High school! When Kurt Cobain's lyrics were like biblical texts that told you nothing and everything. "Fill me in on your new vision / wake me up with indecision / help me trust your mighty wisdom / yes I eat cow / I am not proud." I would recite lines like that while running around and playing handball. For a general idea of the pre-Nevermind Nirvana, try "Floyd the Barber," or "Scoff." Both have that fuzzy under-produced raw dry-heaving sound. To hear the group in full pop mode, "About a Girl" or "Love Buzz" are great to jump around in your room to. There's also the sprawling, lurching- around-like-a-drunk-dinosaur majesty of "Paper Cuts." Some Nirvana fans will say that this is what Nirvana sounded like before they sounded like Nirvana. Other Nirvana fans will say that Nirvana never sounded more Nirvana than they did on this first Nirvana album. Nirvana. Deluxe 180 gram reissue includes live recording from February 9, 1990 at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon, 16-page photo booklet, deluxe tip-on gatefold and download card.

• 180g black double vinyl pressing
• remastered audio
• 2nd LP includes previously unheard live concert recording
  
• housed in deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket
• 16 page full color photo booklet
• digital download included
• music label: Sub Pop 2009

reviewed by Woodman 2002