To endorse or not to endorse, Courtney Love's marketing scheme?
Written: Aug 11 '03 (Updated Feb 29 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: All the songs contained on here are good.
Cons: Nothing new, good songs missing, buy it and put more money in Ms. Love's pocket.
The Bottom Line: Buy it only if you want the basics and feel no qualms about endorsing Ms. Love's marketing scheme. Otherwise, just buy the original albums.
jeff_wilder78's Full Review: Nirvana by Nirvana (US)
From: Courtney Love, owner of the rights to Nirvana material
To: Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, former Nirvana members.
CC: David Geffen, Record Company CEO.
Re: Marketing scheme (Plans for Nirvana Greatest Hits album).
Hey guys.
Just wanted all of you to know that I have agreed to allow you to release the previously unreleased Nirvana song ("You Know You're Right"). But only if certain conditions are met. And let's face it; you guys will meet these conditions, because I am Courtney Love, pop icon and rock star goddess. Even though many critics dare to suggest that my reputation rests solely on one album and the fact that my late husband was lead singer of one of the biggest bands of the 1990s. So with that in mind, here's how the single is to be released.
1: Scrap the plans for a box set. Those things are expensive and sell mainly to the hardcore fans and that's a big chunk of dough out of MY pocket. So we will release the single on a single CD greatest hits album. And don't say that most fans will already have most of the songs on said album or that Nirvana was actually an album band. A greatest hits album worked for Green Day, even though they are more of a singles band.
2: Make the new song the first track on the Greatest Hits album. As a matter of fact, make it the only new song. But that's playing ball with fans money you say? It's not playing ball. It's time for the fans to question how serious they are about being fans. If they aren't serious enough to shell out $15 for a CD with 13 songs they already own so they can have one new track (especially a really great one such as "You Know Youre Right") then they're no fans of mine. Sorry, I seem to have an affinity for pop music, much like my late husband.
3: Put the songs in chronological order. And when I say chronological order, I mean by the order in which they were recorded, not in which they were released. Thus, the rarities from Incesticide go on here before the songs from Nevermind, even though Nevermind came out first.
4: Include only one song from Bleach. Preferably, select About A Girl, even though the Unplugged version is the one most fans are familiar with. Do not include "School", "Blew" or "Love Buzz".
5: Include nothing from From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah. Not even the terrific version of "Aneurysm" from that album. Sure it was a hit, but I didn't get any royalties from it when it was so it will stay off.
6: For selections from the two big hit albums, go for the most obvious selections. Of course "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Come As You Are", "Lithium", "Heart Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" are mandatory (although I insist that you put the unplugged version on here instead of the original one). Also include the Unplugged cover of Bowie's (Not Bow E as that little b!tch who's moving in on my audience Avril would pronounce it) "The Man Who Sold The World" and a sort of remix of "Pennyroyal Tea". Top off the selections with the following album tracks: "In Bloom", "Rape Me" and "Dumb". Also leave off "Serve The Servants" and "Polly" even though both songs have come to be regarded as Nirvana classics. Those don't matter when you're trying to move profits.
7: The album is to be simply titled Nirvana and is to be packaged in just a simple black sleeve with the title on the cover. That way, casual consumers won't know what to make of it and sales will go through the roof.
Sell lots of copies of this one guys and I may be kind enough to let you put out that box set you want to release in about seven years or so. With luck, I will soon be able to build up a steady flow of cash for me and ditch the rest of this worthless band and go live on a yacht off Honduras for the rest of my life, while occasionally starring in two bit action and horror movies. So get this collection out as soon as possible.
14 songs newly remastered featuring the previously unreleased You Know You re Right , the last song written and recorded by Kurt Cobain before his dea...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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