Is there going to be a Nirvana Unplugged DVD?? (1 Viewer)

[Tony-B]

Kyle, there is no new news about a Nirvana Unplugged DVD. I can only assume that it is still tangled up in court. There are people who have transferred that Unplugged special to DVD, but I am not going to say where you can get it, because that would break the rules.
This isn't related to the DVD, but it is still interesting. On The Internet Nirvana Fan Club someone named Kris had some information about upcoming Nirvana releases. Basically, he saw a Foo Fighters show, went to the tour busses afterwards, and waited for Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters' frontman and Nirvana's drummer) to come. When he showed up, Kris asked him about the next Nirvana release, and he said that there would be a compilation disc coming sometime next year. After the comp disc, then the box set would come out.
We can only hope that what Dave says stays true!

 

[Rocky Bennett]

As a little aside to ts thread, what ever new compilation that is released, or box set, I certainly hope that it does not have the levels of distortion that is present on the NIRVANA GREATEST HITS CD. The compression rate of this disc was unimagineable, over 8 db compression, and the digital clipping exceded 7% thd, whic to me is unacceptable. I contacted the folks over at Gateway Mastering and they informed me that their final product was clean and uncompressed when it was delivered to DGC. I then contacted the folks at Sub Pop and they informed me that they had no responsibility for the product other than just licensing the material. The engineer that I spoke to at DGC said that although they have received a lot of complaints about the sound quality of this disc that it was really a manufacturing problem and not a problem associated with the tapes. It was manufactured by Universal but sub contracted out to an outside pressing plant. So although everyone I contacted acknowledges the poor quality (to me un-listenable), no one wants to accept responsibility. I read several nice articals regarding the compression techniques used in the manufacture of this disc, and as far as can be determined by several independent journalists, the distortion and compression was intentional because DGC feels that the target audience of this disc was grunge kids that wanted a "louder and dirtier sound." I myself own the original master recordings of NEVERMIND and IN UTERO on 24 karat gold MOBILE FIDELITY SOUND LABS CD, and they sound great. I also own the original master recording of Bleach that was taken direct from the mixing board, sans any remastering what so ever, and that disc just rocks. My INCESTICIDE is not marked original master recording, but it was pressed in Japan by a boutique pressing plant that charges a bundle to press upon request. I am hoping for an audiophile pressing of NIRVANA'S GREATEST HITS, but so far I have been unable to locate one. So what ever comes out by Nirvana, let's hope for some better quality that that last dismal release.

 

[Tony-B]

I got some comparisons of the waveforms from the Greatest Hits and the original Nevermind album. I got four songs: Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are, and Lithium. I'll only post two of those here, in order to reduce load times, but I'll have links to the others. The version from Nevermind will be on top, and the one from Greatest Hits will be on the bottom. By the way, I am sorry about the bad quality of the pictures.
Smells Like Teen Spirit:


In Bloom:


Here are the two that I left out...
Come As You Are (Nevermind/Greatest Hits)
Lithium
(Nevermind/Greatest Hits)
Rocky, I am very sure that there will not be an audiophile version of the Greatest Hits. They have to keep that loud and dirty sound that kids expect these days.
Where did you get the original master of Bleach? How does that 24 karat gold version of In Utero sound?
I know that I am sounding like an audiophile here, but I am far from it. How can you tell what compression sounds like?

 

[Rocky Bennett]

Great views of those audio signals, thanks. I am old, almost 50, and I grew up in the days of vinal, back in the 60's and 70's. There is a certain sound that one becomes acustomed to when your only source of music is uncompressed vinal. Right now I am into SACD that has a frequency response of 0-100,000 hertz and a dynamic range of 126 decibles. Like I said, the ear becomes tuned to a natural, uncompressed sound after many years, and when you hear a compressed music source there is "ear fatige", it borders on mild pain for me and results in a little ringing afterward. I CAN NOT LISTEN TO MP3 FILES, IT HURTS. I can listen for hours to SACDs at 104 decibles, with no after effects of ringing, but one disc of compressed music makes my ears ring. I collect audiophile pressings, I search them out in various stores and internet sites, my NIRVANA collection is pretty much audiophile except the two live discs, MTV UNPLUGGED and FROM THE MUDDY BANKS....IN UTERO is asounding in uncompressed ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING format, HEART SHAPED BOX goes from a whisper to a scream, (about 68db to 106db). That is how I like my music. I have an original master recording of Nirvana's last show ever, it is called XXII II MCMXCIV, because it was recorded Feb. 22nd 1994. The liner notes say that the music is "direct from the mother board," it has never been re-mixed or re-mastered, it is the last time Kurt performed in public, and this disc just screams with vitality, there is nothing between the listener and the original source. I bought this disc in Hollywood about 8 years ago, it is on the Octopus label, catalog number OCTO 001. I don't know if this label ever released anothr CD, but this one is as close as a person can get to being at an actual Nirvana concert. As for my Bleach, it is simply the original pressing, before SUB POP sold their catalog to DGC, so it is simply an un-remastered original, straight from analog to digital. My philosophy is, although Kurt is dead, I want my Nirvana to be as pure and as close to the source as possible. Not 2nd generation, not 3rd generation compressed, but 1st generation analog to digital masters. That way I can feel the pain in Kurts voice and soul.

 

[Tony-B]

Rocky, no problem with providing those waveform views! Would you like me to get you more shots from the Greatest Hits album, because I would not mind doing it for you.

Well, I am young (17, to be exact), and have not really heard much music that I like on vinyl. I remember that we used to have vinyl, but I never listened to anything in it, plus I was too young to pay attention to the audio quality. I grew up with CDs and compressed MP3s as my source of music. Would you mind telling me how to hear the difference? I honestly don't notice much difference between Teen Spirit on Nevermind and the Greatest Hits, other than that the one on GH sounds louder. Well, I think I hear a difference between the drums on the two versions, with the NM version sounding better, but not by much.

Have you heard the regular editions of Nevermind and In Utero from DGC/Universal? How do you think those sound? I personally think that In Utero sounds quite dirty, but intentionally. I remember reading that Kurt Cobain did not want to make another glossy, radio-friendly, album like Nevermind.

By the way, I am just getting into Nirvana, 12 years after Nevermind. :b

 

[Jeremy Little]

Rocky,

The show that you referred to is actually a few weeks prior to the last show ever. It is a professionally mixed soundboard recording that was broadcast in Europe. The copy you have is a Pre-FM DAT version of that show. There are a few copies that were passed around in tape trading circles that were Post-FM of the same show.

The compression on the Nirvana disc is horrible, I cannot even stand to listen to it. The error took place in the Mastering process, they wanted it to sound "loud". When the quiet parts are loud, how much louder can the loud parts be? NOT MUCH!!

If you are desperate for something new, pick up the new UK vinyl re-release of In Utero. It has a Universal sticker on the front and contains all Steve Albini mixes. ALL previous versions of In Utero contain Scott Litt remixes of Rape Me, Heart-Shaped Box, and All Apologies. The ones on this disc are great, if you are after a less polished sound. I personally like HSB because the guitar is in-your-face and there isn't any doubling in the vocals.