NIRVANA – SLIVER (TUPELO)
Situated between Bleach and Nevermind and featuring Dan Peters of Mudhoney on drums “Sliver” was always something of a mystery when the swimming baby album was blowing up. It so much of a mystery that for the longest time many of us thought it was actually called “Silver”.
This version is the CD single that Tupelo released when Sub Pop chose to licence their records in Europe. I bought this in Andy’s Records in late 1992 around the same time that “In Bloom” was released as a single and the two studio tracks from this release were now seeing the light day on Incesticide.
“Sliver” is something of an infantile burst of energy benefiting greatly from a bouncy bassline provided by Novoselic that bursts into a strange tale of a child being shipped between relatives which was probably one of Cobain’s more explicit and literal recollections of his troubled youth. It is a song that demonstrates the band’s growth and would have sat a lot more comfortably on Nevermind than Bleach. In the end it wound up being the second track on Incesticide where it ultimately probably sat even better.
The flipside of the original release is the muddy “Dive” which does cast a nod to the thick and dense growls of Bleach as the guitar literally drips with feedback and overdrive before the vocals launch into a downward spiral of wretched gestures.
With the main tracks eventually becoming easily available and relatively familiar with their audience the real gold of the release comes with the additional live tracks.
The live version of “About A Girl” is an altogether more speedy and fizzy take on the song that personally I find preferable to the studio recording on Bleach. Next “Spank Through” roars as a seldom heard treat that contains perhaps one of the greatest breaks/stops in the history of guitar music. In many ways these two tracks prove more invigorating than the actual lead tracks.
Thesaurus moment: extended.
Nirvana
Tupelo
Situated between Bleach and Nevermind and featuring Dan Peters of Mudhoney on drums “Sliver” was always something of a mystery when the swimming baby album was blowing up. It so much of a mystery that for the longest time many of us thought it was actually called “Silver”.
This version is the CD single that Tupelo released when Sub Pop chose to licence their records in Europe. I bought this in Andy’s Records in late 1992 around the same time that “In Bloom” was released as a single and the two studio tracks from this release were now seeing the light day on Incesticide.
“Sliver” is something of an infantile burst of energy benefiting greatly from a bouncy bassline provided by Novoselic that bursts into a strange tale of a child being shipped between relatives which was probably one of Cobain’s more explicit and literal recollections of his troubled youth. It is a song that demonstrates the band’s growth and would have sat a lot more comfortably on Nevermind than Bleach. In the end it wound up being the second track on Incesticide where it ultimately probably sat even better.
The flipside of the original release is the muddy “Dive” which does cast a nod to the thick and dense growls of Bleach as the guitar literally drips with feedback and overdrive before the vocals launch into a downward spiral of wretched gestures.
With the main tracks eventually becoming easily available and relatively familiar with their audience the real gold of the release comes with the additional live tracks.
The live version of “About A Girl” is an altogether more speedy and fizzy take on the song that personally I find preferable to the studio recording on Bleach. Next “Spank Through” roars as a seldom heard treat that contains perhaps one of the greatest breaks/stops in the history of guitar music. In many ways these two tracks prove more invigorating than the actual lead tracks.
Thesaurus moment: extended.
Nirvana
Tupelo
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