Amazon.co.uk Review
And so, in the fiscally dark years between
Nevermind and the much-delayed
In Utero, Geffen Records cobbled together a pile of Nirvana b-sides and out-takes, and were so glad they had something to bleed the hungry grunge-hordes dry with that they allowed Cobain to give it the poisonous title
Incesticide. As cash-ins go, it's one of the more essential ones: obviously there simply aren't that many Kurt Cobain songs in existence, and the inclusion of the incredibly rare single "Sliver" and the insanely catchy "Mexican Seafood" will gladden any Nirvana fan's heart. The 50s' pop parody of "Hairspray Queen" reminds us that--hey!--Kurt was a funny guy too, and "Aero Zeppelin" and "Big Long Now" would hardly look out of place on either
Nevermind or
In Utero. And the liner-notes--a Cobain-penned rant begging all jocks, homophobes, racists and sexists not to buy his records--are a piece of rock history in their own right.
--Caitlin Moran
CD Description
More than just a b-sides collection, INCESTICIDE culls together Nirvana's work before and around their now-legendary albums. Released between the groundbreaking NEVERMIND and the artsier IN UTERO, the rarities and outtakes which make up this album shed new light on Nirvana's oeuvre, filling in the gaps between official releases and providing fans with a wider variety of recordings from different sources.
Highlights include three covers, taken from John Peel sessions: a Devo tune ("Turnaround") and two songs by Scotland's The Vaselines, whose purposefully vapid pop magic is given the force of a juggernaut, with the minimal production that best showcases the Nirvana's aggressive grace. The famous quasi-live recording conditions of the BBC sessions provide another standout, the surging, desperate "Aneurysm", which remains one of Nirvana's finest recorded moments.