[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL "The Videography of Nirvana"
05.23.12
BY MIKEY MIGO
I grew up in the 90’s so I was there for the rise of Nirvana and the “grunge scene”. It was a cool time to be “coming of age”. There was a lot of good music, movies, and pop culture at the time. Things weren’t so neutered and sterile. I can ramble about “the good ol’ days” for hours so I’ll just stop.
Nirvana is considered by many to be one of the greatest bands of all time. Not just the 90’s and not just grunge. I don’t know about that, but they were pretty damn awesome. The singles they put out, the iconic albums released, and the overall impact they had is only comparable to the biggest rock acts of all time. With that alone, it’s not hard to lump them into the same peer group.
The songs are still on the radio and that impact is still felt today. Of course we can all think of one or two of the music videos. The video for “Teen Spirit” was part of the band’s rise, but what about the rest of their videos? Today I’m going to take a look at the entire body of Nirvana’s official video work…
Track: "In Bloom" (Sub Pop version)
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 1990
Director: Steve Brown
This was before they were really big. The video does back and forth between what seems like rehearsal footage and some candid stuff. This is before Dave Grohl was on board. The slow motion/choppy feel was a 90’s editing staple. The flashes of negative as well. Still, I dig this video. It’s nothing special, but its nice window of what was up in the 90’s. They aren’t even in Seattle in this. It’s all New York City. The interesting story here is Novoselic’s hair. It goes from normal shag to bald throughout because he punished himself after a bad performance. Punk rock. Rating: 7.0
Track: "Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 1991
Director: Samuel Bayer
At first I gave this a 9… then a 9.5… then I just said fuck it… 10! I want to be able to objectively take in the video, but it’s just as great as it was in 91. Seeing this as a child blew my mind and I tend to think set my little brain straight. I had the cassette tape of this album because of this video. The apathetic anarchy in this video really summed up an entire generation. This video would kick off the entire “grunge” and “alterative” movement. It turned a music scene into a window to the youth. Not many bands can take credit for something of that magnitude. This song and the video gets my pulse going and wakes me up every time I hear it. If you don’t get a similar vibe from the song, especially now that it’s not played every five minutes anymore, then you’re just not using your ears right. I’m not even the biggest Nirvana fan. I prefer others from that time over them for sure. Still, I think this may be the best rock song recorded in my life time at least. Rating: 10
Track: "Come as You Are”
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 1992
Director: Kevin Kerslake
This video continues the band’s awesome streak. The floating gun at the beginning is a little haunting now considering. The video consists of some really awesome stuff. The tight shot of Kurt’s distorted face on the wall as the band performs, as the dog lurks, and as Kurt picks and plays while hanging from a chandelier. There is a reckless and artistic abstract in this video that I’ve not seen in a long time. It’s not the best video ever or anything, but it’s an easy video to get lost in. Rating: 7.5
Track: "Lithium”
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 1992
Director: Kevin Kerslake
This video has a lot of slow motion chaos at start and then fades into a pretty laid back live performance. The song breaks and the video continues to be slow and choppy. The song has a chilled out verse, but the chorus break is full of energy and excitement. The video doesn’t stick with the standard of matching the tone of the song. You can tell it was made for the song for sure, but it’s almost as if the video is rebelling against the song. Cool live footage. Rating: 6.5
Track: "In Bloom”
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 1992
Director: Kevin Kerslake
This is the “In Bloom” that most people know. It’s a play on the old Ed Sullivan type of shows. The band is dressed to look like some drab 60’s pop-rock band. They perform the track in a very cheerful and bouncy way. As a nine year old, I think this song is what exposed me to the idea of “posers”. The video is pretty ingenious. A lot of bands were try to do something like this. Pretty much all of them, not named Weezer, would fail. The video slowly and surely starts to get weirder and weirder. Eventually the band is in drag running around screwing up the set and going bat shit. It keeps cutting back and forth to “cheerful” and “bat shit”. “Let’s give a big hand for Nirv-vanna!” Rating: 8.5
Track: "Sliver”
Album: ”Sliver”
Year: 1993
Director: Kevin Kerslake
This is shot like an old home video. The band rocks out in what I think represents Kurt’s childhood bedroom. I enjoy the aggression of this video a lot. It’s all there, in your face, and feels as organic. There isn’t a whole lot going on, but it’s still pretty bad ass. This song always felt a bit under appreciated. I suppose the video as well because I don’t recall seeing it before now. That’s strange. Rating: 7.0
Track: "Heart-Shaped Box”
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 1993
Director: Anton Corbijn
This video is beautiful. It has some stuff in it that would be considered “disturbing” to some folks, but you cannot deny the visual amazement here. The colors, the shots, the editing, and the motion the video builds are all great. This kind of video was a statement of art and social commentary for sure. This would NOT fly in today’s music video world. A cute blonde little girl in a Klan outfit? A crucifixion? The eerie hospital stuff is one of those things that always stuck out in my head. At around the three minute mark Dave and Krist sit there and go blurry as Kurt goes into focus as sings directly at us. This is where the video making story of Nirvana ends. Rightfully so. It’s one of the most engaging music videos I’ve ever seen. Still to this day. Rating: 9.5
Track: "You Know You're Right”
Album: ”Nevermind”
Year: 2002
Director: Chris Hafner
This came out in 2002. Long long after Nirvana recorded it’s last album and long after the passing of Kurt Cobain. I remember this song came out as part of a “Greatest Hits” CD they pushed hard at the time. In most cases, the “new undiscovered track” is crap. Not in this case. It’s a great song for sure. The video is a collection of clips from the band’s entire run. It’s well done and captures tons of memorable moments and time frames. It’s good. It’s like the ultimate “Nirvana montage”. Rating: 6.5
VERDICTThis was a really solid collection of rock videos. It’s a good balance of “concert-compilation” videos and really high end conceptual stuff. I’m bias though. I came up with this videos being in my face and anticipated. There are some portions of the videography that is stronger than the others for sure. The “Teen Spirit” video is iconic, the black and white “In Bloom” video would go on to be ripped off a million times, and the “Heart Shaped Box” video is beautifully done. I’m not saying the other videos aren’t good, but those three stand out to me for sure. You really have to take into consideration that these videos, except for the post-humanous one, were all shot in the early 90s. Technology wasn’t exactly up the standards we’re used to today. Anything that seems innovative and cool about these videos today was a million times more innovative and million times cooler when they came out. Then again, music videos meant something completely different back then. Instead of being a promo for an album or a single, it was a good artistic sample of what an artist was about.
What is YOUR favorite Nirvana video?
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