December 14, 1992 - Incesticide

A little over a month after my last release and a little over a year since their breakthrough album "Nevermind", Nirvana released a compilation album titled "Incesticide" on December 14, 1992. It's comprised of mostly B-sides (and a few covers) from several past recording sessions and there are several different drummers depending on when the recordings took place. Five tracks feature early drummer Dale Crover, three feature Chad Channing (who was the drummer for their debut "Bleach"), one with a drummer named Dan Peters and six with current drummer Dave Grohl. Nirvana's record label Geffen Records wanted to cash in on Nirvana's huge popularity and Kurt Cobain only agreed to the release of this compilation album because he got complete control over the album's artwork (which is pretty strange and creepy looking). Let's check out some old/new Nirvana!

The album begins with "Dive" which has Channing on drums and a nice dirty and grunge-y main riff played on guitar and bass; it sounds right out of the sessions for "Bleach"! Kurt sings kinda soft in the verse and yells the name of the song lots in the chorus. It's pretty simple but it's a solid tune. Up next is "Sliver" the only song with Peters on drums. Novoselic leads the way with a catchy bass riff and the line "Grandma take me home" is sung over and over. The song is about being dropped off at your grandparents while your parents are out at a show and it apparently sucks! It's a short and pretty repetitive song but it's certainly a headbanger and Kurt's voice sounds pretty good when he's not repeating that one line. Track 3 is called "Stain" and has Channing on drums again. It's another simple but solid and grunge-y main riff and Kurt's yelled vocals sound pretty good. Cobain plays a pretty long guitar solo and it sounds pretty good and matches the mood nicely. The next song is "Been A Son" and the next five songs all have Dave Grohl on drums. This one is under two minutes as they kick right into a catchy main riff and never really stray away from it. Kurt holds some longer notes in the verse and then repeats "she should've been a son" in the chorus. There's no solo, just a louder instrumental part in the middle, then it's back to the main riff to close it out. Track 5 is "Turnaround", a Devo cover, which seems like a weird choice. A nice drum beat by Grohl starts it off, there's some dirty bass by Novoselic and Cobain does some weird pronunciations of words in this one that sound interesting overtop this upbeat riff. It's an interesting shift for Nirvana but I think they did a good job covering a pop song. Up next is "Molly's Lips", another cover, this time of The Vaselines. It's driven by a simple, very Nirvana-esque main riff and Cobain sings in a nice high voice. The chorus is just "kiss kiss Molly's lips" and it's a pretty repetitive song that's also under two minutes long. Track 7 is called "Son Of A Gun" and it's another Vaselines cover that's driven by a simple, loud guitar riff and some loud drums by Grohl as well. Kurt sings in a bit of a lighter voice on this one and it is a little repetitive, but it sounds like another typical early Nirvana song. Up next is "(New Wave) Polly" and it's a sped up version of "Polly" from "Nevermind", it's about 4 times faster than the original! Everyone plays some nice fast stuff and Grohl's drums sound pretty tight. I love this essentially metal version, it's pretty sweet! Track 9 is "Beeswax" and Dale Crover is on drums for the next four tracks and he starts this one off with an interesting drum beat and then some dirty, grunge-y guitar comes in. Cobain is pretty incoherent on this song: he is singing words but he's almost mumbling in the verse and he sounds pretty raw in the chorus. I like the grunginess of this song. The next song is "Downer" and Novoselic plays a pretty sweet bass riff while Kurt sings some pretty fast lyrics. There's some nice heavy guitars at times and for a song that's under two minutes it's rapid fire the whole way through and it's a solid little tune. Track 11 is "Mexican Seafood", a nice fast-paced main riff with solid drums, bass and guitar. Kurt's vocals aren't his best in this one, but the music is pretty cool, especially a nice and heavy instrumental part in the middle. Up next is "Hairspray Queen" and this song is very offbeat and interesting and has a cool bass riff by Novoselic and some nice distorted and super high guitar from Cobain. That same description fits his vocals as well as Kurt sings in a difficult to understand and quite high voice that fits the mood perfectly. This is the kind of song that some would call "noise" and I would call unique and entertaining. Kurt plays a nice dirty solo in the middle and then follows that with a more tame version of the verse before getting loud again to finish it off. Track 13 is called "Aero Zeppelin" and it starts us off with a pretty slow riff led by solo solos guitar from Kurt and he also sings quietly along to match the mood. The chorus is instrumental in a nice twist and it's pretty rockin too! A nice headbanger that leads into a much louder and cooler next verse. After another chorus Kurt delivers a lengthy guitar solo and it sounds pretty sweet! It leads nicely back into the headbanging chorus before they close out the song as it opened. The next song has Channing on drums once again and it's called "Big Long Now". Ut's just over five minutes long and it's much slower paced than the last song with a slow rhythm section and a simple guitar riff that Kurt quietly sings some long notes overtop of.  The chorus is still slow but it's a little heavier and Kurt sings a bit louder to make things more interesting. Repeat for a few more verses and choruses. The final song on the album is "Aneurysm" and with Grohl on drums for this one he adds to an epic opening that slowly builds until it reaches a pretty cool fast-paced main riff. Kurt sings a solid verse to match the mood and he sounds great. Verse and chorus are both pretty catchy and there's lots of cool guitars from Kurt on this one.

That is the end of "Incesticide" and I thought it was a pretty solid album for a B-side/compilation album. I don't think it's as good as either of their studio albums, but it's not supposed to be when these songs were left off those albums in the first place. There were still several cool songs on this album and all of them contributed something I thought. I think this successfully satisfied the craving for more Nirvana and it makes it even less of a gap until their next studio release. This also happens to be my last album of the year and so begins the year-end wrap-up! 10 albums this year is a decent number and there were lots of good ones, including a couple cool EPs!

Favourite song of the year: With honorable mentions to "Jordrok" by Anglagard and "Walk" by Pantera, I think my favourite song of the year was "Metropolis Part I" by Dream Theater. The nearly ten minute epic is a fantastic song with some amazing stuff from all the talented musicians in Dream Theater and it's hard to find anything better than that.

Top 5 Albums of the Year

1. Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera
2. Images and Words by Dream Theater
3. Dirt by Alice in Chains
4. Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine
5. Hybris by Anglagard

All five of these albums were pretty sweet but Pantera's latest offering was a relentless metal ride the whole way through and takes the top spot this year. Shout out to "Opiate" by Tool as well which was a great debut EP. 1992 seems like a pretty solid year, I can't wait to dive into '93 as we move through the decade!