This was MY Nirvana album I was listenening to in Jr. High... Nevermind was great, but that was the polished up multi-platinum monster that made them famous, everone heard "Come as you are" or "Teen Spirit"... but these were the gems to me "Dive", "Sliver" "Mexican Seafood"... those songs are the ones that take me back... to the good ol' days.

This album never got as much recognition as Nevermind or In Utero, but it can compete with both albums. There are a lot of great songs and it is an important contribution from Nirvana's short but revolutionary career.

So, let me get this started. The finish and the end of the record is the famous & exhausting "Aneurysm"... The rest you, all in general, haven't heard about at all! "Incesticide" is the compilation record on which we can find more or less everything Nirvana had performed back to the 80's ("Bleach" not included). The songs are fascinating, leading to the realism in music which the author himself surely had on his mind writing and performing. There are also a few cover songs. Whether or not you are a Nirvana fan the choice is up to you cos' this is my favorite but the world did it's and "Nevermind" is the band's multiplatinum record. However, I kindly recommend to buy this record.

Have you worn out the grooves of your NEVERMIND CD? Do you recite MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK in your sleep? Then it's time to take a look at INCESTICIDE if you still haven't. True, this collection of out-takes and B-sides doesn't quite measure up to one of their "official" albums, but it's still Nirvana - and "pretty good" Nirvana is still way better than the best stuff from most of their imitators. INCESTICIDE shows you different sides of Nirvana - including a warped sense of humor.
Most of this record rocks really hard. That's certainly true of the Meat Puppets nod "Son of a Gun," and the old school stomp of "Aero Zeppelin." "Dive" is one of the best and kinda freaky the way Kurt sounds as if he's screaming "Die with me!" instead of "Dive with me!" Kurt really conveyed a lot not only with his lyrics but also his tortured guitar. Kurt's solos were expressive, anguished and incredible and that's apparent on this album.

You can definitely get your Nirvana on here. Blows away most bands who were influenced by "grunge" (to use the media-generated label). That's not to say that there aren't tons of great bands out there who were influenced by Nirvana. But there's only one Nirvana.

Okay, so I love Nirvana. But even they were not perfect, although some would highly debate that one. The studio albums were all pretty good, two of three amazing ones at that. The bulk of the material on "Incesticide" was left off of the albums for a very good reason: It doesn't live up to what they do as a band on the records. There are some pretty good moments though: While the session version of "Aneurysm" isn't that different from the original (on the "SLTS" single) it is still fairly amusing to hear Kurt sing lines like, "Come on over and do the twist," and there's some nice enough riffs on the track as well. I really enjoy the cover of the Vaselines' "Molly's Lips," a group he highly championed. But one great thing about Kurt getting the success is on top of putting my choice of music on the map, he often would also put many of the underground bands who inspired him on the map. That's one example. Also, there's childhood stuff that's mentioned both more as reflective ("Sliver") and rather humorous ("Been a Son"). I like the sort of change in pace on "(New Wave) Polly," but recommend the Nevermind version tenfold over this.

There are quite a few clunkers though. For one the record goes for a lot longer than it needs to as well, and some of the well intentioned stuff is pretty boring. "Beeswax" and "Hairspray Queen" are some of the group's worst songs, neither of redeeming value. I like the concept of "Aero Zeppelin" but not even that one's very memorable. I like Devo quite a bit but the "Turnaround" cover is a real failure. Putting "Downer" which is already on Bleach was a pretty pointless inclusion as well. It's pretty mediocre for them. The first half is a lot better than the second half, if you ask me.

Time has not treated this as kindly as other Nirvana releases, and I pretty much recommend anything else over this. But, I recommend it if you want to get more into Nirvana. Just don't expect any real brilliance in this collection, as it's far and few on this release. Also, the actual albums are more dynamic which I by default prefer to this release. It's usually sold cheap and is interesting at least for a few listens.