Sliver - The Best Of The Box

The 2004 three-CD box set With the Lights Out was the long-awaited holy grail for Nirvana fans who’d been waiting for better-fidelity versions of rarities for so long that a decade passed. True to record-company form, three additional rarities were “discovered” as the label put together this highlight reel of the box for those who didn’t want to wade through the band’s every utterance. Those bonus cuts are an excellent 1985 demo of “Spank Thru” (from when Kurt Cobain’s band was called Fecal Matter), a 1990 studio demo of “Sappy,” and a raw boombox demo of “Come As You Are.” The highlights include a brutal live reading of Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker,” acoustic solo demos of “About a Girl,” “Lithium,” “Rape Me,” “You Know You’re Right,” “All Apologies,” and “Sliver,” and rehearsal demos of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Rape Me,” and “Heart Shaped Box.” Sound quality can be wobbly due to sources often being old cassettes, and many of the best moments here are Kurt Cobain's solo performances.