Written by: Rob Latham
Grunge legends Nirvana‘s epic 1992 show at England’s Reading Festival has finally been released on CD and DVD.
Recorded at the very height of Nirvana fever on the back of the release of Nevermind, one of the greatest rock albums of all time, clearly none of the songs are going to be new but still it is very much worth a purchase, as it’s not very often you get to here Nirvana at their magnificently raw best.
Cobain’s trademark vocal sounds, which sound as though his throat is about to rip out of his neck, combined with his unmistakably classic guitar sound is enough to make the hair on the back of the arms stand up as you listen to the band clatter through their greatest hits.
The album, recorded at the show best remembered for Cobain being pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair looking like Norman Bates’ mother, opens up with the brutal “Breed” then launches into the huge “Aneurysm,” my personal all-time favorite Nirvana track.
The pure energy that Nirvana brought to their live shows is evident in abundance with head-banging, hair-throwing, air guitar inducing tracks like “School,” “Tourette’s” and “Territorial Pissings,” which brings an end to a fantastic gig with Cobain’s small rendition of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Star Spangled Banner.”
All the Nirvana classics, of course, make an appearance with the staple inclusion of the track that launched them “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” along with an excellent performance of “Come As You Are,” “In Bloom” and “About A Girl.”
But the thing this album reminds us of is that Nirvana was not all about the big singles, the tracks that steal the limelight are the lesser known songs like “Drain You,” “Been A Son,” “Blew” and the spine tingling “On A Plain.”
This album makes me sorely regret the fact I was born a few years too early to see this amazing band perform live in the flesh, but this is an amazing reminder of what our generation missed out on. The chance to see and hear Cobain at his raw best cannot be missed.
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