With the Lights Out | |||||||
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Released | November 23, 2004 | ||||||
Recorded | 1987–1994 | ||||||
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Label | DGC | ||||||
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Nirvana chronology | |||||||
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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".
With the Lights Out was planned for release in 2001, but was delayed by a legal battle with Courtney Love, the widow of the Nirvana singer, Kurt Cobain. [1] As of 2016, it had sold 546,000 copies in the US. [2]
Rumors of a posthumous Nirvana anthology surfaced in the mid-1990s, not long after the death of the singer and guitarist, Kurt Cobain, in April 1994. It was reported in Kerrang! in April 1999 that the surviving Nirvana members, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, were planning a box set to be released in 2000 at the earliest. [3] It was later announced that a 45-track box set would be released in September 2001, to mark the 10th anniversary of the band's breakthrough album, Nevermind , but it was delayed by a legal battle with Cobain's widow, Courtney Love. [1] [4]
Much of the dispute centered on the unreleased song "You Know You're Right", recorded in January 1994 during the band's final studio session. Grohl and Novoselic wanted it for the box set, but Love blocked its release and sued them for control of Nirvana's legacy. [4] Love's lawsuit asserted that "the parties have fundamentally different concepts of how to manage the musical and artistic legacy of Kurt Cobain", which resulted "in a stalemate of decision making". [5] She believed that "You Know You're Right" would be "wasted" on a box set, and instead belonged on a single-disc compilation similar to the Beatles' 1 . [6]
In 2002, the legal battle was settled, and "You Know You're Right" appeared on the "best-of" compilation Nirvana . This paved the way for what became the With the Lights Out box set, which arrived in November 2004, over three years after its original release date but with more music than originally promised, including an acoustic demo of "You Know You're Right". [7]
Before the release of With the Lights Out, a promotional EP, Selections from With the Lights Out, was sent to radio stations, featuring the songs "White Lace and Strange", "Blandest", "Lithium", "Heart-Shaped Box" and "You Know You're Right" from the box set. [8] "Lithium" was also released as an exclusive iTunes downloadable single on November 22, 2004. [9] The music video for the original version of "In Bloom", made in 1990 and first released on the Sub Pop Video Network Program VHS compilation in 1991, [10] was released to music television to promote the box set. [11] [12] The video appears on the box set's DVD. An online trailer was also released for the box set, featuring footage from the DVD and audio from the three CDs. [13] [14]
With the Lights Out is packaged in heat-sensitive material which changes color when touched, revealing images of recording session tapes. [15]
Each of the three CDs loosely represents the rare recordings from three periods in Nirvana's history, in line with the band's three studio albums, Bleach , Nevermind and In Utero , which were released in 1989, 1991 and 1993 respectively. The DVD contains rare live performances and rehearsals from throughout the band's career.
It includes a 60-page booklet which contains liner notes by Thurston Moore of the American rock band Sonic Youth and the journalist Neil Strauss, as well as photographs and a chronological catalog of the band's recording history, including studio sessions, television and radio appearances, live performances and home demo recordings sessions.
The band's May 6, 1987 radio session at KAOS 89.3 FM in Olympia, Washington, is mislabeled as being from April 17, 1987. [15]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 76/100 [16] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [17] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [19] |
The Guardian | [20] |
NME | 7/10 [21] |
Pitchfork Media | 6.3/10 [22] |
PopMatters | 5/10 [23] |
Q | [24] |
Rolling Stone | [25] |
Spin | A [26] |
With the Lights Out received generally positive reviews from music critics, [16] many of whom saw it as a valuable glimpse into the band's evolution. Julian Marshall of the NME called it "a humanising, comprehensive and often heartbreaking document of a man who, in five years, changed the face of music, almost by accident". [27] John Jeremiah Sullivan of New York Magazine called it "an appropriately eccentric testament to Cobain's talent". [28]
However, several critics felt it contained too much second-rate material never intended for release. Mark Richardson of Pitchfork wrote, "Those hoping for a trove of overlooked gems will be disappointed ... Simply put, there's enough good stuff here for a solid single disc." [22] Tim O'Neil of PopMatters wrote, "The majority of the material presented here will appeal only to a select group of hardcore fans, music historians and critics." [29]
All songs written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.
