Amazon.co.uk Review
Kurt Cobain's former bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl clearly had an agenda in compiling
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, the second of what will no doubt be a long line of posthumous Nirvana albums. Because of its sombre, intense nature, the first post-Cobain release,
MTV Unplugged in New York, was largely perceived as music for a wake-an impression reinforced by MTV's constant airings of the special in the days following Cobain's suicide. But that acoustic detour aside, the Nirvana live experience was always about displaying a lust for life-not a death wish-with all the energy the musicians could muster.
Wishkah offers 16 songs spanning the band's career, all delivered in the loudest, most frenzied, and sometimes the sloppiest versions imaginable. In the opening "Intro", a snippet of pre-show noise, Cobain screams his heart out in joyful contrast to the haunted screams on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night". Then the group launches into "School," which ends with the spirited chorus, "Don't be sad." Indeed, it's impossible to dwell on the maudlin when listening to these renditions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Sliver", "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Negative Creep"--they're too loud and too full of life. But while it should be applauded,
Wishkah isn't the great lost Nirvana album--there are no unheard gems to add to the catalogue--and in the end, it isn't nearly as essential as any of the band's studio albums--or even the downbeat but revelatory
Unplugged.
--Jim Derogatis
CD Description
The electric smashes and thrashes compiled on FROM THE MUDDY BANKS OF THE WISHKAH were originally intended as half of adouble album; the other half would have been the acoustic show released as MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK. But after Kurt Cobain's death, UNPLUGGED was released on its own, and the task of putting together a live electric disc was put aside fora couple years.
Now completed, FROM THE MUDDY BANKS OF THE WISHKAH (named for a river that cuts through Nirvana's hometown, Aberdeen, Washington) serves as a perfect mirror to UNPLUGGED. Where that one offered a recontextualisation of Nirvana's oeuvre, this one offers a reaffirmation of the band's raw power. All the elements that made the band a legend are present here: piledriver rhythm section, scabrous guitar work that combines a Neil Young-ish tone with a punk sensibility, and Cobain's anguished, sandpaper vocal delivery.
Many of Nirvana's best-known songs are included in versions that double the intensity and aggression (and sometimes the speed) of the original recordings. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" finds the band charging at a pace that suggests its life depends on reaching the end of the song. "Scentless Apprentice"is a raging howl that makes the original version sound likea beer commercial.