Tracklist Remix vol. 2: Nevermind
There's a lot of albums that we've heard that have great songs but are marred by bad flow due to a subpar tracklisting; or there were some great songs that almost made the final cut but were dropped for whatever reason. There's several albums I could name off the top of my head like this. This list will focus on Nirvana's Nevermind |
| 1 |  | Nirvana
Nevermind
Side A: Smells Like Teen Spirit
I went through several different album openers until I relented and kept SLTS as track 1: Dive, Drain You, Aneurysm, Stay Away, and Breed.
I wanted to make SLTS appear much later in the track listing but as the tracklist kept morphing, the only place the song would fit would be if it stayed as the opener |
| 2 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Drain You
The About a Girl of the album. To help make coming up with a tracklist easier, I tried to sort of model it out of the other two studio albums |
| 3 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Come As You Are
At one point this was cut out, then came back in once I couldn't find a good song to come after In Bloom; then with further fixing I had to drop In Bloom to keep this from going over an hour and the thought of a Nirvana double album is preposterous |
| 4 |  | Nirvana
With the Lights Out
Polly (‘89 Demo)
I tried to keep pre-Grohl and pre-Nevermind tracks at a minimum but I made this an exception cos Chad was always attached to this song. I originally made the New Wave rendition of this song replace Nevermind Polly but I discovered this by accident on YouTube and the proto Quiet Verse/Loud Chorus dynamic of this song made it the most logical choice to include, especially since I ended up cutting out a lot of songs and singles that capitalized on this angle |
| 5 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Territorial Pissings
One of my biggest problems with Nevermind is the production/mixing and I think it's best exemplified by this song, which happens to be on my favorite songs on Nevermind. The guitar tone is gnarly and the performance by everyone is bone crushing but once the first chorus hits the guitars become stupidly quiet due to the compression applied to the instruments (as is the case for what seems to be every song on the album).
I also tried to combat the polished sound of Nevermind with the rawer sound of the demos by finding a vinyl rip with the most low-end and popping |
| 6 |  | Nirvana
Nevermind (Deluxe Edition)
Here She Comes Now
The kick ass cover that probably would have made for a better album closer but instead acts as the second to last song to end Side A like Love Buzz was for Bleach. Really underrated cover too as is Chad as a drummer |
| 7 | | Nirvana
Nevermind (Deluxe Edition)
End Side A: Old Age
Closing Side A with the calmest song instrumentally like the original Nevermind album with Polly.
Other Side A closers I considered: Even in His Youth, Territorial Pissings, Sappy, Token Eastern Song, Breed, Verse Chorus Verse, Here She Comes Now, Opinions |
| 8 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Side B: Lounge Act
Despite being one of my all time favorite Nirvana songs, initial versions of this tracklist excluded this one cos I couldn't find a good place to put it. Thank God I was able to reinsert it. That opening bass line and vocal work by Kurt are so beautiful
Side B openers I considered: Breed, Verse Chorus Verse, Old Age, Dive, Sappy, Smells Like Teen Spirit |
| 9 | | Nirvana
With the Lights Out
Verse Chorus Verse
Extremely beautiful demo with a history that still confuses me due to how much Sappy ties into it. I considered having the acoustic version act as this tracklist's Polly but the audio quality was too raw |
| 10 | | Nirvana
With the Lights Out
Sappy ( '91 Sound City demo)
This album's Pennyroyal Tea. One thing I noticed is how the Nirvana demos with the best quality come from Sound City, in fact they're so polished and crisp they sound like they were already on the album minus the abuse of panning and compression on the instruments. Also, I could only find this rendition of Sappy (which imo is the best one) on Soulseek |
| 11 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Stay Away
The more I listen to Nevermind, the more I realize how it's the most experimental Nirvana album production-wise and songwriting-wise. The excessive panning and odd production choices (like how the cymbal crashes on the chorus of Stay Away alternate between the two stereo channels) and the attempt to replicate the same songwriting formula bit mutate it as much as possible makes it that much more of an oddity. It ends up suffering in the end because a lot of songs end up sounding like filler and the panning during solos and other parts concerning the guitar end up making the song annoying (e.g. Breed).
Made this segue better into... |
| 12 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
On a Plain.
Swapped the stereo channel for the feedback opening this song to make the segue more natural. When I'm not paying close enough attention, I always thought the transition between the two songs was very seamless |
| 13 |  | Nirvana
Incesticide
End Side B: Aneurysm
The only Incesticide track that survived. My second favorite Nirvana song ever now closes the album where it rightfully belongs. The panning is still there but I quite like it unpolished
Album closers I considered: Here She Comes Now (which was the closer for a long time), Smells Like Teen Spirit, Sappy, On a Plain, Old Age, Opinions, Oh, the Guilt |
| 14 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Obligatory Optional Hidden Bonus Track: Endless, Namless ('91 Radio Session)
I've grown up listening to a copy of Nevermind that didn't have the 10 minute silence leading into Endless, Namless at the end of Something in the Way. While I still like to listen to Nevermind with it at the end, I figure it's more of a matter of personal preference whether someone likes to end the album with it or Something in the Way. I like this rendition of Endless, Namless most because it doesn't excessively abuse panning the guitar feedback (which also ends up covering up Krist's bass a lot of the time), the bass on this is Phat, and it better captures the spontaneous, improvisational nature of the song |
| 15 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
I've been going at this tracklist with a less is more attitude, trying to make the longest Nirvana album (both with and without Endless, Namless) the shortest but now this stays as Nirvana's longest at 56 minutes including the 9 minute rendition of Endless, Nameless *oops*. But I ended up fixing what is in my opinion the biggest problem of the album: the tracklisting.
I've always had a love/hate relationship with the album and it wasn't until I really examined it that I figured out what kept pushing me away from it. It's easy to tell Kurt struggled with a decent tracklisting and the final product was rushed with little thought, especially with how ridiculously front loaded it ended up becoming as well as the fact it sounded like a bunch of album openers and closers haphazardly thrown in together |
| 16 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
I ended up sacrificing two of the biggest songs on it (In Bloom and Lithium which are both really good songs in their own right) but I've replaced them with much better songs, although I personally think most of Nirvana's b-sides are better than a lot of the songs that end up of record.
In the long run, I also tried to make it easier on myself to exclude any song that was remotely Bleach sounding regardless of Ghrol's prescence or recording date so here are honorable mentions: |
| 17 | | Nirvana
Nevermind
Even in His Youth (which segued really nicely out of Territorial Pissings)
Token Eastern Song (the cleaner sounding recording with Ghrol on drums has Kurt's vocals as audible as Jason's bass on ...And Justice for All and the one with Chad was too Bleachy)
Been a Son
Dive (had to get a better opener anyway cos this with Drain You up next was like listening to Changes and Young Americans back to back)
Opinions (could have made as a nice inclusion but it ended up not fitting anywhere very well)
Breed (strictly to fill in a hole where energy was sorely needed)
Curmudgeon (maybe I should redo the Bleach tracklist with no regards to recording dates)
Oh, the Guilt (Bleach meets Nevermind. Unfortunately couldn't find a good spot for this as well without making the length longer than it should) |
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