Will Novoselic Publish Unreleased Songs By Nirvana?

Nirvana- Lithium

–> (Read Nirvana Part 1) Nirvana was a popular and highly influential American rock band. The band formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987, and was part of the Seattle grunge scene of the late 80s. Other Seattle grunge bands such as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden also gained in popularity, and, as a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on American and Canadian radio and music television during the early-to-mid ’90s.

Nirvana’s initial incarnation consisted of Kurt Cobain on guitar and vocals, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Chad Channing. After a brief stint as a four-piece in 1989 with the addition of second guitarist Jason Everman, followed soon after by the replacement of Channing on drums in 1990, the band found the lineup that would form the core of the group when they added former Scream drummer Dave Grohl.

As Nirvana’s frontman, Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the “spokesman of a generation”, with Nirvana the “flagship band” of “Generation X”. Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention, and placed his focus on the band’s music, challenging the band’s audience with their much more abrasive third studio album In Utero, cosidered to be a conscious attempt to shed their audience. While Nirvana’s mainstream popularity waned in the months following its release, their core audience cherished the band’s dark interior, particularly after their 1993 performance on MTV Unplugged with the Meat Puppets, a band that Cobain had always idolised, performing with them the songs Oh, Me, Plateau and Lake of Fire. It was later released and topped the charts in 1994.

In Utero was released in September of 1993 to positive reviews and strong initial sales, debuting at the top of the U.S. and U.K. charts. Nirvana supported it with a fall American tour, hiring former Germs member Pat Smear as an auxiliary guitarist. While the album and the tour were both successful, sales weren’t quite as strong as expected, with several shows not selling out until the week of the concert. As a result, the group agreed to play MTV’s acoustic Unplugged show at the end of the year, and sales of In Utero picked up after its December airing. After wrapping up the U.S. tour on January 8, 1994, with a show at Center Arena in Seattle, Nirvana embarked on a European tour in February. Following a concert in Munich on February 29, Cobain stayed in Rome to vacation with Love. On March 4, she awakened to find that Cobain had attempted suicide by overdosing on the tranquilizer Rohypnol and drinking champagne. While the attempt was initially reported as an accidental overdose, it was known within the Nirvana camp that the vocalist had left behind a suicide note.

Cobain returned to Seattle within a week of his hospitalization and his mental illness began to grow. On March 18, the police had to again talk the singer out of suicide after he locked himself in a room threatening to kill himself. Love and Nirvana’s management organized an intervention program that resulted in Cobain’s admission to the Exodus Recovery Center in L.A. on March 30, but he escaped from the clinic on April 1, returning to Seattle. His mother filed a missing persons report on April 4. The following day, Cobain shot himself in the head at his Seattle home. His body wasn’t discovered until April 8, when an electrician contracted to install an alarm system at the Cobain house stumbled upon the body. After his death, Kurt Cobain was quickly anointed as a spokesman for Generation X, as well as a symbol of its tortured angst.

Novoselic and Grohl planned to release a double-disc live album at the end of 1994, but sorting through the tapes proved to be too painful, so MTV Unplugged in New York appeared in its place. The album debuted at the top of the British and American charts, as a home video comprised of live performances and interviews from the band’s Nevermind-era, titled Live! Tonight! Sold Out!, was issued at the same time (the project began prior to Cobain’s passing and was completed by surviving bandmembers).

In 1996, its electric counterpart, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, was released, debuting at the top of the U.S. charts. Following Cobain’s death, Grohl formed the Foo Fighters (early rumors that Novoselic would also be a member of the band ultimately proved to be false) — releasing their self-titled debut album in 1995, followed by The Colour and the Shape in 1997 and There Is Nothing Left to Lose in 1999. Novoselic formed the trio Sweet 75, releasing their debut in the spring of 1997, and also appeared along with former Dead Kennedys’ frontman Jello Biafra and former Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil on the 2000 live set Live From the Battle in Seattle under the name the No W.T.O. Combo.

By the late ’90s, research began by Novoselic for a proposed box set of previously unreleased songs from throughout Nirvana’s career. The project was supposed to surface in the fall of 2001 (to coincide with the tenth anniversary release of Nevermind), but legal problems began to surface. In 1997, Grohl and Novoselic formed the Nirvana L.L.C. partnership with Courtney Love (who manages Cobain’s estate) — a company that required a unanimous vote by all three regarding future albums, photos, and anything else Nirvana-related. When all three couldn’t agree on the songs to be included on the box set, the matter was taken to court as Love attempted to dissolve the partnership. The project was ultimately shelved indefinitely as any legal decision was tied up in court.

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