Live at Reading [LIVE]

Nirvana

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 3, 2009)
• Original Release Date: November 3, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B002MRROKI
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #785 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Breed

2. Drain You

3. Aneurysm

4. School

5. Sliver

6. In Bloom

7. Come As You Are

8. Lithium

9. About A Girl

10. Tourette's

11. Polly

12. Lounge Act

13. Smells Like Teen Spirit

14. On A Plain

15. Negative Creep

16. Been A Son

17. All Apologies

18. Blew

19. Dumb

20. Stay Away

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Rolling Stone (October 29, 1992)

"The staggering energy and intensity radiating from the stage never let up... Cobain's ravaged pop songs coming off like some dream marriage of the Sex Pistols and the Beatles, borne on bracing waves of distorted guitar noise."

Product Description

NIRVANA'S LEGENDARY NEVER-BEFORE-RELEASED 1992 READING CONCERT Ranked #1 in Kerrang Magazine's "100 Gigs That Shook The World" and voted as "Nirvana's #1 Greatest Moment" by fans in an NME poll, Nirvana's historic August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK's Reading Festival is one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock n roll. Now, fans will have an opportunity to own a pristine copy of that entire performance -- color-corrected video from the original film with 5.1 audio sourced from the original multi-track masters. Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued in a limited edition CD+DVD Deluxe Edition as well as DVD-only, CD-only configurations on November 3, 2009, followed by a 2LP version on November 17, 2009.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blog this, kids, November 3, 2009

By	Garbageman (the other side of California) - See all my reviews

Gather round, kids, put away your diaries, log off Twitter for five minutes as I tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was this band who were so sickeningly heavy, so on point, so ridiculously furious and DARK, so in-your-face righteous that they shredded everything in sight. Including the bands that had the unfortunate opportunity to open for them, knowing there was no chance to come close. This album sorta introduces you to what they were capable of, especially the last third of it, where the songs get rampagingly ugly and downright MEAN, starting with a caustic version of "All Apologies", sounding nothing like any version you've heard before. The end of their short career may have shown an even darker side, incapable of even pulling it together long enough to really move, but this set is as close to their peak as you can get, a concert for the ages that is almost laughable when you look at the mind-numbingly BAD bands they played the same festival with, as shown on the inside cover (Charlatans? Curve? Buffalo Tom? The frickin' WONDER STUFF?) See, kids, even bands of their time couldn't hang. So you shouldn't feel all THAT embarrassed that My Chemical Romance, Vampire Weekend, and Deerhoof make noise that sounds like a blender by comparison.

I know, it's rough. I'm getting all generational on you, and that's not fair. As if it wasn't bad enough that they decided to play "On A Plain", "Negative Creep" and "Been A Son" back-to-back-to-back, which is reason enough to buy twenty copies of this and give it to all your friends. If that doesn't convince you of the unfortunateness of your losing the genetic lottery and ending up only reading about this band, then let's rub it all the way in by playing the version of "Aneurysm" here, which basically destroys the version from "Muddy Banks Of the Wishkah", a version I used to think was the best Nirvana recorded moment, a great version which PALES in comparison to the one here, which could kill whole forests. I would also like to draw your attention to the version of "Stay Away", which I plan on playing 7,000 times in a row tonight as I run around my yard revving up a chainsaw. Or how about the version of "School", which you need to be screaming at the top of your lungs next Monday in Algebra as you throw furniture around your classrooms and frighten your overpaid, ignorant teachers out of their similarly unenlightened stupor. Some things never change.

You can call me a snob for rubbing your collective noses in the fact that this band had no equal, and I was lucky enough to witness something like this for the brief moment it was around. But I'm not really a snob, because I have hope, someday, that at least ONE of you could rise up and at least make an EFFORT to sound this mighty, this completely insanely GOOD so we can all sit back in amazement. But I doubt it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One of their best live performances, poorly remixed. Sad but true folks., November 12, 2009

By	T. Herremans - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Honestly, It's to bad because this is a great show, but the big wigs got their hands on it. Sadly, this release is the result of very poor mixing. Whoever was in charge of this release should honestly be looked at like "what were you thinking?" They added fake crowd noise before every single song. Annoying yet somewhat acceptable. I first read about the crowd noise before my purchase and agreed it was still worth a listen. I entered the CD in my player and hit play. Wow, I first was just blown away by how terrible the audio quality is. It sounds like a low bit rate digital media file with a added constant low hiss. I have a high quality audiophile setup, I really enjoy hearing the highs/clarity in my music. Yet, I cannot fully enjoy this album because of the sheer Low-Fi sound it has. I understand this is a live recording however that is not what I am talking about. I have heard bootlegs recorded with a stage mic that had better sound reproduction than this. It has a 'Mono' sound to it, it sounds very one layered and muddy. Also, all the enjoyable banter/messing around was removed from the release and only the songs themselves remain. I will definitely not be buying this on vinyl and will still look for the bootleg version. I am glad they released the DVD quality video, but really disappointed by the audio mixing done for this release.

I recommend just buying the DVD or DVD/CD release. It's the only good thing that has came out of this.

Darn you big wigs!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chaotic excitement, madness, Nirvana, November 14, 2009

By	lain4ever "And I'll form the head!" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

"Live at Reading" captures the power of Nirvana at its loudest and most electric moment in 1992.

People may wonder why on earth no one has released this album with Cobain radiating with raucous energy as his band crashes through the concert. After all, the entire performance is not just a raucous mess of blasting distortion, cymbal smashes and Kurt Cobain's throating yells and shouts. It is a sheer burst of excitement and infuriating anger.

Most importantly, the band proved that even if a band gets out of tune or out of rhythm, they could set the whole stage ablaze. Literally. Songs like "Aneurysm" explode with fast drums and guitars before slowing to an unsettling steady rhythm. Then Cobain shatters the stage with the funky lyric, "Come on over and do the twist!"

It's rock and roll fed through a power saw. Funk riffs such as those in "School" keep the audience engaged in chaotic violence as Cobain screams, "Won't you believe it's just my luck/NO RECESS!"

More importantly, we can hear in the performance that Cobain's having loads of fun, especially when he sings and chuckles through the first lyrics of "Sliver." He playfully growls through the low notes of "In Bloom." The album captures Cobain on top of the world at the peak of Nirvana's popularity. Nothing is more epic than his screaming through the chorus of "Lithium" with a wave of audience members.

The goofiest mistakes occurs in the parts following the opening power chords of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," in which Cobain literally messes up the two note riff and slides around his guitar as he tries to get the notes right. He even has a legendary anti-solo of chaotic random notes guitar neck sliding after the second chorus.

Even as the band plays through the bittersweet song "All Apologies," Cobain literally makes the song his own as he joyfully sings, "What else could I say?/All my words are great." This concert shows Cobain at his prime. Even if this concert was foreshadowed by his suicide, it will forever be remembered as a benchmark for live albums in the 21st century.