3. “Sliver” – Nirvana
(From the single “Sliver”; later included on the 1992 compilation Incesticide)
1990
Following the release of Bleach and its truncated tour Nirvana decided to release a non-album single to buy some time while they worked on their second record, what would be their breakthrough album Nevermind. With both guitarist Jason Everman and drummer Chad Channing now out of the band the core duo of Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic would recruit Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters into the group (Mudhoney briefly looked to have ended around this time) and that lineup would be the one to record the song “Sliver”. Cobain intended Nirvana’s second album to be less punk and more pop-oriented than Bleach had been and so wanted to write the new single to be “the most ridiculous pop song I have ever written”. With only sketches of the song previously written Nirvana called up the band Tad, another Seattle scene band that they knew were currently in the studio recording, and asked if they could use the studio for an hour while Tad where on break. So, while Tad sat around eating their lunch, Nirvana came in, borrowed their instruments, and laid down the instrumental track for “Sliver”. A few weeks later Kurt Cobain went back into the studio and recorded his vocals. With very simple lyrics about childhood and music that was recorded fast, raw, and without much practice, “Sliver” does have a sense of naivete and childlike abandon to it. It is also attacks with the visceral recklessness of punk rock. This combination gives “Sliver” a very potent mix of danger and innocence which makes it one of Nirvana’s key pre-Nevermind tracks. While it was not a successful single, it was a strong enough song that it would later be released a second time on Nirvana’s stopgap post-Nevermind B-sides and rarities compilation Incesticide, where it would have a video made for it to help promote the album. “Sliver” would also be the only song with Dan Peters on drums. Both Cobain and Novoselic enjoyed working with Peters and thought he would be a good fit for the group, but the Nirvana members also respected Mudhoney and they knew that if Peters were to join their band permanently it would guarantee the end of Mudhoney and they felt that they couldn’t be responsible for that. So, after playing a single show with Peters Nirvana would move on from him as well and their search for a permanent drummer would continue. However, it was not much later that Buzz Osborne of The Melvins introduced Nirvana to Dave Grohl, the drummer for the recently dissolved Washington D.C. hardcore band Scream. This introduction would, of course, be the final piece to the Nirvana puzzle as Grohl would soon join Nirvana as their drummer, putting everything in place for the recording of the landscape-changing Nevermind.
Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com
Alternative Reality: An Alternative Music Blog 