![]() "Pen Cap Chew," which was apparently also a contender for their band name (thankfully they decided otherwise), was the best song on the demo and one of the earliest examples of how brilliant Kurt was as a songwriter. "Pen Cap Chew" came from Nirvana's famed first studio demo, which Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic recorded in 1988 with Melvins' Dale Crover on drums and go-to grunge producer Jack Endino (of Skin Yard) behind the boards. What's your favorite non-album Nirvana song? For each pick, I tried to point you in the direction of the version I consider the most superior, but for the Spotify playlist at the end of the post, I had to settle for whichever version was available (Spotify is still missing some key Nirvana recordings at the moment). And this isn't even counting the gorgeous MTV Unplugged in New York acoustic live album, which is worth an entire article (or book, or documentary) of its own.īecause many of Nirvana's best non-album songs were outtakes or demos, sometimes there are multiple versions of the songs on this list out there, and worthwhile new mixes continue to come out. It's fascinating to hear early live versions of songs like "Breed" and "Polly" (the latter of which was basically a punk song at first) without the shine of Nevermind, or hear how a song like Bleached fave "School" evolved over the years (and got some extra oomph added after Dave Grohl joined and revved up the drum beat), or just hear how much damn noise they could make on stage. This list is also mostly focused on studio recordings (and one radio session), but Nirvana are one of those bands where the live recordings often match the studio recordings in quality. You can read a separate list of Nirvana's 10 best cover songs HERE. As a band who came from punk and made it big in the mainstream, Nirvana used their platform to shine a light on so many of their influences that never got the popularity they deserved, and they often did that in the form of cover songs. This list is just of Nirvana's original songs, though many of their best non-album songs are covers too. There are other great ones outside of this list, and your picks probably differ from mine, but as a lifelong fan, these are the ones I find myself coming back to the most. If you're looking for a good place to start - or you're a longtime fan who might like a playlist that narrows down all of this material to the strongest moments - here is a list of Nirvana's 15 best non-album songs. Nirvana diehards probably know all of this, but approaching the hours and hours of the band's available non-album material for the first time can be intimidating. Not to mention the tons of Nirvana bootlegs that have surfaced over the years, which are home to some crucial recordings. ![]() Even the 2002 greatest hits album had non-album material. Nirvana released their first rarities compilation at the height of their success, 1992's Incesticide (which also came with a screed from Kurt Cobain that read "If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us-leave us the fuck alone! Don’t come to our shows and don’t buy our records," an awesomely bold statement from a mainstream band at the time, and one that is still powerful today), and many more B-sides, rarities, and outtakes continued to come out after Kurt's death, in the form of the With the Lights Out box set, expanded deluxe editions of studio albums, and more. He had a true knack for songwriting that came through just as clearly on shitty old demos as it came through on Nirvana's crisply recorded hits. Anytime a beloved artist dies an untimely death, their vault will be tapped for unreleased material again and again and again (there was just a new Jimi Hendrix album released last year, for example), but the gems found in Kurt Cobain's non-album discography aren't just essential because they’re all we have left. Kurt Cobain and his bandmates also made a handful of demos over the years that would increasingly see the light of day after Cobain's death, and it seemed like almost everything Kurt touched turn to gold. Nirvana came from an era where artists regularly released singles with non-album B-sides, and Nirvana's B-sides were almost always as good as the A-sides. Like The Beatles or The Smiths, some of Nirvana's best songs were never on their proper studio albums. Nirvana were around for just seven years and three full-length albums, but they left behind a massively rewarding discography that stretches far beyond the studio LPs.
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