Best Nirvana Songs

[FSUTribe76]

I'm late to the party because while I was a grunge fan, I preferred other bands at the time to Nirvana. But thanks to listening to Lithium on SiriusXM a lot recently and catching the exceedingly good documentary Montage of Heck I've had a recent revitalised interest in them and I came across this 2015 list by Rolling Stone of all 102 Nirvana Songs ever recorded.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/no-apologies-all-102-nirvana-songs-ranked-20150408

While it's a fantastic list that I used to find lots of obscure songs of theirs beyond the usual Nevermind, Unplugged and In Utero songs, I was struck by how completely off that list really was when it came to the rankings.

Since I was stuck in traffic turning a two hour trip into a five hour one, I decided to compile my own top 40 list (why just 40? Because honestly some of the songs like Beans don't deserve much consideration). To shorten it, I'm not including every version of the song only the "best". In most cases that meant I went with the Unplugged version but some are tough to call (All Apologies is great for both and I'd really consider it a tie between Unplugged versus In Utero).

But this would be my personal Top 50 Nirvana Songs with the album version listed and the Rolling Stone ranking beside it.

1- You Know You're Right (Nirvana)(21)
2- All Apologies (In Utero/Unplugged)(13)
3- Come as You Are (Nevermind)(17)
4- Heart-Shaped Box (In Utero)(12)
5- Lithium (Nevermind)(7)
6- In Bloom (Nevermind)(2)
7- Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nevermind)(1)
8- Aneurysm (Incesticide)(30)
9- Oh, Me (Unplugged)(59)
10- Rape Me (In Utero)(31)
11- The Man Who Sold the World (Unplugged)(38)
12- Polly (Unplugged)(29)
13- Marigold (B-Side/In Utero extra)(61)

14- Lake of Fire (Unplugged)(26)
15- Sappy (2013 Mix - In Utero extra)(32)

16- Plateau (Unplugged)(49)
17- Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Unplugged)(10)
18- Blew (Bleach)(22)
19- Even in His Youth (B-Side Nevermind extra)(39)

20- Token Eastern Song (Demo Nevermind extra)(89)

21- Breed (Nevermind)(4)
22- School (Bleach)(16)
23- Dive (Incesticide)(6)
24- Dumb (Unplugged)(20)
25- About a Girl (Unplugged)(8)
26- Stay Away (Nevermind)(34)
27- Drain You (Nevermind)(9)
28- Something in the Way (Unplugged)(5)
29- Sliver (Incesticide)(3)
30- Spank Thru (Live at Pine Street)(54)

31- Territorial Pissings (Nevermind)(19)
32- On a Plain (Unplugged)(28)
33- Moist Vagina (2013 Mix In Utero Extra)(72)
34- Lounge Act (Nevermind)(41)
35- I Hate Myself and Want to Die (2013 Mix In Utero Extra)(44)
36- D-7 (Live at the BBC)(86)
37- Old Age (Nevermind outtake)(83)
38- Love Buzz (Bleach)(18)
39- Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam (Unplugged)(33)
40-Milk It (In Utero)(43)

Others I strongly considered but didn't make the cut.
Pennyroyal Tea (Unplugged)(11)
Scentless Apprentice (In Utero)(24)
Serve the Servants (In Utero)(14)
Curmudgeon (B-Side Nevermind extra)(56)
Negative Creep (Bleach)(15)
Big Cheese (Bleach)(58)

 

[DanC78]

The only glaring mistake I see that you have made is having Sliver so low.

Also, the songs on the Unplugged album are so uniquely different from their other albums that it probably shouldn't count; and IMO I consider it as one if the greatest albums of all time, it's absolutely brilliant.

 

[skramer100]

The only glaring mistake I see that you have made is having Sliver so low.

Also, the songs on the Unplugged album are so uniquely different from their other albums that it probably shouldn't count; and IMO I consider it as one if the greatest albums of all time, it's absolutely brilliant.

Best unplugged album ever. Also read the story behind it. Only one that they never had to stop and re-shoot. Was perfect. They were also very pissed at the song list and the guest. Really coo story.
Not a bad list, but Teen Spirit belongs at number 1. If you are counting unplugged then Where Did You Sleep Last Night is clearly number 2. That was a hauntingly good.

 

[FSUTribe76]

The only glaring mistake I see that you have made is having Sliver so low.

