Nevermind [4CD/DVD Super Deluxe] [Box set]

Nirvana | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Geffen
• ASIN: B005AAVFDQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,988 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit

2. In Bloom

3. Come As You Are

4. Breed

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. In Bloom previously unreleased SMART STUDIO SESSIONS

2. Immodium (Breed) previously unreleased SMART STUDIO SESSIONS

3. Lithium previously unreleased SMART STUDIO SESSIONS

4. Polly previously unreleased mix SMART STUDIO SESSIONS

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit previously unreleased DEVONSHIRE MIXES

2. In Bloom previously unreleased DEVONSHIRE MIXES

3. Come As You Are previously unreleased DEVONSHIRE MIXES

4. Breed previously unreleased DEVONSHIRE MIXES

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam

2. Aneurysm

3. Drain You

4. School

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit music video

2. Come As You Are music video

3. Lithium music video

4. In Bloom music video

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Super Deluxe five disc (four CDs + DVD) Edition features not only the original remastered album and accompanying studio and live B-sides, but the first full official release of the pre-Nevermind demos recorded at producer Butch Vig's Smart Studios, as well as boombox recordings of subsequent rehearsals through which the listener can actually experience "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Come As You Are," "On A Plain" and others that take shape before his or her very ears. The Super Deluxe also offers an altogether new perspective on the finished Nevermind album exclusive to this format in the form of the Devonshire Mixes: the album as produced and mixed by Vig as opposed to the commercially released final version produced by Vig and mixed by Andy Wallace. Rounding out the Super Deluxe are a pair of previously unreleased BBC recordings and the aforementioned 1991 Paramount show available for the first time and exclusive to this format on CD and DVD (which also features all four music videos from Nevermind), as well as a stunning 90-page bound book full of rarely and never- before-seen photos, documents and various other visual artifacts of the Nevermind era

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall Happy, But There Are 4 Deficiencies... October 29, 2011

By Christopher Elliott

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Overall, I'm very happy with this release. I've now had time to listen to all the CD's, watch the DVD and go through the book and am happy with my purchase. Having all of the demos, the early studio sessions, and the original Vig mixes are awesome. If you're looking at this product, you're obviously not the casual fan so my reviewing "Nevermind" will have little value. Instead, I'll discuss my overall feeling about each disc, the deficiencies of each disc, and the release as a whole as a way for you to decide if spending over $100 is really worth it to you...

Disc 1 - Original Album (remastered) + B-sides - I like the remaster for the most part, but to me the parts of the song with crunchy guitar almost seem to be turned up too loud in the mix, to the point where they break out of the field of a sound a bit, if that makes sense. Kurts guitar in Come As You are (not the solo) seems turned up too much in the mix also.

Disc 2 - The Smart Studio Sessions, The Boombox Rehearsals, BBC Sessions - Great disc with great quality early studio sessions and demos. This disc is awesome for getting a look at the creation of the Nevermind material from rehearsals, to early studio sessions, to a pair of early live performances.

Disc 3 - The Devonshire Mixes - Definitely an interesting CD and I love rockin' it. There are mostly minor differences in the sound and mix. An interesting document of the first draft of the completed album. For me, the On A Plain mix was the coolest of the different mixes, I loved the sound, especially the mix on Kurts vocals and the outro. This is a cool way to listen to the CD with more variety in the sound.

Disc 4 - Live at the Paramount CD - An excellent live concert with a ton of material - 19 tracks in all. Each song is played incredibly and Kurts vocals are right on. Incredible sound and performance all around.

Disc 5 - Live at the Paramount DVD - The 16mm film makes watching this concert much more interesting than the normal "concert on DVD." Kurt knocking down the mic stand during a song, and breaking his guitar at the end are cool as well. This could easily have been released as a theatrical release. Krist's statement "White boy funk sucks!" is also funny. Having the 4 videos from the album are also awesome to have together with the concert.

The Book - The book has high quality color pictures of the band during the time of the recording and promoting the album including pics of the infamous pool photo shoot, with the band in the pool. There are lyrics, expense reports, pictures of singles released, magazine articles, pics of the music video shoots, etc. Very thorough, color picture heavy book.

So here's what I would say are the main deficiencies...

