Nirvana
Essentially a greatest-hits collection with one previously unreleased song, "You Know You're Right," and producer Scott Litt's 1994 remix of "Pennyroyal Tea,"Nirvanathe album is nevertheless a welcome addition to the band's canon. Crisp, elegant liner notes byRolling Stonewriter David Fricke put us squarely in Kurt Cobain's mindset as he entered a Seattle studio in January 1994--a full two days later than expected--to record what would be his final session with Nirvana. The resulting "You Know You're Right" locates Cobain at the apogee of his disenfranchisement with tongue nevertheless planted firmly in cheek. Bawdy, raucous, and venomous, "You Know You're Right" could have been lifted fromNevermind. A mix of tracks from that album ("Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Come as You Are," "Lithium," and "In Bloom") sits opposite stuff from early EPs and theBleachdisc ("About a Girl," "Been a Son," and "Sliver"), plus two from theMTV Unpluggedsessions and several more fromIn Utero. Not the Nirvana treasure chest we hoped for, but solid nonetheless.--Kim Hughes