Ive Missed You, Nirvana

They say if you love something, let it go. If it was meant to be, it comes back to you. Well, it’s the same with music. I was recently going through my iTunes library when I realized I was missing a lot of good stuff I once owned. Being that I don’t exactly have my “own” place, I lack storage room and thus have to download songs more often than I buy CDs. Don’t judge me, dammit!.

I had the Nirvana song "Aneurysm" stuck in my head so I HAD to listen to it. When I pulled up my Nirvana collection, it was gone. More importantly, I realized that my whole Incesticide album was GONE. This was a true shame and I wanted, NEEDED, it back. It was like that girlfriend you once had, dumped and forgot about because time and subsequent girlfriends have pushed her further back into the memory’s dark corner, but thanks to technology and/or Facebook (FB being iTunes if you’re following the analogy) you were able to get her back! How easy. Except, it’s really just an album so you don’t have to deal with the threat or fear of the angry current husband/boyfriend or the shame that comes along with “tracking down” that lost love (score one for the stalkers!).

Anyway, Incesticide was a compilation that Nirvana released in 1992, after Nevermind had blown up, further extending the gap between teens and parents everywhere while giving that youthful angst a flanneled image coupled with a greasy mane. A few of the songs on Incesticide had been previously released on other EP’s, compilations and singles. I remember scouring record shops, looking for the latest Nirvana single just so I could get that extra, b-side and truly be “their biggest fan.” Do they still even make singles? Incesticide did all the record shop scouring for us. Interestingly, unlike Nevermind, Incesticide never even made it near the top 10 in the Billboard 200. It peaked at #39!

There are some real gems on the record, my personal favorites happen to be the most un-Nirvana soundings songs on the album. It was just great to hear my favorite band at the time go outside of their “grunge” norms. I especially love the 3 most poppy and friendly (how un-angry) songs on the album; "Been a Son" was originally on a 1989 EP (Blew) that was only released in the UK, "Molly’s Lips" and "Son of a Gun" were cover songs of a the Scottish band, The Vaselines. My other favorite is "Aero Zeppelin," a 1988 demo song that sounds as if it were written with an extended pot session in mind. There is also a great version of "Polly" that is the complete opposite of the sad and suicide-inducing version that appears on Nevermind. Again, I think the fact that these songs weren’t puked on with distortion and raped with over-production is what makes them so appealing to me.

Sigh. I’m so happy to have you back, my old love!

- The Godfather