Nirvana's Top Five Non-Album Tracks

At this point Nirvana's legacy is sealed deal. The band that destroyed hair-metal and ushered in an era of alternative rock in the mainstream will go down in musical history for a number of reasons. Among those is a handful of fantastic albums that yielded songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Lithium," "Heart Shaped Box," "All Apologies," "About a Girl," and "Come as You Are." But, what may not go down in history is Nirvana's wealth of non-album recorded material. Whether from singles, demos, compilations or other sources, Nirvana have a number of fantastic songs you won't find on any of their albums. That's why the list below seeks to introduce you to the top five non-album Nirvana tracks in hopes that you can search them out and add them to your collection.

"I Hate Myself and Want to Die"
So it's a pretty intense name, a title that Nirvana originally wanted to use for their third album, In Utero, but it makes for a fantastic song any Nirvana fan needs to hear. Originally released on The Beavis and Butthead Experience CD, which was pretty much otherwise a disappointment, "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" was a true gem. After Kurt clears his throat and laughs a bit a simple back and forth guitar line gives way to a pounding verse. Here the production is crisp but dirty like the Steve Albini's work on In Utero. Cobain hits us with one of his typically high-caliber melodies and the chorus has the usual chaotic glee to it, but what is really interesting here is the song's bridge where a dissonant guitar creeps around over a simple beat while some faded whispers tug at your ear.

"Sappy" or "Verse Chorus Verse"
This song has been labeled by two names (another song by the band has been called "Verse Chorus Verse" too). The song was originally released on the No Alternative compilation and it's title refers to Cobain's frustration with typical song-structure. The song itself does follow Nirvana's typical formula; soft verse, heavy chorus, solo, but like other favorites the song is too well-crafted for the song writing formula to grow stale. Again it is Cobain's melody that carries the song. I guarantee you that after one listen you will be humming this song for hours. It is surprising this song never made it onto an album, multiple versions of it have popped up over the years and, like I said, that melody is simply fantastic.

"Even in His Youth"
This song's production may be a bit uneven (certain bass hits are almost painful) but the sheer tenacity of it shines through. The song sounds like Bleach era Nirvana, meaning its a bit more hard-rock sounding. What's interesting is that the whole thing remains heavy the entire way through instead of employing the soft/loud formula. The chanted, percussive verse melody, which for the most part states, "Even in his youth, even in his youth," is great thanks to its simplicity. Cobain's throat sounds like its going raw as he intones the words adding to the visceral experience. The song was recording during some demo sessions in early 1991, and maybe it never made it onto Nevermind because, like I mentioned it recalled the more metal-leaning side of Bleach. Still, the song serves as an example for Cobain's love of hard-rock acts like the Melvins and where hard-rock can be taken with a little song-writing talent and an ear for melody.

"Oh, the Guilt"
This song was originally released on a split single with The Jesus Lizard. Right off the bat the song sounds different from anything Nirvana has ever done thanks to a start and stop structure that makes for puncturing guitar and drums under Cobain's calm voice. Over course this doesn't carry over to the chorus where a screaming Cobain dominates a runaway guitar line and crash-cymbal dominated drum pattern. Then comes the gloriously disconnected guitar solo. Not only is the noisy approach to a solo truly awesome, but Cobain does this over top of the start stop punch we get during the verses. The bass and drums hold down a truly unique rhythm while Cobain makes his guitar scream like a dying animal. The whole song is presented in a raw and uncompromising manner allowing for Nirvana's true gritty fury to come out.

"You Know You're Right"
This was the song released only a few years ago taken from sessions that would have created Nirvana's fourth album. That means the production sounds fantastic for an unreleased and rare song. The opening of the song is awkward plucked notes and restrained and clicking drum beat that recall the post-punk glory of Fugazi. Cobain comes on board soon after sounding wounded and careful in his word choice. Of course an explosion of distortion follows and Cobain's voice finds its aggression. In the tradition of "Lithium" the chorus is pretty much just made up of "Heys," but the power and drama are there. Then as the chorus closes we get a wave of feedback as Cobain screams, "You know you're right." The song seems an extension of what Cobain was doing on In Utero, that is embrace the raw noisy aspects of the band within a strong songwriting context. So while you can sing-a-long to this track, there are points that feel completely rabid and uncontrolled.