Also, the songs on the Unplugged album are so uniquely different from their other albums that it probably shouldn't count; and IMO I consider it as one if the greatest albums of all time, it's absolutely brilliant.

The only song on Unplugged that I definitively like the studio version better (whether theirs or the original of what they covered as they've got the David Bowie, three Meat Puppets and one traditional early 1900 Americana blues covers) is Come As You Are. All Apologies for me is great in both version. And all of the others including the Bowie song I prefer the Unplugged album.

And I agree with you 100% that their Unplugged album is their greatest album by far. In Utero is to me only half great songs and half meh or worse songs and Bleach is vastly overrated (my main problem with the Rolling Stone rankings is how high they have all of the Bleach songs). And even Nevermind which is arguably one of the greatest studio albums of all times has a couple of songs I usually skip over (the studio version of Something in the Way and Endless, Nameless). But Unplugged is great from beginning to end. And my favorite song from it (Oh, Me) was actually cut from the MTV show.

 

[mwfudge]

The people responsible for compiling that list are damn idiots and should be forced to give Courtney Love a gynecological exam. The original "On a Plain" should be higher and so should "Love Buzz." And no "Serve the Servants"! Morons! All of them! And while I like "Moist Vagina" for the title it's a horrible song. It sounds like Cobain's trying to come back from the dead.

 

[DanC78]

I disagree with you on Bleach. I didn't mention this on your original assessment, and there was a reason. You admitted to being late to the party with Nirvana. It's hard to appreciate how great of an album Bleach really is after listening to all of their albums back, to back, to back, and in an entirely different decade from when they were released.

Bleach was the first, and it blew my mind as a youngster. It had all the aggravation, frustration, grit, and grunge that Nevermind and the following albums had, but wasn't touched by producers and other outside influences. It was not made for radio, it's pure Kurt Cobain. That's the beauty of it to me.

My Mom could get behind the album Nevermind, she even liked a few of the songs. But she didn't understand Bleach, made no sense to her. But to me Bleach was spot on. Hit on all the points Kurt was trying to make..both with his lyrics and the music....it said everything I wanted too.

Nevermind was the first step away from that and towards mainstream, and then it slowly got more and more mainstream; eventually Kurt lost the grit that drove him to greatness.

I get that was deep, but I love Bleach and all the songs on it for that reason. And it's understandably impossible to listen to all of the Nirvana albums today for the first time and walk away thinking the Bleach album was good, because in that instance, it's really not.

 

[fsu1jreed]

I have to disagree fellas, IMO there are two Unplugged Albums that are better than Nirvana's

1. Alice in Chains
2. Tesla's Five Man Acoustic Jam*

*though not technically a 'MTV Unplugged', the popularity of this disc and the hit song 'Signs' directly led to MTV creating 'Unplugged'

 

[FSUTribe76]

I have to disagree fellas, IMO there are two Unplugged Albums that are better than Nirvana's

1. Alice in Chains
2. Tesla's Five Man Acoustic Jam*

*though not technically not a 'MTV Unplugged', the popularity of this disc and the hit song 'Signs' directly led to MTV creating 'Unplugged'

I'll have to go check those out again. I will admit I haven't heard either in the past couple of decades.

 

[FSUTribe76]

I disagree with you on Bleach. I didn't mention this on your original assessment, and there was a reason. You admitted to being late to the party with Nirvana. It's hard to appreciate how great of an album Bleach really is after listening to all of their albums back, to back, to back, and in an entirely different decade from when they were released.

Bleach was the first, and it blew my mind as a youngster. It had all the aggravation, frustration, grit, and grunge that Nevermind and the following albums had, but wasn't touched by producers and other outside influences. It was not made for radio, it's pure Kurt Cobain. That's the beauty of it to me.

My Mom could get behind the album Nevermind, she even liked a few of the songs. But she didn't understand Bleach, made no sense to her. But to me Bleach was spot on. Hit on all the points Kurt was trying to make..both with his lyrics and the music....it said everything I wanted too.

Nevermind was the first step away from that and towards mainstream, and then it slowly got more and more mainstream; eventually Kurt lost the grit that drove him to greatness.

I get that was deep, but I love Bleach and all the songs on it for that reason. And it's understandably impossible to listen to all of the Nirvana albums today for the first time and walk away thinking the Bleach album was good, because in that instance, it's really not.

