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This compilation reminds fans that Nirvana was a great band before 'Nevermind' topped the charts – and that the freedom to fail is the only useful definition of artistic freedom. The chaos of the collection suggests a struggle to diffuse the burdens of fame. Following Nevermind is a creative straitjacket. Incesticide presents Nirvana in a host of settings, including a whimsical cover of a Devo B side (“Turn Around”) and a pair of tunes from the Vaselines (“Molly’s Lips,” “Son of a Gun”), the Scottish band since mutated into Eugenius. It exposes ragged early sessions (“Downer,” “Mexican Seafood”), reinvents “(New Wave) Polly,” a troubling song about rape, and revives “Dive,” “Sliver” and “Aneurysm.” It creates breathing room. Primal Rock Therapy, the five-song 1989 EP that gives this collection its name, sold badly and was largely savaged in what press took notice. The band broke up (and recently re-formed). Five unreleased tracks of comparable cold rage garnish the collection. The years have done nothing to diminish the band’s power and fury.

And that’s the point: Nirvana was a great band before Nevermind topped the charts. Incesticide is a reminder of that and — maybe more important — proof of Nirvana’s ability, on occasion, to fail. The unpolished forces at work and sometimes in conflict within the band are plainly exposed, as is a broader and rougher range of sounds, styles and interests.

With luck, perhaps Incesticide will remind Nirvana’s audience that freedom to fail is the only useful definition of artistic freedom. — (via Rolling Stone)

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Label: DGC, Sub Pop
Format: 2x Vinyl, LP, 45 RPM, Compilation, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 2023 / Original Release: Dec 14, 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: Grunge
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File under: School Of Rock