You Know You're Right

Okay so recently I got my first car. After having a license for a little over 4 years, I've finally got round to buying a vehicle. This is cool for many reasons, most notably being able to get out and about to visit friends and go to / play gigs more. Another cool thing (well I think it's cool) is that my car is super old and therefore has a cassette deck. This means that I've had a solid rotation of Unplugged In New York and Incesticide by Nirvana among some other classics. With this in mind, I'm going to be talking about  a record that I got quite a while ago, but just never got to talking about! 

Nirvana - Nirvana (Best Of) - Geffen Records // Universal Music Group - 1st Press - Black /? (2X12'')

There's really not an awful lot I know about this record, and not through lack of trying! It just seems to be one of those records that came along at a weird time for vinyl and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Despite 2002 not being a huge time for vinyl, I do like the metallic ink on the sleeve. The lettering is embossed too. Fancy as you like. 

16 Classic Songs

This is stuck in the top right hand corner of all vinyl copies supposedly, although I really haven't seen that many of them. I know that Nirvana collector nerds get all weird about this sticker (on the CD version) as it can indicate where the release came from. That's a whole new level of weird for me, but I do get where it comes from. 

Weirdly enough, I'm not going to spend a crazy amount of time on the vinyl and focus a little more on the packaging. If anyone is wondering why, it's because it's 2 LP's on black with nearly identical centre labels. The only thing that changes is the Side designation at the top of the label and the track-listing on the right hand side. However, I do have photos of all the centre labels so if anyone really wants to see them then I can add them in at a later date? 

The record comes with a 2 page gate-fold booklet, entirely in black and white and with a little story to tell. Half the fun of getting a Nirvana record is opening it out, looking at all the photographs and reading what everyone has to say. I don't quite know why, but Nirvana are just an interesting band even when they look to be doing nothing remotely interesting. 

Inside Part 1 

The images here are decent enough quality that should you want to read all of this, it should hold up by saving and enlarging it. 

Sunday, January 30th 1994 is the story being told for the most part. That was the last recording session Nirvana ever had, and it was the session that laid down 'You Know You're Right' which is only available on vinyl here (aside from a Bootleg 7''). Apparently this was their first time recording in almost a year and that one song was all that came from the session. I was about 16 months old at this point. Damn. 

Inside Part 2

The rest of the text goes through a very brief Nirvana history, explaining the background of some of the hits and grabbing odd quotes here and there from Dave and Krist about who Kurt Cobain was as a person. More importantly, it focuses on the brighter side of life, which is a difficult point to get across with the small text on a colourless background. 

The text to the right is a rundown of the tracks. Recording and Mastering credits are provided here, along with musician credits (for example Chad Channing is credited on About A Girl and such). Some tracks featured here are alternate mixes (the Scott Litt mixes of Heart-Shaped Box and Pennyroyal Tea are on this release) and all the tracks were mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. Some things I notice in these recordings that I don't notice on the respective LP cuts, others I can't tell the difference. Remasters are for more sensitive ears than mine most of the time. 

For anyone interested, here is a track-listing with credits. Sub-Pop logos are on the centre labels due to 3/4 of the tracks of Side A. I still don't own the Sliver 7''// 12''(?) or the Blew EP; all in good time I guess? I am missing more Nirvana record than I own though. I still don't own Nevermind. Truly slacking at times. 

Back of the booklet. 

Robert Fisher handled the art direction here and everything is pretty on point. In ways it feels like a eulogy, in ways it seems completely about the music and nothing else. It's hard to explain without sounding like an idiot. 

Back Cover 

This could well be a Univox guitar that Kurt is playing. I guess it's not that important. It could also be a Gospel. Someone out there is bound to know. 

Finally 

Track-listing. 

The weird thing about the track-listing is that most versions had 14 or 15 tracks; the last two tracks were either fully or partially omitted from other versions.

Something In The Way was only available on vinyl and the Japanese CD release. 

Where Did You Sleep Last Night was not included on US or Canadian issues of the album. 

So there we go, a strange story about a strange record. 

There was no US issue of this record. It was only ever made in Europe, with most sources indicating that it is from a UK plant. I'm not sure if this effected pressing numbers or not as I can't seem to find pressing information anywhere. Honestly I'm just glad to own it. This is again another amazing Nirvana record that Alan over at Different Kitchen let me buy from his personal collection. This one isn't mint by any means, it looks like it has been played and loved and I wouldn't have it any other way.