Nirvana
Additional personnel
Sliver: The Best of the Box | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | November 1, 2005 | |||
Recorded | 1985–1994 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 74:24 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | DGC | |||
Nirvana chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [35] |
Blender | [36] |
Drowned in Sound | 4/10 [37] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
Pitchfork | 6.8/10 [38] |
Sliver: The Best of the Box is a compilation album by the American rock band, Nirvana, released in November 2005. It contains 19 tracks from the band's 2004 rarities box set, With the Lights Out, as well as three previously unreleased recordings: "Spank Thru", from the 1985 "Fecal Matter" demo, a 1990 studio recording of "Sappy", and a 1991 boombox demo of "Come as You Are". Sliver: The Best of the Box opened at number 21 on the Billboard 200. Nielson Soundscan reported that as of 2016, Sliver: The Best of the Box has sold 376,000 copies in the U.S. [2] [ needs update ]
According to Rolling Stone , the title and cover photograph for Sliver: The Best of the Box were chosen by Frances Bean, the daughter of Cobain and Courtney Love. The cover photograph depicts a cardboard box filled with Nirvana and Cobain tapes, including a copy of the Fecal Matter demo. Some of the tapes have spilled out of the box and are strewn across the floor. [39]
With the Lights Out
Year-end charts
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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.
Krist Anthony Novoselic is an American musician and activist. Novoselic co-founded and played bass for the rock band Nirvana.
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.
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is a live album by American rock band Nirvana, released on October 1, 1996 by DGC Records. It features live performances recorded from 1989 to 1994.
Nirvana is a greatest hits album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on October 29, 2002. It was the third Nirvana album released following the death of lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain in 1994.
"You Know You're Right" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by lead vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It is the first song on the greatest hits album Nirvana, released by DGC Records in October 2002. It is also the final song the band recorded before Cobain's suicide in April 1994.
"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.
Dale Crover is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and has also been the drummer for Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, Crystal Fairy and, for a brief time, Nirvana. He is also guitarist and vocalist for Altamont. He has toured with Fantômas, Off!, and Redd Kross. In 2016, Rolling Stone listed him as the 69th greatest drummer of all time.
"Sliver" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. It was first released as a non-album single by the band's then record label, Sub Pop, in the United States in September 1990, and by Tupelo in Britain in January 1991. The same recording was re-released on the compilation album Incesticide by DGC in December 1992, and a new music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, was released in May 1993.
"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.
Fecal Matter was a punk rock band from Aberdeen, Washington. The group was formed in 1985 by Kurt Cobain, the future frontman of Nirvana, along with Dale Crover of the Melvins and drummer Greg Hokanson. Melvins members Buzz Osborne and Mike Dillard appeared in a later version of the band during rehearsals the following year. The band was short-lived, disbanding in 1986.
"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.
"Breed" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on their second studio album, Nevermind, released in September 1991.
Nevermind, It's an Interview is the only officially released interview CD of American grunge band Nirvana. It was only a promotional release and was never commercially available. Released in limited-edition form worldwide in 1992 by Geffen Records, written, produced and engineered at WFNX Boston by Kurt St. Thomas and Troy Smith, (authors of Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects,. The original interview sessions were recorded by St. Thomas the night of Nirvana's first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1992. It contains over an hour of audio interview with live and studio recordings. The reason for its production was for radio stations world-wide to have a Nirvana interview to play because at that time the band was so popular that it was not possible for them to visit all the radio stations that were playing their music. Copies of the CD are rare and have become collectors items. However, for a limited time, the entire CD was included at the end of the iTunes version of With the Lights Out, Nirvana's posthumous box set. It is listed as:
Live at Reading is a live CD/DVD by American rock band Nirvana, released on November 2, 2009. It features the band's headlining performance at the Reading Festival in Reading, England, on August 30, 1992. Bootlegged for years, the new issues present the performance for the first time mastered and color corrected.
"Dive" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. It was released as the B-side to the band's second single, "Sliver" in September 1990. The same version was re-released as the opening track on the compilation album The Grunge Years in 1991, and again on the Nirvana rarities compilation, Incesticide, in December 1992.
"Old Age" is a song first released by the American rock band Hole, composed by Kurt Cobain of Nirvana with lyrics later written by Courtney Love. At the time of Hole's recording of the song, Love was married to Cobain.
Live at the Paramount is a live video and album by American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 2011. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc as part of the 20th anniversary of the band's second album and mainstream breakthrough, Nevermind.
"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.
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