#1 - Price - This was outrageously expensive. You can get the first two discs and the concert on DVD for right under $40. For The extra $70 I paid, I got the Devonshire mixes (Disc 3), a poster, and the book. Give a fair value of $15 to the Devonshire disc, and $5 to the poster, and you're looking at $50 for the book. The book is really nice but $50? It's also worth noting Anyone reading this is certainly going to pay more than $110 like I did because they're limited to 40,000 worldwide and have sold out so now you're going to be buying from a re-seller.

#2 - Remaster Of Original Album - Definitely wish the original album would have had a touch more care put into the remastering job - minor gripe.

#3 - Missing "Song In D" - Why this song was excluded on this $100+ "Super Deluxe" album is beyond me. It's an unreleased Nevermind sessions instrumental. Vig and Grohl were recently joking around about the fact that the song was not included on this set, and Grohl laughingly said "Sounds like another box set!" This 5 disc release of the original "single disc" album and they leave off that one instrumental? Uncool in my opinion. I certainly hope they don't make us poor fans buy another $100+ set to get that one song in the future.

#4 - Packaging - This set is highly prone to smudges and fingerprints and seems to have a horrible reaction to the oil on human skin. I've already put a few smudges that won't come off on the case and have to wash my hands before handling the set each time. I ripped all of the music from the CD's to high quality 320kbps mp3s so that I don't have to open it and mess with it all the time. Also, the CD's are slid into cardboard cutouts in the book, which is guaranteed to scratch the discs if you take them out more than a few times, regardless of how careful you are. The case is basically the exact size of a square record sleeve but is a little over an inch thick. If you're a product of the 90s (like me) and don't have storage for LP's, storing it can be a bit awkward.

These four issues make me drop a star to a 4 out of 5 rating, which is accurate for my level of satisfaction. I would never give mine up now that I have it and I love this set! The positives easily outweigh the negatives here and having official versions of all this highly bootlegged material is awesome to both benefit the artists, and get higher quality versions of this material.

I can smell a similar release in a couple of years for In Utero, which I look forward to.

Rock On!
Chris Elliott

40 of 53 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Thanks Mr. Ludwig for keeping the loudness war alive. October 3, 2011

By borgy

Format:Audio CD

in a 2009 article Bob Ludwig stated "People talk about downloads hurting record sales, I and some other people would submit that another thing that is hurting record sales these days is the fact that they are so compressed that the ear just gets tired of it. When you're through listening to a whole album of this highly compressed music, your ear is fatigued. You may have enjoyed the music but you don't really feel like going back and listening to it again. It's been really rough, folks, But it can get better and I think it will get better. I'm glad it's going to be over."

This is the same guy who's remastered this version of 'Nevermind' 2 years later to the very same loudness war standard he has criticised and seemed to suggest was reversing.

All the dynamic range on this classic album is gone. Which means there's no punch to the music, every song stays the same volume throughout so when a chorus kicks in it doesn't get louder than the verse and lift the song.

From what i've read over the years, Kurt loved using the quiet verse LOUD chorus technique, so for a band that was obviously about dynamics it's baffling that this remaster even made it onto a commercially available CD/download. A whole new generation of Nirvana fans are going to be robbed of the way this album should really sound as mastered dynamically in 1991 by Howie Weinberg.

UMG don't care, they just want your money, but that's ok, you don't have to give it to them, no matter how big a Nirvana fan you are, you can download the extra content for free 'illegally' after all they're offering you an inferior 'new' product when your original copy of Nevermind sounds perfect -- you just have to use that thing known as a volume knob or volume buttons.

"All the kids will eat it up, if it's packaged properly".

*NOTE* --- the Devonshire mixes + Live at Paramount (CD) aren't as harshly mastered as the original album and the CD of rarities that's also available with the deluxe edition.. (they still have heavy peak limiting on the loudest parts of the songs -- but the verses do drop in volume and are not clipped like those 2 discs, probably 'cause luckily this is a limited edition package with less mainstream appeal.)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nevermind 20th super deluxe October 26, 2011

By Scentless_Apprentice

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Awesome box set! better than what I thought. totally worth the money. has 90 pages with loads of information and pictures, plus the 5 discs inside and w/ and added double sided poster. Packaged nice. 3d baby picture with really nice frame.