sliver" single for the first time, calling it "sexy, and sexual, and strange and haunting," and describing it as "genius." [13]
Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, before recruiting Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Despite a short mainstream career spanning only three years, their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture.
Incesticide is a compilation album by the American rock band Nirvana. It consists of their 1990 non-album single "Sliver", B-sides, demos, outtakes, cover versions, and radio broadcast recordings, and as such is not the official follow-up to the band's breakthrough album, Nevermind. The album was released on December 14, 1992, in Europe, and December 15, 1992, in the United States. It eventually reached number 39 on the Billboard 200.
Bleach is the debut studio album by American rock band Nirvana, released on June 15, 1989, by Sub Pop. After the release of their debut single "Love Buzz" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana rehearsed for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album. The main recording sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989. It is the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop label and their only studio album to feature drummer Chad Channing.
With the Lights Out is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. The title comes from the lyrics of Nirvana's 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The box set was planned for release in 2001, but was delayed by a legal battle with Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain. As of 2016, With the Lights Out had sold 546,000 copies in the US.
"In Bloom" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the second track on the band's second album, Nevermind, released by DGC Records in September 1991.
"Rape Me" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in September 1993.
"Lithium" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the fifth track on the band's second album Nevermind, released by DGC Records in September 1991.
"Sliver" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic.
"Blew" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the first song on the band's debut album Bleach, released in June 1989 by Sub Pop.
"Dumb" is a song by the American rock band, Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the sixth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in 1993.
"All Apologies" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the final track on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released by DGC Records in September 1993. The song closes the American version of the album, while non-US versions of In Utero feature an additional song, "Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip," which begins after approximately 20 minutes of silence on the same track.
"About a Girl" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the third song on their debut album, Bleach, released in June 1989.
"Aneurysm" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl. It first appeared as a B-side on the band's breakthrough "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single in September 1991. A second studio version was released on the rarities compilation, Incesticide, in December 1992.
"Candy"/"Molly's Lips" is a vinyl-only split-single from the American rock bands the Fluid and Nirvana. It was released in January 1991 on Sub Pop records and includes two live tracks: "Candy" by the Fluid; and "Molly's Lips", a cover of a song by the Vaselines, performed by Nirvana.
"Been a Son" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It was originally released on the Blew EP in November 1989, which charted at number 15 on the UK Indie Singles chart.
"Sappy" is a song by the American rock band, Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It was first released as a hidden track on the AIDS-benefit compilation album, No Alternative, in October 1993.
"Scentless Apprentice" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl, and bassist Krist Novoselic. It is the second track on their third and final studio album In Utero, released in September 1993.
"Spank Thru" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears on the compilation album Sub Pop 200, released in December 1988.
"I Hate Myself and Want to Die" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It was first released in November 1993 as the first track on The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience compilation album which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200.
