Nirvana - With the Lights Out box set

...I'm opening up my bag and pulling out the new Nirvana box set, "with the lights out." Ever since it arrived at my door at 3 AM, I haven't been able to stop listening. Seriously. This box set comes with three CDs and a DVD. You get everything from live tracks to unreleased gems on the discs—mostly rare songs or unique takes on their big hits. Then there's the DVD, packed with concert footage and home videos of rehearsals and stuff. Plus, the booklet is thick, filled with photos of the band starting from their early days and moving through the years. Based on the online reviews, I wasn't expecting much. But now that I actually have it in my hands? I can tell you right now, this thing is a must-have.👍 total nirvana!🙂

As for $233 (given what the local distributor charged for this)—it’s definitely not a "must-have"... unless you happen to have a wealthy family backing you up...😁

Daniel Bailey7 said:Given $233 (considering what the local distributor charged) it’s definitely not a "must-have"... unless you've got money to burn...😁

$233? Man... mine cost me $400, but I didn't pick it up here in the States. So I'm really not sure what the going rate is locally.

My sources are telling me it’s looking like 450 plus tax

dead straight
defect defect
not so straight after all
reject reject
tormented so-so solo solo
stuck on the stairs
freezing morning
zero sleep energy field
mayday mayday
gonna bail on this area
take me with you
insane seven

🙂 🙂

nice, whatever...

If you’re a massive Nirvana fan—which, honestly, is the only way to be—and you’ve got that deep, sentimental connection to the band that most people keep close to the chest, you seriously need this release.

In the liner notes, Neil Strauss mentions doing this little study where he polled 30 teenagers during an afternoon at a local Tower Records, and only 11 of them had even heard of Nirvana. Now, if we were talking about Sonic Youth, it wouldn't even be a shocker, but Nirvana was quite literally the most significant band on the planet in the early nineties, especially when you factor in that massive commercial explosion. Eleven out of thirty. That's less than half. And these weren't just random kids; these were the teens actually hanging out in record stores looking for music.

But then again, what’s the actual metric for a band like that? Does popularity come down to the quality of the music, the quality of the fans, or some weird mix of both? You have to wonder how much they managed to bridge the gap between totally incompatible groups of people, or to what extent it was just a messy fusion of subcultures. I won't get too bogged down in all those heavy philosophical questions that a band as legendary as Nirvana invites.

To wrap things up, here’s the final word from Thurston Moore in his liner notes:

Nirvana expressed anger, amusement, satire, defeat, emotion and debate. They just wanted to be part of the scene they began with and were so inspired by. Their music ruled so hard that they became so much more - whether they liked it or not. Maybe they felt they were losing touch at the end there but we always knew, no matter how high up they flew, they could never ever really leave us.

So what, we’re basing everything on some study done with thirty kids?

I’m positive those thirty kids all know who Britney Spears is...
but on the flip side, if even one of those thirty knows who Dredg is, I’m calling bullshit. Right now.

I don't like Nirvana. Never have.

The only thing big about Nirvana is how the media turned them into absolute clowns, and they were dumb enough to just roll with it. And all that hype surrounding the suicide... they just manufactured a martyr out of him, and why? Because he was a junkie. That's it. How many kids survive shitty divorces or domestic abuse at home without turning into a complete wuss and spiraling on drugs and whining every single day?

There were plenty of more influential bands before and after Nirvana. Give me a break...

And what exactly is supposed to be so musically revolutionary about Nirvana?
Like, you guys had never heard punk rock before?

Bullshit...
🙂

wiredfalcon2 said:The only thing that matters is how the media turned that band into a total joke, and they were stupid enough to just roll over and take it. (...) Just another junkie and nothing more... I mean, look at how many kids survive shitty divorces or domestic abuse only to end up as pathetic addicts who whine about their problems every single day.

Who exactly is giving us this shallow little lecture, acting all high and mighty with their amateur psychology?

np The Last - She Loves You

and who exactly is this genius pretending they know anything about psychology?

Man, you are such a simpleton. Honestly, thank God you’re only fifteen—maybe that black-and-white way of seeing the world will save you from the absolute mess life becomes later on😉. And did you even bother to listen to Nirvana? I can't bring myself to be angry at you—even if you're just spinning in circles and offering nothing but empty sweet talk🙂
Hang in there, champ. We need more people like you👍

I’m actually dying over here.... loooooool.

