Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0602498646649
Format: Box set
Label: Geffen Records
Manufacturer: Geffen Records
MPN: 000372700
Number Of Discs: 4
Publisher: Geffen Records
Release Date: 2004-11-23
Studio: Geffen Records

The box set spans Nirvana's entire career, from a recording of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" at the band's first show in 1987 to solo acoustic performances from singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain in 1994. With The Lights Out features a 60-page color booklet with rare photos and liner notes by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and writer Neil Strauss. The three CDs, arranged largely chronologically contains home and rehearsal demos, including for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (whose lyric "With the lights out" provides the set's title), "Rape Me," "Heart Shaped Box" and a trio penned by legendary bluesman Leadbelly. Heard in the 12 previously unreleased solo acoustic tracks are such gems as "All Apologies," "Lithium" and "Sliver." Six previously unreleased radio performances range from "Anorexorcist" in 1987 to "Dumb" in 1991 (two years before it was on 1993's In Utero). Along with the remaining debuts are a handful of earlier issued, though rare, b-sides and demos as well as the original Butch Vig mix of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Highlighted on the With The Lights Out DVD is a previously unreleased video of nine songs performed in 1988 at bassist Krist Novoselic's mother's house in Aberdeen, Washington; the rare "In Bloom" Sub Pop music video, and 10 never-before-seen live performances. Noteworthy among them are debut renditions of "Pennyroyal Tea", "Smells Like Teen Spirit" both from early 1991. Also premiering is an unlikely performance of Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen's "Seasons In The Sun" shot at a Rio de Janeiro studio.
Nirvana may have been the biggest thing in the music world in the early '90s, but the trio maintained an uncommon devotion to core fans who knew them when they were still sleeping in a van. Fending off the adoration of punk-rock dabblers in the media and their audience while simultaneously welcoming stalwart underground-music supporters, Kurt Cobain did things on his own terms--until it all came crashing down. A decade after Cobain's 1994 suicide and the band's demise, With the Lights Out remains true to the ethos that defined the band and the alt-rock revolution that rose and fell with them.

Eschewing the standard hits-sprinkled-with-rarities mix, this lovingly compiled three-CD, one-DVD collection is made up almost entirely of previously unreleased selections. The handful of previously heard tracks are obscurities along the lines of the group's cover of "Here She Comes Now," recorded for a 1990 indie-rock tribute to the Velvet Underground. But it's not the B-sides and compilation oddities that define this idiosyncratic set; rather, its spirit is captured in the bedroom demos, radio performances, and sloppy amateur video recordings that catch Cobain and cohorts developing from just another punk- and metal-inspired bunch of grunge rockers pounding away in the bass player's mom's living room into a band that defined an era. --Steven Stolder

Customer Rating:
Summary: Everything I expected, no surprises like I'd hoped
Comment: Per the title, this was everything I expected, but I was really hoping for a few surprises.. I think the most enjoyable part of the whole set was the booklet that came with it, it had a history of Nirvana and I learned a few new things about the band. I pretty much bought it because 1) It was on sale and 2) I got my first car in 10 years that had a CD player in it.

I think anyone that actually buys it will think it's well worth it. If it wasn't for the booklet though, I probably would have given it 3 stars. I don't know why I didn't enjoy it more but the music seemed like it was either the same old stuff or something I didn't really care for.

Also Dave and the Foo Fighters were on Top Chef the other day :)

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Nirvana fan's nirvana
Comment: There really is no need for a rating between 2 and 4 stars on this set. It's probably safe to say that you are either going to love it or hate it.....it's a 1 or a 5 and nothing in between.

If you like all the pretty songs and could care less what it all means, then this set is not what you are looking for. This set is everything but radio friendly, and was clearly designed for some other purpose than shifting units. Go out and buy the greatest hits CD, or just pick up the studio albums.

If you are a fan, then this set is Nirvana nirvana.

In Nirvana nirvana you take the good and the bad. The good is that it's incredibly powerful music by an incredible artist. The bad is that it's powerful music coming from a very negative place. Just look at the way Cobain went out, and you'll know why the pain in the music never comes out forced. The theme here is depressing and if it ever sounds optimistic, then you are hearing what's called cynicism. That's Nirvana nirvana for you, but then...only fans are going to like this anyway.

A lot of the music on here won't be new to fans. Much of it has been available (with far more clicks and hiss) for many, many years on the bootleg label. You still want to own this though, because of how good a job they did cleaning it up. Take 'Here She Comes Now', an incredible Velvet Underground cover where the bootleg had decent audio overall, even with the audible *CLICK* of a tape player at the start, etc. The cleaned up version in this set sounds near pristine - no click, no hiss, just a powerful cover. Other tracks fair better or worse, overall, but do incredibly well given what they were working with. Clearly, a lot of effort went into cleaning things up, and it payed off.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: case looks good
Comment: the audio quality on these tracks is absolute crap....

I've heard demos before... these are worse than demos.

They must have recorded these with a portable cassette player, that, or i'm thankful to god curt cobain died before i could hear him in concert.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Much Better Than Expected
Comment: I anticipated something different and got it. Nice variations on Nirvana standards and stuff that commercial radio would never touch. It makes it sadder that Cobain is gone. In retrospect, he was a real innovator and created a lot of the genre, which shows through in this set.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful collection of music
Comment: Nirvana is one of my favorite bands. This is a great collections of songs. I really enjoy listening to this album from the first track to the last without skipping any songs.

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