Live At Reading Review

Released: Nov 2, 2009
Genre: Grunge
Label: Geffen
Number Of Tracks: 25
Bootlegged for years following the performance, the new issues present the performance for the first time mastered and color corrected.

Sound:	9
Lyrics:	10
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.9
Reviewer rating:	9.3
Users rating:	8.5
Votes:	62

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: SSaxdude, on november 05, 2009

Sound: As most of you know, this is probably Nirvana's most famous concert ever. I don't have to explain how good these songs are, you already know that. They played a great combination of Bleach/Nevermind tracks with future In Utero songs "All Apologies", "Tourette's", and "Dumb". They also played a cover of the Wiper's "D7" and Fang's "The Money Will Roll Right In". I loved their early rare song "Spank Thru" also.

Missing is the cover of "Love Buzz" by Shocking Blue. I imagine they did this because of the limitations of cds. I've heard this is going to be on the vinyl though. The intro where Kurt is wheeled onstage and Krist jokes that he's going to be alright is also missing. Also missing is the "More Than a Feeling" mock intro to "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

The sound on the CD is very good. From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah was their earlier live album (other than the acoustic Unplugged performance), and this does sound better than the Muddy Banks.

I give sound a 9 because of the missing stuff. Most people won't notice or care, but for hardcore fans like myself this is a hinderence. I understand they also might have done this to make the songs flow without boring more casual listeners. // 9

Lyrics and Singing: It's Nirvana, I don't have to go over how great Cobain's lyrics are. Worth noting is the different lyrics of "All Apologies". "Tourette's" does seem to make more sense than the album version off In Utero. The "Come On People Now" intro of "Territorial Pissings" is replicated by Novoselic. // 10

Impression: This is the definitive live Nirvana album. The sound quality and songs are better than the previous live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. Sure, Muddy Banks has more In Utero songs, but Live at Reading has more of a concert feeling. The only problem is the cut out banter and goofing around that the band did. It's still a great buy anyway. // 9

Comments

[sambargun]

I think they should have left this one as an unofficial bootleg instead of 'legit'ing it. Cashing in on past glories, it most certainly is but they didnt have to alter this so much.....

['93]

just ordered it, cant wait

[pinata89]

sambargun wrote:

I think they should have left this one as an unofficial bootleg instead of 'legit'ing it. Cashing in on past glories, it most certainly is but they didnt have to alter this so much.....

^This^, I just wish i could find the bootleg in as good as quality as the CD. The really edited the shit out of this one, leaving out a lot of stuff.

[Mr_Dobolina]

The dvd has all of the stuff you said was missing. Its only 5$ more and you get the cd with it as well.

[zAg1619]

Yeah, get the DVD, it has all of the stuff on it. The DVD is fantastic.

[Xeus]

listened to it on spotify

awesome

[USCENDONE BENE]

They missed out the funny intro?! Assholes

[Rancid Ivy]

I'm getting the DVD tomorrow, by the way, this is a great review of the CD...but (I already watched the DVD, I just don't own it), but on the DVD, all the stuff you said was missing is on it, so it'd be a perfect 10 :P

[ThatWouldBeJon]

will this finally end the money train in courtney loves pocket from her dead kurts band?

[dweb23]

I got the DVD with the cd. Worth every penny it's absolutely superb

[fendercobain87]

an amazing album/ dvd by a very well talented band it's just a shame kurt died.

[PitLurker]

the "come on" intro in territorial pissings was always novoselic. anyhow, good review.

[milwaukeerocker]

Wow, i'm so glad they did this. Can't wait to get it. Does anyone know if they ever released the dvd live show from a bleach tour, i think it was the Bleach cd release where they had a food fight at the end and got kicked out of their own show at the end. And, Jason Everman plays the show too, i remember seeing an article a year or so ago that said it would be released, haven't seen it though. I'm probably being to vague too, i just know there's good footage and sound. Some of it i believe is actually on the turn out the lights box set.

[MetallicRob2112]

I hope they have the "Back in Black" Jam on here

[proston]

yea man watch this for the most on youtube until it came out on dvd. finally. haha this is truly awesome.

[Xhale1]

Jesus its sooooo damn raw!! you cant say NO to Nirvana

[DiGiFrY]

I think "Love Buzz" is missing from the CD because Kurt's guitar seems to be way out of tune (he trys tuning his guitar at different points in the song). I got the deluxe edition which includes the DVD and its on their. All of the other bits between the songs such as the "more than a feeling" intro to "smells like teen spirit" are on the DVD aswell.

To anyone who hasnt bought it yet, I would recommend getting the Deluxe edition as it only cost me £3 more than the standalone CD from amazon. Its well worth the extra amount.

[SSaxdude]

I know Krist does the "come on people" intro, I'm just saying they were trying to replicate the Nevermind version. I'm glad to hear that the DVD has all the extras, I'm getting it tomorrow. I wasn't sure if some things (like the "More Than a Feeling" intro) were cut due to legal issues or cause Universal wanted to have a straightforward live album without the filler we love.

I don't know anything about a Bleach era video you're talking about. There's no officially released video of that. The release party they got kicked out of was for Nevermind in 1991. Jason Everman was long gone by that point. They showed up really drunk to the party cause they thought it would be dumb and eventually got kicked out. I suggest reading "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad. It's very informative and was written before Kurt shot himself, so everything is real and not speculation about what was going on.

I don't know why "Love Buzz" was cut from the cd, but apparently it's on the DVD and I've read that it's going to be on the 2 disc vinyl that's coming out later this month.

[gljbass]

I watched it on Fuse the other night and it bothered me, not because of anything the band did, but because of this one random fan that just kept spinning and dancing around what seemed like the whole concert. I really wished they could have got a good clip of security tackling him. haha

[SSaxdude]

I'm not quite sure, but did that guy leave during "Blew"? Cause at the beginning of "Blew" on the cd someone says "Bye bye goodnight see ya!"

[jonathan_5150]

just brought it home..... kick ass cd. didn't know about the dvd though! damn it! i would of got it if i would of actually looked around and bought it with it. damn.

[SSaxdude]

Yeah dude, I got the DVD and it blew me away. Almost all of it is footage that's available on the bootleg videos, but the quality on the official release is better. And the best part is the stage banter (especially "The Rose" intro) and the missing songs are intact on the DVD. Shame there's no special features though.

[birdieguitar]

That guy was the bands dancer, and it is Nirvana saying bye at the beginning of Blew because that was the end of the set the rest is the encore,

[themnsound]

wow, every nirvana fan needs this! both the cd and the dvd! amazing show. ps. gljbass thats harsh that guy was kinda funny, he was like a 1 man mosh pit

[SSaxdude]

I think the dancer was at their 1991 Reading performance, so that's why they let him stay on stage.

[DREWCHRISTIAN]

ThatWouldBeJon wrote:

will this finally end the money train in courtney loves pocket from her dead kurts band?

Hahahaha! That made my day. I totally agree with you.