I see those little wishes you've got scribbled on the wall... and honestly? I don't care.
I watch you scramble just to make a phone call... acting like you're finally free....
Your life and mine... they aren't even in the same universe....
And that's just how it is...

thanks.

Oh, you’re such a sweetheart—dropping little poems in the replies like that🙂 man, those teenage years really were something else, weren't they?👍
Hang in there, champ—keep on rocking, yeahh👋

What actually pairs best with SY 😲
?

Look, man, a signal and an answer just aren't the same thing—they're completely different beasts.👎

Timothy Jones85 said:you’re just a simple guy. thank goodness you’re only fifteen, because maybe that black-and-white worldview will help you avoid this fate...😉 haven't you realized Nirvana was just music? I can only feel sad about it, certainly not angry at you, no matter how much you try to sugarcoat things...🙂
keep it up, man, we need people like you 👍

Why does everyone insist on saying, "You don't get Nirvana"? What is there to actually "get" that's so damn profound? It was just three albums made by guys playing instruments because they were bored...
And honestly, if every person started acting like this after their parents got divorced... God help us all...🙂

I didn't come here to talk trash, but every single Nirvana fan I've ever run into treats them like some kind of deity, yet nobody ever points out that Kurt Cobain was just another common addict, and those are easy to find on any street corner in America...🙄 😕

Rebecca Chase87 said:I didn't come here to talk trash.

But I guess you're feeling a little defensive all of a sudden, huh?

Hey, wiredfalcon2! You're being ridiculous.

(I know I'm not usually like this, but what else am I supposed to say to him?)

Rebecca Chase87 said:I didn't come here to talk trash, but honestly, every Nirvana fan I've run into treats Kurt Cobain like some kind of deity. Nobody ever points out he was just another damn junkie, and there's no shortage of those around here..

Maybe try having an actual opinion tomorrow, because right now you're just talking nonsense. 🙂

Defending Nirvana?!?😕 From who, exactly? You? 😂

If they actually needed something to kill off people like you and wiredfalcon2.. they would've titled their third album 'Insecticide.'😁

.. and by the way, it's "outshone," not "overtaken." And frankly, I'd rather see you get tossed out of this forum for wasting perfectly good English on such mindless drivel. 🙂 Since we're on the subject of judging people: nobody treated his addiction like a moral failure. Anyone with half a brain or a shred of empathy could see past the needle and the habit to realize we're talking about a truly unique individual... someone whose work actually touched people's lives.

Ugh, just thinking about this makes me want to go listen to... Smells Like Teen Spirit.

😍 😵 🙂 🙂 🙂

Timothy Jones85 said:you're such a sweetheart, coming back with these little rhymes🙂 damn, puberty sounds lovely👍
hang in there, champ, keep on rockin' yeahh👋

not sure if puberty is actually "lovely," I haven't even hit that stage yet...
😢

@ Daniel Bailey7; why isn't anyone listening to System of a Down during puberty?
@ hollowseal33; LOL
@ Walter Foster52; yeah, like whatever...

My question is... after realizing that about 90% of music articles whenever a new band pops up start with the phrase... "influenced by Nirvana..." which led me to the realization that they were influenced by Nirvana....

radiohead (hahahahahahahaha)
muse (hahahahahahahahaha)
franz ferdinand (hahahahhahahahaha)

so what is this, every single band that uses guitars is somehow under the Nirvana umbrella?

seems to me that, say, in the 90s, a way more influential band was The Prodigy, who shaped the entire scene that had any connection to electronic music, and they did it so hard that people basically just copied their musical tricks and vibes, eventually even bleeding into rock (Rage Against the Machine, for example—read up on what they were trying to pull off with Street Fighting Man, trying to sound like Prodigy)... and don't try to sell me that crap about the club scene being smaller or less important than some quasi-grunge movement. please...

or look at hip-hop today... it's broken into every genre... from R&B to metal... (even Thom is trying to rap in Wolf at the Door)... whereas grunge, besides not being revolutionary (we had punk-rock before it), didn't break through or influence anyone outside of a bunch of depressed kids with long hair... of which there were many, but the other crowd was way, way bigger....

trash.

"Nirvana was definitely the most influential band of the 90s"
"Actually, I think Radiohead had a bigger impact"
"RATM is basically just trying to sound like Radiohead"
"Thom Yorke is in the house!"
"Dredg is just part of the general vibe"

This stuff hits harder than a double espresso☕