I can appreciate the artistry behind the songwriting in Bleach, it's just that there is a HUGE improvement in Kurt's singing ability between Bleach and Nevermind. At the time of the Bleach recordings he was not honestly someone I would consider as "someone who could sing" even as a friend let alone a professional. By Nevermind's recording sessions he had improved 10,000%.

 

[cmanole]

I have to disagree fellas, IMO there are two Unplugged Albums that are better than Nirvana's

1. Alice in Chains
2. Tesla's Five Man Acoustic Jam*

*though not technically not a 'MTV Unplugged', the popularity of this disc and the hit song 'Signs' directly led to MTV creating 'Unplugged'

REM is actually better than all three of them...

 

[nynole1]

I graduated HS in 1996 and like a lot of people my age, really was into bands like this(although they were not even close to my favorite). The energy, anger, frustration, etc of that band was very relatable. The interesting thing for me was that I never realized how much it affected me until I saw the documentary. It was one of the rawest and disturbing things I have ever seen on TV for many reasons, mostly because it drew me back into my teenage years and how I felt back then. While I do like an occasional Nirvana song, I can't listen to it too much these days because I find it overwhelmingly sad and depressing, especially after the documentary.
As for rating the songs, who cares? I have never been into lists, rankings, award shows, etc...they just seem so fake.

 

[skramer100]

I have to disagree fellas, IMO there are two Unplugged Albums that are better than Nirvana's

1. Alice in Chains
2. Tesla's Five Man Acoustic Jam*

*though not technically not a 'MTV Unplugged', the popularity of this disc and the hit song 'Signs' directly led to MTV creating 'Unplugged'

Owned both of those CD's. Both are great, but Nirvana was just so different it was amazing. They did not really play any hits and it was still amazing. If I could find it, the article about the show is really amazing. The fact that MTV almost cancelled it because they hated the guests and playlists is crazy.
And Telsa's album is really good. Thanks for bringing that one up. Lots of hooking up to Love Song in high school.

 

[fsu1jreed]

Owned both of those CD's. Both are great, but Nirvana was just so different it was amazing. They did not really play any hits and it was still amazing. If I could find it, the article about the show is really amazing. The fact that MTV almost cancelled it because they hated the guests and playlists is crazy.

I've seen the Nirvana one and I did like it, but nowhere close to those two.

And Telsa's album is really good. Thanks for bringing that one up. Lots of hooking up to Love Song in high school.

I'm a huge fan of Tesla and I can't tell you how many times I've listened to FMAJ, but it's not my favorite Tesla CD.

This is:

 

[FSUTribe76]

Now that I have a little more time I'm going to go back in and post links to the version of the obscure songs I posted. Songs like Sappy and Token Eastern Song have multiple lesser versions.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Here's the rest of the more obscure songs as I could only post 5 songs.


33- Moist Vagina (2013 Mix In Utero Extra)(72)

35- I Hate Myself and Want to Die (2013 Mix In Utero Extra)(44)

36- D-7 (Live at the BBC)(86)

37- Old Age (Nevermind outtake)(83)


Others I strongly considered but didn't make the cut.

Curmudgeon (B-Side Nevermind extra)(56)

 

[BloodyNoseJose]

I think Bleach is Nirvana's best album and Dive is their best song.

 

[BloodyNoseJose]

I can appreciate the artistry behind the songwriting in Bleach, it's just that there is a HUGE improvement in Kurt's singing ability between Bleach and Nevermind. At the time of the Bleach recordings he was not honestly someone I would consider as "someone who could sing" even as a friend let alone a professional. By Nevermind's recording sessions he had improved 10,000%.

He didn't improve that much. They double tracked the vocals and added reverb and compression on Nevermind which makes it sound "better". If you listen to live recordings of the Nevermind songs he sounds a lot like he does on Bleach.

 

[DanC78]

He didn't improve that much. They double tracked the vocals and added reverb and compression on Nevermind which makes it sound "better". If you listen to live recordings of the Nevermind songs he sounds a lot like he does on Bleach.

This^...it was polished up big time for NM; the engineer deserves a lot of credit for the sound of that album. I bet you even Kurt and crew were blown away when they heard the final cut.

And let's be real, NM is one of the best pop/grunge albums of all time. Would we even be talking about Bleach if it weren't for NM??? I don't think so.

Now I'm thinking I like NM more...I mean the song Lithium alone.

But again, Bleach is like a constant freight train going down hill 100 miles hour, but never too out of control.

It's late