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Better Than it Should Be Brains
Although Incesticide is basically a collection of (supposedly) below album standard songs and live sessions, it is surprisingly good, and well worth buying. Track one ("Dive") is a Nirvana B-side (unreleased song), and isn't fantastic. It's basically a slow song in which Kurt repeatedly sings "Dive With Me." Not a particularly good album opener. Track two ("Sliver") is actually quite a good song, and isn't as depressing as some of the more well-known Nirvana songs. In my opinion it's better than a lot of Nirvana "A-sides" (if such a phrase exists). "Stain", track three, sounds once again quite below standards, but it isn't a bad song. It's about a man who believes he is only a stain. Track four, "Been a Son", is a BBC radio recording live on the Mark Goodier session, and is a very good son, talking about a woman who should have been male so she would receive more attention. "Turnaround" is another live session on BBC radio, although this time from the John Peel session. It's got a good beat, and sounds quite strange, although it's quite a good song. (N.B.: Tracks five to seven, all of the John Peel session songs, were not actuslly written by Nirvana, although some happen to be up to Nirvana standard.) Continuing the John Peel session, "Molly's Lips" is a fantastic song (in my opinion). ("She said she'd take me anywhere, she'd take me anywhere as long as she stayed with me"/ "She said she'd take me anywhere, she'd take me anywhere as long as I'd stay clean.") It is definitely one of the highlights of the album, if a little short. The final John Peel session recording, "Son of a Gun", is another of my favourite songs, and Kurt's vocals sound amazing. It's also pleasantly long, unlike some tracks on the album. Track eight may sound a little familiar in both title and sound ("(New Wave) Polly"), and that's because it is a faster recording of the popular "Nevermind" song, "Polly." It ends up sounding a lot better when played more furiously and quickly, and the track is another from the Mark Goodier session. Another of the album's highlights. Track nine ends the live sessions for now, and returns to the B-sides. "Beeswax" is not a fantastic song, but it's not bad. It sounds more true to the Nirvana style than some of the previous tracks. "Downer" features peculiar sessions of Kurt rhyming quietly and quickly, and the song sounds very good. Maybe not up to album standards, and maybe a little strange, but I like it. "Mexican Seafood" is another below average song, although I quite like it. There is a melodic chorus sung by Kurt which is the highlight of the song. Track twelve, "Hairspray Queen", takes a while to get started, and features an insane-sounding Kurt Cobain. It is one of the poorest songs on the album, in my view, as it never seems to begin properly. "Aero Zeppelin" is a slow song, although I'm not sure what it is about. The song is sad and dull, and not great to listen to. The final B-side ("Big Long Now") sounds very slow paced, more than the norm, and doesn't have any loud riffs to make it more exciting. The song also lasts for far too long in this form. The album ends on quite a high note with another BBC recording, "Aneurysm", which sounds great. It has a good riff, and is very long, which isn't a bad thing in this case. Another high point of the album. Overall, the songs are obviously not as good as those on most of the aother albums, but it is well worth looking at. It doesn't come in too short either, with fifteen tracks and a length of 44:44 (spooky). I think it was a good idea to release such an album to celebrate Nirvana rather than produce countless live CDs of existing songs. Nirvana were a fantastic band who were sorely missed, but by listening to these CDs we can keep the memory, even if the songs aren't amazing. Definitely worth adding to any collection. (It has a nicely freakish painting on the cover as well, which was drawn by Kurt Cobain).
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